Garlicky Beef and Broccoli (Instant Pot Style)

March 11, 2019  •  Easy Entrees, One Dish Meals, Technique

If you’ve been reading along, you know I’ve fallen in love with the pressure cooker feature of my Instant Pot. I’ve cooked dried beans in less than 30 minutes, and done a variety of roasts including a lamb mole. But I hadn’t really ventured past that setting yet – until now.I had some stew meat that I wanted to use for a stir fry. In general if you slice tough cuts of meat like that very thin, they are not too tough to eat, but I wondered about cooking it under pressure instead of stir frying it to see if I’d prefer the texture. Well yes I do, because it turns out very nice and tender.But part of the beauty of the Instant Pot for me is the one pot cooking vessel notion. All the recipes I found for this type of dish had you cook the broccoli separately and then combine the two – that’s just extra dishes, so I created this two step technique for doing it all in the Instant Pot. In my pictures you see the broccoli looks very soft (almost like it melted into the sauce), based on the timing I selected, so I’ve given you three options to use instead. And don’t be concerned about that much garlic – it sweetens during the cooking process and really almost melts into the sauce, so not overpowering at all, I promise.

Garlicky Beef and Broccoli (Instant Pot Style)
 
Prep time
Cook time
Total time
 
Author:
Serves: 3-4
Ingredients
  • ½ cup water
  • ¼ cup soy sauce (reduced sodium or regular, according to dietary needs)
  • ¼ cup brown sugar
  • 1 tablespoon rice wine (mirin)
  • 1 teaspoon ground ginger
  • ½ teaspoon red pepper flakes
  • 2 tablespoons oil (I always use EVOO but use what you like)
  • 1 pound beef or bison stew meat, thinly sliced
  • 1 tablespoon cornstarch
  • 1.5 ounces garlic cloves, whole if small, halved if large
  • ¾ pound broccoli florets, cut into bite sized pieces
  • ½ cup water
  • 2 tablespoons cornstarch
  • Sesame seeds, for garnish (optional)
  • Sliced green onions, for garnish (optional)
Instructions
  1. Combine the water, soy sauce, brown sugar, rice wine, ginger, and pepper flakes; whisk until combined and set aside.
  2. Heat the Instant Pot on the sauce setting. While heating, toss the beef with the cornstarch. Add oil to the hot pot and then the meat. Brown on all sides, about 1-2 minutes, stirring frequently.
  3. Pour the soy sauce mixture over the meat and toss the garlic cloves on top. Seal the Instant Pot and set it to the Pressure Cooker setting for 8 minutes. When the timer ends, let the pressure release naturally for 5 minutes, then release the remaining pressure according to the Instant Pot directions.
  4. Pour the broccoli florets over the top, and reseal the Instant Pot. Set to Pressure Cooker again and choose:
  5. For crisp broccoli, turn the Instant Pot off when it reaches temperature but before any time actually lapses and manually release the pressure.
  6. For medium soft broccoli, allow it to cook on the pressure cooker setting for 1 minute and then release the pressure manually.
  7. For very soft broccoli, allow it to cook on the pressure cooker setting for 2 minutes and then release the pressure manually.
  8. Remove the lid and turn the Instant Pot on to the sauce setting again. While heating, whisk water and cornstarch together, then stir into the beef and broccoli mixture, stirring until the sauce bubbles and thickens, about 1-2 minutes.
  9. Serve with rice and garnish with sesame seeds and green onions if desired.

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