This Easy Instant Pot Swiss Steak is perfect for a quick and cozy weeknight comfort food meal. It's a real stick-to-your-ribs kind of dish with lots of flavor and super tender beef. Plus, it can be made in under an hour!
Swiss Steak was on heavy rotation in my house growing up. But it's not common that you find it on a restaurant menu or even find many people who know about it. But it all came rushing back to me one day, and here we are!
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Why You'll Love This Recipe
Couple the nostalgia of Swiss Steak with the dish's stick-to-your-ribs comfort alongside the ease of today's technology, and you've got a real winner when it comes to an affordable family dinner.
Ingredients
Meat: Bottom round
Vegetables: Yellow onion, Red Bell Peppers, White Mushrooms, Canned Green Bean, Canned Roasted tomatoes.
Liquids: Olive oil, Beef Stock, and Condensed Tomato Soup.
Herbs and Spices: Minced Garlic, Kosher Salt, Ground Black Pepper.
Extras: All Purpose Flour and Cornstarch.
See the recipe card below for full information on ingredients and quantities.
Step-by-Step Instructions
Step 1: Dice the onion and red bell peppers and set them aside in a separate bowl. Next, slice the beef into cubes or thick strips with a sharp knife. However, you'd like to present them.
Mix the flour, cornstarch, salt, and pepper in a large mixing bowl. Dredge the beef cubes/slices in the flour mixture.
Step 2: Turn the Instant Pot to Sauté on high for 20 minutes and add the olive oil, allowing the pressure cooker to heat up. Add the dredged beef to the instant pot in two batches, browning each side. Keep in mind that you aren't cooking the beef in this step. You're simply browning/searing it. If all sides don't completely brown, that's quite alright. Remove them from the Instant Pot and set aside.
Step 3: Pour the beef broth into the Instant Pot and deglaze the pot using a stiff spoon or spatula.
Now it's time to sauté the diced onion, bell peppers, and mushrooms for about 6-8 minutes or until they've begun to soften and the onions turn translucent.
Next, add the garlic, stirring to incorporate, and sauté for about two more minutes or until the garlic is fragrant.
Step 4: Add the cubed, seared beef to the Instant Pot and pour in the canned tomatoes and condensed tomato soup.
Step 5: Add the drained green beans into the pot and stir to mix it all up.
Step 6: Set the Instant Pot to Pressure Cook, High, for 30 minutes and allow for a 10-minute natural release, releasing the remaining pressure manually.
Once you've released all the pressure, there's one more step here.
I like my Swiss Steak more like gravy than a sauce. But use your own judgment here.
I mix ⅔ cup of all-purpose flour with a cup of warm water, whisking quickly to be sure no lumps form.
Stir this mixture into the instant pot immediately after releasing the pressure and let the sauce thicken for about 10-15 minutes.
Expert Tips
- Try serving your Instant Pot Swiss Steak with Chicken Fried Kitchen's Garlic infused Neufchâtel Mashed Potato recipe!
- Another great option as a side is a slice of buttered homemade rosemary bread. You'll want to soak up every last bite!
- I recommend searing the pieces of beef because it adds great flavor and texture. However, if you're in a rush, skip that step.
Recipe FAQs
Swiss steak is typically made with a bottom round, eye of round, or top round roast and then cooked until extremely tender.
Salisbury steak is made from ground beef and formed into a patty, while Swiss steak is made from bottom round, eye of round, or top round roast. In addition, Salisbury steak is typically served with brown mushroom gravy instead of tomato-based gravy sauce made with Swiss Steak.
It is very difficult to overcook steak in the Instant Pot. However, if you run into this issue, it most likely didn't cook long enough, have enough liquids, or it could be the cut of meat.
The short answer...No. Cube steak is not the same thing as Swiss steak. While they use the same cuts of meat, cube steak is flattened and tenderized using a kitchen mallet or mechanical meat tenderizer, and it's typically served with brown mushroom-based gravy. Swiss steak gets its tenderness from braising or pressure cooking and is served with a tomato-based gravy sauce.
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📖 Recipe
Easy Instant Pot Swiss Steak
Ingredients
- 2 lbs Bottom Round, sliced into cubes
- 1 tablespoon Minced Garlic
- 1 teaspoon Kosher Salt
- 1 teaspoon Black Pepper, ground
- 2 tablespoon All Purpose Flour
- 2 tablespoon Corn Starch
- 2 tablespoon Olive Oil
- 1 Medium Yellow Onion, diced
- 2 Red Bell Peppers, diced
- 8 Oz White Mushrooms, sliced
- ½ Cup Beef Stock
- 14.5 Oz Fire Roasted Tomatoes - canned
- 14.5 Oz Condensed Tomato Soup - canned
- 14.5 Oz Green Beans - canned, drained
To Thicken
- ⅔ Cup All Purpose Flour
- 1 Cup Warm water
Alternate Thickener
- ⅓ Cup Instant Potato Flakes
Instructions
- First, begin by dicing the onion and red bell peppers setting them aside in a separate bowl.
- Next, with a sharp knife, slice the beef into cubes or thick strips, however you'd like to present them.
- In a large mixing bowl mix the flour, corn starch, salt, and pepper. Dredge the beef cubes/slices in the flour mixture.
- Now, turn the Instant pot to Sauté on high for 20 minutes and add the olive oil allowing the pressure cooker to heat up.
- Add the dredged beef to the instant pot in two batches browning each side. Once all the beef is browned remove it from the Instant pot and set aside.
- Next, pour the beef broth into the Instant Pot and using a stiff spoon or spatula, deglaze the pot.
- Sauté the diced onion, bell peppers, and mushrooms for about 6-8 minutes in Instant Pot or until they've began to soften and the onions are turning translucent.
- Add in the garlic, stir to incorporate and sauté for about two more minutes or until the garlic is fragrant.
- Pour the canned tomatoes, condensed tomato soup, and drained green beans into the pot giving it a good couple of stirs to mix it all up.
- Secure the lid and set the Instant Pot to Pressure Cook, High, for 30 minutes and allow for a 10 minute natural release, releasing the remaining pressure manually.
- Stir in your chosen thickener and allow it to thicken for about 10 minutes.
- Serve over and enjoy!
Video
Notes
- Try serving your Instant Pot Swiss Steak with Chicken Fried Kitchen's Garlic infused Neufchâtel Mashed Potato recipe!
- Another great option as a side is a slice of buttered homemade rosemary bread. You'll want to soak up every last bite!
- I recommend searing the pieces of beef because it adds great flavor and texture. However, if you're in a rush, skip that step.
Nutrition
Sue says
In step 5 you saute the beef then remove it & set it aside.
I don't see anything about adding the meat back in, though.
I'm guessing it gets added back in with the other ingredients
in Step 9 so it will also get pressure cooked.....?
Jeremy says
Hi Sue, that is correct. The meat gets added back in once you have all the other ingredients in the instant pot. When you place the meat back in just sort of push it down a bit into the liquid. It doesn't need to be fully covered by the liquid, though. I hope that makes sense and I will update the recipe to make sure everyone else knows as well. Thank you for bringing this to my attention.