Instant Pot Shredded Beef

Instant Pot Shredded Beef is a versatile filling for sandwiches or tacos, ready in under an hour thanks to pressure cooking. I make a big batch of this easy recipe, serve it for dinner, then refrigerate or freeze the leftovers for different meals in the future.

A bowl of shredded beef sprinkled with cilantro — Instant Pot Shredded Beef

This recipe is the basic version of pressure cooker shredded beef. I use this easy shredded beef in a bunch of recipes, like Instant Pot Sloppy Top Sandwiches, Pressure Cooker Barbecued Beef Sandwiches, or Instant Pot Beef Tacos. They also make an excellent filling for Korean inspired Lettuce Wraps - use shredded beef instead of shredded pork in that recipe.

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Ingredients

Vegetable Oil
Beef Chuck Roast
Fine Sea Salt
Garlic Powder
Chili powder
Beef broth (or water)

See the recipe card for quantities.

Instructions

Beef cubes searing in an Instant Pot — Sear the beef on one side, in two batches

Brown the beef in two batches: Heat the vegetable oil using Sauté mode in an Instant Pot. Sprinkle the beef with the spices, then brown it on one side, in two batches, so we don’t crowd the pot, about 3 minutes per batch. Add all the beef back into the pot, pour in the beef broth, and scrape the bottom of the pot to make sure nothing is sticking.

An Instant Pot set to pressure cook for 30 minutes — Pressure Cook on high pressure for 30 minutes

Pressure cook for 30 minutes with natural release: Lock the lid on the cooker. Cook at high pressure for 30 minutes in an Instant Pot or another electric pressure cooker (“Manual” or “Pressure Cook” mode in an Instant Pot). Let the pressure come down naturally, about 15 more minutes. Unlock the lid.

A bowl with cubes of beef, a pair of forks, and some shredded beef — Shredding the beef with a pair of forks

Shred the beef and serve: Move the beef to a platter, then shred the beef with a pair of forks. Spoon a little of the broth onto the shredded beef, then serve.

Substitutions

Chili powder: I prefer a single-chili chili powder, like Ancho chili powder, but a chili powder blend will work fine.

Change up the spices: If you want shredded BBQ beef, replace the garlic and chili powder with your favorite BBQ rub. (I make my Homemade Barbecue Rub for recipes like this.) Or, if you want to make spicy shredded beef, add ½ teaspoon of ground cayenne pepper or chipotle pepper.

Different cuts of beef: Instead of beef chuck, you can substitute boneless short ribs, top round, or bottom round. (See “What cut of beef is good for shredding?” below.)

Variations

I’m intentionally making a basic “shredded beef” with this recipe so I can use it in different ways. Here are some variations and suggestions:

BBQ Shredded beef: Mix the cooked beef with bbq sauce and serve with hamburger buns.
Italian beef: Serve on a bun with sautéed onions and bell peppers and topped with slices of provolone.
Beef Tacos: For taco night, add a 10-ounce can of diced tomatoes and chilies to the pot (aka Ro*Tel tomatoes), and serve with tortillas and your favorite toppings.
Beef Enchiladas: Use this recipe to fill my Beef Enchiladas
Loaded Nachos: Top tortilla chips with a sprinkling of this shredded beef, shredded cheese, pickled jalapeños, and some sour cream.
Beef Noodle Soup: Sauté some onions, carrots, and celery; add a quart or two of Homemade Chicken Broth, some wide egg noodles, and the leftover shredded beef. Soup dinner!

Equipment

A 6-quart pressure cooker (or larger)

Scaling

This recipe will fit in a 3-quart pressure cooker and can be doubled in a 6-quart pressure cooker. The cooking time does not change; it takes the same amount of time to cook each cube of beef, no matter how many are in the pot.

Storage

Shredded beef can be stored in the refrigerator in an airtight container for a few days or frozen for a few months. I freeze leftovers in 2-cup containers with a little of the pot liquid.

Top tip

Cutting the beef into cubes is the key to this recipe. Cutting a beef roast into cubes makes this a recipe I can finish in under an hour, including heating up to pressure and the natural pressure release. It takes a fraction of the time to cook beef cubes compared to a whole roast, even with pressure cooking.

Don't paddle the beef: Some recipes recommend using a stand mixer and its paddle attachment to shred the beef. Sure, there's less work shredding, but it's a lot more work overall - I have to pull out my stand mixer, shred the beef, then clean the stand mixer. I'd rather not make extra dirty dishes, so I use a pair of forks to pull the cubes of meat apart.

FAQ

What cut of beef is good for shredding?

The best cut of beef for shredding is beef chuck roast. It is a tough cut of meat with a lot of connective tissue and fat, which is perfect to pressure cook for tender and juicy shredded beef. Boneless short ribs are another great choice. Top round or bottom round will also work in this recipe. They all cook the same, so any of those beef cuts can substitute for the chuck roast without changing the recipe.

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