Instant Pot Italian Beef is tender shredded chuck roast cooked in the electric pressure cooker with onions, pepperoncini peppers, and a delicious au jus. It is traditionally made in the slow cooker, but with your Instant Pot you can have it done much much faster!
This recipe makes amazing Italian Beef Sandwiches that you serve on warm crusty rolls. Pile them high with melted provolone cheese, tender shredded beef, onions, pepperoncinis and serve with a side of super flavorful au jus! They make an excellent family dinner.
If you love this recipe also check out this recipe for Easy Italian Meatball Subs.
Type of Beef To Use
For this Italian Beef recipe you will be using a chuck roast. When you are at the store look for a well marbled “choice” chuck roast 3-4 lbs. Choice refers to the grade of beef. I would steer clear of “select” and “prime” isn’t totally necessary for this recipe.
Ingredients
Here are the ingredients you will need to make your Instant Pot Italian Beef:
- 3-4 lb chuck roast
- vegetable oil
- beef broth
- 2 yellow or white onions
- onion powder, dried oregano, dried basil, salt, pepper
- soy sauce
- worcestershire sauce
- fresh garlic
- dry au jus mix
- pepperoncini peppers
Au Jus Mix
You can find au jus mix in the same aisle as the instant gravy powders. I have used both the Knorr and McCormick brands and they both work well. The packet should be between 0.6 – 1 ounce.
Chuck Roast Cook Time – Instant Pot
To make sure that you get really tender beef all the way through you will want to cut your roast in 2 to 3 large pieces. I also recommend cutting away any really large chunks of white fat. This will help prevent your au jus from being too greasy.
The recipe calls for 3-4 lb chuck roast. Depending on the size you purchase, cook your roast for 15 minutes per pound. Then do a 15 minute natural release followed by a quick release.
How to Make Italian Beef in the Instant Pot
Start by putting your Instant Pot on saute mode (normal), once the pot reads “hot” you can add the vegetable oil. Pat the chuck roast dry, cut it into 2-3 pieces, trim any really large chunks of white fat, and season all sides with salt and pepper.
Place the beef in the hot oil and brown for about 8 minutes, until it releases from the bottom. Flip it over and brown the other side. If you are short on time you can skip this step.
Remove the beef from the pot and toss in the onions. Saute for about 3 minutes. Add the onion powder, dried oregano, dried basil, and pepper. Stir around to coat the onions for 1 more minute.
With the saute function still on, pour in the beef broth. Deglaze the bottom of the pot by scraping up any bits that are browned to the bottom. This will prevent the “burn” notice from happening during cooking.
Now add the worcestershire, soy sauce, garlic cloves, dry au ju mix, and half the jar of pepperoncinis (and half the juice). Stir to combine everything. Turn the saute function off.
Add the beef back to the pot. Pop the lid on and turn the pressure valve to seal. Set the pot to cook for 15 minutes per pound. In this case I set it for 45 minutes.
Natural Release
Once the cooking time is up you will want to do a natural release for 15 minutes. That means that you allow the pot to count back up to 15 on the display screen. By doing this you are letting the pressure dissipates naturally.
It helps the meat “rest” a little before letting all the pressure and heat go.
Then you will finish with a quick release by turning the pressure valve to let the rest of the pressure go.
Prep
Remove the beef from the pot and place on a rimmed baking sheet or large plate. With a slotted spoon remove as many onions and pepperoncinis as you can from the au ju and set to the side of the beef (you will use them for serving!).
If you have a lot of fat on the top of your au jus skim off as much as you can before moving on.
Turn the pot back on to “saute” function to simmer the au jus while you shred the beef.
Using 2 forks shred the beef into bite size pieces. It should almost fall apart on it’s own!
Serving
You can serve the Italian Beef as is with a little au jus, onions and pepperoncinis over top.
However, the very BEST way to serve your Italian Beef is on crusty warm rolls (french rolls or ciabatta rolls) with melted provolone, topped with the cooked onions and pepperoncinis, and a side of au jus for dipping. We also like to add a couple extra pepperoncini slices because they are delish!
Another great way to serve these is on warm crusty rolls smeared with a lot of cream cheese and candied jalapenos!
Make Ahead
You can easily make this recipe ahead for easier dinner prep when you have guests or a busy weeknight dinner.
Simply prepare completely, mix the cooked onions, pepperoncinis, and about ½ cup of au jus together with the shredded beef, let cool completely and then refrigerate in an airtight container for up to 5 days. Also cool and refrigerate the au jus.
When it is time to eat you can warm the beef in the oven at 300 for about 15 minutes. Skim the fat off the top of the au jus and then warm through on the stove top in a sauce pan over medium heat.
Instant Pot Italian Beef Recipe
Instant Pot Italian Beef
Ingredients
- 3 lb fresh chuck roast - see notes for a roast larger than 3 lbs.
- 2 tablespoon vegetable oil
- 14.5 oz can beef broth
- 2 large onions – halved and sliced into ½ inch slices
- 1 teaspoon each: onion powder, dried basil, dried oregano, black pepper
- 1 tablespoon soy sauce
- 1 tablespoon worcestershire sauce
- 3 plump garlic cloves, minced
- 1 envelope dry au jus mix - 0.6 – 1 oz in size (Knorr and McCormick both work well)
- 16 oz jarred whole pepperoncini peppers – DIVIDED - half of the peppers and juice for the recipe and the rest of the peppers for serving
Serving
- option 1 – crusty rolls (french or ciabatta) & provolone cheese slices
- option 2 – crusty rolls (french or ciabatta), cream cheese, candied jalapenos
Instructions
Italian Beef
- Turn the Instant Pot on to saute mode and let it heat up until it reads "hot"
- While the pot heats, pat your beef dry with paper towels. Cut it into 2 to 3 large pieces. Cut away and discard any larger chunks of white fat. Season each side of the roast with salt and pepper.
- Add the vegetable oil to the pot and brown the beef for about 8 minutes until it releases from the bottom. Turn to the other side and brown for additional 8 minutes. Remove the beef from the pot and set aside. This step can be skipped if you are short on time.
- In the empty pot add the onions and saute for about 3 minutes. Stir in the onion powder, oregano, basil, and pepper. Saute an additional 1 minute.Pour the beef broth in the pot and deglaze the bottom by scraping up all the browned bits. This will help prevent from getting the burn notice.Turn the saute function off.
- Add the soy sauce, worcestershire, garlic cloves , au jus packet, and half the jar of pepperoncinis (and juice) to the pot. Give it a stir. Add the beef back to the pot.
- Pop the lid on and turn the valve to seal. Set the pot to cook for 15 MINUTES PER POUND On high pressure. In this case we are cooking for 45 minutes.
- Do a 15 minute natural release. Then release the remaining pressure with a quick release.
- Remove the beef from the pot onto a rimmed baking sheet or plate. With a slotted spoon remove as many onions and peppers as you can from the pot, you will use those for serving! If there is a lot of grease on the top of your au jus skim that off. Then turn the pot on saute mode to simmer the au jus.Shred the beef.
- Serve it up!! See the next section for serving options!
Serving Options
- Option 1 – warm your rolls in the oven, melt provolone cheese on the roll, pile high with shredded beef, the cooked onions and pepperoncinis, serve extra sliced pepperoncinis on top, and a side of au jus.
- Option 2 – warm your rolls in the oven, smear with lots of cream cheese, top with shredded beef and candied jalapenos!
- Option 3 – serve shredded beef alone with dipping au jus and pepperoncinis (great low carb option)
