I wrote in January 2019 about my hesitation over my husband’s Christmas gift to me of an Instant Pot. I’ve also posted some Instant Pot recipes (see here and here), which I made after overcoming that hesitation, though I was still suspicious of a pressure cooker.
Well, over the past three and a half years, I’ve come to rely on the Instant Pot more and more. Not only for making rice, but also for soups, stews, pot roasts, and short ribs. I never could make a good pot roast or short ribs before I got the Instant Pot.
But our original 3-quart Instant Pot quit working a few weeks ago. It might have been salvageable, but I wasn’t prepared to figure out why it wouldn’t run. I suspect something was inhibiting the pressure valve from sealing, but I wasn’t sure.
So I bought a new 6-quart Instant Pot. My husband and I decided we liked the device well enough to upgrade to the larger size. But boy, does that make a lot of soup! I can now make soup out of a full bag of split peas instead of half a bag. Ditto with black-eyed peas, lentils, and everything else.
Most recently, I made short ribs in the new pot. Here is the recipe I used, adapted from one I found online:
Short Ribs for the Instant Pot
Ingredients
- 1 package of short ribs, bone-in or boneless (around 2-3 pounds is fine for the 6-quart Instant Pot; I might try more next time)
- 1 tsp salt (optional, or salt to suit)
- 1 Tbsp olive oil
- 1 1/2 cup chicken broth or stock (or substitute wine or bourbon for 1/2 cup of the broth)
- 1 onion (chopped)
- 1 tsp minced garlic (more or less to suit)
- 1 tsp thyme (or 2-3 sprigs fresh)
- 1 Tbsp paprika
- 1 tsp black pepper (more or less to suit)
- 1 beef boullion cube
- 2 Tbsp balsamic vinegar
- 1-2 cups carrots, in 2-3 inch pieces (optional—I don’t like them, but my husband does; you could throw in some potato chunks, too, if you want)
Directions
- Rub salt over the ribs, if you choose.
- Using the sauté function on the Instant Pot, heat the olive oil, then brown the ribs on all sides. Then remove ribs from the pot and set aside on a plate.
- Deglaze the Instant Pot by adding the chicken broth and scraping the pot to get any fried-on meat off the bottom.
- Add the other ingredients.
- Turn off the sauté function and add the ribs.
- Set the Instant Pot’s pressure cooking function to 45 minutes.
- Let the Instant Pot come up to pressure and cook for 45 minutes. When it is finished, allow the Instant Pot to come down to natural pressure. When the Instant Pot button drops, open it to perfectly cooked short ribs.
What kitchen device did you replace most recently?
I just got an Instant Pot and want to try this recipe. It sounds delicious, but I’d omit the carrots.
I don’t eat the carrots, but my husband does.