Pressure cooker cube steak. The most direct way to heaven.
Some people, like my wife, find cube steak too chewy. Others are not sure what to do with it except fry it (which I love, by the way). With this recipe you get the perfect marriage between delicious and cheap. Cube steak is cheap, and yes, chewy, but it turns into beautiful tenderness when pressured and you get a lovely gravy to smother your rice with. It’s wife approved too. Do it!
PRESSURE COOKER CUBE STEAK
INGREDIENTS
1 onion, chopped
1 teaspoon each of salt and pepper
1/8 teaspoon of cayenne pepper (optional)
6 tablespoons of flour
2 1/4 cups of beef broth
2 lbs of cube steak, cut in 1 inch pieces
2 cloves of minced garlic
canola or olive oil as needed to brown meat
DIRECTIONS
Add the flour and salt, pepper, and cayenne to a ziplock bag. Toss it about a bit to combine. Add the cut up meat to the bag. Shake it up to coat the meat with the flour.
Heat your oil up in your pressure cooker
Once the meat is browned, add a touch of the beef broth to the pot to deglaze the lovely brown bits in there. Add your onions and sauté to your liking. Add garlic and sauté for a couple of minutes.
Leave the veg in there and add your meat in the pot, juice and all. Take your remaining flour from the bag and sprinkle it over the top of the meat. Add the broth and stir.
Set pressure to high for 20 minutes. After it’s done, quick release the pressure.
PRESSURE COOKER CUBE STEAK AND GRAVY!Click To Tweet
I do not usually leave comments, but I felt that this one deserved it. I have been using this recipe for my cube steak for about 2 years now. It ‘s pinned as my go to recipe for cube steak, LOVE it! The only thing I do differently is that I leave the steaks whole, not cut . It is fork tender after cooking. So flavorful!! Thanks Bearded Hiker for this great recipe!
You are so welcome Nancy! Reading your comment just made my week!
I’m a little new to using a pressure cooker. If I have more than two pounds of beef, about how much would I need to increase the cooking time? And do I *need* to tenderize it ahead of time? (What I have is freshly harvested, and hasn’t been run through anything first.) Cooking this cut is new to me so I don’t have a good sense at all for how it behaves.
Thank you for a simple recipe–it’s exactly what I was hoping to find!
Cooked this exactly how he instructed. Oh my…so darn good, tender beefy flavor! Yum! We love it!
So happy to hear it Joyce! We love it too! Not sure if you ever have any deer meat, but it works great with deer too!
AWESOME!!!
I never come back to leave comments but I just had to on this one. SO good. I did also get the food burn but i think it’s because I added a bit more flour. Added some more broth and it was good to go. Literally falls apart in your mouth.
This is really delicious! We buy 1/2 of a beef each year, and end up with plenty of cube steak, and that’s not in my usual cooking repertoire. Made it as per recipe, but added 1 more Tbs of flour for even thicker gravy, and a splash of red wine, to deglaze plus a little at the end. Per your video, also added a bit of bacon grease when browning the meat. Fresh parsley on it at the end. That with mashed potatoes made my husband a very, very happy camper. He’s a gravy man. Very easy to make, too! Thank you!
Sounds amazing Kay!
Oh, YUM. My husband gave this 5.5 out of 5 stars, and I’m right there with him. We served it over rice and it took some serious willpower to stop dipping into the pot another spoonful. The gravy is the perfect consistency, too. Never had such tender cube steak before, and the house smelled amazing for hours afterward.
Particulars: I used a Spanish sweet onion, deglazed with red wine, and my beef broth was the au jus from cooking corned beef that I had saved in the freezer for such an occasion. This gave a slightly different, but so delicious, flavor than the original recipe’s beef broth will.
This recipe would also be good with mushrooms (sauteed along with the onion).
This one’s a keeper! Thanks, Jaxx!
High praise indeed! Brilliant use of the au jus from the corned beef Lucy!!!!
My quest has ended! This turned out to be “the” cube steak recipe I was searching for. My wife loves it and my daughters request it when they come to visit. I prepare it just as the recipe describes and it turns out perfect every time. Just remember, a little cayenne pepper goes a long way. If your family isn’t too keen on spicy food, just leave it out. It really doesn’t need it.
Yes! Cube steak is so hard to get just “perfect” and to please everyone. So glad this did it for you guys!
After browning and moving the meat back to IP and put on “pressure cook,” the sensor goes to “burn.” It had wonderful flavor and tasted great but was still more tough than we like. How do I get it not to read “burn?” This is multiple recipes now I’ve had this happen. Thanks for sharing!
I have never had that happen, nor have I heard of anyone having that problem with this recipe. There are two possibilities that come to mind: It was not deglazed well enough and there were some brown bits that did not let it come to pressure. If it happens to you often, there may be a problem with your pot. If it’s an Instant Pot, I would call them – they have great customer services. Same with Cuisinart.
I have gotten the burn notice with this recipe. I have started doing pot in pot cooking. The recipe is too good not to improvise.
Sorry to hear you got a burn notice. That’s not happened to me with this recipe – perhaps bits were still on the bottom. Glad you enjoy it though!
Also, it could be that your sealing ring is not sitting properly and water is boiling out. Try storing it in the freezer. That’s make it shrink just a tiny bit and maybe it will fit better.
Happens to me every time. When I make this again tomorrow I will do my browning on the stove and transfer to the instant pot for the final cook. I love this recipe so worth the extra dishes.
My “Crock Pot” brand pressure cooker / crock pot doesn’t say “burn” but it wont let me switch to another program if it is really hot… as in just using it to saute something. All I do is unplug it and plug it back in and then I can select a cooking button. Not sure if this is the same problem you’re having but you might give it a try? Good luck. 🙂
Geat tip Patti!
Regarding the “burn” message with your IP I I wonder if t is because there was not enough liquid under the meat and in the pot. When there is flour in a recipe sometimes it clumps on the bottom and when the machine gets heated and if there isn’t enough liquid it will burn. I had the “burn” message come up on my IP when I made a different recipe a long time ago that had flour added (a Chinese broccoli beef recipe) and i discovered that if I made sure to add enough liquid, enough so that the meat was covered I would not get that message. Good luck!
This is a great comfort recipe for the Instant Pot, we will love it! Thanks so much for sharing with us at Full Plate Thursday and hope you are having a great week.
Miz Helen
Thank you so much for this recipe. I had never made cubed steak and I certainly don’t want soup mix. This was so tender and delicious! Everyone raves and devours it! I am making it again today and am so looking forward to it! Thank you again for this recipe!
This made a wonderful Mother’s Day lunch for us! We found thin beef at our Mexican market and pounded it ourselves. 1/2 pound was perfect to two with no leftovers. The recipe amount was a little heavy on salt for our “weaned” taste, something I didn’t notice before realizing all of it would end up in the gravy. Annotated on my file!
No dry onion soup mix and no canned soups! A blessing. Thank you very much. I have already deleted our other recipes.
Truly tender and tasty! I’ve always loved the flavor of browned cube steak, but not the chew 😉 This is great and so tender. I use about a half cup of red wine for some of the water and sauté mushrooms with the onion.
So glad you enjoyed it IdaJo! The pressure cooker definitely turns into tender goodness!
It doesn’t matter what kind of pressure cooker you have, those things will turn out some amazing meat dishes. My mother used to cook cubed steaks for our family of eight in a big ole Mirro pressure cooker. Not sure how she browned them, but in the end they all were thrown into the pot, whole and not in bite-size pieces, with some flour and water, and pressure cooked. Like you said, heaven on earth!
So good right! And crazy easy too. You simply cannot goof that up, no matter how you try!
What kind of pressure cooker do you have? I have an electric one with removable inner pot. Don’t think I can heat my oil up in it.
I’m prevcooking cube steak on stove then finish in cooker.
I have a Cuisinart, Instant Pot, Housemile and Cuckoo. All of them can saute, but yours may not. On my Cuisinart it a “brown” setting I think, but it’s old, like 10 years maybe. But the others have “saute” . To be honest, it’s actually easier, i.e, quicker to saute on the stove because you can have more surface area. Hope you enjoy!
Made this tonight, and OH MY GOODNESS!!!! It was AWEOME! Used the BTB and 1 1/2 cups of water. Gravy was just right, and the meat was fork tender. Thanks for a great recipe!!!
Nice! Thrilled that you liked it! It’s a favorite around here for sure. I appreciate you letting me know too! If you liked that one, give the beef tips recipe a try – another keeper if I may say so!
Do you take the meat out of the inner pot before sauteing the garlic and onion?
Sorry for the delay Rocco, I was on Thanksgiving getaway. Yes, brown your meat and remove it to a plate then saute the onion and garlic. To make it quicker, instead of cubing the meat then sauteing, I just leave it in chunks, brown both sides and then cut in smaller pieces. Works perfectly.
Like another reviewer, I was looking for a cube steak recipe made without packets or canned soup (yuk!!). Result was killer good!!! I did thicken the gravy with a cornstarch slurry at the end and added a splash of cream. I didn’t have much flour left over to add on top of the steaks before cooking or I probably could have omitted that finishing step. But the overall recipe was spot on—meat unbelievably tender. Sometimes it’s hit or miss with cube steak cooked the “conventional” way. Plus, such less mess made in the IP!! Gravy was incredible—no extra seasoning needed (I did use BTB, which has great flavor). Thank you for this great recipe!!! 5/5 star rating!!!
Whoo hoo! Love to hear that you enjoyed it Mindy! And you’re right BTB is the bomb – not too salty, rich in flavor.
Woooo-weeee this was delicious! Yours was one of the few recipes I came across that didn’t use any type of canned soup or packet, I was looking to make it with items I normally have on hand. I only had 1lb meat so I cut the recipe in half with the exception of the broth, I did 1-1/2 cups so we’d have plenty of gravy. I also added seasoned salt to the flour and I might thicken the gravy with a slurry next time. This one is a keeper recipe for sure, easy and delicious!
One of my all time favs – so glad you enjoyed it!!!!
Making this tonight! Actually right now! Smells so good! Can’t wait!
Hope you enjoyed! Eat on Jordan!
I’m going to try this recipe, I usually brown then finish cooking in the oven.
Asked husband to bring home some cube steak for Chicken Fried steak. He brings home cube steak pieces. I had no idea what to do with them so I Googled Instant Pot Cube Steak and searched through the results until I found one that I had all the ingredients for . . . bam . . . I found this. OMGoodness, so good. I used a shallot instead of a onion. This will definitely be in my rotation of quick meals. Thank you!!!!
Love it when that happens! So glad you guys enjoyed it! It’s one of my favs too!
Used elk cube steak for this recipe and it was AMAZING! My husband kept saying it was the best he’d tasted. Thanks!
Now that’s what I love to hear Angie!
How do you typically make it? Stove top, oven…?
Do you put this in the dehydrator for backpacking after you cook it?
No, but wouldn’t that be a real treat? I don’t think it would rehydrate well, but I sure wish it did!
Who makes Better than Bouillon ?
I usually buy a HUGE jar for a small price at Costco. Or, a small jar for a huge price at Wal-Mart, Kroger, Publix…generally everywhere. It’s in the broth section.
Love this stuff. Walmart runs sales on it 2 for $5 sometimes. I load up. It can cost up to $6 per jar if not on sale.
I’ll have to keep my eyes peeled for that! I’ll tell you though, when I have to go to Wal-Mart, I make a list and stick to that baby because I don’t like to linger in there. That place is crazy and most of the time I leave angry. lol
Don’t know where you’re at – but Memphis, TN brings a whole new level of crazy to the Wally-world
I can only imagine. When me and the wife have to go there for something we have to talk each other up and do some couples coaching. lol Things like:
“When things get tough in there, just breathe, deep breaths. ”
“You’ve been through things just as tough as this and you survived. You’ll survive this too.”
“It’s only temporary.”
“I’m right beside you, I won’t leave you alone.”
lol
Then when we get out of the store and back in the car, we have to have a debriefing session. Rough man, it’s rough.
I’ve been using Minor’s Beef Broth, available on Amazon, with high satisfaction. It keeps in the fridge and is always available. I”ll try BTB and compare, but I’ve found everything I’ve ever bought from Minor’s to be excellent and good value.
Minor’s General Tso’s sauce has become indispensable in our kitchen. Full of piquant asian flavor and usable in so many dishes.
I will definitely be checking that out!
When did you add it to the recipe?
When you add the broth, after the meat.
Definitely Costco – way more BTB for your buck
Did you make your beef broth with the Better than Beef Bouillon? If so, how much of the bouillon did you put into the water? This dish has a rich look to it (mmmm mmmm mmmm, that lovely gravy), and I just happen to have some cube steaks in the fridge!!!! Yay! Gonna try this.
I use Better than Beef a lot, and the chicken too. Next time I’m going to try the lower sodium versions.
Thanks for the recipe.
I did use Better than Bouillon, I love that stuff. I just used per instructions, 1 teaspoon of bouillon to 1 cup water. So for this 1.5 teaspoons, not level but not heaping, to the 1.5 cups water.
The gravy is amazing Martha!
One of our hosts chose this post to feature at this week’s instant pot linkup!
Honored Char, thanks!
Looks & sounds amazing! Thanks for linking up with us at Instant Pot Link Up Party this last week!
Thanks for hosting! Hope you enjoy it!
This recipe seems fairly easy. Does the cayenne make it spicy or just give it a little extra flavor? Thanks for joining us again at our Instant Pot Linkup! Tweeted and pinned to our party board and a couple others
Just a little extra flavor. It’s completely optional if pepper’s not your thing.
Did you do a quick release or natural pressure release? I’m concerned about the meat being tough.
Sorry about the confusion, you will quick release. I’ll change that so it’s more clear. Don’t worry about toughness. It’s not. It’s incredibly tender. Let me know how you like it. I would love to hear what you think!
Hi there……i’m from Canada………not sure what type of cut is “cube steak” ? is it chuck steak ?
Cube steak is…it’s also called minute steak. It’s pieces of meat that have small indentations in it from being tenderized.
On the other hand, I made this a few days ago, got distracted…possibly by lots of wine….and let it come down naturally and of course, no harm. Only tender goodness!
I love my Pressure Cooker and this looks like a great Cube Steak with Gravy recipe. We will really enjoy this recipe. Thanks so much for sharing this awesome post with us at Full Plate Thursday. Hope you are having a great week and come back to see us real soon!
Miz Helen