Instant Pot Szechuan Beef
Making Chinese take out in my instant pot is probably the best use for the instant pot in my house. The fact that we can use quality beef that isn’t fatty makes the word of difference. For this Instant Pot Szechuan beef the instant pot is vital to get the tenderness on the beef just right.
Making take out fake out at home is great on the budget too. We can easily drop a good $50 going out for Chinese. This Szechuan beef recipe is about $25 so it cuts that price in nearly half. The sesame seeds are optional but we love them!
Szechuan beef can have just about any vegetable you would like. Some versions have snow peas and baby corn while other versions just bell peppers and sichuan peppers. Those sichuan peppers are hard to find locally. We use garlic chili sauce in the place of the peppers.
Below is a video in the recipe card that will show you how the vegetables are sliced in this dish. We used the instant pot duo plus 6 quart for this recipe. You may have to adjust cooking times if you have a smaller or larger pot.
The trick to getting the vegetables correct is to saute them for about 3 minutes. The vegetables are not put under pressure because they would be mush. Sauteing them softens the vegetables just enough to make them tender with a bit of crunchy too. The sauce will thicken on saute mode too.
Hence, when it comes to making this dish we do it for special occasions too. Date night or movie night take out fake out instant pot szechuan beef is perfect for! For other take out fake out dishes check out the instant pot section. Additionally we have a few non instant pot take out dishes too.
Instant Pot Szechuan Beef
Ingredients
- 2 lbs beef stir fry meat
- 1 cup beef broth
- 1 tablespoon garlic; minced
- 3 tablespoons garlic chili sauce asian
- 1 teaspoon ginger; grated
- 3 tablespoons soy sauce
- 1 tablespoon cornstarch
- 1 1/2 cups spring onions; diced
- 2 red bell peppers; diced
- 1 cup carrots; shredded
- 6 mushrooms; sliced
- sesame seeds; optional
Instructions
- Add beef to instant pot with 1 cup beef broth. Set to saute mode. Sear the meat.
- Turn off saute mode. Put lid on and set valve to closed. Set to high pressure for 20 minutes. Once the pot stops counting quick release pressure.
- Drain juice from pot.
- Replace back into the instant pot.
- Mix together chili sauce, ginger, garlic, and soy sauce. Stir in cornstarch.
- Set pot to saute mode and pour in sauce. Stir to cover meat. This will start to thicken fast.
- Add in vegetables and stir frequently until they are steam for about 3 minutes. Turn off saute mode.
- Serve with rice. Top with sesame seeds.
Video
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Steps 3 and 4 are confusing. What are you actually putting back into the pot after you drain the juice?
Drain the juice from the meat after you have cooked it. Add the meat back to the pot. Once you’ve drained the juice you add the sauce mixture and saute then add vegetables.
First time using this instant pot. Mine was given to me; it’s a Wallmart version called power cooker. I’m trying to make the Chinese schewuan beef. I do not have a sauté setting. Do Ijust put it to cook?
You can skip the sauteing of the meat and just go right to the pressure cooking. It will still work.