Pressure Cooker Beef Stroganoff
This Instant Pot / Pressure Cooker Beef Stroganoff features classic stroganoff taste—braised beef with golden-brown mushrooms in a flavorful, creamy beef gravy—made quick and easy in your pressure cooker.
The crisp fall days are behind us and things have turned quite cold—it snowed at my house for the first time this weekend. As always, when the temperature drops outside, I find myself craving the warmest comfort food. This beef stroganoff is the perfect traditional, hearty meal to counteract a chilly day.
Choosing the Meat for Pressure Cooker Beef Stroganoff
You can quickly turn a cheap round steak into a tender, flavorful meal in the pressure cooker. Not sure what’s the difference is between your round steak, round roast, or round rump roasts? The National Cattlemen’s Beef Association has a fantastic explanation of the different cuts of beef that you can buy. Any of the cuts of meat that have the slow cooker icon—including chuck roast, stew meat, and rump roast—could be substituted in this recipe.
I prefer a leaner cut of meat, however, which is why I use round steak when possible. It’s an inexpensive cut of meat that cooks up tender in the pressure cooker.
Tips for Making Pressure Cooker Beef Stroganoff in an Instant Pot
Don’t skip the browning stage of the recipe! Much of the flavor in this dish comes from the browned bits that accumulate on the bottom of the pan. While it does take time to brown the beef, it adds a rich, caramelized flavor to the gravy that you just can’t get any other way. If you’re looking to speed things up, you can brown the beef on just one side.
Mushrooms seem to be one of those foods that people either love or hate. My daughter isn’t a fan, but my grandsons are, so she prepares the mushrooms and keeps them separate, then dishes them up in individual bowls. In a pinch, I’ll substitute canned mushrooms, but I much prefer the flavor of the fresh.
My family prefers to serve these up over egg noodles with a big dollop of sour cream and a generous amount of black pepper. However, others grew up eating these over mashed potatoes and topped with a drizzle of Worcestershire sauce.
Update: I love to make up a double batch of stroganoff so I can eat one and freeze one. This recipe is so easy, I put together a video to show you how well it comes together.
Pressure Cooker Beef Stroganoff
Ingredients
- 2 pounds beef round steak, cut into 1-inch pieces
- 1 tablespoon vegetable oil
- 1 medium onion, chopped
- 2 cloves garlic, minced or pressed
- 2 tablespoons tomato paste
- 1 1/2 cups beef broth
- 1 tablespoon vegetable oil
- 1 tablespoon butter
- 1 package (12 ounces) white mushrooms, sliced
- 2 tablespoons cornstarch
- 3 tablespoons cold water
- 1/3 cup sour cream
- Salt and pepper to taste
- Egg noodles, cooked
Instructions
Season beef generously with salt and pepper. Put oil in the cooking pot and select browning. When oil begins to sizzle, brown meat in batches until all the meat is browned - do not crowd, add more oil as needed. Transfer meat to a plate when browned.
Add the onions and cook, stirring frequently, until the onions soften and begin to brown, about 5 minutes.
Add the garlic and tomato paste and sauté 1 minute.
Add beef broth and scrap up any brown bits on the bottom of the pot.
Add browned beef and any accumulated juices. Select High Pressure. Set timer for 18 minutes.
While the beef is cooking, heat a large sauté pan over medium-high heat until hot. Add oil and butter. When butter is melted, add the mushrooms and cook until golden. (I cooked them in two batches.) Season with salt and pepper.
When beep sounds turn pressure cooker off and let the pressure release naturally for 10 minutes. After 10 minutes use a quick pressure release to release any remaining pressure. When valve drops carefully remove the lid.
Combine the cornstarch and water, whisking until smooth. Add cornstarch mixture to the broth in the pot stirring constantly. Select Simmer and bring to a boil, stirring constantly until sauce thickens. Add 1/3 cup of gravy to the sour cream and mix until well combined. Add the sour cream mixture to the gravy and stir until well blended. Stir in the sautéed mushrooms.
Serve over egg noodles.
Will this recipe work in a 4 quart pressure cooker?
Hi Jamie – yes, this should work in a 4 quart pressure cooker without any changes. Just be sure your pot isn’t more than 2/3’s full or 1/2 full with things that foam, like pasta and oatmeal, and you can use most recipes.
How would you go about converting your pressure cooker recipes to using a slow cooker?
Hi Dani – I’d find a similar slow cooker recipe and use the ingredients in my recipe and the cook time in the slow cooker recipe https://www.simplyrecipes.com/recipes/slow_cooker_beef_stroganoff/
Could you use Sirloin Steak for this?
Hi Nanci – yes, sirloin steak would work well in this recipe.
Why do you not brown the mushrooms and cook them along with the meat and onions in the IP? Do they get chewy or?? My oven method includes all the ingreds but I’m making my first attempt at converting it to the IP (it is very similar to your recipe).
Hi Betsy – I’m not a mushroom lover and need them to be really caramelized and not too soft for me to enjoy them. But you can certainly add them earlier if you prefer. Enjoy!
Thanks for sharing this recipe. I wish I had seen your note about less time for slices, as mine (1/4″-1/8″) overcooked and are falling apart. Otherwise it tastes great. I guess I don’t see the point in pressure cooking the meat & sauce if the meat was practically cooked through after browning. I might try again with thicker cuts.
Hi John – glad to hear it tasted great. Beef can be tough and cooking it in the pressure cooker makes it nice and tender. You don’t want to cook it through with the browning. Be sure and have your pot pre-heated so it browns quickly. The thickness of the meat will determine cook time in the pressure cooker, so if you change the thickness of the meat, then you’ll always want to change the cook time as well. You’ll get the hang of it soon I’m sure.
Can this recipe be doubled and cooked in the one pot at the same time?
Hi Leanne – yes, you should be able to double the recipe and cook it in a 6 quart pressure cooker with no problems. Just don’t fill the pressure cooker more than 2/3’s full.
Thank you very much Barbara. About to cook it now. Also my pc does not have slow release should i add extra cooking time? if so how much. Thanks
All pressure cookers will release the pressure naturally without you having to press a button. Here’s more info https://www.pressurecookingtoday.com/quick-pressure-release-or-natural-pressure-release/
Just wanted to let you know that this recipe was the 1st one I made in my IP- just picked it up yesterday- don’t think I had the full 2 lbs of meat so I had extra gravy in relation to meat- but properly thickness & it came out great- I did add a tsp of Worcestershire sauce to the broth. Very tasty Will make again
My 30 year old Fagor 6q stovetop cooker recently stopped holding pressure even with a new gasket. Bought IP 8q Duo and this was my first time using it. After reading the manual and some online info I almost sent it back as I thought it would be a difficult adjustment after the stovetop cooker.
But this is a very different experience in a good way. Once the sautéing is done and you start pressure cooking mode, there’s no real monitoring or fiddling with the cooker until it beeps to tell you to release steam. Woah! I’m keeping it. I cleaned up the kitchen while the beef was cooking!
I used my usual spices for Stroganoff 1T kosher salt, 1 1/2 tsp fresh ground black pepper and 1 1/2 tsp paprika /lb. of meat to coat before browning. 1T Dijon mustard with sour cream and gravy at the end, ups the flavor components. I only used about 1 tsp of salt 1 tsp of pepper for 12 oz mushrooms.
I think having a general idea of these measurements is important because it’s hard to adjust salt as you can’t taste until pressure cooking is done. Too much salt and you’re sunk. Too little and I’m not sure the meat would be savory enough. Sprinkle of parsley just before serving.
Love the recipe and the new toy for my kitchen. I may still get a stovetop cooker too as it really is a lot different (my cooktop is induction). Thank you!
That is exactly what people are loving about the new electric pressure cookers. You can set it and forget it until it beeps. Thanks for sharing your changes.
I have some eye of round steak slices, would these work?
Hi Marla – are the slices 1-inch thick? If they’re not as thick you’ll want to reduce the cook time. I’d try 12 minutes.