Pressure Cooker Chinese Take-Out Beef and Broccoli

This Pressure Cooker Chinese Take-Out Beef and Broccoli is better than any restaurant. Make it a one pot meal and cook the rice using my “pot in pot” method!

My family’s favorite Chinese restaurant is in Boynton Beach, Florida, called “Chinatown.”

We actually stumbled onto it one Christmas Eve while driving around looking for a new Chinese restaurant. It was just a “hole in the wall.” That hole in the wall, turned out to be the best Chinese restaurant we had been to in many years. It became our go-to Chinese Christmas Day restaurant (and many days throughout the year). You have probably heard the joke that Jews eat Chinese food on Christmas, right? Well, it is no joke. We actually do and have been doing it for years. 🙂

Now that we are back in California, unless you drive to China Town or San Gabriel it is hard to find fantastic Chinese eateries. So, I’ve been developing my own recipes for yummy Chinese food. You will find tons of Chinese recipes like my Instant Pot Chinese Spareribs with Black Bean Sauce and my Air Fryer Chinese Salt and Pepper Pork Chops thought my website, so make sure to check out all the wonderful recipes.

 

You won’t believe how easy it is to make Pressure Cooker Chinese Take-Out Beef and Broccoli, in your Instant Pot, Ninja Foodi or Pressure Cooker. This recipe does not use a ton of brown sugar, nor is it overly sweet. My Instant Pot Beef and Broccoli has that authentic Chinese flavor as I use the ingredients found in great authentic Chinese food. I love authenticity!

Ingredients for Instant Pot Beef and Broccoli

• Beef
• Fresh Garlic
• Chili Peppers
• Potato Starch – see below
• Black Soy Sauce*
• Fish Sauce
• Sesame Oil
• Chinese Five Spice is a popular spice in Asian cooking and adds authenticity to this recipe.
• White Pepper
• Beef Broth 

 

Chuck Roast works wonderfully for this recipe, but you can use Rump Roast or Flank Steak. If using a Sirloin or Skirt Steak, you really don’t even need to pressure cook it, as it will become a bit tough.

*What is Black Soy Sauce?

Healthy Boy Sweet/Black Soy Sauce is my favorite, but sometimes hard to find. The Kecap Manis Brand is terrific and always available on-line. Sweet/Black Soy Sauce is used a lot in Asian cooking, so I suggest you keep a bottle in your arsenal of pantry staples. The flavor is sweet and slightly salty with a thick molasses texture. It adds a nice depth of flavor.

Pro Tip: Black soy sauce that is sweet is different from a product labeled Dark Soy Sauce. Dark soy sauce is extra salty.

 

The meat is then coated in potato starch.

Why Add Potato Starch?

• Coating the meat in potato starch will protect the meat and keep it nice and juicy. You will also notice that when you saute the meat, it won’t stick to the bottom of the pot.
• Using potato starch at this stage will also ensure the sauce has a nice consistency so that you will not need to do a potato starch or corn starch slurry at the end.

Pro Tip: Often times adding a slurry to a pressure cooker recipe will cause a raw starch taste if you don’t get the pot hot enough. To do that, you are chancing over cooking the food.

 

Whisk up the Sauce ingredients into a medium bowl.

Set the Sauce aside until a bit later.

 

Make sure to fully heat up your Instant Pot, Ninja Foodi or Pressure Cooker cooking pot before adding the oil.

A very hot stainless steel pot with the fat added afterwards, makes stainless steel, non stick!

Some multi-pots have a Sauté button, which is handy. If not, any other button which produces heat is fine. Even using the button marked “Meat” will heat up the pot enough.

 

The potato starch sinks into the meat and during cooking releases a bit. This is what gives the sauce some body. Because the starch is under pressure, it will easily combine with all the ingredients and there won’t be any kind of raw taste.

 

More onions can be used. If you like carrots, just slice them on the diagonal and add them in here. There are so many option you can add if you want more than just beef and broccoli!

If you don’t like spice, the red peppers can be omitted. On the flip side, more can be added for those who love lots of heat!

 

Turn this Pressure Cooker Chinese Take-Out Beef and Broccoli recipe into a one pot meal! You will just need these two accessories. One stainless steel flat bottomed insert pan and a Stainless Steel Tall Legged Trivet/Steamer Rack.

If you would like to read more about the method, check out my Pressure Cooker Perfectly Cooked Pot In Pot Rice recipe for step by step instructions as you can make the rice on its own as well. I suggest rinsing the rice and placing it in the pan prior to starting this recipe, so that when you get to the part of adding in the trivet and pan, you are good to go.

 

Alternatively, if you are cooking for a crowd and need a larger portion of rice please use my Pressure Cooker White Rice recipe and cook the rice right in the cooking pot and make as much as you like.

 

Keep the lid on top of the rice to allow it to continue to steam and finish the cooking process. While the rice is steaming, go on to the next step. Your rice will be perfectly cooked by the time the beef is ready.

Remove the cover from the pan of rice and fluff. Your entire dinner has now been cooked in one pot, in under 15 minutes.

 

Another beauty of my Instant Pot Beef and Broccoli recipe is that you can cook the broccoli in the same pot as the beef and broccoli and it will be perfectly cooked and flavored with the fabulous sauce. Broccoli cooks so quickly and my method turns out cooked broccoli with just a bit of a bite, so no mushy broccoli here!

 

Toasted Sesame Oil is something used as a condiment. It adds a nice flavor, but is not necessary. Right before serving, if you like, add in a drizzle and give it a quick mix through.

Pro Tip: Toasted Sesame Oil is used after the food is cooked and adds extra flavoring. Pure Sesame Oil be lost.

 

Sesame seeds are optional. This same recipe can be made using pork or chicken too!

More Instant Pot Chinese Recipes to Make:

• Pressure Cooker Chinese Hot and Sour Soup – start the meal off with a nice bowl of soup!
• Pressure Cooker Chinese Orange Pepper Chicken & Rice
• Pressure Cooker Chinese Take-Out Spicy Orange Beef
• Pressure Cooker Healthy Inside Out “Eggrolls”

Kitchen Equipment and Essentials

• Instant Pot, Ninja Foodi or Pressure Cooker
• J.A. Henckels Classic 8 inch Chef’s Knife
• Amco Advanced Performance 18/10 Stainless Steel Measuring Spoons
• Simply Gourmet (Dry) Stainless Steel Measuring Cups
• Anchor Hocking Glass (Liquid) Measuring Cups
• Rösle Stainless Steel Flat Whisk– a MUST have, probably my most used utensil
• di Oro Living Silicone Spatulas Set
• Porcelain & Bamboo Salt Box with Spoon
• Gravity Electric Salt and Pepper Grinder
• My FANTASTIC Teak Cutting & Charcuterie Board & Compartments
• Ekovana Stainless Steel Pressure Cooker Stackable Pans Set
• Stainless Steel Tall/Short Trivet & Egg Cooker Set
• 3.5 Quart Stainless Steel Mixing Bowl

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