As with most blogs, if you click a link in this post it is probably an affiliate, which kicks us back a commission if you make a purchase… so if you were planning on it anyway, we just get a cut of whatever you would already pay. Like if you need a new Instant Pot, you could buy it through that link and pay the same as you would by searching it on Amazon… only difference is if you buy through our link, it either buys us a bougie coffee or contributes to keeping this blog up and running! Ok, so now that we have covered that… as crazy as some people may think this is, I’ll let you in on another little secret. Our family likes our steak fully cooked. Yep, cooked thoroughly, all the way through, a little charred on the outside even sometimes. It’s an unpopular preference but we are thinking that maybe there are others out there who share it.
This recipe is a good way to make a tougher cut of meat a lot more tender and far tastier than any other method we have used. If you have an Instant Pot (which I’m guessing you might if you’re checking this recipe out) then you know that most things are better when cooked under pressure. If you don’t have one then what are you waiting for?! Seriously. It’s a game changer in the kitchen. We used to make this recipe on the stove top and it took ages plus the meat was nowhere near as flavorful and tender as the instant pot gets it. This recipe has been on the back burner for awhile but I expedited it when someone asked about cooking steak in the IP. I hope you find this to be a tastier way to enjoy tougher cuts of meat!
Make sure that if you are using anything other than 3/4 inch thick grass fed chuck steak you consider how tender you like your meat and maybe adjust the time up. The cool thing about the IP is you can always put it back in to cook a few minutes longer if it isn’t to your liking then do a quick release and eat:-) To give you an idea, we like our meat tender enough to chew, but not fall apart so the 7 minutes cook time after a thorough sear, followed up with browning afterward yielded the results we desired when making the recipe. If you like your meat more tender I would recommend increasing the cook time anywhere from 10-15 minutes or even more, depending on your preference and thickness/cut of meat.
This gravy packs a punch of flavor as we are big fans of high spice dishes. Please take this into consideration and maybe try using less spice or thickening the gravy with a roux rather than reducing, as suggested by Rachel in the comments. If you are accustomed to very flavorful dishes then it may be just fine for you as is 🙂
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| Prep Time | 10 minutes |
| Cook Time | 5 minutes |
| Passive Time | 20 minutes |
| Servings |
8-12 people
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- 4 lbs chuck steak (3/4 inch thick)
- 3/4 cup beef broth
- 1/4 cup clean barbecue sauce (sugar and additive free for Whole30)
- 2 tbsp red palm oil (or other heat-stable fat of choice like butter or coconut oil)
- 1/2 tsp turmeric
- 1 tsp sea salt (plus more for initial salt & pepper season)
- 1/2 tsp garlic powder
- 1/2 tsp chili powder
- 1/4 tsp allspice
- 1/4 tsp curry powder
- 1/2 tsp dulse flakes (optional)
- 1/2 tsp kelp flakes (optional)
- 1/4 tsp coriander
- salt and pepper to season
Ingredients
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|
- Start with turning your IP on to the saute function
- Liberally salt and pepper your steak on all sides
- Mix all dry seasonings together in a small bowl
- Drop in 1 tbsp oil to IP
- Sear steak on all sides, set on plate when done and turn off IP
- Use about 4 teaspoons of seasoning mix to season all side of the steaks, place them back in IP, stacked on each other if need be.
- Put broth and BBQ sauce into bowl with remaining spices, mix well
- Pour broth mixture over steaks and close lid, turn knob to sealing
- Push the meat setting and adjust time to anything from 7 to 15 minutes, depending on the thickness of your steak and desired tenderness.
- Start your rice, potatoes or other starchy veggie.
- When timer goes off carefully turn knob to release using a folded over thick kitchen towel
- Remove steaks and put on a plate, cancel IP then push the Saute button to reduce liquid to a thick gravy, (stir/scrape the bottom occasionally to check on it during the next steps, turn off IP when it is almost as thick as you like it)
- Get your veggies in another pan to start steaming or sauteing
- Turn a frying pan on medium high with 1 tbsp palm oil, brown the steaks on both sides, put back on plate as they're done
- Serve your steaks with gravy and a side of veggies, rice or starchy veggies!
Optional-Thicken the gravy with a roux rather than reducing if you aren't into strong flavors, make sure that if you aren't using 3/4 inch thin steaks that you adjust the cook time up accordingly. Feel free to prepare a side of rice, potatoes, sweet potatoes or other starchy veggies and fresh or frozen non-starchy veggies-we like white rice and steamed onions and cabbage! Let us know how you served it up by commenting below!
I followed the recipe exactly and served it with rice, corn and fresh oranges. The flavor of the meat was good. The gravy was strong. Next time I would probably not reduce it and just add something to thicken it, as is. The chuck steak was not tender at all after 7 minutes. Next time I’ll set the time for longer. Thanks!
Thanks for the feedback Rachel! With our 3/4 inch grass fed chuck steaks, thoroughly seared and fried afterward we ended up with tender enough to chew comfortably but not fall apart by any means. I realize “tender” can be ambiguous and I am sorry to hear that the tenderness wasn’t to your liking the first time around! Definitely add some time to it, I would suggest (for fall apart) maybe even going up to 15 minutes, we find it to be a good amount of time for a thinner cut to be really tender, by our standards 😉 With a thicker cut of stew meat, pot full, large chunks, up to 35 minutes was necessary! I think that there can be so many variables and am happy to hear that you plan to customize this to your preference next time. As for the gravy, we definitely are accustomed to strong spices, I think you have a great idea to not reduce it if strong gravy isn’t your jam.
Is chuckeye steak the same as chuck steak? I’m looking for a chuckeye recipe and wonder if this will work?
Hi Kari!
I am not 100% sure what the difference between chuck and Chuck eye is, but it may be similar enough! The idea of this recipe is to use a tough cut of meat so I’d say most tough cuts would likely work.
We’ve tried a few different tough cuts like stew meat, round steak and sirloin but haven’t tried them all.
Definitely cut it into small chunks as directed and adjust the time up if it’s a tougher cut than grass fed chuck steak.
You can always put it in for a few more minutes if it’s finished and not to your liking, IP tends to pressure up faster the 2nd time like that.
Please also adjust the spices down a little if you’re not a fan of strong gravy☺ I hope it turns out great!
I did adjust the spices and it turned out great!!! My husband was sad when he found out there were no leftovers. ? I’ll definitely be making again soon. 7 minutes of pressure worked just right. Thank you for the recipe idea.
I’m so glad to hear it! I ended up making it last night too lol, used a bit thicker chuck steak, just one, a little thicker than 1″ and not cut up.
I adjusted the time up to 20 minutes (since it was whole and a significantly thicker cut) and it was great for my taste-would’ve been too soft for my husband. I used just about the same amount of spices and it was really strong which I prefer 🙂
At 3/4 inch, I went 12 minutes on the Instant Pot with 3/4 beef bouillon and pepper, it turned out great!
Yay! That is awesome to hear, thank you for sharing, Pat! I will try your beef bouillon variation at some point too-we love to change the spices up with this recipe 🙂
Hi Amanda! Congrats on making it so far on your Whole30! If you like your steak super tender you can use the same time or adjust down slightly. If you cut time fully in half you may need to put it back in for an additional few minutes until it is to your liking. We’ve only run into issues of using meat which ends up needing to be cooked longer and put it back for a few minutes at a time until it’s done… I hope that helps! Please also consider adjust the spices if you are sensitive to strong flavor-we tend to have pretty flavorful recipes for some people’s taste. Thanks so much for visiting our blog and I hope the steak works for you! We’d love to see/hear how it turns out ?
I’m excited to make this tonight! We are halfway through our first whole 30 and I have been looking for compliant recipes! The church steak we have is half the size of the one in he recipe. Should I cut the time down by half? I’m new to the IP (only my second time using it) and don’t want to ruin the meat! Thank you!
It was amazing!!! I ended up cooking for a total of 14 minutes and it was tender enough to cut with a fork! So so good! Thanks for sharing!!
Fyi- chuck eye steak is the “eye” of the chuck steak. Every chuck steak has an eye, and a chuck eye steak is much smaller than a chuck steak. Chuck is right next to the rib, so a chuck eye is flavored the same as a rib eye, it’s just a tougher cut of meat. The eye of the chuck is more marbled and a little more tender than the rest of the chuck.
Thanks so much for stopping by and lending your expertise to us!
Had two chuck roast steaks weighing 3 lbs. Already had chicken broth open but added to it 1.5 T low sodium beef granules. Didn’t have any curry powder so split in half adding cumin and turmeric. Cut the allspice down to 1/4 tsp and erroneously omitted the coriander. We like garlic so used full amount. Also, added 1 T dried onion flakes. My husband had all teeth extracted and has yet to get the false teeth in so, like to get meat really tender - falling apart for him. Instructions were unclear when cooking if was to use high or low pressure. Cooked high for 20 minutes the top piece was still bloody and tough. Turned back on low for 25 min. Bottom piece was perfectly done so, we ate that one. Reduced liquid some putting it on meat and potatoes very good.
Found a chili recipe for tomorrow night that will be making with the left over meat! And, I saved the juice to add to the chili too. Also, a pressure cooker recipe so, it should be good and tender when done.
Hi Mary,
This is great! I am so glad the recipe ended up working out for you and it is so awesome to see people experimenting with what they have and finding ways to create something new from our recipes! As for the pressure, with the original IP we got when this was created, the pressure setting is defaulted when using the “meat” setting as indicated, we also used 3/4 inch thick steaks. I am curious about the long cook time needed so we will revisit with the same size steaks you had, do you know how thick they were?
Your comment brings up a great point that depending on the IP model, the pressure setting may be a question. My understanding is that the meat setting is universal, but please let me know if you don’t have one and we can look into what options we can offer for future recipes!
Thanks again and I hope the chili was good!
-Jennifer and Roy
I only had 2.5lbs of chuck steak but mistakenly doubled the spices. I left out the curry, allspice and optional items because I didn’t have them. I did. It thicken nor reduce the gravy and it was perfect! I am definitely making this again. Served with brown rice and green beans.
Tried this recipe tonight. I had a 2lb chuck steak and put it in for 14 min. Will put in for for 20 next time. I plan on putting what’s left back in for 7. I also appreciated the chili idea.