Instant Pot · Autumn and winter
Instant Pot Beef Shank Soup
Shanks cooked until the meat leaves the bone, then potatoes added for a short second cook so they stay in pieces. A clear bowl, not a thick stew.
About 2 hours · Serves 6 · About 10 cups
“All eyes look to you, and you give them their food at the proper time.”
Ingredients
- 3 cross-cut beef shanks, about 2 ½ pounds
- 1 tbsp avocado oil or beef tallow
- 1 onion, chopped
- 2 celery stalks, chopped
- 3 carrots, cut into coins
- 4 garlic cloves, smashed
- 6 cups water
- 2 tsp fine salt, plus more to finish
- ½ tsp black pepper
- 2 sprigs of thyme
- 1 bay leaf
- 1 ½ lb potatoes, cut into large chunks
Method
- 1
Pat the shanks dry. Set the pot to sauté. Heat the avocado oil or tallow and brown the shanks on both sides, in batches. Set them aside.
- 2
Cook the onion and celery 3 minutes. Add the garlic, water, salt, pepper, carrots, thyme, and bay, and scrape the bottom. Return the shanks. Six cups looks like a lot. This is soup, and the meat will sit in the liquid rather than above it.
- 3
High pressure for 45 minutes. Natural release for 15 minutes, then release the rest. The meat should be ready to leave the bone. If it is still tight, cook 10 minutes more before you add the potatoes.
- 4
Lift out the shanks. Discard the bay and thyme. Pull the meat off the bones, discard the hard gristle, and return the meat to the pot. Leave the marrow in if you want it, or stir it into the broth.
- 5
Add the potato chunks. High pressure for 4 minutes. Quick release. The potatoes should be tender and still in pieces. If you had put them in with the shanks, they would have collapsed. Taste for salt.
From the kitchen
- Pearl barley can take the place of the potatoes. Use ¾ cup, rinsed, and give it 12 minutes at high pressure after the meat is done, then a quick release. Barley drinks liquid, so have a kettle of hot water ready if the soup is thicker than you meant.
- Skim the fat once the soup has sat for a few minutes, or chill it and lift the cap of fat the next day. Shank soup is better on the second day.
- A whole uncut shank needs 70 minutes in this much water before you pull the meat. The potato timing does not change.
My note
Kept on this device, beside the recipe, for the next time you cook it.
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