Instant Pot · Autumn and winter
Instant Pot Beef Shanks
Cross-cut shanks, seared, then cooked under pressure until the marrow softens and a fork slides in. Longer than stew meat, because the shank is full of sinew.
About 1 hour 45 minutes, mostly hands-off · Serves 6 · 4 shanks
“He satisfies you with good things.”
Ingredients
- 4 cross-cut beef shanks, about 1 ½ inches thick, 3 pounds total
- 1 ½ tsp fine salt
- ½ tsp black pepper
- 1 tbsp avocado oil or beef tallow
- 1 onion, sliced
- 3 carrots, cut into large pieces
- 4 garlic cloves, smashed
- 1 tbsp tomato paste
- 1 ½ cups beef broth
- 2 sprigs of thyme
- 1 bay leaf
Method
- 1
Pat the shanks dry and salt and pepper both sides. Set the pot to sauté. Heat the avocado oil or tallow and brown the shanks in two batches, about 3 minutes a side, so the meat sears and the pot does not steam. Set them on a plate.
- 2
Add the onion and cook 3 minutes. Stir in the tomato paste for 30 seconds. Pour in the broth and scrape every browned bit off the bottom. A stuck bit is what sets off the burn notice later.
- 3
Return the shanks in one layer if they fit. Tuck the carrots, garlic, thyme, and bay around them. The liquid should come partway up the meat, not drown it. The pot should not be more than two-thirds full.
- 4
Lock the lid. High pressure for 50 minutes. Let the pressure fall on its own for 20 minutes, then release the rest. A quick release on a full pot of hot shank sprays, and it also leaves the meat tighter.
- 5
A fork should twist into the meat beside the bone with little resistance. If it still springs back, lock the lid and cook 10 minutes more at high pressure, then release. Discard the bay and thyme. Rest 10 minutes.
- 6
Scoop the marrow from the bones at the table. It is the reason to buy the shank cross-cut instead of stew meat. Spoon the juices over the meat. Salt at the end if the broth was unsalted.
From the kitchen
- These times are for cross-cuts about 1 ½ inches thick. Pieces closer to 2 inches want 60 minutes. A whole shank that has not been sliced across the bone wants 75 to 80 minutes, and it may need to be cut in half to fit the pot.
- Do not substitute a lean round steak and expect this tenderness. Shank goes soft because of the connective tissue, and only after a long cook.
- The juices are worth keeping. Chill them, lift off the fat, and use the broth for the shank soup or for barley the next day.
My note
Kept on this device, beside the recipe, for the next time you cook it.
Alongside this
Instant Pot
Instant Pot Pot Roast
A chuck roast, onion, and carrots, cooked under pressure until a fork goes through without arguing.
About 2 hours, mostly hands-off
Instant Pot
Instant Pot Beef Stew
Cubes of chuck, carrot, and potato in a tomato broth. A shorter cook than the whole roast, because the pieces are small.
About 1 hour 15 minutes
Instant Pot
Instant Pot Whole Chicken
A four-pound bird, seasoned and cooked on a cup of broth. The meat is done in about half an hour. The skin crisps under the broiler if you want it.
About 1 hour