When my family and I are in the mood for some warm comfort food, I often turn to this Instant Pot Short Ribs recipe. I mean, who doesn’t love melt-in-mouth marbled beef and perfectly cooked carrots, sweet daikon, and onions all nestled in a flavorful sauce? Serve it with steamed rice and you have the most soul-satisfying dinner on a weeknight. With the pressure cooking function in the Instant Pot, this beautiful dish comes together in just 30 minutes. It’s magical! If you have only tried and loved the western-style short ribs, the ones that are braised with red wine and served with mashed potatoes, I guarantee that you’re going to enjoy this Japanese version as well. It’s on the lighter side but bursts with sweet-savory flavors.
Why You’ll Love This Recipe
Easily accessible ingredients. I can get all the ingredients in my local American grocery stores. I hope you can find them as well. Time saving and so easy to prepare. A one-pot meal for the win! Toss in the vegetables, sear the meat, hit the button, and viola, dinner is done in 30 minutes. It goes well with any Japanese and Asian dishes. Enjoy as it is with steamed rice, or serve alongside with miso soup and a salad for a well-balanced meal. So delicious! …is what everyone who tried this recipe has said. Tiff said: “I keep coming back to this recipe because it is just SO delicious and easy!” Arlene said: “The Short Ribs were so unbelievably, melt-in-your-mouth delicious.” Lyn said: “This was most delicious and tender.”
How to Make Instant Pot Short Ribs
The Ingredients You’ll Need
Boneless beef short ribs – I used boneless ribs for my recipe, but you can use the bone-in short ribs and cook a little longer. See substitution info below. Onion Daikon radish – It absorbs all the juices and adds sweetness to the sauce. Substitution info is below. Carrot – It adds sweetness to the sauce. Ginger Garlic Green onion/scallion Salt and black pepper Roasted sesame oil – Use it to add a nutty aroma and flavor. Seasonings: salt, black pepper, brown sugar, sake, mirin, and soy sauce
The Cooking Steps
Ingredients Substitute
Beef short ribs – I usually have to ask the butcher to remove the bone for me. I really like this cut for this recipe because the fat and collagen in a beef short rib run evenly throughout the meat, producing that juicy texture. If you can’t find short ribs, you can also use the tender part of beef brisket or chuck roast. Daikon radish – I don’t recommend skipping it, but you can substitute with turnips, parsnips, or jicama. Brown sugar – You can use white granulated sugar, but brown sugar adds more depth and flavor.
Cooking Tips
Cut the daikon radish and carrot into bigger chunks. As we cook the meat and vegetables all together in the pressure cooker, you want slightly bigger chunks of vegetables so that they don’t get too soft and disintegrate easily. Season the beef well with salt and pepper. Salt helps draw out water and enhance the meat’s natural taste. It also makes the piece of meat more delicate and richer in flavor. Don’t skip searing. Searing the beef so that the surface becomes caramelized. This enhances the savoriness and complexity of the taste (this is called the Maillard Reaction). I believe it’s worth spending extra time for the best flavor! You can increase the amount of meat. This recipe is good for 3-4 people. If you or your family are big meat eaters, you can increase the short ribs up to 2½ lb (instead of 1¾ lb written in the recipe). I’ve tried that amount and the dish still came out great. If you increase the vegetables, however, more moisture is released from the vegetables, which will dilute the flavor a bit. So cautiously increase the amount of veggies, or slightly increase the seasonings ahead of time.
What to Serve with Instant Pot Beef Short Ribs
These short ribs are perfect to enjoy alone with rice, but here are some suggestions if you wish to serve it with a more elaborate meal:
Rice: White Rice, Brown Rice. Soup: Vegetable Miso Soup, Kabocha Miso Soup. Salad: Asian Cabbage Salad, Harusame Salad, Japanese Potato Salad. Side Dishes: Kinpira Gobo, Tamagoyaki, Chrysanthemum Green Salad.
Why I Love Pressure Cooking
An Instant Pot (I have this and this) has both slow cooker and pressure cooker functions, but I almost always use the pressure cooker as I don’t prepare dinner early enough to slow cook. Since I work from home, I try to get as much work done as possible while my children are at school. By the evening, I usually have about 30-45 minutes to prep dinner before driving them around for after-school activities. To make these short ribs, all I need is to chop up the vegetables and sear the beef. After all the ingredients go into the pressure cooker, I hit the start button and leave the kitchen. By the time we get home, the food is all cooked and ready to be enjoyed. I also schedule my rice cooker to finish at dinner time so we have freshly cooked rice at the table. While the family is settling down, I quickly prepare miso soup and salad. Thanks to the electric pressure cooker, my family gets to sit down together for a home-cooked meal despite everyone’s busy schedule.
More Instant Pot Recipes
Cooking with an Instant Pot has been a real timesaver. It’s hard to believe that I can cook up a luxurious meal for the family on a busy weeknight! If you’re looking for more comfort foods that you can cook with an Instant Pot, here are some of our favorites:
Instant Pot Pork Belly Instant Pot Slow Cooker Chicken Wings Instant Pot Sticky Asian Ribs Instant Pot Asian Pulled Pork Instant Pot Honey Spare Ribs Instant Pot Takikomi Gohan (Japanese Mixed Rice)
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