Looking for a well-balanced pressure cooker recipe? Try Nikujaga, a comforting Japanese home cooked dish, featuring sliced meat, vegetables & potatoes simmered in dashi broth.
Ever since I fell in love with pressure-cooking foods using my Instant Pot, I’ve been trying to convert some of my favorite stovetop recipes to pressure cooker recipes. Today I’m sharing a classic Japanese home cook dish, Pressure Cooker Nikujaga (圧力鍋で作る肉じゃが).
What is Nikujaga?
Nikujaga, or Meat and Potato Stew (I’m not fond of the translation much), is one of the classic Japanese “mother’s recipes”. I have a regular non-pressure cooker Nikujaga recipe here. Do you have dishes like that in your cuisine? We call this type of dish “ofukuro no aji (おふくろの味)”. It means the flavors/tastes that you are used to and feel nostalgic about, after eating mother’s cooking for years.
Nikujaga is a staple dish to many Japanese. My dad likes potato dishes, so my mom made Korokke and Nikujaga often in her meal rotation when we were growing up. Nikujaga for me is definitely true comfort food.
Simple 4 Ingredients
Niku (肉, にく) in Japanese means meat. Jaga is a shortened word from Jagaimo (ジャガイモ), which means potatoes in Japanese. So Nikujaga always includes meat and potatoes.
Usually, potatoes and thinly sliced beef or pork are simmered in dashi-based soup, seasoned with the standard Japanese condiments – soy sauce, sake, mirin (and sometimes sugar).
Besides meat and potatoes, there are onions and carrots. These four ingredients are almost always in any variety of Nikujaga.
To add some color to this mostly-brown-dish, one type of green vegetable is tossed in at the end, typically green beans or snow peas. Some recipes include shirataki noodles, but they are optional.
Cooking Tips
I want to share some helpful tips that you can consider implementing when you make this recipe.
- Sauté for more flavors – Sautéing foods first just like you would usually cook on the stovetop adds extra taste. So spend several minutes to brown the meat and vegetables, before adding other liquids and cooking under pressure.
- Cut ingredients into different sizes – Cut the meat into smaller chunks, but luckily many Japanese recipes require thinly sliced meat so you don’t have to worry. If you are cooking a bigger cut of meat, then cut the vegetables slightly bigger than you would usually cut for conventional cooking. That way, the required time to cook each ingredient will be similar. Different ingredients require their own cooking time for the ideal texture and flavor in a pressure cooker. Ideally, for pressure cooking, you want to add and cook ingredients at different time intervals. This is especially true when mixing different types of foods (meat, potatoes, vegetables, etc.). You should start with ingredients that take a long time to cook, such as meat. Since I don’t want to open the pressure cooker halfway through to add the vegetables, I cut my vegetables slightly bigger so they don’t get mushy.
Why I Love Cooking Nikujaga in the Pressure Cooker?
My family and I love Nikujaga. I enjoy the smell of cooking while it’s on the stove. However, I got busier with my work (blogging) and kids’ after-school activities, and I couldn’t find the time to cook Nikujaga anymore. We all missed eating our favorite Nikujaga.
Thanks to the Instant Pot, Nikujaga started to appear on our dinner table once again. Although I would rather stay around in the kitchen watching my Nikujaga being cooked, the best part about Instant Pot is that I can actually leave the house while food is being pressure-cooked. I am not worried about the house being on fire or not having dinner when we go home.
P.S. Just so you know, my Instant Pot recipes are not sponsored by the company. Although they did send me this Instant Pot to try, I’m sharing my recipes because I am very passionate about this cool gadget that could help you make fantastic meals on weeknights.
To quickly explain, this Instant Pot is a 7-in-1 Multi-Functional Cooker. It can be a rice maker/porridge maker, steamer, sauté/browning, yogurt maker, and warmer, but I mostly use the pressure cooker and occasionally slow cooker function.
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Pressure Cooker Nikujaga
Video
Ingredients
- 10 green beans
- 1 onion
- 1 carrot
- 2 potatoes (I use Yukon gold potatoes as they don‘t break easily compared to russet potatoes)
- 1 package shirataki noodles (7 oz, 198 g)
- ½ lb thinly sliced beef (chuck or ribeye)
- 1 Tbsp neutral oil
- ⅛ tsp Diamond Crystal kosher salt
For the Seasonings
- 1 Tbsp sugar
- 1 cup dashi (Japanese soup stock) (use standard Awase Dashi, dashi packet or powder, or Vegan Dashi)
- 3 Tbsp mirin
- 2 Tbsp sake
- 3 Tbsp soy sauce
Instructions
- Gather all the ingredients.
- Cut 10 green beans in half or thirds. Bring water to a boil in a small saucepan.
- Blanch the green beans for a few minutes until tender. Drain and set aside.
- Cut 1 onion into wedges, then cut them in half.
- Peel and cut 1 carrot into rolling wedges (we call this cutting technique rangiri).
- Peel and cut 2 potatoes into quarters and soak them in water for 10 minutes to remove the starch.
- Open 1 package shirataki noodles and drain the liquid. Cut the shirataki noodles into thirds (or shorter length).
- Cut ½ lb thinly sliced beef (chuck or ribeye) into smaller pieces.
- Press the Sauté button on your Instant Pot (I use 6 QT Instant Pot) and heat 1 Tbsp neutral oil.
- When the pot is hot, sauté the onion. When the onion is coated with oil, add the meat and stir all together.
- Add the potatoes and carrots. Then, add the shirataki noodles.
- Add 1 Tbsp sugar, 1 cup dashi (Japanese soup stock), 3 Tbsp mirin, 2 Tbsp sake, and 3 Tbsp soy sauce.
- Cover and lock the lid. Make sure the steam release handle points at Sealing and not Venting. Press the Keep Warm/Cancel button on the Instant Pot to stop sautéing. Press the Meat/Stew button to switch to the pressure cooking mode. Press the – (minus) button to change the cooking time to 15 minutes.
- If you’re using a stove-top pressure cooker, you won’t have the buttons to press. Just cook on high heat until high pressure is reached. Then, reduce the heat to low but maintain high pressure for about 15 minutes.
- When it is finished cooking, the Instant Pot will switch automatically to the Keep Warm mode. Slide the steam release handle to the Venting position to let out steam until the float valve drops down, OR let the pressure release naturally (takes about 15 mins).
- Unlock the lid and taste the Nikujaga. If necessary, season with ⅛ tsp Diamond Crystal kosher salt. Toss in the blanched green beans to heat up a little, and transfer to a serving dish.
To Store
- You can keep the leftovers in an airtight container and store in the refrigerator for up to 3 days and in the freezer for a month. Potatoes will change their texture, so I recommend removing them first before freezing.
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[…] Nikujaga – Sliced beef slow cooked with potatoes, shirataki noodles, and onion in a delightful soy dashi. Here is the quick Instant Pot Nikujaga recipe. […]
Hi! Thank you for the Nikujaga recipe. I just bought an Instant Pot, and I am a little intimidated. I made rice, but I want to make nimono. I have burdock root, carrot and konnyaku. Thank you!
Hi Enna! Welcome to the IP club. 🙂 Which part of IP do you feel intimidated by? There is no hissing sound and if you release naturally, you don’t need to be afraid of it at all (and you can stay away from the kitchen all times). 🙂
This was delicious! Thanks for the recipe 🙂
Thanks so much for trying this recipe, Mag!
Hi,m! Would this recipe work in a slowcooker?
Hi Julie! Yes! It should work in a slow cooker (but I’ve never tired it before). 🙂
I made this tonight in my CrockPot Express (their version of the instant pot) and it tasted AMAZING. The potatoes were soft enough to cut with the side of a spoon, and the meat was deliciously tender. The soup was perfectly seasoned and flavored.
Your instructions are always very clear and I appreciate the work that went in to making this instant-pot ready. I will be making this regularly! So easy, so tasty, and not hard to make leftovers for tomorrow.
Thanks you again for all your hard work.
Hi Nessa! Thank you for trying this recipe! I’m so happy to hear you enjoyed this recipe. 🙂
Glad to know that my instructions are easy to understand (I just don’t like long sentences, so my recipe instructions are pretty short. :D).
Thank you for your kind words and feedback!
I am SO excited to try this recipe out tonight in my instapot! I love nikujaga (definitely a comfort food growing up), but until recently the city I’m living in hasn’t had a grocery store selling sukiyaki beef. I’ve tried various meat markets and asked for the thinnest cut of beef but it’s definitely hit or miss… Thanks for experimenting with traditional recipes and adapting for the instapot! It’s perfect because I have a parent-teacher conference this evening but dinner will be done when I get home. 🙂
Hello Myooks! When I used to live far from a Japanese grocery store, I had trouble with thinly sliced meat as well. None of butcher could slice thin enough because they try to slice the soft meat. You have to freeze to get that thinly slice. So I did slice my own. Here’s the tutorial:
https://www.justonecookbook.com/how_to/how-to-slice-meat/
Hope you enjoyed the IP Nikujaga! 😀
Well, I tried this recipe this afternoon, using an Instant Pot Duo Mini (the 3 quart version with a couple fewer buttons, but otherwise what you have), and I found out two things…
(a) You recipe fits in a 3 quart mini pressure cooker nicely, It had more than enough open space under the max fill line, so no worries about over-filling there.
(b) IT WORKS. And it works nicely too. I was especially impressed by how deeply and thoroughly the flavors of the dashi and seasonings penetrated the potatoes, and I think a little more than the usual methods. (To my mind, Nikujaga is really about the potatoes– the meat’s more there to add flavor to them, as is everything else) and they were certainly properly cooked. But more importantly, I was able to use the time that would have been spent constantly checking the pot to make certain it hadn’t boiled dry in other pursuits– since an Instant Pot doesn’t boil dry (unless, perhaps, you leave it cooking for a month?).
Thanks for the surprisingly functional recipe. I didn’t quite expect it to work– I’m very glad it does!
Hi Robert! Hahaha, thank you for your kind feedback. I usually test my recipes several times before I actually share on the blog, so my recipes should work – but I understand everyone has different kitchen experience with different gadgets and skills, so I can’t expect all will come out equally, but I won’t share any recipe if it’s not worth everyone’s time to try. 🙂
Glad to hear you liked this recipe, and thank you for letting me know that you used IP mini! Your feedback will be so valuable for others who have the mini or some people thinking about buying one. Thank you again!
WOW! Maybe it’s because I’m new to this whole pressure cooker phenomenon, but I never expect how much flavor is going to be in these Instant Pot recipes in just 15 minutes of cooking. This recipe is so flavorful!
I have a question out of curiosity. What meats would be good to use in this aside from beef? I love beef but I’m trying to eat less of it for health reasons. My boyfriend can only eat poultry or fish. I know there are chicken shabu-shabu slices that could work for this (hard to find precut though). I am really curious if you could make this recipe with fish? I know it wouldn’t taste the same as with beef, but I wonder if it’s worth a try? Hmmmmm.
Hi Lion! I’m glad you are enjoying cooking in your IP! 🙂
In Japan, Nikujaga is always cooked with beef or pork, but they are usually thinly sliced (like paper thin). It cooks faster and easier to eat as the meat could get tough. Ground meat can be used too.
I’ve seen thinly chicken slices in Asian grocery store. In Japan we don’t usually have thinly sliced chichen as we don’t use it in our cooking, but that could work for your BF? Hope chicken won’t be too dry and tough though. If you don’t mind, you can cut the chicken into cubes (but use Japanese “Sogigiri” technique – https://www.justonecookbook.com/how_to/sogigiri/).
Fish…. hmm… I’m afraid it might become flaky? Have to figure out not to burn on the bottom of the pot without moving the fish around too much as they break into pieces. Have you had a chance to try already? Sorry about my late response….
I’ve made a variation on this recipe twice in my instant pot now, and it’s excellent!
I omitted the noodles (to lower the carbs) and the green beans (just because I didn’t have them on hand), and swapped in the same amount (230g) of skinless chicken thighs for the meat. This second time I put in more carrots and the flavor was a little weaker, so I think if I make it again with extra vegetables, I’ll up the amount of sake, mirin, etc.
Large potatoes work fine too, but if you don’t chunk them small enough, the soup won’t reach all the way to the inside of the potato. Some of my (russet) chunks were a bit large this time, and though they were soft the whole way through, the inside was still white. It wasn’t an issue for taste, but I think in the future I’ll chunk them smaller.
I’m looking forward to making a batch of this for my next potluck gathering.
Hi Mary! Wow I’m so happy you’re making different variations of this recipe already! All sounds delicious! Thanks for sharing tips and for your kind feedback. xo
Well as to omitting the noodles because of carbs…
I guess you’re not familiar with Shirataki noodles. They’r basically konjac (konnyaku) in a noodle form. It’s far from a standard western ingredient. And well, here’s the thing…
Shirataki haven’t GOT any carbs–at least none to speak of. They’re not made from any grain or starchy root, unlike most noodles– they’re made from a tuber that is turned into a sort of carb-less, calorie free gel that’s mostly water and dietary fiber. They don’t have a lot of flavor on thier own, but they will absorb the flavors of things around them. They’re popular as a diet food in Japan because they, well, aren’t fattening, period. You’d probably get more carbs in a bowl of styrofoam peanuts. (I do not recommend trying that.)
So, if you can find them, go ahead and try them. Personally, I don’t care for them, and have no fear of carbs, so when I make Nikujaga I omit them and make up the missing bulk with an extra potato or two. But a lot of people love them, so why not see if you’re one of them?
I love your youtube channel and website! Can you put up more Instant Pot recipes?
Thank you! I’m working on the new IP recipe now. 🙂
Hi! Thank you for your recipe. I have made it both with the Instant Pot and in a regular pot. The step where you take off the “scum” in the regular pot really make a difference. However, when I make it in an Instant Pot, I notice the “scum” layer isn’t there to take off. It definitely tastes fattier. How can I get that “scum” layer off when I use the Instant Pot? Thanks!
Hi Tracey! Japanese people diligently pick up scum and foam on the simmered dishes, stews, and soups. Only way you can do with Instant Pot is to use “Saute” mode until it boils, then once boiling, you’ll start scum so you pick it up. Then turn off Saute mode and pressure cook. You can’t pick up during cooking, so you need to try it as much as possible before pressure cooking. After pressure cooking, all the “stuff” is mixed up, so you can’t pick up anymore. 🙂 Hope this helps!
I love all your recipes, especially the pressure cooker ones. I would really love it if you published a Pressure Cooker Japanese Beef Curry! Your Pressure Cooker Japanese Chicken Curry is a BIG HIT in family, including my daughter’s boyfriend who is Japanese.
Thank you very much!
Hi Cherry! I’m so happy to hear you enjoy my recipes! You can swap with stew beef (beef stew cut) and beef stock. Compared to my Beef Curry recipe (https://www.justonecookbook.com/japanese-beef-curry/), it’s probably less flavors but it’s pretty delicious! I make it often too. 🙂 Seafood Curry recipe (pressure cooker) is coming soon…. 🙂
Hi Nami, I made this pressure cooker nikujaga last night. It was simple and delicious. I love your recipes, thank you so much!
Jo
Hi Jo! I’m so happy to hear you liked this recipe! Thank you for trying this recipe and writing your kind feedback! 🙂
Hi, could you please advise whether I should use the shabu-shabu or sukiyaki cut of beef for this dish? Also, I am planning to make a large portion of nikujaga for 12 elderly folk who may have trouble chewing, so I need to use an especially tender type of beef. Would you suggest A3 or A4 marbling? (I think A5 may be too fatty for them.) I don’t own a pressure cooker so will be cooking the nikujaga on the stove-top.
Hi Elaine! Sukiyaki meat is thicker. I like thinner shabu shabu meat for this recipe. 🙂 To me, rib eye steak is the right amount of fat for this recipe, and doesn’t have to be marbling meat. I suggest thinly slice it, and cut into shorter length. 🙂