Favorite Instant Pot Recipe: Pressure Cooker Short Ribs. Boneless short ribs are cooked with daikon and carrots in a savory sauce until moist and tender. A beautiful dinner gets done in 30 mins!
The weather has been pretty cold these days and I’ve been longing for nice comfort food. Today I’m going to share one of my favorite pressure cooker recipes – Pressure Cooker Short Ribs.
I’ve been in love with my Instant Pot ever since I started using it. It’s really a timesaver and I highly recommend it for busy moms. So far on my blog, I’ve shared Pressure Cooker Anko (Red Bean Paste), Pressure Cooker Pork Belly, and Slow Cooker Chicken Wings.
Watch How To Make Pressure Cooker Short Ribs 牛バラ肉と大根煮（圧力鍋）の作り方
Melt in your mouth pressure cooker short rib is simply amazing, marbled boneless short rib cooked with daikon and carrots in a savory sauce.
Easy Pressure Cooker Short Ribs Recipe
The short ribs are so tender and very delicious. If you use the bone-in short ribs, the meat comes off bone too. Daikon radish absorbs all the juices and makes the sauce sweet. I highly recommend not skipping daikon and carrots because they give so much flavor to the short ribs and the juice in the cooking pot.
Thanks to my Instant Pot that’s cooking our dinner while we’re gone, all I need to do is to chop vegetables and season the meat. I do sear the meat prior to pressure cooking, though.
When you sear the meat over high heat, the surface of the meat becomes caramelized. This enhances the savory meaty taste and adds complex layers of nutty and bitter flavors (this is called Maillard Reaction). I think it’s worth spending extra time here for the great taste.
After all the ingredients go in, I hit the start button on Instant Pot, and off we go!
Instant Pot Pressure Cooker
Instant Pot has both slow cooker and pressure cooker functions, at first I used slow cooker function but these days I’m only using it as a pressure cooker. Why? Because it fits my needs as a busy mom to get dinner ready at the last minute without too much cooking time.
Since I work from home, I try to get as much work as possible while my children are at school. By the evening, after children’s homework is done, I usually have about 30 minutes to prep dinner before we head out to their daily Karate lesson.
By the time we come home, the food is all cooked and ready to be enjoyed in the Instant Pot, and steamed rice has been cooked in my rice cooker (I usually set up my rice cooker with the timer before picking up my kids from school).
While kids wash their hands, change their clothes, and help me set up the table, I quickly prepare additional dishes like miso soup, salad, or stir fry veggies. Despite everyone’s busy schedule, my family gets to sit down together for home cook meals. The best part? I only spent about 30 minutes in the kitchen prepping even though these short ribs taste like I spent hours in the kitchen cooking them. 😉
Excellent Wine to Enjoy with Pressure Cooker Short Ribs
For this delicate dish, we paired it with 2012 Dolin Estate Pinot Noir – Santa Rita Hills. We wanted a lighter red to match with tender short ribs and flavorful daikon, and not overpower the dish. The grapes for this wine comes from Santa Rita Hills, just a bit north of Santa Barbara. The area’s cool weather is great for growing Pinot Noir. After harvest and fermentation, these grapes were aged for 20 months in French oak barrels.
How did we like the wine? We loved it! The pairing worked really well. As you raise the glass close to your nose, you can already smell the familiar scent of pinot noir. I would describe the smell as fresh berries and reminds me of the beautiful spring season. The initial taste is refreshing, light, and full of intense fruit and berry flavors. The body is silky smooth and the wine feels really young and sweet. The finish is very clean, and you can taste a bit of spice. It’s a great wine to enjoy by itself as well!
Japanese Ingredient Substitution: If you want to look for substitutes for Japanese condiments and ingredients, click here.
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- 1 knob ginger (1", 2.5 cm)
- 2 cloves garlic
- 1 onion
- 3 inch daikon radish (7.5 cm)
- 1 carrot
- 1 green onion/scallion
- 1 ¾ lb boneless short ribs (800 g) (See Notes)
- kosher salt or sea salt (use half if using table salt)
- Freshly ground black pepper
- 1 Tbsp sesame oil (roasted)
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Gather all the ingredients.
- Thinly slice the ginger and crush garlic cloves in a garlic press (or simply mince them).
- Cut the onion in half and cut the halves into 5 wedges.
- Peel the daikon and cut in half lengthwise, and cut into ½ inch (1.3 cm) slices.
- Peel the carrot and cut into bite sizes. I use Japanese cutting technique called “Rangiri”. Cut the carrot diagonally while rotating it a quarter between cuts. This not only makes an attractive shape that is good for stews and simmered dishes, but also gives the pieces bigger surface space to absorb seasonings faster.
- Cut the scallion/green onion into thin rounds and save them for garnish.
- Cut the short ribs into 1 inch (2.5 cm) pieces.
- Pat all sides of the short ribs dry with paper towels so the steak will sear easily.
- Season with kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper.
- Press the “Sauté” button on your Instant Pot and heat 1 Tbsp. sesame oil. When the pot is hot, add the short ribs. If you have more than specified amount of short ribs for the recipe, you might need to do this step in 2 batches.
- Until the meat is nicely seared, do not turn or toss the meat. When the meat is nicely seared on all sides, transfer to a plate.
- Add the onion and sauté until they are tender. You don’t need to caramelize onions, but this extra step adds more flavors.
- Add the garlic, ginger, and short ribs.
- Add 2 Tbsp. brown sugar, 2 Tbsp. sake, 4 Tbsp. mirin, and 4 Tbsp. soy sauce.
- Mix the seasonings and add daikon and carrot. Mix all together.
- 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 cooking. Press the “meat/Stew” button to switch to the pressure cooking mode. Cook under pressure for 35 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 30 minutes.
- When it is finished cooking, the Instant Pot will switch automatically to a “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 15-20 mins). Unlock the lid and transfer to a serving dish. Garnish with scallion/green onion.
Short ribs: Alternatively, beef brisket or chuck roast works. Cook for about 45-50 minutes.
Equipment you will need:
Recipe by Namiko Chen of Just One Cookbook. All images and content on this site are copyright protected. Please do not use my images without my permission. If you’d like to share this recipe on your site, please re-write the recipe in your own words and link to this post as the original source. Thank you.
