Instant Pot Italian Beef
This easy Instant Pot Italian Beef is an amazing low carb pressure cooker beef recipe, that doubles as a quick Italian Beef Sandwich recipe with pepperoncinis!
Why We Love This Instant Pot Italian Beef Recipe
Slow-cooked beef, so tender it pulls into shreds and melts in your mouth, is one of life’s true pleasures.
Although there are all sorts of ways to season and prepare beef like this, Classic Italian Beef is a personal favorite. It offers a deep meaty flavor, laced with herbs and tangy pepperoncini peppers.
The best, most shreddable beef needs to either be cooked in a pressure cooker or cooked low and slow for many hours. I chose to use the Instant Pot here so that I can get dinner on the table in no time!
The tangy sauce with pepperoncinis perfectly balances the savory beef. You can enjoy this Instant Pot Italian beef on its own as a low carb option, or pile it high on sub rolls and cover it with provolone cheese!
What Kind of Meat Do You Use for Italian Beef?
Although any sort of beef roast could be used, I find you get the most flavor and the best texture from a chuck roast. Cooked under high pressure, the chuck roast turns out super tender and shreds easily!
However, if you happen to have another type of beef roast in the freezer, go for it!
In the original Italian Beef recipe, the beef was shaved into thin slivers. Yet most home cooks do not own a commercial meat slicer. Therefore we’ve changed the recipe to a shredded beef variation.
It offers the same flavors and appeal, with less equipment or time involved.
Ingredients for Italian Beef
- Beef Chuck Roast – Perfectly marbled with fat for the best shredded beef.
- Butter – Start the onions and garlic off in butter to release their flavors.
- Red Onion – Sliced, not chopped.
- Garlic – The more the merrier!
- Pepperoncini – Use mild or hot peppers, making sure to reserve some juices from the jar for the recipe.
- Worcestershire Sauce – To accentuate the deep beefy flavor.
- Beef Broth – Used instead of wine for a low carb paleo version.
- Sugar – Just a small amount of brown sugar (or palm sugar) balances the tangy ingredients.
- Italian Seasoning – This dried Italian herb blend puts the I in Italian, featuring oregano, basil, rosemary, thyme, and marjoram.
- Crushed Red Pepper – For a flavor kick!
How to Make Instant Pot Italian Beef
Set the Instant Pot on Sauté. Add the butter, onions, and garlic. Sauté for 3-5 minutes to soften the onions.
Meanwhile, cut the beef chuck into 4 large chunks. Once the onions are soft, place the beef down in the bottom of the Instant Pot. Add the pepperoncinis, pepper juice, Worcestershire sauce, beef broth, sugar, Italian seasoning, and crushed red pepper.
Lock the lid into place. Then set the Instant Pot on the Meat setting, or Pressure Cook High for 50 minutes.
Once the timer goes off, turn off the pressure cooker. Perform a Quick Release. Once the steam valve drops, it’s safe to open the lid.
Use tongs or forks to shred the beef into the juices. Taste, then salt and pepper as needed.
Serve as is for a low carb meal, or serve on sub rolls with provolone cheese and enjoy!
Can I Cook Italian Beef in the Slow Cooker?
If you prefer using a slow cooker, so you can set-and-forget your beef roast all day, go for it! Simply add all the ingredients to the crock pot and cook for 8-10 hours on low, or 5-6 hours on high!
But for those who don’t usually think about dinner until they are driving home in the evening, the Instant Pot method is the answer to perfectly tender beef and peppers.
In my original slow cooker beef recipe, I add wine to the cooking broth to deepen the flavor.
You can make Chicago-style Italian Beef in the oven as well. However, if you want to make it in the least amount of time, a pressure cooker is the best option.
However, here we are trying to keep the recipe low carb, so feel free to skip the wine… And for very low carb (keto) skip the sugar as well.
See Our (Printable) Pressure Cooker Italian Beef Recipe + Video Below. Enjoy!
Frequently Asked Questions
Italian beef was invented in Chicago, in the 1930s, but an Italian immigrant and restaurant owner. As the story goes, in a pinch Al Ferreri stretched a beef roast to feed over 150 people by shaving it extra thing and serving the meat, soaking in its juices, on bread. This led to a sandwich shop chain that has been making beef sandwiches this way for decades.
This Italian beef recipe is low carb on its own. If you are sticking to a strict low carb, paleo, or ketogenic diet, skip the traditional bread! You can adjust this low carb beef recipe to be even lower in carbs by taking out a little bit of sugar. However, I feel it does help balance the overall flavor. Consider adding a sweetener like stevia of erythritol instead of sugar.
Leftover Italian beef can last in the refrigerator for 4-5 days in an airtight container. I usually add some of the juices from the Instant Pot with the beef to keep it nice and juice, while also adding extra flavor.
If you use mild pepperoncinis, it’s not spicy at all. You can adjust the spice level by buying mild, medium, or hot peppers! Red pepper flakes add a little bit of a kick too. If you are sensitive to spice, feel free to omit this!
Serve Italian Beef With…
For quick Instant Pot Italian beef sandwiches, pile the beef on sub rolls. Lay a slice of provolone cheese (or mozzarella cheese) over the top. Set it under the broiler for 1-3 minutes to melt the cheese. Serve with a side of the “au jus” cooking liquid for dipping. Be sure to serve your Chicago-style Italian beef sandwiches with all the best sides, too!
For traditional Italian sides, go with:
- Giardiniera Pickled Vegetables
- Best Italian Pasta Salad
- Sausage Stuffed Banana Peppers
- Minestrone Soup
For low carb options try:
- Keto Cloud Bread
- Low Carb Magic Mug Bread
- Cauliflower Rice
- Lemon Butter Roasted Asparagus
- The Best Sautéed Mushrooms
Other Great Instant Pot Recipes
- Instant Pot Mushroom Risotto Recipe
- Homemade Instant Pot Applesauce Recipe
- Instant Pot Perfect Carnitas Recipe
- Instant Pot Green Chicken Curry Recipe
- Instant Pot Italian Chicken Orzo Recipe
- Best Instant Pot Baked Beans Recipe
- Instant Pot Kung Pao Chicken Recipe
- Instant Pot Butter Chicken Curry Recipe
- Instant Pot Chinese Sesame Chicken Recipe
- Easy Swedish Meatballs Recipe (Crockpot & Instant Pot)
Instant Pot Italian Beef Recipe
Ingredients
- 3 1/2 pounds boneless beef chuck
- 4 tablespoons butter (pork fat for paleo)
- 1 large red onion, peeled and sliced
- 6 cloves garlic, peeled and minced
- 20 pepperoncini peppers (mild or hot)
- 1/4 cup pepperoncini juices
- 1/2 cup Worcestershire sauce
- 1 cup beef broth
- 2 tablespoons brown sugar (or palm sugar)
- 1 tablespoon dried Italian seasoning
- 1/2 teaspoon crushed red pepper
Instructions
- Set the Instant Pot on Sauté. Add the butter, onions, and garlic. Sauté for 3-5 minutes to soften the onions.
- Meanwhile, cut the beef chuck into 4 large chunks. Once the onions are soft, place the beef down in the bottom of the Instant Pot. Add the pepperoncinis, pepper juice, Worcestershire sauce, beef broth, sugar, Italian seasoning, and crushed red pepper.
- Lock the lid into place. Then set the Instant Pot on the Meat setting, or Pressure Cook High for 50 minutes.
- Once the timer goes off, turn off the Instant Pot. Perform a Quick Release. Once the steam valve drops it’s safe to open the lid.
- Use tongs or forks to shred the beef into the juices. Taste, then salt and pepper as needed.
- Serve as-is for a low carb meal, or serve on sub rolls with provolone cheese.
This is one of our favorite recipes – so tender and full of flavor!
Thank you for all of your helpful suggestions!
This was so tender and delicious. Putting it in rotation for sure.
My husband really loved it! Thanks for the recipe!
Italian beef sandwiches, our family loves them!!
A great pressure cooker recipe.
I don’t have an instant pot but this looks so good!!! I NEED to get one!!
Any advice on converting this to a crockpot/slow cooker recipe?
Thanks!
Never mind, I found the link. Silly!
How spicy is this? It sounds delicious but I don’t like a lot of spice & kids won’t either.
Hi Tara,
If you use mild pepperoncini, it’s not spicy at all. :)
My family loves this recipe! And I love how quickly it comes together!
This turns out so tender and flavorful!
SO GOOD. I love the addition of the pepperoncini!