The other night, I was digging around in my deep freezer and found that I had several packages of cubed steak that I’ve never done anything with.  I brought them in, knowing I could figure something out to cook for dinner that night.  I let them thaw out on the counter and decided that I would give the ole Instant Pot a run for the evening’s dinner.  (I’m sure I’ve never told you how much I love my Instant Pot have I?  LOL)

We had purchased a side of beef last year, but I often don’t make anything with cubed steak.  Not because I don’t want to, just because there’s nothing really that comes to my mind when I think of what to make with it.   It kind of gets left in the bottom of the freezer with the other more bizarre cuts of meat.  This time, though, I really didn’t want to run to the store to find anything else, and I figured if I could come up with something in my pantry to put with this, it would save me plenty of money in the long run.  After all, I would have all of the ingredients on hand.  I decided on Cubed Steak & Gravy.  The trick was trying to find something in my cabinet that would make an easy, yet tasty gravy.

My decision not to head to the store, ended up being a GREAT one.  The meal that came out of the Instant Pot that night was much tastier than I expected.  I had found a seasoning packet of Au Jus that was hiding out in the far corner of one of my cabinets and that ended up making THE BEST gravy.  It was a shame I didn’t have time to make mashed potatoes, as it would have been amazing on them.  Instead, we just had a side of green beens, instead.

Enough talking about the process, let’s get to this amazing recipe!

Instant Pot Cubed Steak & Gravy Recipe

Ingredients:

2 pounds cube steak (enough for at least one patty per person in your family)
1 packet of onion soup mix
1 packet of Au Jus Seasoning packet
2.5 cups of water
1 tbsp steak sauce
2 tbsp corn starch

Directions:

• Place meat in Instant Pot

 

• Mix together onion soup mix, Au Jus seasoning packet, steak sauce and 2.5 cups of water.
• Pour over the top of the meat.

• Cook on manual, high pressure for 10 minutes. (UPDATE:  One reader complained that her meat was still tough.  You may want to increase that time to 15 minutes, to make sure your meat does not stay tough.  Mine was perfect at 10 minutes, but it could go a bit longer and still be OK).
• Quick release the pressure.
• All the meat will be stuck together and not looking amazing yet…..

 

 

• Take meat out and put it on a plate.

 

• Stir in 2 tablespoons of corn starch to thicken the gravy and cook on saute for about 5 more minutes until gravy thickens a bit.
• Pour gravy over the meat and serve.

Slow Cooker Instructions:

I know I said this was an Instant Pot recipe, but, in all reality, this recipe would be super simple in the slow cooker, too!  You would place everything in the slow cooker, except for the cornstarch.  Cook it on low for 6-8 hours.  Remove meat.  Stir in 2 tablespoons of corn starch, to thicken gravy.  Then, serve!  It’s an amazingly simple dish to prepare, with great taste, too!