Instant Pot Round Steak and Gravy–tender pieces of round steak covered in a flavorful gravy. An easy recipe with only 6 ingredients!
Note: the SLOW COOKER instructions are listed in the recipe card
Instant Pot Round Steak and Gravy
Instant Pot Round Steak and Gravy is a recipe that uses an inexpensive cut of beef called top round steak. It’s delicious but typically needs many hours to cook to achieve tenderness. That’s where the Instant Pot enters the picture! Cooking time is cut down significantly with the pressure cooker. If you’d rather cook low and slow I put the slow cooker instructions in the recipe card below also.
If you love steak and have a family to feed it can be an expensive dinner! With round steak you can feed the family for not much more than what ground beef costs.
This recipe only has a few ingredients…beef, onions, garlic, salt, pepper, onion soup mix and cornstarch (to thicken the gravy). Sometimes the simplest recipes are the tastiest! I know some of you won’t want to use a packet of onion soup mix so you can make your own from scratch.
What is top round steak?
Top round roast is very lean and tough, and thus it’s one of the less expensive cuts of beef. A top round steak is simply cuts from the top round roast into steak size pieces. Round steak is good for slow cooking methods such as braising, Crock Pot meals, Swiss steak, and stews. Typically this cut of meat takes hours of cooking to break down the collagen but with the Instant Pot you can make this entire meal in less than an hour (30 minutes of pressure cooking time plus a natural pressure release).
What should I serve with Instant Pot Round Steak and Gravy?
The steak and gravy tastes amazing served over mashed potatoes. I served them with Instant Pot Easter Bunny Potatoes that are a yellow potato/carrot mix. Try serving the steak, potatoes and gravy with canned or frozen corn or corn on the cob. It makes a perfect homey meal!
More Instant Pot Beef Recipes
Did you know you can filter the recipes on my website to search by meat type, IP or Crockpot, low carb, gluten free, etc. Use the filter to find exactly what you are looking for. Here are some beefy recipes that I know you’ll love…
Instant Pot Po Boy Roast Beef Sandwich
Instant Pot Garlic Butter Steak Bites
Instant Pot French Onion Pot Roast
Instant Pot Traditional Meatloaf
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Instant Pot Round Steak and Gravy
- Prep Time: 25 minutes
- Cook Time: 30 minutes (plus NPR)
- Total Time: 55 minutes
- Yield: 4 servings 1x
Description
Tender pieces of round steak covered in a flavorful gravy.
Ingredients
- 2 Tbsp butter
- Kosher salt and pepper
- 3–4 slices of beef top round steak (this was about 1.68 pounds for me)
- 1 cup diced onions
- 1 Tbsp minced garlic
- 2 cups water
- 1 (1 oz) package Lipton’s onion soup mix
- 2–3 Tbsp cornstarch + 3 Tbsp water
Instructions
Instant Pot Instructions:
- Turn Instant Pot to sauté setting. When display says HOT add in the butter and let it melt. Lightly salt and pepper the steaks and then sear both sides of each steak for about 3 minutes. Remove from pot and set on a plate.
- Add onions into the pot and stir. The onions will help release the browned bits from the bottom of the pot as they release moisture. Let onions get soft, about 4 minutes. Add in the garlic and sauté for 30 seconds.
- Pour in the water and scrape bottom of pot so that nothing is sticking. Stir the soup mix into the water. Turn off Instant Pot. Add in the steaks.
- Cover Instant Pot and secure the lid. Make sure valve is set to sealing. Set the manual/pressure cook button to 30 minutes. When time is up let pressure release naturally for 10-15 minutes. Move valve to venting and remove the lid.
- Place steaks on a plate. Turn Instant Pot to sauté setting. In a small bowl stir together 2-3 Tbsp of cornstarch with 3 Tbsp of water, until smooth. Then pour the mixture into the Instant Pot. The cornstarch mixture will thicken up the gravy quickly. Add salt and pepper to taste. Turn off Instant Pot.
- Serve the steak with gravy over the top.
Slow Cooker Instructions:
- Heat a pan over medium high heat. Add in butter and let melt. Lightly salt and pepper the steaks and then sear both sides of each steak for about 3 minutes. Remove from pan and add to the slow cooker.
- Add onions into pan and sauté for about 4 minutes. Add in the garlic and sauté for 30 seconds. Scrape into the slow cooker.
- Pour water and soup mix into slow cooker.
- Cover and cook on low for 8 hours.
- In a small bowl stir together 2-3 Tbsp of cornstarch with 3 Tbsp of water, until smooth. Then pour the mixture into the slow cooker. Turn slow cooker to high and let the gravy thicken for 10-20 minutes. Add salt and pepper to taste.
- Serve the steak with gravy over the top.
Notes
I used my 6 quart Instant Pot Duo 60 7 in 1*.
- Category: Beef
- Method: Instant Pot or Slow Cooker
*Karen Petersen is a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for sites to earn advertising fees by advertising and linking to amazon.com.
My boys really loved this recipe. It was an inexpensive meal and hearty enough to make them feel well fed. I added mushrooms and baby carrots, and next time will add potatoes and celery. The gravy was delicious!
★★★★★
I love those ideas Debi!
Hi karen, thank you for this wonderful recipe but i also have a question i have 2.5 pounds of beef round steak how much water should i use and do i have to brown the meat before putting it into the crock pot? I never brown my meats before putting into the crock pot and it still comes out great
You can follow the same recipe even with the larger amount of beef. You don’t have to brown it!
Made this as written for my family, and it was delicious. Fall apart tender. Even the two year old had no complaints. Took about an hour from start to finish.
★★★★★
Thanks so much for the 5 stars Liz!
Made this exactly as written and it was tough.
★★
Made this tonight. It was fall apart tender like it had cooked for hours and for only about $7.50/lb. Delicious and thanks for a great recIpe
I’m so glad to hear it! Thanks Gary!
Do I need to defrost my meat before putting it into the pot for this recipe?
I think you could totally do this recipe with frozen meat. Should be great!
Yes, for the most tender results your meat should be fully thawed.
Can you put potatoes in for mashed potatoes at the same time? If so, what kind of potatoes would you use?
How I would do that is plate a tall trivet into the pot on top of the steaks. Then place large, whole peeled Russet potatoes on top of the trivet. Pressure cook as stated. Remove the potatoes with tongs and place in a bowl. Mash and add in milk, butter, salt and pepper. Should work great!
This looks delicious! I am new to instant pot cooking and I need to cook at least 3# of meat to feed my boys. Will this recipe work with that amount of meat?
Yes you can do that!
I have purchased your cookbook and really like it! However, one complaint I have is that there is no index of recipes! Do you plan in the near future to release an index so that it is easier and quicker to locate recipes in your cookbook? I hope so.
There is a dowloadable index here (just scroll down to where it says download): https://www.365daysofcrockpot.com/order-your-cookbook-now/
I am always looking for recipes for less tender cuts of meat. This one hit the spot. I didnt have any dry onion soup so I used a dry Zesty Italian packet. Meat was so tender and it tasted great. Makes up a nice gravy too.
Will definitely be making again.
★★★★★
I bet the Italian packet had good flavor!
Hi Karen,
I’m going to make your recipe. Question, could you use stew cubed beef and slice it thin and saute it per your instructions. Would you cook it for 30 minutes or less time? Thank you
Yes I think you could do that. I would cook it only 15 minutes.
Pressure cooked it for the 30min and it came out great!!
This looks so good Karen. I sure wish I had a Winco near me. The cheapest I could find this cut of meat (and it was difficult to find) was $6.99/lb. I’m still going to make it because it looks like a nice alternative to meatloaf and not something I would have thought of myself. Thanks for all the great recipes and dinner ideas!
Winco is a great store! I was so happy when they built one by me. I would also search the store ads for when the meat goes on sale.
Our Round steak here in Ohio is about the same price Bonnie. Everything has gone up though all over the world cause of COVID
I can’t have all that sodium. Is there any alternative to the onion soup mix? Thank you in advance for any reply. The meal looks delicious!!
Karen provided a link for a home made mix for those who don’t like store bought.
http://www.spendwithpennies.com/homemade-onion-soup-mix/
Hi Karen,
How many pounds per slice of beef do you use? Says 1.68 pounds. It that each cut or all together. Thank you
That was all together
What could substitute for the Onion Soup mix? I just don’t like to use things like this.
Thanks
Pat
As Karen mentioned at the beginning of this post, some ppl may not want to use store bought onion soup mix. Here’s the link she provided.
http://www.spendwithpennies.com/homemade-onion-soup-mix/
Thanks. I need to read more carefully as I know Karen usually offers alternatives for pre-packaged products.
Could I use stewing beef in this recipe instead of round steak?
Yes you could. That would be just fine. You may only need 20 minutes pressure cooking time.