Instant Pot Swiss Steak–an easy vintage recipe made faster in the pressure cooker! Round steak is served with a smoky, peppery, tomato beef sauce.
Note: the SLOW COOKER instructions are listed in the recipe card below
Instant Pot Swiss Steak
Did your mom or grandma used to make swiss steak? This is an updated easy swiss steak recipe that will take you back to the good ol’ days! Take a cheap cut of beef and braise it until fork tender and serve with a delicious flavorful tomato gravy and you have the makings for a great dinner. I literally licked my plate (the sauce was that good). The meat was tender and cut easily.
Why is it called Swiss Steak?
Although many might think Swiss steak comes from Switzerland, in reality, the name comes from the “swissing” technique for tenderizing meat.
What cut of meat is swiss steak?
Usually round steak is used and it is braised over a long amount of time in a tomato based sauce until it is tender. You can use top round, bottom round or sometimes it is labeled as London broil.
What’s the Difference Between Salisbury Steak and Swiss Steak?
A Salisbury steak is made from ground beef that’s formed into a patty. It usually has a beef gravy that is served over the top. Swiss steak is made from actual steak (top or bottom round) and is typically served with a tomato and onion sauce.
Ingredients/Substitution Ideas
I used a 6 quart Instant Pot*. You can also make this in a 3 or 8 quart pot with no changes. I also used a meat tenderizer hammer* that came in handy to pound out the beef.
- Olive oil–or vegetable oil, canola oil
- Celery–used as an aromatic for the sauce
- Yellow onion–or white onion
- Beef broth–or water and Better than Bouillon Beef Base
- Top round or bottom round steak–or London broil
- Minced garlic
- Kosher salt
- Black pepper
- Smoked paprika
- Dried oregano
- Tomato paste
- Worcestershire sauce–to make this recipe gluten free check the label
- Petite diced tomatoes–or crushed tomatoes
- Cornstarch–to thicken the sauce, you can also use arrowroot or all purpose flour
How to make easy Instant Pot swiss steak recipe
Instead of cooking low and slow you can use your pressure cooker to cook swiss steak in a shorter amount of time. With prep time and cook time you can be enjoying tender swiss steaks in an hour.
- Pound out the meat! Use a meat tenderizer hammer* to pound the meat to ½ inch thickness. This is really fun and stress relieving. If you don’t have a meat tenderizer try using a rolling pin or a cast iron skillet.
- Season the steaks: I like to press the seasonings into the meat
- Sauté and deglaze: saute the veggies and then add in the broth and scrape bottom of pot with a wooden spoon so that nothing is sticking.
- Dump in ingredients: by layering the ingredients (for example the tomatoes go on the top not the bottom) you’ll prevent the burn error message.
- Pressure cook: pressure cook for 30 minutes with at least a 15 minute natural pressure release. This will help the meat stay tender. Do not use quick release to release remaining pressure or your meat will turn into a door stop instead of a tender steak.
- Thicken sauce: Stir together a corn starch slurry to thicken the sauce.
- Serve: Serve with rice, mashed potatoes or egg noodles.
Note: try amping up the flavor of this dish by searing the seasoned steaks in oil before pressure cooking them and then deglaze the pot. The browned bits will add lots of flavor to the sauce. You may have to do this in batches.
Can I make Swiss steak without a pressure cooker?
Yes you can! Try using the slow cooker instructions that are listed in the recipe card below. Or you can cook in the oven. You’ll need to cook in the oven (baking dish covered with foil) for 2 ½ hours at 325° F.
What to Serve with Instant Pot Swiss Steak
I like to serve Instant Pot Swiss steak with tomato sauce over rice, mashed potatoes or egg noodles. The sauce is so delicious you’ll want something to soak it all up! For a lower carb option serve over riced cauliflower. I served steamed broccoli and corn on the side which rounded out the meal.
Leftovers/Freezing
Store leftovers in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to 5 days or in the freezer for up to 3 months. To reheat leftovers try using the pot-in-pot method or use your microwave.
How to double or halve the recipe
To double: There is plenty of sauce in this recipe. You may want to just double the amount of meat (and the seasonings you press onto the meat) but not the tomatoes, broth, celery, onions etc. Or you can double everything. Keep the same cooking time.
To cut in half: Halve all the ingredients but keep the cooking time the same. You can do this in the 3 quart pot.
More Easy Instant Pot Recipes with Beef…
Instant Pot French Onion Salisbury Steaks
Instant Pot 3-Ingredient Rump Roast
Instant Pot Southern Hamburger Steaks
Instant Pot Poor Man’s Beef Manhattan
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.
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Instant Pot Swiss Steak
- Prep Time: 20 minutes
- Cook Time: 30 minutes (plus NPR)
- Total Time: 50 minutes
- Yield: 4 servings 1x
Description
An easy vintage recipe made faster in the pressure cooker! Round steak is served with a smoky, peppery, tomato beef sauce.
Ingredients
- 2 Tbsp olive oil
- 2 ribs of celery, sliced or diced
- 1 medium yellow onion, halved and sliced
- 1 1/2 cups beef broth
- 1 1/2 pounds top round steaks (or bottom round steaks or London broil)
- 2 tsp garlic powder
- 2 tsp kosher salt
- 1 tsp black pepper
- 1/2 tsp smoked paprika
- 1/2 tsp dried oregano
- 1 Tbsp tomato paste
- 1 Tbsp Worcestershire sauce
- 1 (14.5 oz) can petite diced tomatoes or crushed tomatoes
- 3 Tbsp cornstarch + 3 Tbsp water
Instructions
Instant Pot Instructions:
- Cut the meat into individual steak portions. Use a meat tenderizer hammer* to pound the meat to ½ inch thickness.
- Season each of the steaks with garlic powder, salt, pepper, smoked paprika and oregano. Press seasonings into the meat.
- Turn Instant Pot to sauté setting. When display says HOT add in the oil, celery and onion. Sauté for about 4-5 minutes. Add in the broth and scrape bottom of pot so that nothing is sticking. Turn off Instant Pot.
- Add in the steaks. Dump the tomato paste, Worcestershire and tomatoes on top of the meat.
- 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 pot sit for 15 minutes and then move valve to venting. Remove the lid.
- In a small bowl stir together cornstarch and water until smooth. Turn Instant Pot to sauté setting and stir in the slurry to thicken the sauce.
- Serve steaks covered in the sauce. Serve with rice or mashed potatoes.
Slow Cooker Instructions:
- Cut the beef into individual steak portions. Use a meat tenderizer hammer* to pound the meat to ½ inch thickness.
- Season each of the steaks with garlic powder, salt, pepper, smoked paprika and oregano. Press seasonings into the meat.
- Add broth, onions, celery, tomato paste, Worcestershire and tomatoes into slow cooker. Stir well. Nestle the meat into the slow cooker.
- Cover and cook on low for 8-10 hours, or until tender.
- In a small bowl stir together cornstarch and water until smooth. Stir mixture into slow cooker and cook on high without the lid for 10-20 minutes until sauce has thickened.
- Serve steaks covered in the sauce. Serve with rice or mashed potatoes.
- 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.
The directions say to put onions, celery and broth in all together and scrape up brown bits. Im assuming the veggies should be sautéed a bit first? I’m going to do it but wasn’t sure.
Thanks
★★★★★
Thanks for bringing this up. I clarified the directions. Yes sauté for 4-5 minutes.
Thanks! I made the recipe sautéing for a bit and it was delicious. Tender steak and wonderful sauce.
★★★★★
Your ingredients call for minced garlic but the directions say garlic powder?
Oops that’s a typo…will correct it now
I found some round steaks that were cut thin would you some amount of time? They are about 1/4inch thick.
I would only cook for 20 minutes instead of 30
Re Instant Pot Swiss Steak – the following is in the instructions: “Pressure cook: pressure cook for 30 minutes with at least a 15 minute natural pressure release. This will help the meat stay tender. Do not use quick release to release remaining pressure or your meat will turn into a door stop instead of a tender steak.”
My question, does the “Do not use quick release to release remaining pressure” refer to after the 15 min NPR? Is so, how do you release the remaining pressure?
Hi Bev, what I meant was: Release any remaining pressure by moving valve to venting after the 15 minute natural release. Do not quick release immediately after the original 30 minute pressure cooking time is up or else the steak won’t be tender.