You may not think about cooking steak in the Instant Pot…but you can! I did it and it tasted pretty darn good. I’ll show you how!

Instant Pot Steak
Do you remember this part of Napoleon Dynamite? When Uncle Rico throws the steak at Napoleon on the bike? Classic.
I love when Napoleon says, “Grandma just called and said you’re supposed to go home…she said she doesn’t want you here when she gets back because you’ve been ruining everybody’s lives and eating all our steak.”
Hopefully you will want to eat the Instant Pot steak instead of throwing it! I was skeptical on how steak would turn out in the Instant Pot. I just didn’t know how it would go. Both Greg and I were pleasantly surprised. It tasted good and was quite tender.
First off I bought the cheapest steak that was on sale. It was boneless petite sirloin steak for $4.99 a pound. Not bad. Then I seasoned the steak up and seared it in the Instant Pot using the sauté setting. Finally I pressure cooked it for just 1 minute on top of a trivet. I let the pressure release naturally for about 5 minutes and then moved the steak out of the pot. I served the steaks up with a baked potato and some broccoli. It was a great dinner.
One thought about Instant Pot steak is that it isn’t a great way to make steak if you’re looking to cook many steaks at the same time. There isn’t a ton of room to sear the steaks in the bottom of the Instant Pot so if you’re doing 3 or less steaks it would be fine but more than that and you’ll have to work in batches.
Notes/Tips
- I used petite sirloin steaks but you can also use rib eye steaks.
- Serve with baked potatoes and roasted vegetables.
- I used my 6 quart Instant Pot*. You can also make this in a 3 or 8 quart pot.
- Store leftovers in an airtight container* in the refrigerator for up to 5 days or in the freezer for up to 3 months.
- Can you overcook steak in the Instant Pot? YES! It’s so easy to overcook steak. So make sure to only use a zero or 1 minute pressure cooking time.


Instant Pot Steak
- Prep Time: 20 minutes
- Total Time: 20 minutes
- Yield: 2–3 servings 1x
Description
Tender seasoned steaks cooked in your Instant Pot!
Ingredients
- 1/2 tsp black pepper
- 1/2 tsp garlic powder
- 1/4 smoked paprika
- 1/2 tsp kosher salt
- 1/4 tsp onion powder
- 2 (8 ounce) boneless petite sirloin steaks
- 1 Tbsp olive oil
Instructions
- In a small bowl stir together the pepper, garlic powder, paprika, salt and onion powder.
- With a paper towel pat the steaks dry. Rub the seasonings on both sides of the steaks.
- Turn Instant Pot to sauté setting. When display says HOT add in the oil and place the steaks into the pot. Let the steaks sit (don’t move them) for 2 minutes. Flip them over with tongs and let them sit for 2 more minutes on the other side.
- Turn off the Instant Pot. Move the steaks out of the pot onto a plate. Pour in 1 cup of water and scrape the bottom of the pot so nothing is sticking. Place a trivet into the pot. Place the steaks on top of the trivet.
- Cover the Instant Pot and lock the lid into place. Make sure valve is set to sealing. Set the manual/pressure cook button to 1 minute for medium well or 0 minutes for medium. When time is up let the pot sit for 4-5 minutes and then move valve to venting. Remove the lid.
- Use tongs to place steaks on serving plates. Let them sit for just a couple of minutes to before slicing. Eat and enjoy!
- Category: Beef
- Method: Instant Pot
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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.

*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.
I was wondering the same thing.
Karen it sounds like if you like your steak rare the Instant Pot is not an option. Would you agree?
I wouldn’t use the pressure cook function if you like rare steak. It will be overdone to your tastes. you can use the saute setting to cook the steak though just like you would in a pan on the stove.