Tender, juicy, pull apart quick and easy Pressure Cooker Shredded Beef that can be used in many different recipes from mexican to pasta to sandwiches and burgers. Minimal prep, with hints of chilli, tomato and smoked paprika, this shredded beef taste like its been slow cooked for hours, but its on the table in only 70 minutes.

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You'll Love This Recipe Because...
- Its a true one pot dish so less mess and cleaning up
- It's tender, pull apart smoky beef that tastes like its been slow cooking all day, but cooked in a fraction of the time
- It's 15 minutes of prep!
- It's versatile and can be used in so many different ways, from mexican dishes, to pastas
What Goes Into This Dish
The spices are an unusual combination of ground chilli powder, smoked paprika, ground cumin and ground nutmeg which create a harmonious blend of sweet, earthy and spicy all in one.
But the secret ingredient combination is the worcestershire sauce and white vinegar with the garlic and honey as it creates that depth and balance that really works with red meat. And it makes the flavour of the meat pop,
How To Make This Recipe
Note: Full printable recipe instructions are included below in the recipe card
- Prepare the Beef: Chop into 8 evenly sized chunks so that it cooks quickly.
- Brown the Beef: Set the Pressure cooker to “Sear on High” and set timer for 15 minutes. Cook in batches until sealed on all sides, then set aside.
- Saute onions and garlic.
- Stir through spices.
- Add tomatoes, worcestershire sauce, vinegar, water and honey, stir through to combine.
- Add meat back into the pressure cooker. Select the menu by pressing the PRESSURE COOK button. Make sure valve is sealed and set to cook for 55 minutes.
- Release steam valve, remove lid and remove meat from cooking liquid
- Thicken the cooking liquid with a cornflour slurry
- Shred the meat using two forks and return to pot and stir through the thickened cooking liquid.
What To Make With Smoky Shredded Beef
This is a great recipe to make for a crowd because it can be used in so many ways. Think family gatherings, birthdays, game days, special events and more. It can go a long way, especially if you're creating food for a crowd or party.
The Usual Suspects
- Tacos - hard or soft, small or jumbo, anything goes.
- Burritos - why not a burrito bowl, layered with soem brown rice, shredded lettuce, tomato, beans, cheese, avacado and sour cream.
- Enchiladas - grab some tortillas, add shredded beef, place in a baking tray, pour over your favourite tomato salsa, grated cheese and bake until golden.
- Quesadilla - grab a wrap, on one half place grated cheese, chopped tomato and black beans, and pop in a toaster.
Other Interesting Ideas
- Pasta - boil you favourite pasta and mix in some shredded beef, or create a pasta bake with some different cheeses
- Baked Potatoes - bake a potato in the oven, slice, and stuff with shredded beef, cheese, spring onions, tomato, avocado and sour cream.
- Toasted Sandwiches - grab you favourite bread, pickles or fermented vegetable, and cheese of course.
- Burgers - nothing beats a shredded beef burger with a tangy slaw. Brioche, sliders, or turkish. So many decisions.
Expert Tips
- More Spicy - add an extra teaspoon of ground chilli powder
- Less Spicy - don't add in any ground chilli powder
- Make Ahead - make this recipe the day before you need it and keep it in the fridge in an air tight container.
- Make a half batch - reduce all ingredients by half, however keep the cooking time the same.
Recipe Questions
Beef Brisket is definitely my favourite and I find it shreds easily. Alternatively you can also use Chuck Steak/Round Round. Just remember to trim off any excess fat.
Two standard dinner forks fine to shred beef that has been cooked for an appropriate amount of time.
This may happen for a number of reasons - perhaps the pieces of beef were too big and need a longer cooking time, or maybe the cooking valve wasn't sealed properly on the pressure cooker.
Either way, pop it back into the pressure cooker (with the cooking liquid) for another 15 minutes (making sure the valve is sealed)
More Pressure Cooker Recipes
- Pressure Cooker Lamb Shanks
- Pressure Cooker Beef Rendang Curry
- Pressure Cooker Coconut Beef and Corriander Curry
- Pressure Cooker Beef Massaman Curry
- Pressure Cooker Beef Masala
- All Pressure Cooker Recipes
Pressure Cooker Shredded Beef
Equipment
- Pressure Cooker
Ingredients
- 1.5 kg/ 3.3 pounds Beef Brisket - see note 1
- I large Brown onion - diced
- 4 tablespoons crushed garlic
- 400 grams / 14.5 oz Canned Diced Tomatoes - 1 can
- 2 teaspoons Ground Cumin
- 2 teaspoons Smoked paprika
- 1 teaspoon Ground Chilli
- 1 teaspoon Ground Nutmeg
- 2 tablespoons Worcestershire Sauce
- 1 tablespoon White vinegar
- 2 teaspoons Raw honey
- 1 cup Water (tap water, room temp)
To thicken sauce
- 2 tablespoons Cornflour
- 2 tablespoons tap water
Instructions
- Set the Pressure Cooker to “Sear on High” and set timer for 15 minutes
- Chop the beef brisket into 8 evenly sized chunks, discarding any fatty bits
- Brown the beef on all sides, in two batches (4 pieces at a time). Set aside on a plate.
- Add diced onion and garlic to pressure cooker pot. Stir for 1 minute until onion becomes translucent.
- Add cumin, chilli powder, nutmeg and smoked paprika. Stir through.
- Add the canned tomatoes, Worcestershire sauce, vinegar, water and honey. Stir through until combined
- Add the meat back into the pressure cooker
- Select the menu by pressing the PRESSURE COOK button
- Select the “MEAT/POULRTY” setting and adjust the cooking time to 55 minutes.
- Press start to commence the cooking process. (make sure pressure valve is set to “Seal”
- Once timer has gone off, release pressure valve so steam can escape. Remove the lid, careful of any steam.
- Remove meat from pressure cooker pot and place into separate bowl (casserole dish is ideal). Shred the meat using 2 forks, and set aside.
Thicken The Sauce
- Mix cornflour and water in a cup. Pour into the sauce (still in the pressure cooker pot). Stir through and it should thicken the sauce quickly. Add shredded meat back in and stir through again.
To Serve
- Serve the meat with your favourite Mexican dish – in tacos, in a taco bowl, burritos, on top of nachos.
Notes
- Buying Brisket: I buy my brisket in 2 pieces of equal weight 750 grams each. I then cut each piece into quarters so its easier to handle and cooking time is reduced. Trim any large pieces from the brisket before browning.
- Cooking Brisket: The smaller the pieces, the shorter the cooking time. I tend to avoid cooking the brisket in one whole piece as it takes longer and is harder to shred the meat.
- Browning Tip: to speed up the browning, you can heat a pan on the stove and do it that way as this can save time waiting for the pressure cooker to heat up. Browning in the meat is an important step in this recipe as it seals and locks in the flavour of the meat.
- Shredding: Remove meat from pressure cooker to shred. Use 2 forks and a cutting board, shredding one piece of meat at a time and setting aside in a bowl. Avoid trying to shred the meat whilst still in the pressure cooker, its difficult and time consuming!
- Ideas of where to use shredded beef:
- Tacos - hard or soft, small or jumbo, anything goes.
- Burritos - why not a burrito bowl, layered with soem brown rice, shredded lettuce, tomato, beans, cheese, avacado and sour cream.
- Enchiladas - grab some tortillas, add shredded beef, place in a baking tray, pour over your favourite tomato salsa, grated cheese and bake until golden.
- Quesadilla - grab a wrap, on one half place grated cheese, chopped tomato and black beans, and pop in a toaster.Pasta - boil you favourite pasta and mix in some shredded beef, or create a pasta bake with some different cheeses
- Baked Potatoes - bake a potato in the oven, slice, and stuff with shredded beef, cheese, spring onions, tomato, avocado and sour cream.
- Toasted Sandwiches - grab you favourite bread, pickles or fermented vegetable, and cheese of course.
- Burgers - nothing beats a shredded beef burger with a tangy slaw. Brioche, sliders, or turkish. So many decisions.
- More Spicy - add an extra teaspoon of ground chilli powder
- Less Spicy - don't add in any ground chilli powder
- Make Ahead - make this recipe the day before you need it and keep it in the fridge in an air tight container.
- Make a half batch - reduce all ingredients by half, however keep the cooking time the same.
- Cook in Oven: Brown the meat in a pan on the stove and set aside. Cook onion and garlic, until onion is translucent, and the spices and cook 1 minute. Add the rest of ingredients and stir through for 1 minute. Add sauce to a large casserole dish, along with the meat. Cover with a lid, or tightly cover with foil, and bake at 180 degrees C/350 degrees F for 2 hours.
Nutrition
Note: Sugars contained in this recipe are from naturally occurring sugars in fruits, vegetables or other natural sweeteners. Calories have been calculated for your convenience using My Fitness Pal and are based on the ingredients listed in the recipe card.
shanila
Made this today, didn't change a thing and the whole family loved it.