These tender, melt-in-your-mouth beef tips are smothered in a rich mushroom gravy and cooked to perfection in the Instant Pot. It’s a cozy, budget-friendly dinner everyone will love—and it's perfect for busy weeknights!
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Better Than the Rest – Here’s Why:
❌ The gravy is homemade. My recipe does not use canned soup.
✅ Has Even More Flavor! – I’ll show you two easy techniques that will take the flavor in these beef tips to a whole new level!
✅ Budget Friendly: This is an inexpensive meal to make and is great for leftovers! On average, you can buy chuck roast for about $5 a pound. All you need for this recipe is 2 pounds and it will feed about 6 people. And, make sure you keep an eye out…chuck roast goes on sale quite often!
✅ Step-By-Step Guidance – the recipe breakdown gives you step-by-step instructions, expert tips, and ingredient swaps.
Instant Pot Beef Tips: What You Need To Know About This Recipe
- Fork Tender & Flavorful: The Instant Pot works to make the chunks of beef chuck roast incredibly tender and helps infuse the meat with so much flavor! Get that "all-day simmered" flavor in just 1 hour.
- Ideal Sides: The flavorful mushroom gravy begs for something starchy — think cooked egg noodels, buttery mashed potatoes, cooked rice, or a homemade herb ciabatta roll.
- Beef Options for This Recipe: I prefer to use a beef chuck roast and cut it myself since it's a super tender and delicious cut of meat. Sirloin beef tips and filet mignon also work well. You can also buy pre-cut beef stew meat from the meat counter which makes things super convenient!
- Add Some Veggies: If you want to give these beef tips more of a "stew" feel, add diced celery and carrots before cooking on high pressure.
🛒 Ingredients You'll Need
- Beef chuck roast - this is a tender cut of meat and is perfect to use when making beef tips. I recommend buying it from a local butcher if you can, but if not, places like Costco and Sam’s Club usually carry great-quality chuck roast that’s just as tender and delicious.
- Beef broth - I usually go with regular beef broth for full flavor, but feel free to use low-sodium if you’re watching your salt.
- Mushrooms - use any type of fresh mushrooms for this recipe. White or Baby Bella mushrooms are my favorite and work great!
- Onion - white onions are best and produces a lot of flavor. Stay away from red onions because they can be too overbearing. You can also use sweet onions.
- Garlic - skip the jarred version and use fresh garlic cloves. It adds a nice savory flavor to the meat and gravy.
- Onion soup mix - this can be found at your local grocery store in a box. I use 1 envelope for this recipe.
- NOTE: While this recipe uses a packet of dry onion soup mix for bold and savory flavor, rest assured—it’s not the same as using canned condensed soup. Dy onion soup mix has no added fats, no thickeners, and way fewer preservatives.
- Worcestershire sauce - adds an extra savory depth of flavor.
- Butter - you can use either salted or unsalted, but I prefer unsalted as there is a lot of salt being added with the other ingredients. Make sure you use a good quality butter like Kerrigold.
- Bay leaves - adds just the right amount of earthy flavor to the beef tips and gravy. Make sure you remove it before serving.
- Ground thyme - adds a subtle herbed flavor to the gravy.
- Paprika - provides a slightly sweet note to help offset the other savory flavors. I like using smoked paprika, but any regular or sweet paprika works well.
- Onion powder - for an extra onion kick!
- Cornstarch - mixed with water to make a slurry that will thicken the gravy.
- Salt and pepper - for a little extra flavor.
Scroll down to the recipe card below for all the details you’ll need to make this recipe!
👩🏼🍳 Here's Exactly How To Make It
Step 1: Set the Instant Pot to sauté mode and melt the butter.
Step 2: Add the minced garlic and chopped onion to the Instant Pot. Sauté for 2-3 minutes.
Step 3: If the beef is not already cut into cubes, slice the meat into 1- to 1½-inch cubes. Then, add the beef stew meat to the garlic and onion mixture.
Step 4: Brown the meat for 3-5 minutes, stirring every minute or two until all sides are browned.
Step 5: Add the beef broth, sliced mushrooms, the packet of dry onion soup mix, Worcestershire sauce, salt, black pepper, ground thyme, onion powder, paprika, and bay leaf to the sautéed beef and onion mixture. Mix until well combined.
Step 6: Place the lid on the Instant Pot and set it to seal. Set to manual mode on high pressure for 30 minutes. When the cooking time has finished, let the Instant Pot sit for 10 minutes before releasing the pressure. After 10 minutes, turn the steam release knob to the vent and carefully release the remaining pressure. Put the settings back to sauté mode.
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Step 7: To thicken the gravy mix ¼ cup of water and 2 Tablespoons of cornstarch in a bowl until well combined. Using a whisk, slowly pour in the slurry mixture whisking until the sauce begins to thicken. Once it has reached the desired thickness, turn off the Instant Pot.
Step 8: Once it has reached the desired thickness, turn off the Instant Pot and get ready to serve!
Serve your fork tender beef tips and mushroom gravy with pasta, rice, or mashed potatoes for the ultimate comfort food at home!
🙋🏼 Top Questions I Get Asked About This Recipe
A 6‑quart model easily fits 2–3 pounds of beef plus sauce and gravy without crowding
Beef tips typically come from sirloin or tenderloins and can be more expensive. Stew meat often comes from the shoulder, is more budget-friendly, and can become as tender as tenderloins when made in the Instant Pot.
Yes! Cuts of meat that usually take several hours in the oven or in the slow cooker become fork tender in only an hour or so in the Instant Pot.
Meat doesn't have to be seared before pressure cooking, but doing so can help lock in extra flavor and moisture.
Expert Tips
- Thickening The Gravy: it's totally optional, but it does create a richer, silkier texture that pairs really well with starches like egg noodles, mashed potatoes, or rice. A simple cornstarch slurry works well, but for a grain-free alternative, use arrowroot powder (use the same amount as you would cornstarch).
- Finishing Touches: For a finishing touch, add the beef tips to a cast iron skillet to broil on high for 5 minutes until the top is caramelized. This isn't necessary, but it adds an extra depth of flavor that's amazing if you have the time!
- How To Store Leftovers: Store any leftovers in a container with a lid in the refrigerator for 2-3 days.
- Best Way To Reheat: Reheating in a saucepan on the stove top is best, but you can also reheat in the microwave for 45 seconds to 1 minute until warm.
😋 More Chuck Roast Recipes For You To Try!
If you tried this Instant Pot Beef Tips recipe or any other recipes on my website, please let me know how it turned out in the comments below. I love hearing from you! And, please leave a 🌟 rating while you're there!
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Instant Pot Beef Tips
Equipment
- Instant Pot 6 quart model
Ingredients
- 2 Tablespoons butter, unsalted
- 4 garlic cloves, minces
- 1 small onion, finely chopped
- 2 lbs beef stew meat or cubed chuck roast
- 2 cups beef broth
- 1½ cup fresh mushrooms, sliced
- 1 envelope dry onion soup mix,
- 1 Tablespoon Worcestershire sauce
- 1 teaspoon salt
- ½ teaspoon ground black pepper
- ¼ teaspoon ground thyme
- ¼ teaspoon onion powder
- ¼ teaspoon paprika
- 1 bay leaf
- ¼ cup water
- 2 Tablespoons cornstarch
Instructions
- Turn the instant pot on sauté and melt the butter.
- Add the 4 cloves of minced garlic and 1 chopped onion. Sauté for 2-3 minutes.
- Add 2 lbs. of beef stew meat to the garlic and onion mixture. Sear the meat for 3-5 minutes, stirring until all sides are browned.
- Add in 2 cups of beef broth, 1½ cups of sliced mushrooms, packet of dry onion soup mix, 1 Tablespoon Worcestershire sauce, 1 teaspoon salt, ½ teaspoon black pepper, ¼ teaspoon ground thyme, ¼ teaspoon onion powder, ¼ teaspoon paprika, and the bay leaf. Mix until well combined.
- Put the lid on and set it to seal. Set the instant pot to manual mode on high pressure for 30 minutes.
- When the cook time has finished, let it rest for 10 minute before releasing the pressure.
- After 10 minutes, turn the steam release knob to vent and release the remaining pressure.
- Set the instant pot back to sauté mode.
- Mix ¼ cup of water and 2 Tablespoons of cornstarch in a bowl until well combined.
- Using a whisk, slowly pour in the slurry mixture whisking until the sauce begins to thicken.
- Turn the instant pot off and serve over rice, mashed potatoes, or egg noddles.
Notes
- Beef Substitutes: For the most tender and flavorful results, I recommend using a beef chuck roast and cutting it into cubes yourself. It’s a well-marbled cut that becomes melt-in-your-mouth tender when pressure cooked. If you’re short on time, pre-cut beef stew meat from the butcher counter is a convenient alternative. For a leaner option, sirloin tips or even filet mignon also work really well.
- Vegetables: If you want to add some veggies, add diced carrots and celery to the Instant Pot before pressure cooking. They’ll soften and bring a little extra depth to the savory beef and mushroom gravy.
- Thickening The Gravy: it's totally optional, but it does create a richer, silkier texture that pairs really well with starches like egg noodles, mashed potatoes, or rice. A simple cornstarch slurry works well, but for a grain-free alternative, use arrowroot powder (use the same amount as you would cornstarch).
- Broil for a Caramelized Finish: For a finishing touch, add the beef tips to a cast iron skillet to broil on high for 5 minutes until the top is caramelized.This isn't necessary, but it adds an extra depth of flavor that's amazing if you have the time!
- Leftovers & Reheating: Store any leftovers in a container with a lid in the refrigerator for 2-3 days. Reheating in a saucepan on the stove top is best, but you can also reheat in the microwave for 45 seconds to 1 minute until warm.
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