Tender brisket in half the time with the pressure cooker! Perfect for Passover dinners or Sunday lunches. Simple blender sauce.
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My family always cooked our Passover breast in the oven, low and slow. It’s delicious, but takes over three hours to prepare! This year I wanted to see if I could speed up the process with a pressure cooker.
With a pressure cooker, like the Instant Pot, you can make tender, deeply flavored brisket with a thick, rich gravy in about half the time! (New to Instant Pot? Check out our post How To Use an Instant Pot: A First-Timer’s Guide.)
Video: How to make Instant Pot Beef Brisket
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Instant Pot Beef Brisket
keep kosher
When making this brisket recipe for Passover, be sure to purchase a kosher brisket along with “kosher for Passover” brands of red wine and ketchup.
If you celebrate under very strict kosher laws, you might also want to make sure your condiments are labeled “kosher for Passover.” Online stores like Rockland Kosher Supermarket are great resources for ingredients if you can’t find them in your area.
This is how you get the best flavor out of your brisket
The sauce gets a lot of flavor from the seared meat, so don’t skip this step! Give the brisket a good six minutes on each side to brown deeply and thoroughly.
After the brisket is seared, quickly sauté the onions and garlic until they release their liquid and the onions begin to brown. As it cooks, scrape off any browned bits left over from searing the breast—these make the broth extra flavorful!
Easy gravy with your brisket
Oh, and another great bonus of pressure cooking: you can make the sauce right in the pot! Use an immersion blender to whisk the onions and garlic into the cooking liquid for a thick, rich sauce.
This also means that there is no need to remove any stuck dirt at the end of the cooking process. How much better does it get?
More recipes for a great Passover dinner
- matzo ball soup
- coconut macaroons
- Apple Sweet Potato Mazzo Casserole
- Charoset with apples, dates and walnuts
- Boiled eggs with horseradish and dill
Instant Pot Beef Brisket
Instructions for cooking in the oven: Follow directions for searing the breast, cooking the onions, and tossing the other ingredients as directed in the pressure cooker recipe in a Dutch oven or other heavy saucepan with a lid over medium-high heat. Make sure the fat cap is facing up when you return the brisket to the pan. Cover the pot and place in a 325F oven to cook for 3 hours until the breast is tender.
make-ahead instructions: Prepare the brisket as directed, allow to cool and refrigerate separately. Refrigerate the onions and garlic separately. Pour the cooking liquid into a storage container and cool separately. The next day, scrape and discard the solidified fat from the liquid. Heat the cooking liquid, onions, and garlic in the pressure cooker or medium-sized saucepan. Using an immersion blender or in a blender, blend the cooking liquid, onions and garlic into a thick sauce. Warm the brisket in the sauce before serving.
ingredients
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2 1/2 to 3 1/2 lb beef brisket (certified kosher if required)
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1 1/2 teaspoon kosher salt, divided
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1/2 teaspoon ground black pepper
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1 tablespoon olive oil
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3 Middle yellow onionscut
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3 big carnations Garlic, peeled off
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1/2 Cup water
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1/2 Cup dry red wine
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1/4 Cup Ketchup
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1 teaspoon dried rosemary
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1 teaspoon dried thyme leaves
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1 teaspoon paprika
method
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Prepare the brisket:
Rinse the brisket and pat dry with paper towels. If your brisket has more than 1/4 inch of fat, trim off the excess. Season with 1 tsp salt and ground pepper on both sides.
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Fry the brisket:
Select the “Sauté” program on your pressure cooker, set it to the highest setting and add the oil to the pan. (If using a pressure cooker, heat the oil over medium-high.)
Using tongs, lower the brisket, fattest side down, into the saucepan and cook for 6 minutes. Turn it over and sauté for another 6 minutes. Both sides should be a rich, dark brown color.
Transfer the fried brisket to a plate.
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Cooking onions and garlic:
Set your pressure cooker to the medium “sauté” setting. (If you’re using a pressure cooker, reduce the heat to medium.) There should be plenty of fat left in the pan after searing the breast; If not, add another teaspoon or two of olive oil to cook the onions.
Add the onions, garlic, and remaining 1/2 teaspoon salt. Cook, stirring frequently, until onions are soft and beginning to brown, about 10 minutes. Scrape the bottom of the pot while stirring the onions to help loosen any browned bits from the bottom of the pot.
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Stir the water, wine, ketchup, and seasonings into the onions and garlic.
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Prepare the brisket:
Use tongs to lower the seared breast back into the pressure cooker with the side with the most fat facing up. Put the lid on your pressure cooker. Make sure the pressure regulator is in the “Sealing” position.
Select the “Manual” program and then set the time to 50 minutes at high pressure. (For pressure cookers, cook on the stovetop at high pressure for 45 minutes.)
It takes about 10 minutes for your pressure cooker to reach pressure and then the actual cooking begins. The total time from closing the pressure cooker to the finished dish is about 60 minutes.
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Release the pressure
You can either do a quick depressurization by switching the vent from seal to vent, or you can depressurize the pot naturally (this takes about 20 minutes). (For stovetop pressure cookers, do a quick depressurization.)
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Separate the brisket, onions, and cooking liquid
Use tongs to place the breast on a plate or cutting board. Strain the cooking liquid into a fat separator and catch the cooked onions and garlic in the colander.
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Make the sauce:
Return the drained onions and garlic to the pressure cooker pot. Pour the cooking liquid from the fat separator back into the pot and discard the remaining fat. (If you don’t have a grease trap, wait for the grease to rise to the top of the liquid, then skim off as much as possible.)
Using an immersion blender, blend the cooking liquid, onions and garlic into a thick sauce. (Alternatively, you can put the liquid, onions, and garlic in a blender to puree. Fill the blender no more than half full, and be careful of the steam as you open the blender jug.
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Serve:
Slice the brisket into thin (1/4-inch) slices against the grain. Pour the sauce over the breast and serve hot.
| nutritional information (per serving) | |
|---|---|
| 519 | calories |
| 36g | Fat |
| 7g | carbohydrates |
| 38g | protein |
