Owen's Famous Beef Shanks
Instant Pot beef shanks — rich, tender, and practically effortless. Pull from freezer 24 hours before cooking.
Serves 2 servings (dinner for 2 + lunch for 2 next day)
Ingredients
- 2 beef shanks (about 2-3 lbs total)
- Olive oil
- Salt
- Pepper
- Dried thyme
- 1 yellow onion, diced
- 3-4 cloves garlic, minced
- 1 tablespoon tomato sauce
- 1/2 cup red wine
- 1 cup beef broth (or 1 bouillon cube dissolved in 1 cup hot water)
- Dried rosemary
- 1-2 bay leaves
- Optional:
- Frozen carrots
- Frozen celery
Instructions
- Pull shanks from freezer to fridge 24 hours before cooking.
- Turn Instant Pot to sauté. Add a drizzle of olive oil. Season the shanks with salt, pepper, and a sprinkle of dried thyme. Sear each shank about 3 minutes per side until nicely browned. Set aside on a plate.
- Add the diced onion and minced garlic to the pot. Sauté for 2-3 minutes until softened.
- Add the tomato sauce and stir it around for about 30 seconds.
- Pour in the red wine and scrape up all the brown bits from the bottom. Let it simmer for about a minute.
- Add the beef broth, a sprinkle of dried rosemary, and the bay leaves.
- Turn off sauté. Place the shanks back in the liquid. If you want carrots and celery, toss them in around the shanks now (frozen is fine).
- Close lid, set valve to sealing. Pressure cook on high for 45 minutes.
- Natural release for 15 minutes, then quick release remaining pressure.
- Pull out the shanks. Remove the bay leaves. The liquid in the pot is basically a rich gravy already — spoon it over the shanks when serving.
Notes
**Timing:** Start at 3:15 PM to eat by 5:00 PM.
**Leftovers:** Good for 3-4 days in the fridge. The broth gets even better the next day. Reheat shank in the broth in a pot or microwave.
**Freezer pull:** Just the shanks. Optional frozen carrots and celery. Everything else is pantry stuff — olive oil, onion, garlic, tomato sauce, wine, bouillon cube, dried thyme, rosemary, bay leaves, salt, pepper.
BeefDinnerInstant pot