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Our Instant Pot Steak Pizzaiola Recipe is the perfect family meal! Made with seasoned steak and a delicious tomato pizzaiola sauce, this simple pressure cooker recipe is hearty and filling, with so much flavor. Kids and adults both love this classic, tender steak dinner!
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What is steak pizzaiola?
Also known as carne pizzaiola or carne alla pizzaiola, steak pizzaiola is a traditional Italian dish – literally “meat in pizza style”!
This hearty family favorite grew popular thanks to The Sopranos, but its claim to fame is only part of what makes this dish so special. It’s budget-friendly, kid-approved, and easy to whip up with hardly any effort and simple ingredients.
Especially this pressure cooker version – it’s one of our favorite Instant Pot Beef Recipes!
Classic pizzaiola consists of meat, tomatoes, garlic, and olive oil. Sometimes, recipes use white wine and, in our case, we saute onions and peppers to give the sauce even more flavor!
Cooking meat in pizzaiola sauce tenderizes it, so you can use less expensive steaks (like chuck steak) to make an incredible meal.
Usually, you would pound out your steak with a meat tenderizer to make this dish, but for this Instant Pot recipe, you don’t have to!
You’ll find other varieties, like chicken pizzaiola and pork chops alla pizzaiola, but beef pizzaiola is our favorite. It is simply the most delicious!
⭐ Best Beef Recipes Tips
- Thoroughly salt your steak on all sides.
- Browning your steak first gives the dish much more flavor.
- Don’t clean the Instant Pot after searing the steak. Those browned bits at the bottom will add flavor to the pizzaiola sauce.
For this pizzaiola recipe, you don’t have to pound out your steak. It will be pull-apart tender when it’s done cooking!
🧾 Substitutions and Additions
- We use eye round steak in this recipe, but you can use any steak of your choice. Even the most budget-friendly steaks will work perfectly and come out so tender!
- Shredded cheese is a great addition to pizzaiola. Try using shredded mozzarella or Parmesan.
- Instead of mincing garlic cloves, you can also use garlic paste.
- Use any variety of bell pepper you like. We used green.
👪 How many servings does this make?
You can serve a family of 4 with our Instant Pot steak pizzaiola recipe.
We like to make extra for leftovers throughout the week or to freeze for future meals.
❄ Can steak pizzaiola be frozen?
Yes. Allow the dish to cool, then place in an air-tight container or freezer bags. You can freeze the steak with the pizzaiola sauce or even just freeze the sauce.
Store in the freezer for up to 3 months. Label your container with the freezing date.
When ready to cook, remove from the freezer and let thaw in the refrigerator, then reheat on the stove or in the Instant Pot.
🔥 How to Reheat in the Instant Pot
You can easily reheat steak pizzaiola in the Instant Pot.
- Keep warm function: If you want to reheat your pizzaiola over time to serve it for a quick dinner, place it back in the Instant Pot and use the keep warm function to slowly heat it up.
- Steam function: Add 1 cup of water to the Instant Pot and place your trivet over top. Store your leftovers in a heat-proof container, then wrap the top with aluminum foil. Place in the Instant Pot and steam for 5 minutes.
What size Instant Pot do I need?
We use a 6 qt. Instant Pot for all of our Instant Pot Beef Recipes! It’s the perfect size for making family meals.
You can use a smaller or larger pot, but make sure to sear your steaks in batches.
⌚ Can I slow cook pizzaiola?
Yes! Sear your steaks and prepare your sauce in a pot, then cook for 6 hours (up to 8) on low. You can also cook for 3 to 4 hours on high.
📖 Instant Pot Beef Recipes
Try more of our favorite Instant Pot recipes using beef!
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📋 Recipe
Instant Pot Steak Pizzaiola Recipe
Equipment
Ingredients
- 6 small steaks we use eye round, but you can use any kind
- ½ tsp. salt
- 4 Tbsp. olive oil used in batches
- 1 tsp. minced garlic
- 1 onion sliced; use yellow or white onion
- 2 bell peppers sliced; we used green bell pepper
- 16 oz. tomato sauce 2 8 oz. cans
- 1 Tbsp. Italian seasoning
- ¼ tsp. Red pepper flakes
- ¾ cup water
- 2 Tbsp. fresh parsley optional
- 1 cup shredded cheese optional, use Mozzarella or Parmesan
- sea salt to taste
Instructions
- Generously season all sides of 6 small steaks with salt.
- Set Instant Pot to Saute Mode and add 2 Tbsp. olive oil. Once hot, sear steaks until browned on all sides, then transfer to a plate and set aside.Do not clean the Instant Pot after searing.
- Add remaining 2 Tbsp. olive oil to the Instant Pot and then add 1 tsp. minced garlic, 1 sliced onion, and 2 sliced bell peppers. Cook for a few minutes until soft.
- Once soft, add in 16 oz. tomato sauce, 1 Tbsp. Italian seasoning, and ¾ cup water. Stir well.
- Add your steaks back to the pizzaiola sauce in the pot. Make sure they are completely submerged.
- Add the lid back to your Instant Pot and cook on high pressure for 50 minutes. Quick release once time is up.
- Pull your steak apart once done cooking, and serve with noodles if desired. Enjoy!
Video
Notes
- Thoroughly salt your steak on all sides.
- Browning your steak first gives the dish much more flavor.
- Don’t clean the Instant Pot after searing the steak. Those browned bits at the bottom will add flavor to the pizzaiola sauce.
Diane Rizzo says
I used to make a similar recipe in the oven years ago. Tweaked the recipe a bit by cutting up the steaks in advance and adding diced tomatoes instead of tomato sauce, and decreasing the cook time to 20 minutes. It was yummy! Next time I’m going to add a little tomato paste and a splash of red wine. Thanks for the recipe!
Em Beitel says
That sounds wonderful, Diane! Thank you so much for your comment – those additions sound delicious!