Instant Pot Shredded Beef Tacos

Our Instant Pot Shredded Beef Tacos are perfect for Taco Tuesdays or meal prep on Sundays! This simple shredded beef cooks up juicy and flavorful in the pressure cooker and can be used for many recipes besides tacos.

Ever heard the phrase “will run for tacos”? We have, and we couldn’t agree more!

There’s nothing like fueling up after a great run with healthy homemade tacos, and our Instant Pot Shredded Beef Tacos are a perfect for weeknight dinners or weekend meal prep meal to stay fueled, especially when you’re in the midst of a heavy training plan and don’t have loads of free time to spend cooking.

These shredded beef tacos have everything you want: juicy shredded beef, crunchy fresh veggies, and creamy avocado. Plus they’re balanced with everything you need: protein, carbohydrates, and fresh vegetables.

Read more for tips on how to make our Instant Pot shredded beef tacos and how to get tender and juicy beef with your pressure cooker.

How to make Instant Pot Shredded Beef Tacos

Our Instant Pot shredded beef is pretty easy to make, but it takes some time to cook. But the time it takes to cook it is worth it! This shredded beef is full of flavor and can be used for many recipes, not just tacos.

While some Instant Pot recipes call for browning beef before cooking it, I haven’t found that this makes a difference when cooking in a pressure cooker. It makes a big difference when roasting meat in the oven or slow cooking, but not so much with pressure cooking meat.

So you don’t have to brown the meat before adding it to your pressure cooker, plus it saves time not searing/browning your beef beforehand!

For this recipe, you’ll simply add your boneless beef short ribs to the pressure cooker, top with your chopped poblano pepper and cilantro, then pour over the beef broth mixed with your garlic and spices. Then cook and shred!

Since I don’t eat a lot of spicy food, I kept the heat down in this recipe by using mild poblano peppers. But if you want more spice with your taco meat, swap the poblano pepper for 1-2 jalapeño peppers for more spice.

You can even use 1 poblano pepper and 1 jalapeño pepper if you want a little bit of spice but not too much. Play with the recipe a little bit and see where you want your spice level.

Using natural pressure release with your pressure cooker

In this recipe, I specify natural pressure release for your beef taco meat once it’s done cooking in your pressure cooker. Don’t skip this step, it’s important!

Using natural pressure release when you cook meat in a pressure cooker helps to keep the meat more tender and juicier. If you use the quick pressure release method right after cooking your beef, it will end up more tough.

Natural pressure release means that you allow the pressure in your Instant Pot to release by itself naturally. It takes longer than a quick pressure release (where you open the valve to release the pressure quickly), but it results in taco meat with better texture.

Serving your beef tacos

When you’re ready to assemble your tacos, use whichever tortilla you love! You can easily make this recipe fit special diets by using different kinds of tortillas: high-fiber tortillas, grain-free tortillas (like the ones from Siete), homemade tortillas, gluten free tortillas, or regular ones if you love those.

We love using the uncooked refrigerated flour tortillas since they have minimal ingredients in them and they are more fresh. They only take about 1 minute to cook on a skillet or griddle, so they’re super easy and they taste so much better than pre-cooked tortillas.

If you want to give the uncooked tortillas a try, you can find them in the refrigerated section of the grocery store usually by the cheese and butter. They’re worth the little bit of extra effort to cook them.

This Instant Pot shredded beef is also amazing in other recipes besides tacos. You can skip the tortillas and make burrito bowls with rice and beans – one of my favorite ways to eat this beef!

How to store your shredded beef

Once your shredded beef is cooked, you can let it cool and store it in an airtight container for about 3 days.

You can also create taco meal prep bowls with this beef as well! Fill each meal prep dish with brown rice, beans, and shredded beef. When you’re ready to eat your meal prep taco bowl, add diced fresh tomatoes, avocados, and lettuce!

This Instant Pot shredded beef will also freeze well. You can freeze leftovers in one portion in a freezer bag, or divide it into single portions to freeze for easy grab-and-go meals.