PRESSURE COOKER (OR SLOW COOKER) LOW-CARB FLANK STEAK TACOS WITH SPICY MEXICAN SLAW

INGREDIENTS:

FLANK STEAK INGREDIENTS:

  • 1 large onion, chopped
  • 2 T olive oil
  • 1 tsp. ground cumin
  • 1 tsp. chili powder (I used ground Ancho chile powder.)
  • 2 flank steaks, about one pound each
  • 1 1/2 cup salsa verde (I used Herdez Salsa Verde, which didn’t have added sugar.)
  • 3/4 cup tomato salsa (I used Pace Picante Sauce which didn’t have added sugar.) (I recommend using mild salsa verde and tomato salsa if you’re serving kids.)

OTHER TACO INGREDIENTS:

DIRECTIONS:

PRESSURE COOKER / INSTANT POT INSTRUCTIONS:

  1. Peel the onion and chop into smallish pieces. Measure the cumin and chili powder or Ancho chile powder. Heat the oil in the pressure cooker on saute setting (or medium-high for a stovetop pressure cooker), add the onions and cook 2-3 minutes or until they start to soften, then add the ground cumin and chili powder and cook about a minute more.
  2. While onions cook, trim visible fat from the flank steak and cut each steak lengthwise and then again crosswise. (I cut it so the shredded pieces of meat wouldn’t be too long to eat easily in a taco.)
  3. Add the flank steak pieces to the pressure cooker with the red and green salsa, lock the lid in place, set to MANUAL  HIGH PRESSURE (or bring to high pressure on the stove) and cook at high pressure for 45 minutes. You can use the quick release method to release the pressure, but if you have time I recommend doing 15 minutes natural release and then quick release.
  4. Use a slotted spoon to scoop out the meat, leaving the sauce in the pressure cooker. (Some brands of salsa have more water than others; if you think the sauce looks too thin you can turn the pressure cooker to Saute or Simmer – or medium low on the stove – and cook off some of the liquid.)
  5. Let the meat cool for a few minutes on the cutting board, then use two forks to shred the meat apart and put it back in the pressure cooker. Stir meat to combine with the sauce and keep warm.
  6. When the meat is almost done, make Spicy Mexican Slaw (or other slaw of your choice) to serve with the tacos.
  7. When you’re ready to eat, heat tortillas one at a time in a dry frying pan until the tortilla is hot and softened (cast iron pans are best for this.) Fill the tortilla with desired amount of saucy beef on one side and slaw on the other side and fold over to eat. Serve hot, with lime and Green Tabasco Sauce to add at the table if desired.
  8. Extra taco meat can be frozen or kept in the fridge for several days and reheated in a small pan or in the microwave. This meat can also be used for burritos, beef enchiladas, lettuce wraps, or taco salad.

SLOW COOKER INSTRUCTIONS:

  1. Use ingredients as above, but reduce the amount of salsa verde to 1 cup and the amount of red salsa to 1/2 cup.
  2. Brown onions and spices in a frying pan on the stove and transfer to slow cooker. While onions brown, trim the meat as above.
  3. Add a little more oil to the frying pan and brown the pieces of meat on both sides. (Browning will add flavor for the slow cooker, highly recommend doing this.)
  4. Cook on low for 6-8 hours or on high for 3-4 hours, or until the meat shreds apart easily.
  5. Remove meat from the slow cooker as above and shred apart, then put back into slow cooker. (If there seems to be too much liquid in the slow cooker, you can put it in a pan on the stove and simmer to reduce, but generally the shredded meat will absorb the liquid when you add it back into the slow cooker.)
  6. Put meat back into the slow cooker on warm setting (or low) and prepare slaw and tacos as above.

Beef taco meat recipe was adapted from The Easy Pressure Cooker Cookbook.)

–Kalyn Denny for Kalyn’s Kitchen.