Puerto Rican Pastelón

Step 1

Remove the Instant Pot lid and turn on the sauté setting for 20 minutes. (Although you will not use all of this time. I like to have the extra minutes for the time it takes for the sauté to become active.)

Step 2

In the Instant Pot stainless steel inner pot, add ½ a cup of water and then the ground beef.

Step 3

Add the sazón and adobo seasonings on top of the ground beef.

Step 4

As the meat begins to cook, fold in the seasonings and add the onion, olives and tomato paste to the inner pot.

Step 5

Sauté in the Instant Pot (with the lid off) until the ground beef is browned.

Step 6

As the meat browns, continue to fold and stir in all the added ingredients.

Step 7

Turn off the Instant Pot and drain the ground beef using a colander.

Step 8

Set aside the cooked ground beef mixture.

Step 9

Grease a 9×13" baking dish with olive oil or coconut oil.

Step 10

How do you peel plantains? Cut the ends off each plantain, then score them lengthwise across each plantain to remove the thick outer peel. (Be careful not to slice beyond the peel and into the plantain.)

Step 11

How do you get the plantains so thin? After removing the peel, cut each plantain lengthwise into 1″ strips, yielding about 3-4 strips per plantain.

Step 12

Remove the Instant Pot lid and turn on the sauté setting for 20 minutes. (Although you will not use all of this time. I like to have the extra minutes for the time it takes for the sauté to become active.)

Step 13

Add the water to the stainless steel inner pot.

Step 14

Then add the sliced plantains, butter, brown sugar, and cinnamon or cinnamon sticks.

Step 15

Sauté (with the instant Pot lid off) for about 5-8 minutes until the plantain slices are softened and golden in color.

Step 16

Flipping each plantain slice during the sautéing is optional. Both sides typically cook evenly since they’re almost submerged in the bubbling hot water.

Step 17

Turn off the Instant Pot and remove the plantain strips by placing a layer of them in the greased 9×13" dish.

Step 18

Spread an even layer of ground beef over the layer of plantains.

Step 19

Top the ground beef with a layer of shredded cheese.

Step 20

Bake at 350 degrees F in the Instant Pot Omni Plus oven for 3 minutes, or until the cheese is melted. (Bake for 5-7 minutes in a conventional oven, or until the cheese is melted.)

Step 21

Remove the baked pastelón from the oven and top with the cilantro.

Step 22

Slice while warm, serve and enjoy!