While checking the sale flyers for my grocery stores last week I noticed that Whole Foods had beef stew meat on sale for $3.99/lb. and I was ALL OVER that. I was finally able to swing by yesterday, the last day of the sale, and pick up some of the beef, along with all the other ingredients to make this amazing Instant Pot Beef Stew.
Why Use an Instant Pot?
My Slow Cooker Rosemary Garlic Beef Stew is pretty hard to beat, but I wanted to try making a stew in my Instant Pot because A) it’s a lot faster and B) I can do all the steps, including browning the beef, in one pot which means a lot less dishes to clean. YAY!
Do I HAVE to Use an Instant Pot for this Beef Stew?
Ever since the Instant Pot took the cooking world by storm there have been several other multi-cookers to hit the market. You don’t have to use an Instant Pot for this. You can use any other cooker that has both a sauté and a pressure cooking feature, or just use a plain old pressure cooker and do the browning through deglazing steps in a skillet before transferring everything to the pressure cooker.
OR if you don’t have a pressure cooker, you can use a slow cooker just as I did for my Slow Cooker Rosemary Garlic Beef Stew.
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This recipe starts similarly to the Rosemary Garlic Beef Stew, but I played around with the vegetable mix, using less potatoes and adding in mushrooms and pearl onions. I also skipped the Dijon and added just a little tomato paste for a more traditional beef stew flavor. This Instant Pot Beef Stew turned out so tender and amazing that my boyfriend said, “Is this healthy? Because I could this every day.” Noted! :)
Instant Pot Beef Stew
Servings 6 (10 cups total)Ingredients
- 1 lb beef stew meat (cubed) ($3.99)
- Salt and pepper ($0.05)
- 2 Tbsp flour ($0.02)
- 2 Tbsp butter ($0.22)
- 2 cups beef broth* ($0.26)
- 1 Tbsp Worcestershire sauce ($0.06)
- 1 Tbsp soy sauce ($0.10)
- 1/2 Tbsp brown sugar ($0.02)
- 2 cloves garlic, minced ($0.16)
- 2 Tbsp tomato paste ($0.13)
- 1 tsp dried rosemary ($0.10)
- 1 tsp dried thyme ($0.10)
- 14 oz bag frozen pearl onions ($2.97)
- 8 oz mushrooms ($1.90)
- 1 lb carrots ($0.99)
- 0.75 lb potatoes ($0.84)
Instructions
- Place the stew meat in a bowl and season lightly with salt and pepper. Add the flour and stir to coat.
- Place the butter in the Instant Pot and turn on the sauté function. Heat the butter until it is melted and sizzling, then add the stew meat. Brown the meat on all sides. Don’t stir too often as this will prevent the meat from achieving a nice brown, crispy exterior. The flour may coat the bottom of the pot and that is okay, just don’t let it burn.
- Pour the beef broth into the pot and stir to dissolve the browned bits from the bottom of the pot. Once dissolved, add the Worcestershire sauce, soy sauce, brown sugar, minced garlic, tomato paste, rosemary, and thyme.
- Wash and quarter the mushrooms. Peel and slice the carrots into one-inch sections. Wash the potatoes well, peel if desired, then chop into one-inch cubes. Add the pearl onions (no need to thaw), mushrooms, carrots, and potatoes to the Instant Pot. Give all the ingredients in the pot a good stir.
- Close the lid on the Instant Pot and close the steam valve. Press the “meat/stew” button, or set the cooker to 35 minutes of high pressure. After 35 minutes of high pressure, allow the cooker to naturally cool and release pressure.
- Once the pressure has released, open the steam valve then carefully open the lid. Give the stew a good stir, taste, and adjust the salt if needed. Serve hot with crusty bread.
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Notes
Nutrition
Love Instant Pot Recipes? Check out my Pressure Cooker Chicken and Rice!
How to Make Beef Stew in an Instant Pot – Step by Step Photos
Place one pound of stew meat in a bowl and season with a pinch of salt and pepper. Add 2 Tbsp flour and stir until the meat is coated in the flour.
Add 2 Tbsp butter to the Instant Pot and turn on the sauté function. Heat the butter until it is melted and sizzling, then add the stew meat (and any leftover flour from the bowl). Brown the meat on all sides. Be sure not to stir the meat too often because this can prevent it from forming a nice brown crust. You do not need to cook the beef pieces completely through at this point. Just get a nice brown color on the outside.
Add 2 cups beef broth and stir to dissolve all of the browned bits from the bottom of the pot. Once everything is dissolved off the bottom, add 1 Tbsp Worcestershire sauce, 1 Tbsp soy sauce, 1/2 Tbsp brown sugar, 2 cloves of minced garlic, 2 Tbsp tomato paste, 1 tsp dried rosemary, and 1 tsp dried thyme.
Wash and quarter the mushrooms. Peel and slice the carrots into one-inch sections. Wash the potatoes well, then cut into one-inch cubes. Add the frozen pearl onions, mushrooms, carrots, and potatoes to the pot. I totally forgot to get a photo of the pearl onions for anyone who is unfamiliar, but here is a link to the pearl onions that I bought. They are small, sweet onions about the size of large grapes. Give everything a brief stir to combine.
Close the lid on the Instant Pot, close the steam valve, then press the “meat/stew” button. This will set the cooker to 35 minutes of high pressure. It takes about 10-15 minutes to get up to pressure, then natural pressure release will take another 15 minutes or so. (Yes, I did paint that “5” on this photo because apparently the numbers on the display flicker at a speed faster than our eyes can see, but slower than my camera shutter. :P )
After the pressure naturally releases, open the steam valve then carefully open the lid. This is what you’ll see. Give it a good stir.
And then it will look more like beef stew! It may seem a bit watery at first, but as the temperature comes down from “molten” to just “really hot” it will thicken a bit. It’s always a good idea to give the stew a final taste and adjust the salt if needed.
And that’s how easy it is to make Instant Pot Beef Stew (or any other multi-cooker beef stew). I highly recommend a good crusty bread to go along with it. I added a touch of parsley for color, but the flavor of the stew is just fine on its own.
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I’m making this tomorrow, in my Instant Pot. I will add some frozen peas as well. For the curious–Ive had my instant pot 1 1/2 years and use it at least weekly–for cooking rice, for making broth, for making batches of basics like beans or barley, and for stews/braises bc of the huge time savings. Oh and I successfully made yogurt! That was fun. Anyway, I like the stainless steel insert (vs nonstick), and that I can sauté before using pressure.
I’ve been wondering if an Instant Pot is worth it, too, since it seems to be all the rage. I did just score an awesome Cuisinart 3-in-1 slow cooker for Christmas (slow cooks, browns/sautees, and steams) so I’d have a hard time justifying the purchase of another gadget. Haven’t tried steaming anything yet, but the browning function works great.
Yes, even adding a browning feature to a slow cooker is a HUGE advantage! :) The IP is just like what you have but it cooks at super speeds. :P
Wow this looks amazing. Maybe I should look into insta-pots. But I just picked up a slow cooker, so I might have to make do with your previous unbeatable recipe!
The Instant Pot seems to be all the rage these days, is it really worth it? I’m tempted to get one but really don’t want another piece of cooking equipment around that only gets used once in a while. Either way, I am making this stew, thanks.
I think it’s good for some people, but I can see how it might be just another appliance that collects dust for others. I think it’s best to think of it as a warp speed slow cooker. So, if you use your slow cooker a lot, you will probably get a lot of use out of the IP as well! :)
I’ve experimented and found that either London broil or a beef roast will make excellent stew. Cutting it up yourself sometimes saves a dollar a pound over stew meat. Just remember that meat shrinks some when cooked, so make your chunks a bit bigger than you want to end up with.
Hi!
Long-time fan of yours! I was wondering if you could explain the instant pot… or the differences/pros and cons versus a traditional crockpot. The instant pot has peaked my interest a few times here lately, but is it worth the money??
Thanks so much!!
Oh yes, sorry about that! The Instant Pot is actually a pressure cooker first and foremost, but it also has other functions like slow cooking, steaming, sautéing and more. Pressure cookers give similar results as slow cooking, but in a fraction of the time (like 30 minutes instead of 4 hours). Whether or not it’s worth it will depend greatly on the individual, their cooking habits, and budget. I still think a good old fashioned slow cooker with basic controls is the best bang for your buck, especially for smaller budgets.
I am interested in getting an Insta pot but am not sure what size. I find that the crock pot I bought is too small for most recipes so I would appreciate your letting me know what size pot you used for this recipe.
thanks
My Instant Pot is 6 quarts. :)
This looks delicious!
With adding the potatoes and carrots early on do they not come out mushy? We made a roast with potatoes and carrots last night and the recipe said to cook roast (whole) for 45-50 minutes and working quickly add potatoes and carrots and cook another 10 minutes. The recipe we followed used quick release. It was good but your seems easier.
Thanks and I LOVE your site :)
The potatoes and carrots are extremely soft after cooking, but I enjoy them that way. I find that when they break down and dissolve a bit it adds to the body and flavor of the “gravy.”
Thanks!
I don’t have a multipot but I do have a pressure cooker I want to try with this recipe. Just a quick question on cooking times. On your multipot is it 35 minutes total or is that just when it gets up to pressure it starts the 35. I am going to work out the cooking times on my own just need that tidbit so I dont overlook everything
That’s 35 minutes once it’s at high pressure. :)
Love my insta Pot!!!
I generally don’t use the stew meat myself, the london broil cut goes on sale for cheaper usually and tastes better, also I use a few roma tomatoes instead of the tomato paste. And 1.5c red wine and same of broth (cause the cans here were 12oz).
I really appreciate you posting step by step photos of all your recipes. It’s incredibly helpful for people like myself who learn better through visuals. One of my favorite parts of this blog. Just wanted to share that with you!
BTW, this recipe sounds delishhh ! Can’t wait to try it :D
I don’t have a Instant Pot but I do have other tools for soup making. If I were to make this not using the instant pot, how high of a temp and how long would you recommend for this delicious looking dish?
You’d probably need to simmer it on low for quite some time. I’m not sure how long because I haven’t tested that recipe on the stove top.
With only 2 T of fat for 8-10 servings, it looks plenty healthy to me!!! Not to mention plenty delicious. No pearl onions in my freezer, so used 1 lb of regular onions diced large and cooked in my regular circa 1956 pressure cooker (inherited from my mother). I also dumped in 1/2 c red wine left over from the weekend