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.
Flavor Profile
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 made this tonight (doubled). I left out the onions (by accident). It was a HUGE hit! There is none left!!!
Do you think I could make this in a 3-quart IP?
Unfortunately I don’t think that it would fit in that size. :(
I love this recipe. I am a big fan of beef stew. I made it as shown with one change and one addition. Instead if the butter I used extra virgin olive oil. I recently survived a heart attack and butter is something I’ve had to cut out. I also added 3/4 of a cup of cabernet sauvignon. I know it isn’t for everyone but if you like to use wine in your cooking the cabernet adds a great richness and depth to the flavor of this recipe. This was the first thing I made in the Instant Pot and I guarantee it will be repeated.
What size Instant Pot did you use?
6 quart
My god: an apotheosis of perfection! A near perfect meal…and so easily made in the Insta Pot. I am now going to try your other recipes. You have won me over.
Just made this on a rainy night last night. Doubled the recipe for leftovers and it barely fit in the pot! Very tasty. Will definitely make again.
If I double the recipe should I add more cooking time?
No, the IP will likely take longer to come up to pressure and depressurize, but once it’s there the cooking time needed will be the same.
Imade this tonight & it was outstanding! I doubled the recipe, added some chopped celery & added a little wine to the broth. I accidentally forgot to add the rosemary, but it was still delicious. The meat melted in our mouths, the vegetables were tender, and the sauce was flavorful but not too rich. The sauce came out a little thin (maybe because I was in a hurry to feed hungry children so I quick released the IP pressure) so after dinner I made a roux with the stew liquid, flour & butter & then addd it back to the pot. Tomorrow’s leftovers will be even better. This is by far my biggest Instant Pot success. It came together quickly, didn’t make a huge mess in the kitchen & certainly didn’t feel like a Monday night meal.
I have a stew recipe using 3 # meat, 5 carrots, celery,4 med potatoes 3 Tblsp tapioca.
One lg can tomatoes 1 Tblsp salt
And a bag of frozen peas.
No browning of meat but in oven
250 degrees covered 5 hours.
If I put in instant pot should I add a cup of beef
broth too. And use soup/stew 35 min?
I’m not sure. That’s something I’d have to test first. While I use my IP on occasion, I’m unfortunately not an expert (yet). :)
I made beef stew in my Instant Pot but found the potatoes and carrots to be mushy. It has been suggested that I use a different kind of potato (such as red or baby potatoes) and cut my carrots larger. It has also been suggested that I cook the meat first, then add the veggies and cook on high another 5 minutes. Also, I found browning the beef in the IP to be a huge pain in the you know what, so I will just brown in a pan next time.
How long does it take the stew beef itself to cook without the veggies? I think I had it on for 20 minutes and another 15 NR. When I released the pressure and opened it up it was still boiling.
I would keep the cooking time the same for the meat as I have listed for the whole stew, then just add an extra five with the vegetables after. The meat won’t over cook, it will just be super tender.
I made this tonight and it turned out wonderful. Question – How long should it take to release the pressure? I waited 45 mins and then just released manually.
It really depends on a lot of factors, including the ambient room temperature, so there’s no set amount of time. If mine takes longer than 20 minutes, I usually release it at that point, too. :P
We have made this recipe on several occasions and would recommend it as written. It also stands up well to additional ingredients and minor modifications.
This stew was absolutely excellent. My husband couldn’t get enough. Another first time user of the instant pot. Thank you for the easy step by step walk through. Look forward to the next go around.
Great flavor! The only question I would have is: my meat wasn’t as tender as it is when I use my slow cooker. So…I’m thinking either I need to cut stew meat into smaller pieces -OR- maybe the beef wasn’t that great -OR- maybe I sautéed it too long (or short). Any thoughts?
My guess would actually be to add five minutes or so to the cooking time. It’s amazing what a little extra time can do to break down those connective tissues and make them all tender.
Turned out great!