Instant Pot Beef Stew

Instant Pot Beef Stew – comfort food at its best! Seriously THE BEST beef stew recipe we’ve ever eaten! SO simple. Just sauté the stew meat, dump the rest of the ingredients in the pot and cook. Only about 5 minutes of hands-on time! Stew meat, flour, sugar, beef broth, diced tomatoes, chili powder, thyme, Worcestershire sauce, tomato paste, onion, garlic, potatoes, carrots, and peas. Leftovers also taste great reheated!

The BEST Beef Stew Recipe

This Instant Pot Beef Stew recipe is a keeper. It is hands-down the BEST beef stew we’ve ever eaten! Tender beef, potatoes, carrots, and peas in a flavorful broth. SO good! Comfort food at its best! Do you have an Instant Pot yet? I’ve had one for a while, but just started really using it this year. The more I use my Instant Pot, the more I love it. It really cuts down on the cooking time of meals. This stew has a 35 minute cook time. SO much quicker than the stovetop or crockpot. So if you need an easy dinner recipe, give this recipe a try. It is sure to be a hit with the whole family!

What is an Instant Pot? Instant Pot is a name brand of electric pressure cookers. Depending on the model, the Instant Pot can also be used as a slow-cooker, rice cooker, and yogurt maker.

What is a pressure cooker? A pressure cooker is a sealed pot with a lot of steam inside that builds up high pressure and helps food cook in a fraction of the time of the oven or stovetop.

• The high pressure helps force liquid and moisture into the food quickly.
• Food cooks faster under high pressure.
• The extra liquid and moisture that the pressure adds help tough cuts of meat get very tender very quickly.

How to Make Instant Pot Beef Stew

This stew is so simple to make. Toss beef stew meat in flour and sugar. Turn Instant Pot onto saute function. Heat olive oil and add stew meat. Cook until the meat starts to brown. Turn off the Instant Pot. Add a little bit of beef broth and scrape up the brown bits from the bottom of the pot with a wooden spoon to avoid getting a BURN notice. Add remaining beef broth or beef stock, diced tomatoes, chili powder, thyme, Worcestershire sauce, tomato paste, onion, garlic powder, chopped carrots, and diced potatoes to the pot. Stir. Close lid and lock Instant Pot. Select manual or high pressure and cook. Do a natural release for 15 minutes, and then quick release any remaining pressure. Open the lid and stir in frozen peas. Season with salt and black pepper and serve.

Tips & Frequently Asked Questions

• I used a package of beef stew meat that I picked up in the meat section at the grocery store. I cut the meat into bite-sized pieces before sautéing it in the Instant Pot.
• To avoid getting a BURN notice, add a small amount of beef broth to the pot after cooking the stew meat and scrape all the browned bits from the bottom of the pot.
• I like to use Yukon gold potatoes. Feel free to swap them for red, fingerling, or russet potatoes if you prefer.
• What other veggies can I add to Beef Stew?
  • Corn
  • Green Beans
  • Turnips
  • Mushrooms
  • Sweet Potatoes
  • Celery
  • Parsnips
  • Spinach or Kale
• Can Beef Stew be frozen? Yes! Cool the stew and transfer the stew to a freezer bag and freeze. Thaw and reheat on the stove or in the microwave.
• Can substitute red wine for some of the beef broth.
• Can I make Beef Stew in the Slow Cooker? Yes! Brown the meat and place in the slow cooker. Add the remaining ingredients, except the peas. Cook on LOW for 8 to 10 hours. Stir in the green peas and serve.
• For a gluten-free stew, you can omit the flour and just sauté the meat plain.
• For a thicker stew, add a quick cornstarch slurry to the pot after releasing the pressure. To make the slurry, in a small bowl combine 1 tablespoon of cornstarch with 2 tablespoons of water.
• Store leftovers in an airtight container in the refrigerator.

What to Serve with Vegetable Beef Stew

What to Serve with Vegetable Beef Stew

This is a hearty stew. You don’t need a lot of side dishes to go with it. We usually serve it with some crusty bread or homemade cornbread. I just pop the cornbread in the oven while the beef stew cooks and everything was ready at the same time. This is equally delicious served over some rice or egg noodles. We ate this for dinner and had leftovers for lunch the next day. It was equally delicious reheated. Chicken Legs has already requested this again for dinner!

Looking for more side dish ideas? Here are a few of our favorite recipes from the blog that go great with this mouthwatering beef stew:

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Recipe Print Recipe

Instant Pot Beef Stew

Author: Plain Chicken

Yield: 6 people

Prep Time 10 mins

Cook Time 50 mins

Total Time 1 hr

Instant Pot Beef Stew – comfort food at its best! Seriously THE BEST beef stew recipe we've ever eaten! SO simple. Just sauté the stew meat, dump the rest of the ingredients in the pot and cook. Only about 5 minutes of hands on time! Stew meat, flour, sugar, beef broth, diced tomatoes, chili powder, thyme, Worcestershire sauce, tomato paste, onion, garlic, potatoes, carrots, and peas. Leftovers also taste great reheated!

Equipment:

• Instant Pot

Ingredients:

• 2 lb stew meat, cut into bite-sized pieces
• ¼ cup all-purpose flour
• 1 tsp sugar
• 1 Tbsp oil
• 2 cups beef broth
• 1 (15-oz) can diced tomatoes, undrained
• 1 tsp chili powder
• ¼ tsp thyme
• 1 Tbsp Worcestershire sauce
• 1 Tbsp tomato paste
• 1 Tbsp dried minced onion flakes
• ¼ tsp garlic powder
• 2 carrots, peeled and chopped
• 1 lb yukon gold potatoes, peeled and chopped
• ½ cup frozen green peas
• salt and pepper to taste

Instructions:

• Toss stew meat in flour and sugar.
• Turn Instant Pot on to sauté setting. Heat oil and add stew meat. Cook until starting to brown. Turn off Instant Pot.
• Add a small amount of beef broth and scrape bottom of Instant Pot to avoid getting a BURN notice.
• Add remaining ingredients, except frozen green peas. Stir.
• Close lid and lock Instant Pot. Select “manual” or “high pressure” setting for 35 minutes. Allow the pressure to release naturally for 15 minutes. Quick release any remaining pressure.
• Openn the lid and stir in frozen peas. Season with salt and black pepper and serve.

Notes:

• I used a package of stew meat that I picked up in the meat section at the grocery store. I cut the meat into bite-sized pieces before sautéing it in the Instant Pot. You can substitute an equivalent amount of Chuck Roast if you prefer.
• I like to use Yukon gold potatoes. Feel free to swap them for red or fingerling potatoes if you prefer.
• What other veggies can I add to Beef Stew?
  • Corn
  • Green Beans
  • Turnips
  • Mushrooms
  • Sweet Potatoes
  • Celery
  • Parsnips
  • Spinach or Kale
• Can Beef Stew be frozen? Yes! Cool the stew and transfer the stew to a freezer bag and freeze. Thaw and reheat on the stove or in the microwave.
• Can I make Beef Stew in the Slow Cooker? Yes! Brown the meat and place in the slow cooker. Add the remaining ingredients, except the peas. Cook on LOW for 8 to 10 hours. Stir in the green peas and serve.
• For a gluten-free stew, you can omit the flour and sugar and just sauté the meat plain.

Plain Chicken

https://www.plainchicken.com/instant-pot-beef-stew/

All images and text © Plain Chicken, Inc.

Did you make this recipe?Mention @plainchicken or tag #plainchicken!

Steph