Instant Pot Beef Stew
Instant Pot Beef Stew is the PERFECT hearty weeknight meal, made with beef stew meat seared with olive oil and seasoning, then mixed with carrots, celery, onion, and mushrooms in a tomato beef broth, ready in under an hour!
Instant Pot Beef Stew is one of my favorite comfort foods on chilly nights, made with wholesome ingredients like potatoes, vegetables, and beef in a rich tomato beef broth. The pressure cooker makes the beef so incredibly tender, you’ll never want to make stew another way!
If you love this recipe, you may also love my Instant Pot Chicken Stew, or my Slow Cooker Steak and Potatoes!
Table of contents
Why You’ll Love This Recipe
Hearty and Filling – This stew is one of my family’s favorite comfort meals because it’s made with wholesome ingredients like tender beef, potatoes, mushrooms, and peas that are guaranteed to fill you up!
Perfect for Leftovers – If you like to meal prep, this stew reheats beautifully the next day, and you can freeze it for later!
Ingredients You’ll Need
Beef. I recommend using good quality stew meat, which is already prepped for stew at the grocery store. You can also cut a boneless chuck roast into 1-2 inch pieces.
Extra Virgin Olive Oil. This is to help sear the beef in the beginning of the recipe. You can also use vegetable oil or avocado oil.
Red Wine. I recommend using a sweet red wine, which helps add a richness to the broth and balances the savory notes.
Beef Broth. I like to use low sodium beef broth, but that’s a personal preference. You can use beef broth or beef stock. Beef stock would have the most flavor.
Onion. I like Vidalia onion because it’s on the sweeter side, but a regular yellow onion would work.
Celery and Carrots. This is the perfect sweet and savory aromatic combination that adds a lot of flavor. We’re going to saute these before adding the other ingredients to the instant pot, to build up the flavor of the soup.
Garlic. Fresh garlic cloves will give you the best flavor, but garlic powder would also work.
Tomato Paste. This helps thicken the stew and creates a really rich tomato base for the broth. You’ll get the best flavor if you let it saute a little bit with the veggies, instead of just adding it straight to the broth.
Peas. I like to add some frozen peas to the stew. You can add these after the stew is already done, they’ll cook with the residual heat. This way, they won’t break down and become mushy.
Gluten Free Flour. I use regular 1-to-1 gluten free flour. This helps thicken the stew, and creates a nice sear on the beef.
If you’re not gluten free, you can use regular flour.
Potatoes. Gold potatoes will hold up the best in the instant pot, because they have a nice blend of waxy and starchy texture. You can also use russet potatoes or red potatoes.
Worcestershire Sauce. This adds a really nice savory flavor to the stew.
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Just make sure your Worcestershire sauce is gluten free, because it can vary by brand.
Herbs & Spices. Fresh herbs will give you the best flavor, especially fresh thyme and parsley. You can use dried thyme if that’s what you have.
I use dried bay leaves and dried rosemary, make sure to remove the bay leaves before serving. Also, add kosher salt and black pepper to taste.
Kitchen Tools
For this recipe you’ll need an instant pot, a medium mixing bowl, and tongs to help sear the beef.
How to Make Instant Pot Beef Stew
Turn on the instant pot saute function. While that’s heating up, add the beef to a mixing bowl with the flour and stir to evenly coat.
Add 2 tablespoons of olive oil to the instant pot and place the beef in the pot, leaving some space between each one. Sear the beef for 1-2 minutes on each side, until golden brown. You may have to work in batches. Remove the finished beef onto a separate plate and continue until all of it is seared.
Add the remaining olive oil with the onion, celery, and carrots. Saute until the onions begin to turn translucent, about 2-3 minutes. Push to the side and add the garlic and cook for about 30 seconds. Then add the tomato paste and stir everything together. Let it cook for an additional minute, stirring often.
Pour the wine into the instant pot, using the spoon to scrape any little bits from the bottom of the pot. Bring it to a simmer and let the wine cook down by about half.
Add everything except for the bay leaves, fresh parsley, and peas to the pot, stirring everything together. Add the bay leaves and close the lid on the instant pot, placing it in a locked position with the steam valve sealed.
Pressure cook on high for 35 minutes. Once the cooking time is up, allow the pot to naturally pressure release for 10 minutes. Then flip the steam valve open to release the rest of the pressure.
Once the pressure has fully released, open the lid and stir in the peas and parsley. Remove and discard the bay leaves before serving.
Recipe Variations
- Give this some heat with red pepper flakes, hot sauce, cayenne pepper, or add some jalapeno peppers or poblano peppers.
- Try adding other veggies like green beans, sweet potatoes, parsnips, turnips, crushed tomatoes, Brussel sprouts, kale, or zucchini.
- Increase the fiber by adding some canned kidney beans, chickpeas, or black beans.
- If you leave the potatoes out, you can serve this over mashed potatoes or rice.
- If you don’t want to add individual seasonings, you can just add a teaspoon or two of Italian seasoning.
Recipe Tip! Make sure to pat the stew meat dry with a paper towel before cooking. This helps create a nice sear on the beef, instead of steaming it when it hits the heat.
Frequently Asked Questions
If your beef stew turned out too thin, that’s an easy fix! Take 1/4 cup of cold water, and whisk together with 2 tablespoons of cornstarch. Stir the cornstarch slurry into the stew and place the lid back onto the pot. The heat from the stew should begin to thicken the cornstarch. Stir it every few minutes to check on the texture.
Another way to thicken the stew would be to turn on the saute feature and simmer the stew until some of the liquid evaporates, stirring often. This method will take longer than the cornstarch, though.
Recipe Tip! If you don’t have stew meat available, you can cut a chuck roast into smaller pieces. Avoid anything that’s too lean for this recipe, but you don’t want any cuts with heavy marbling, either.
More Instant Pot Soup and Stew Recipes
Storage
Refrigerate Instant Pot Beef Stew for 3-4 days in an airtight container.
Freeze leftover beef stew for 2-3 months in a freezer-safe container.
Cooking Tips
- Giving the tomato paste a quick saute will help build up the layers of flavor in the soup and reduce the acidity. Push the other ingredients to the side and add it directly to the hot pot for about a minute.
- If you don’t have red wine, you can just skip that part and follow the recipe from when you add the broth. But the wine adds a significant part of the flavor profile of the beef stew, so I don’t recommend skipping it if you don’t have to!
- If your stew is too thick, you can stir in some more broth before serving.
- A “natural release” for the instant pot means that you don’t have to do anything, just let the pot sit after the time is up. It will release small amounts of pressure by itself. Afterwards, it is important to flip the steam valve open (aka “quick release”) to make sure there’s no more steam and that the float valve has dropped down all the way before opening the pot.
- You can make this in a dutch oven, just add the ingredients in the same order. Then bring to a boil, and reduce to a simmer until the potatoes are tender and the beef is totally cooked through.
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Instant Pot Beef Stew
Ingredients
- 3 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
- 1 1/2 pounds beef stew meat, cut into 1-2" pieces, pat dry with paper towels
- 3 tablespoons gluten free all-purpose flour, 1:1
- 1 medium Vidalia onion, chopped
- 3 medium celery ribs, chopped
- 3 medium carrots, peeled and chopped
- 3 cloves garlic, minced
- 2 tablespoons tomato paste
- 1/2 cup sweet red wine
- 2 tablespoons Worcestershire sauce, gluten free
- 3 cups beef broth, low sodium, gluten free
- 1 pound Yukon gold potatoes, cut into 1-inch cubes
- 8 ounces cremini mushrooms, quartered
- 1 teaspoon dried rosemary
- 1 teaspoon fresh thyme leaves
- 2 whole dried bay leaves
- 1 cup frozen peas
- 2 tablespoons fresh parsley, chopped
- 1/2 teaspoon salt, or to taste
- 1/2 teaspoon black pepper, or to taste
Equipment
- 1 Instant Pot
Instructions
- Turn on the instant pot saute function. While that's heating up, add the beef to a mixing bowl with the flour and stir to evenly coat each piece.
- Add 2 tablespoons of olive oil to the instant pot. Sear the beef for 1-2 minutes on each side, leaving some space between each piece, until golden brown. You may have to work in batches. Remove the finished beef onto a separate plate and continue until all of it is seared.
- Add the remaining olive oil with the onion, celery, and carrots. Saute until the onions begin to turn translucent, about 2-3 minutes. Push to the side and add the garlic and cook for about 30 seconds. Then add the tomato paste and stir everything together. Let it cook for an additional minute, stirring often.
- Pour the wine into the instant pot, using the spoon to scrape any little bits from the bottom of the pot. Bring it to a simmer and let the wine cook down by half.
- Add everything except for the bay leaves, fresh parsley, and peas to the pot, stirring everything together. Add the bay leaves and close the lid on the pot, placing it in a locked position with the steam valve sealed.
- Pressure cook on high for 35 minutes. Once the cooking time is up, allow the pot to naturally release for 10 minutes. Then flip the steam valve open to release the rest of the pressure.
- Once the pressure has fully released, open the lid and stir in the peas and parsley. Remove and discard the bay leaves before serving.
Notes
- Make sure to pat the stew meat dry with a paper towel before cooking. This helps create a nice sear on the beef, instead of steaming it when it hits the heat.
- Giving the tomato paste a quick saute will help build up the layers of flavor in the soup and reduce the acidity. Push the other ingredients to the side and add it directly to the hot pot for about a minute.
- If your stew is too thick, you can stir in some more broth before serving.
Nutrition
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