Instant Pot Beef Stew

This Instant Pot Beef Stew recipe is an easy, comforting dinner that’s quick to put together in the pressure cooker! With plenty of vegetables, tender beef and the best gravy you’ll ever taste.

I have to confess: I’ve only ever been to one St. Patrick’s Day party in my entire life, and it was on a camp site in a huge community hall and everybody was definitely drinking way too much green beer.

I kind of love it when the weather gets cool and stew-appropriate. That’s a thing, right?? I make things like Instant Pot Turkey Pumpkin Chili, Instant Pot Chicken Tortilla Soup or Instant Pot Chicken Gnocchi Soup. And my kids? They love it just as much.

This Instant Pot Beef Stew is actually nothing else but my insanely popular Slow Cooker Beef Stew. It was born out of necessity when I had kind of forgotten about thawing the meat… And decided to try this stew in the pressure cooker. Huge success, hooray!

How to Make Instant Pot Beef Stew

Making stew in the instant pot makes the meat fork-tender! The flavors come together so well in the pressure cooker, this is a new family favorite for sure.

Ingredients for Instant Pot Beef Stew:

For the meat:

• 2 tablespoons oil
• 1.5 pounds beef stewing meat cubed
• 2 tablespoons flour

For the gravy:

• 2 large yellow onions cut into wedges
• 2 cloves garlic sliced
• 2 teaspoons Italian seasoning
• 4 tablespoons tomato paste
• 1/3 cup dry red wine OR use more stock
• 2 cups beef stock
• 2 tablespoons Worcestershire sauce
• 1 teaspoon maple syrup OR brown sugar
• Salt and pepper to taste

For the vegetables:

• 1/2 pound waxy potatoes peeled and cut into chunks
• 4 large carrots peeled, ends trimmed and cut into chunks
• 4 large celery sticks trimmed and thickly sliced
• 8 ounces brown button mushrooms cleaned and quartered
• 1/2 cup frozen peas no need to defrost

Equipment Needed:

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• knife and chopping board
• measuring cups and spoons
• wooden cooking spoon
• electric pressure cooker

Steps

1 – Brown the meat:

Set the instant pot to sauté. Heat the oil in it. Add the beef cubes and stir.

Sprinkle the flour over the meat and stir well. Cook until the beef is browned on all sides.

If the instant pot gets too hot, adjust the heat to medium.

2 – Start the gravy:

Add the onions and cook until starting to brown.

Stir in the garlic, Italian seasoning and tomato paste and cook, stirring constantly, until the herbs are fragrant, about 30 seconds. Pour the red wine into the pan, scratching the browned bits off the bottom. (Make sure you catch EVERYTHING, or your instant pot will give you the burn warning! If you’re unsure, you can do the previous steps in a large skillet on the stove and then transfer everything to the Instant Pot.)

Cook until thickened, about 1 minute. Stir in the stock, Worcestershire sauce, maple syrup, salt and pepper.

3 – Cook the stew:

Add the potatoes, carrots, celery and mushrooms to the instant pot. Stir very well.

Close the lid on the Instant Pot and set the steam valve to “sealing”. Press the “meat/stew” button.

Once cooking time is up, allow a natural pressure release (just leave the instant pot alone until it’s safe to open).

4 – Finish:

Once the pressure has released, open the instant pot. Stir well and check for seasoning and consistency.

Set the Instant Pot to sauté and add the peas. Bring to a boil and simmer for 5 minutes.

5 – If you want to thicken the stew:

If the gravy is too thin for your liking, add a slurry of 1-2 teaspoons cornstarch and 1 tablespoon water. Stir well and simmer until thickened.

Nora’s beef stew cooking tips for you:

What cut is best for stew?

For a beef stew, I prefer diced chuck roast. It gets tender and flavorful when cooked right.

Please don’t go out and spend a ton of money on expensive meat when you make this stew! Cheap stew meat will definitely do.

The instant pot will tenderize it in no time at all!

Do I have to brown the beef to make stew?

You can technically skip browning the meat if you’re short on time, but it will have a big impact on the final taste.

I do recommend taking the extra 10 minutes to follow the recipe’s instructions. 

If you’re not a fan of soft veggies:

I’m not going to lie. Vegetables cook fast in the instant pot, and they will be soft all the way after 45 minutes or so under pressure. It’s an extra step (so I do not usually bother), but for the sake of recipe testing I have tried this three ways:

Adding the veggies for the entire cooking time: Everything will be soft, but not disintegrated.

Adding the veggies for the last 15 minutes, only: The veggies will be cooked pretty much on point, but it is a small extra step, and you’ll lose some time bringing the pressure down, and then bringing it back up.

Cooking the vegetables separately on the stove, then adding them once the meat is done cooking: Huge extra hassle, less flavor in the gravy, thinner gravy (the potatoes help thicken), BUT you get to cook the vegetables exactly to your liking.

Personally, I always add the veggies for the entire cooking process… Since they are part of a stew, I don’t mind them being super soft. AND I’m a hater of any and all extra steps I can prevent, ha!

How do you make stew meat tender?

Pressure cooking the stew helps a lot with tenderizing the meat without having to cook it for seventy hours.

The one thing you have to take care off when using a pressure cooker is to allow the stew a natural pressure release for 10 minutes after cooking. I know it’s annoying and we all want to rush this step – but it’s crucial to allow the meat fibers to relax.

That way, your meat will be tender and delicious.

How can I thicken my stew after cooking?

While the stew won’t thicken in the pressure cooker (the liquid cannot cook away because the lid is always closed), you can thicken the stew to your taste after cooking using one of the following methods:

• blend 1 cup of the stew and stir it back in
• make a slurry of 1-2 teaspoons cornstarch and 1 tablespoon cold water, set the instant pot to sauté and stir the slurry into the stew. Simmer until thickened.

The second method is my preferred one (because I don’t want to mess around with the blender etc while my family is hungry), but you can use either.

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PS: I have a pretty old-school 6-quart DUO instant pot (this is an affiliate link and I earn a commission if you click through and make a purchase) and that’s what I use to test my instant pot recipes. Please check your own instant pot for liquid requirements and cooking times to make sure the recipe turn out right for you.

What to serve with Beef Stew:

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P.S: For more stew recipes, check out our collection of homemade beef stew recipes!