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Deeply flavorful, thick, and cozy, our Instant Pot Beef Stew is everything you could ask for and more! It’s a hearty bowl of comfort food that uses simple ingredients and is ready to eat in an hour or less.
Easiest Homemade Beef Stew
We love Instant Pot beef recipes, so we’re constantly looking for ways to make our favorite dishes using our pressure cooker. Stew is the sort of recipe that’s perfect for making in the Instant Pot, so naturally, we had to try making our favorite beef stew!
The first time we tried making this recipe, faces lit up around the table and everyone’s bowls were quickly emptied. It’s so delicious you’ll want to savor every bite, but might wind up wolfing it down!
What makes this dish such a great choice for dinner is that it’s really so easy to make, on top of being irresistibly tasty. This is a tender beef stew, made with chuck roast, veggies, and a thick broth flavored with red wine.
Give this simple recipe a try and we know it will put a smile on your face. It’s one of our favorite comfort food dishes!
Is pot roast good for stew?
Yes! Actually, our number one choice for making beef stew in the Instant Pot is chuck roast beef.
Chuck roast is our favorite pot roast beef, and it’s also the perfect choice for stew. Cooking it in the pressure cooker makes it fall-apart tender, while soaking up all of the flavors from the broth. It is truly the best choice!
How long do I pressure cook beef?
Pressure cooking beef is a perfect choice for when you need a quick and easy meal that’s still tender, juicy, and as deeply flavorful as if you slow cooked it all day long.
For this Instant Pot stew, we cook our beef on high pressure for 15 minutes. This is after browning the beef on each side for about 3 minutes a side to give it a sear for extra flavor.
⭐ Best Beef Recipes Tips
- When searing, if the meat soaks up the vegetable oil too quickly, you can add a little more. Start with about 2 tablespoons, adding more if necessary.
- Don’t skip searing – it makes a world of difference. It takes just about 3 minutes per side until the beef is browned on all sides.
- Make sure not to overcrowd the pot when searing or your beef won’t properly brown. Brown in batches if you need to.
- Naturally release the pressure – don’t use quick release. Natural release gives you the most tender beef.
- If the pressure hasn’t released after 20 minutes, let it continue to naturally release if you have the time. If you’re in a hurry, quick release any remaining pressure.
If you want to thicken your stew a bit more, use more cornstarch mixture. Make sure to mix it in while it’s freshly hot in the Instant Pot.
🧾 Substitutions
- You can use chuck roast or bottom round roast for stew beef.
- We prefer sea salt for seasoning beef for its coarser texture. If you don’t have sea salt or would prefer, you can use regular salt.
- Instead of red wine, you can use more beef broth or red wine vinegar.
- Garlic paste is a good substitute for minced garlic.
👪 How many servings does this make?
Our recipe for Instant Pot Beef Stew makes approximately 6 servings. It’s perfect for a family dinner!
📖 Instant Pot Beef Recipes
Try more of our favorite Instant Pot recipes using beef!
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📋 Recipe
Instant Pot Beef Stew Recipe
Equipment
Ingredients
- 2 Tbsp. vegetable oil if beef absorbs oil too quickly, add 1 Tbsp. more
- 3 lbs. chuck roast or bottom round roast, cut into 1-inch cubes
- 1 tsp. fine sea salt plus ½ tsp. more for cooking with
- ½ cup red wine or use equal amount more beef broth
- 1 cup beef broth or water
- 1 lb. carrots peeled and cut into 1½-inch lengths
- 2 cloves garlic finely minced, or 2 tsp. garlic paste
- 1 large onion finely chopped
- 15 oz. canned tomato sauce
- ½ tsp. freshly ground black pepper
- 1 tsp. dried thyme
Cornstarch slurry
- ¼ cup water
- 1 Tbsp. cornstarch
Instructions
- Prepare your ingredients: slice 3 lbs. chuck roast beef into cubes, chop 1 large onion, peel and cut 1 lb. carrots, and mince 2 cloves garlic.
- Set Instant Pot to saute mode. Heat 2 Tbsp. vegetable oil. While the pot heats, season cubed chuck roast beef with 1 tsp. sea salt.
- Add ⅓ of the beef to the Instant Pot in a single layer and sear until browned on one side, about 3 minutes. Then flip to the opposite side and brown. Repeat in batches until all beef is browned.
- Remove beef from the pot and set aside. Add onion and garlic to the pot and sprinkle with 1 tsp. dried thyme and ½ tsp. sea salt.
- Stir in 15 oz. canned tomato sauce. Saute until the onion softens, about 5 minutes. Scrape the bottom of the pot to loosen up any browned bits and stir them in.
- Pour in ½ cup red wine and bring to a simmer. Simmer for 1 minute. Then, add the beef back to the mixture along with any juices in the bowl. Stir well.
- Add 1 cup beef broth and your carrots. Stir, then add the lid back to the pressure cooker and cook on high pressure for 15 minutes.
- Once 15 minutes is up, allow the pressure to naturally release for 20 minutes.
- Carefully remove the lid. Tilt it away from you to avoid hot steam. Whisk ¼ cup water and 1 Tbsp. cornstarch together to create a slurry, then stir the slurry into the stew to thicken it.
- Finally, add ½ tsp. black pepper and salt to taste. Serve, and enjoy!
Notes
- When searing, if the meat soaks up the vegetable oil too quickly, you can add a little more. Start with about 2 tablespoons, adding more if necessary.
- Don’t skip searing – it makes a world of difference. It takes just about 3 minutes per side until the beef is browned on all sides.
- Make sure not to overcrowd the pot when searing or your beef won’t properly brown. Brown in batches if you need to.
- Naturally release the pressure – don’t use quick release. Natural release gives you the most tender beef.
- If the pressure hasn’t released after 20 minutes, let it continue to naturally release if you have the time. If you’re in a hurry, quick release any remaining pressure.
- If you want to thicken your stew a bit more, use more cornstarch mixture. Make sure to mix it in while it’s freshly hot in the Instant Pot.
Pauline says
I have the mini Instant Pot. How do I modify the ingredient amounts for this recipe?
Em Beitel says
Hi Pauline! We use a 6qt Instant Pot in this recipe. If you’re using a mini pot at 3qts, I would suggest cutting the ingredients by half or down to 2/3rds of the recipe size. If you click on the ‘6’ serving size number in the recipe card, you can adjust it down to either ‘3’ for half or 4 for about 2/3rds. Please let us know if you need any more help and if you do, feel free to contact us via email as well.
Angie says
I have the largest size insta pot. Can I use it to cook this recipe? The one in picture looks smaller.
Em Beitel says
Hi Angie! Absolutely, you can use a larger pot. We use a 6qt but using a large pot will be just fine. We hope you enjoy!