Instant Pot Beef Stew Recipe

Cozy, comforting, and made so quickly and easily under pressure, this Instant Pot beef stew will become an instant favorite. 

You definitely need to add this Instant Pot beef stew into your cooking rotation because it’s delicious and so easy to make. Thanks to the pressure cooking method, you get that tender, cooked all day, fall-apart beef in a fraction of the time.

A pressure cooker also works great for beef short ribs and BBQ ribs. Try it for pork, too: Instant Pot pork loin roast, Instant Pot carnitas, or Instant Pot pulled pork.

About This Stew Recipe

This recipe is a one pan dinner: meat, potatoes, vegetables. I love that the Instant Pot also has a Sauté function so you can brown the beef first for the best-tasting stew. Once the beef is browned, simply deglaze the pan with a little broth or wine, and dump in the rest of the ingredients.

The stew has plenty of flavor! I toss the meat with my homemade beef stew seasoning. It’s a great blend of dried herbs, seasonings, and flour. I make a big batch of it and keep it in the pantry so it’s ready to use. I also add some fresh herbs to the pot because there’s nothing quite like fresh herbs.

There’s one more little shortcut to take. I buy a bag of frozen pearl onions. I love those sweet little onions in stew but really hate to peel them. The frozen pearl onions are ready to go. Just dump them in.

Actually, I believe you can also buy a bag of frozen stew vegetables. I would stay away from those because I think carrots and potatoes get a weird texture when they’re frozen. It’s really kind of satisfying to chop up your own (although obviously I draw the line at pearl onions!) and you can do it the day before if you want.

Serve the stew with crusty Dutch oven bread or this easy no knead whole wheat bread. Cornbread muffins with herbs and cheddar or whole wheat cornbread go great with it, too.

Finish up with a homestyle dessert. Try homemade chocolate pudding or easy pumpkin pudding. Apple ginger crisp with a scoop of vanilla bean ice cream is always a great choice.

I’ll get you started on the recipe here and give you some extra tips. Look for the recipe card below which has measurements, instructions, and nutrition information.

What You’ll Need

• Beef Chuck Roast: You’ll need about 2 pounds. You can buy stew meat already chopped up but chuck roast is more economical and it’s pretty easy to cut your own. Trim some of the excess fat away.
• Beef Stew Seasoning: As I mentioned above, I make my own blend of seasoning. It’s so easy to do and you can customize it to your own taste. It contains: flour, onion powder, black pepper, paprika, celery seed, basil, parsley, salt, oregano, rosemary, and cayenne pepper.
• Olive Oil: The meat is browned in oil first. You can substitute a different kind of oil if you prefer as along as it has a high smoke point.
• Beef Broth or Stock: Look for low-sodium or no-salt-added broth.
• Frozen Pearl Onions: Of course, you could buy fresh pearl onions and peel them yourself. You can substitute chopped yellow onion, if you prefer.
• Celery, Carrots, Potatoes: This is a typical stew blend. Cut the vegetables into pretty uniform pieces. I like to buy baby potatoes. They hold their shape better than russet potatoes.
• Canned Diced Tomatoes: Again, look for low-sodium or no-salt-added tomatoes, if you can find them.
• Frozen Peas: The peas are added after the stew cooks. They cook very quickly and retain their bright green color.
• Bay Leaf: Either dried or fresh is fine.
• Fresh Thyme and Fresh Rosemary: There’s nothing like the flavor of fresh herbs. If you can’t find them, use dried herbs but use less (one third as much) because dried is more potent.
• Cornstarch: You may not need it but if you like your stew with a thick gravy, a cornstarch slurry helps thicken the broth.

FAQs

Make It Your Own

Like many of my recipes, this one is completely adaptable to your diet and tastes. It’s great as written, but you can tweak it to make it yours.

• Whole30 Instant Pot Beef Stew Recipe: Leave the flour out of the seasoning mix, and only use 1 tablespoon of the seasoning mix instead of ¼ cup. Brown the meat as directed in the recipe. When it’s finished cooking, thicken as desired with arrowroot powder instead of cornstarch.
• Crockpot Beef Stew: If you would rather slow cook the stew, try crockpot beef stew instead. It’s easy and turns out great.
• Feel free to adapt the vegetables and seasonings to your liking. Add garlic powder or minced garlic. Deglaze the pan with a half cup of dry red wine.

Make-Ahead Ideas

Get a head start on this recipe by prepping the vegetables and herbs a day ahead. Refrigerate them until ready to use. You can mix up the beef stew seasoning ahead of time, too. It keeps in the pantry for months.

Storage & Reheating Tips

Cool and refrigerate leftover beef stew in a covered container. It will keep for four to five days.

Beef stew can be frozen for up to six months although you will notice that the potatoes tend to get mushy and the stew may separate a little. Once it’s cooled, package it in freezer containers or bags. Thaw overnight in the refrigerator before reheating, if possible.

To reheat stew, microwave individual portions in 30 second increments until heated through. Reheat larger portions on the stove in a saucepan or skillet over medium heat.