Irresistible Instant Pot Beef Stew
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Learn how to make the perfect instant pot beef stew in less than an hour and it tastes just like a Mississippi pot roast! The flavors of this meal make it taste like it’s been slowly simmered all day long. Serve it on a bed of egg noodles, with hot crusty bread, or over mashed potatoes!
A ladle full of instant pot beef stew on a bed of the fluffiest mashed potatoes.
Or noodles. Or served with hot, crusty bread and a side salad. I’m basically trying to say serve it however your heart desires.
Can we all just agree that a pot full of homemade stew tucked away in the refrigerator is something to look forward to when you’re slammed at work and see no light at the end of the proverbial tunnel? Or perhaps that’s just me. Just sit back, take a breather, and think about that beef stew that’s hearty to the brim, filled with tender chunks of beef, soul-warming, and utterly delicious just sitting there waiting for you to get home. The fat girl inside of me is dancing with joy.
Let that countdown begin! Then it’s beef stew + Netflix and chill time (and I do mean that literally!)
I wanted to share my instant pot beef stew recipe with you after being inspired by the unusually cooler weather we’ve been having here in Texas. And by unusually cooler I mean it being in the mid-80s – yes my friend, here in the south, we consider that to be good weather. Can you believe it? It took years for me to get used to that.
This homemade beef stew is pretty straightforward, if you can dump a bunch of ingredients into the instant pot, you can make this meal. In fact, it’s so painless I would even trust my husband to put it together. Mind you, his arsenal of recipes starts with fried eggs and ends with tea. Okay, I digress. Mostly what I’m trying to get across is that YOU can do this without much effort.
Of course, if you’re like me and root for the Maillard reaction team, you can easily take this instant pot beef stew recipe a little further. Season your beef chunks with a pinch of salt and pepper and then sear them off with a knob of butter to really brown the meat on the outside leaving you with the most tenders chunks of beef in your stew. Because really, has butter in moderation ever steered you wrong?
Never ever, ever.
Of course, this doesn’t have to be an instant pot beef stew. You can easily use this as a guideline and follow other oven-friendly recipes and let the glorious scents of beef stew torture you for the upwards of 4-5 hours. Admittedly, if you’re anything like me, the thought of having prepared comfort food ready to eat in 45 minutes is a hair more appealing than the natural smells promised by the oven method mentioned above.
Instant gratification: sniff your bowl and shove spoonfuls of bubbly, thick stew with mashed potatoes. Repeat often.
I’d like to point out that the inspiration for this beef stew recipe comes from the Mississippi pot roast recipe that Pinterest is all about. We’re using a whole packet of ranch seasoning along with 1/2 a cup of thinly sliced pepperoncini peppers that you can pick up in the condiment aisle of your grocery store.
True story: I’ve never made a Mississippi pot roast. One major problem I have with it: using a fattier cut like chuck roast along with one or sometimes two, sticks of butter scares the bejesus out of me. The other one? Using a packet of ‘au jus gravy mix’. Friends, when you sear that meat, then let it pressure cook with low sodium beef broth, along with Worcestershire sauce, and fresh vegetables, you can quickly develop those same flavors while skipping all the mystery ingredients and excessive salt that you get from a store bought gravy mix.
Depending on how thick you like your stew, play around with the amount of cornstarch listed. The first time I made this instant pot beef stew recipe, I used two tablespoons of cornstarch and found that it was a little thin for my taste. I like my stew on the thicker side, not like a bowl of soup. So three tablespoons of cornstarch is our sweet spot. Use this as a guideline though. If you find that you prefer a thicker gravy too, mix a little more cornstarch with water and pop you stew back onto the sauté setting and let it start bubbling. Then add in the slurry. The beauty of using an instant pot (affiliate link) is the ability to go from pressure cooking to stove-top with the push of a button.
Final words: please serve this over a bed of homemade mashed potatoes. Might I be so bold as to suggest my garlic herb instant pot mash?
It has a way of working with this beef stew recipe.
Irresistible Instant Pot Beef Stew
Learn how to make the perfect instant pot beef stew in less than an hour and it tastes just like a Mississippi pot roast! The flavors of this meal make it taste like it's been slowly simmered all day long. Serve it on a bed of egg noodles, with hot crusty bread, or over mashed potatoes!
Ingredients
- 1 3/4 - 2 pounds beef (chuck roast, cut into 1 1/2-2 inch pieces)
- salt and pepper
- 2 tablespoons butter
- 8 ounces baby bella mushrooms, halved or quartered
- 14-ounce bag (~ 2 cups) pearl onions
- 3 stalks celery, cut into 1-inch pieces
- 4 large carrots, cut into 1-inch pieces
- 1/2 cup pepperoncini (thinly sliced)
- 1 tablespoon EACH: tomato paste and sugar
- 1 (1-ounce) packet ranch seasoning mix*
- 2 tablespoons: Worcestershire sauce
- 2-3 tablespoons cornstarch*
- 1 1/4 - 1 1/2 cup low sodium beef broth*
- 3 cloves garlic, minced
Instructions
- optional: season the beef with a big pinch of salt and pepper. Heat the butter in the instant pot on the saute setting. When the butter melts, sear the beef in batches, remove to a plate.
- Instant Pot: In a large measuring cup, mix the beef broth with 2 scant tablespoons of cornstarch until it dissolves. Place all the ingredients in the Instant Pot and select the meat/stew setting. Time the recipe for 35 minutes. Once the stew is cooked allow it to rest in the pot for 10-15 minutes before releasing the steam. This gives the meat a chance to really soak up all those flavors. If you feel the gravy is thin, dissolve the remaining tablespoon of cornstarch with a little water and add that in with the IP on the sautee setting. Adjust salt and pepper to preference.
Notes
- There are several recipes online for homemade ranch seasoning mix if that's more your thing! 2 tablespoons of homemade seasoning is approximately what you'll need for this recipe.
- I'm confident you could prepare this beef stew in the oven as well, I just haven't tried it yet. I'd suggest searing the beef then transferring it along with the rest of the ingredients into a glass baking dish (with cover) and letting it go low and slow at 325ºF for 3 1/2 - 4 1/2 hours. You can uncover the stew during the last 10-20 minutes to give it a little color as well!
Update 10/23/17: Some readers have mentioned they had issues with the instant pot displaying 'burn' while the pressure was building pressure. I myself did not have this problem. But this normally occurs when there isn't sufficient liquid in the pot. I retested the recipe and have upped the liquid to 1 1/2 cups (original recipe called for 1 1/4 cups). If you made this without any issues, I suggest keeping the recipe with 1 1/4 cups. If you're a first timer, I suggest making it with 1 1/2 cups of broth.
If you like this recipe, you might also like:
20-minute garlic herb instant pot mashed potatoes
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54 Comments on “Irresistible Instant Pot Beef Stew”
AWESOME recipe! I have made Mississippi Pot Roast in the Instant Pot and this was a very similar recipe, but I just love that is is stew. I served it over mashed potatoes and it was a BIG HIT at my house! As for the “burn notice” I would advise people to “de-glaze” the pot after they saute the meat. We just used a little bit of the beef broth and that always helps to NOT get it stuck! THANK YOU SO MUCH!! This one is a keeper!!
So glad to hear you enjoyed it! And that’s a great tip, thank you for sharing! ?
This was a great recipe. I did need to add extra beef broth because of the burn signal on the instant pot, but it came out fine and was delicious.
If you use about 1/4 cup plain broth to deglaze the bottom of the insert and scrape the bits you won’t have a problem.
Could I freeze after making and reheat? Loved the recipe and would love to be able to have it more often!
Yeah, I think that should work out just fine!
What is your opinion of adding water chestnuts to this? I love them and think they’d maybe be good but not sure how they hold up in the IP?
How about leaving out the ranch dressing — due to lactose intolerance? Thinking it will be fine ?
I had plenty of fluid but kept getting the burn signal. Didn’t make sense to me. I scraped the bottom of the pot and that seemed to make a difference – either cornstarch or from browning the beef. Next time I will add the cornstarch at the end as some have suggested. I also added small potatoes. Very tasty!
Absolutely fabulous!
Could I use a 3.5lb chuck roast? Would any ingredient amounts change and would the time change?
That’s double the quantity of meat, so I would suggest doubling all the other ingredients as well so the ratio of meat to veggie stays the same. You may need a larger IP to fit it all, like the 8 qrt. If you’re going for just more meat, then you just want to be sure there’s enough liquid to cover the roast otherwise the pot may not come to pressure. I don’t think the cooking time would change, however I’m not sure as I’ve never made a double batch. I would suggest just testing the meat with a knife and if it goes through easily, it’s done! If not, I’d give it an additional 5-10 minutes under pressure! 🙂
This makes a delicious beef stew! The pepperoncini adds a little bit of heat. We added fingerling potatoes. The flavor is incredible and the balance of meat & vegetables is perfect. Great recipe!
delicious recipe, ive made this beef stew twice big hit with the family each time , thanks for sharing
This is excellent and so easy!! Will be making this again and again!! Thank you!
This was my first time making beef stew! This was so delicious! The meat was so tender. My family loved it! I’ll definitely be making this again!
Made this last night and it was a big hit! The only change I made was to leave the cornstarch out until after pressure was released. I’ve heard sometimes thickeners added too early could cause the BURN message, so I took some of the hot broth, made a slurry with the cornstarch, then added it back in and put the pot on SAUTE for a few minutes to thicken. I might try it again with the smaller amount of water, but we are big fans of lots of extra sauce to moisten noodles.
I have a mini-duo Instant Pot – any tips for cutting down the ingredients to fit in my pot? Thanks – Susan.
I made this tonight for supper and will be making again. It’s a uniquely flavored beef stew and easy to make. I didn’t use mushrooms (no one will eat them) so added additional beef broth to make up for the liquid the mushrooms would release during cooking. Also, due to reviews mentioning the “Burn” warning from the IP, I didn’t add the 2-3 Tbsp of cornstarch with the beef broth when ingredients were all going into the IP. I didn’t see the value of thickening the stew while it cooked since cornstarch is flavorless. After the stew finished the 10-15 minute natural release I quick released, removed the lid, initiated the saute’ feature and thickened the stew at that time. It worked perfectly. I served the stew over wide egg noodles with a side of homemade focaccia bread. Thanks for a unique recipe. The peperoncini is the key ingredient.
Want to make the stew for my card club, but can I add beef for stir fry along with my stew meat ?
Made this for dinner tonight along with your instant pot garlic mashed potatoes. I didn’t have pepperoncinis so I left them out. I couldn’t find pearl onions so I just chopped up one large onion. I did not brown the meat. Just added it all to the pot. I used a 14.5 oz can of beef broth which is just over 1.5 cups of liquid and I still got the “burn” warning. But I accidentally hit the release valve and it released pressure for a second and the burn warning went away and it started cooking. So much flavor! I wanted to eat it alllllllll! Even my picky kids (ages 4, 2 and 1) liked the “chicken” (beef) haha. I don’t have a “rotation” yet but making one tonight and this recipe is going in it! Thanks!
Stupid question but I’ve never worked with pearl onions… do I need to peel them before I put them in the pot??
Not stupid at all; yup, you’ll want to peel them. An easy way to do it is to trim the root ends of the onions then blanch them in boiling water for about 30 seconds. Transfer them to a bowl of ice water and when they’re cool enough to touch, just pinch the onions skin and the onion should pop right out (or you can peel the skin with a paring knife.) You can also check the freezer section of your grocery store to see if they sell pearl onions next time if you’d like (they’re cleaned and ready to go.) I found them at mine and it’s a LIFE SAVER! Hope that helps! 🙂
This was an easy and delicious meal.
The BEST recipe I’ve made in my Instant Pot (or crockpot), ever! I used chuck roast cut into 1” pieces, sprinkled with lots of black pepper, onion and garlic powder prior to sautéing. I elected to use a packet of whole Hidden Valley Ranch and a large yellow onion cut into rings as well as two tablespoons minced garlic and 2 cups halved baby potatoes. I just got done eating and my mouth is watering just thinking about making this again!
Whole family loved it!! Thank you for the awesome recipe!!!
I have made this twice. I do have a instant Pop, but I have a mini and this recipie does not fit in my mini. I make it in the oven. We love it!! Thanks!!
I made this tonight for dinner & it was so deliciously flavorful! Served it on top of mashed potatoes. So yummy! Thanks for sharing!
This was soooo good! Just a question has anyone tried adding potatoes to it? I wonder if I would need to modify the recipe?
Glad to hear you enjoyed the stew! Haven’t tried making it with potatoes myself, but I do think it could work. I think the potatoes would require some additional broth to help cook all the way through. I’m not sure how much more it would need but based on the additional broth you’d also need to play around with the cornstarch a bit. If you decide to give it a go, I’d love to hear how it went!
To brown the meat on sauté button ,it doesn’t have that button
On my one touch xl. What do i use?
I’m actually not familiar with that particular model. I suggest checking the manual to see if your pressure cooker has the functionality and how you’d go about using it. You could also just brown the meat in a skillet (on the stove) and transfer to the pressure cooker as well, if you’d like.
you can use the chicken button to saute
I made it exactly as the recipe. The whole family loved it. Beef was tender, all of the veggies were cooked perfectly and none of them were mushy.
Full of flavor.
I even made the garlic mashed potato recipe that is attached. It was so awesome together.
I made this tonight and it was fabulous. I added 2 cups of broth, no mushrooms or pearl onions. I seared my meat on the stove top because I seen that so many said they got the burn screen while making this. I have read that sometimes after searing in the pot that if you don’t get all the residual meat dripping off the bottom it will cause the burn screen. I also added potatoes and onion
Probably a silly queation- but when you say 3 stalks of celery do you mean 3 sticks or 3 actual stalks (as in 3 bundles) Can’t wait to make this tonight! Just got an Insta pot for Christmas and this will be my first recipe.
3 sticks of celery. Hope you enjoy your IP and this stew!
This looks great…can’t wait to try it, especially since we are currently freezing in the Austin area! One tip I might suggest is adding just 1 T. cornstarch at the beginning, since the Burn often is caused by liquid that is too thick and cornstarch tends to congeal near the bottom of the mixture. Another idea is using potato starch, which I often see recommended in place of cornstarch. Bob’s Red Mill is a good source. (“Potato Starch can be used to replace cornstarch in most baking recipes. Potato starch powder tolerates higher temperatures than cornstarch, making it an excellent thickener for sauces, soups and stews.”) Hope that helps.
Glad to hear Houston is healing nicely from Harvey. Happy New Year!
Thank for the tip, Cheryl! I’ve never used potato starch in place of cornstarch before but I’ll definitely have to give that a try now! 🙂
What a great recipe! I made this last night for my family and it turned out so great. We took your suggestion and serve it with mashed potatoes AND a nice crusty French bread, both were a winner! It’s something I’m sure we’ll make several times this winter season (as much “winter” as we get in Texas anyways!) The meat was so tender it just melted in your mouth. And the flavor was excellent, better with each bite. I especially liked the little bit of zing from the pepperoncinis.
Can i make this recipe without the pepperoncini and still taste good?
Yes, you can omit the pepperoncini if you’d like.
Wonderful!!!! The flavors are amazing and the beef was soooo tender! New family favorite! Thank you!
I have a question. This is my first recipe using my instant pot. I keep getting the burn message when it’s preheatng and building pressure. Do you know a possibile fix for this?
Hi Patti! I just saw your comment come through. I’ve actually updated the recipe just earlier today to up the broth to 1 1/2 cups if you’re a first-timer. Some people have mentioned having this issue, while others (like myself) did not. The additional liquid should prevent the ‘burn’ message from showing up! 🙂
Hi! I see I must have missed the note about adding the cornstarch at the beginning. I will try it again and perhaps add the cornstarch at the end as a slurry. Thank you. It really does have a wonderful flavor!
Making this tonight and I couldn’t find pearl onions anywhere. Can I substitute regular chopped onion? Also, is 35 min on meat/stew setting the same thing as 35 min on manual high pressure?
Hi Mandy! Yes, you can definitely replace it with regular chopped onions but I wouldn’t use 2 cups. More in the ballpark of about 1- 1 1/4 cups would probably work better. And yes, from what I understand 35 minutes is the same on meat/stew setting and the manual high-pressure setting. Hope you enjoy the stew! 🙂
Wonderful flavors! It all came together nicely. This was my 1st instant pot recipe & it was so easy!! I made it with my own mashed potatoes recipe & the hubs loved it.
Glad to hear you enjoyed it Marlene! So sorry I wasn’t able to get back to your other message earlier but glad it all ended up working out for you 🙂
I’m planning on making this today. When you suggest in direction 1 the option of searing the meat, do you mean sear it and then put in all in as stated in the 2nd part of the directions? (Hope that makes sense) Also I plan on leaving out the mushrooms because my husband and I dislike them. Do you think that will change the flavor a lot? Thanks!
Could you put all the ingredients together then freeze them to throw in the instapot later? How much do you think that would increase the cook time?
Hmm, not sure how much the frozen mix would change the cooking time as I’ve only tested the recipe as written. Would love to know how it went if you decide to try it, Stephanie!
Can I make this in a slow cooker? How long should it be cooked for in that?
I’m sure you could, but not too sure if the slow cooker would need additional liquids due to the longer cooking time. If you decide to try it, I’d love to know how it went 🙂