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Easy Instant Pot Beef Stew

Easy and flavorful Instant Pot Beef Stew using chunks of chuck roast cut into bite-sized pieces. Made in the Pressure Cooker with gold potatoes, sliced carrots, and a warm and comforting blend of spices.

Pressure Cooker Beef Stew is naturally gluten-free and dairy-free, too!

A bowl of homemade pressure-cooker beef stew made in the Instant Pot.
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Easy Pressure Cooker Beef Stew

Using the pressure cooker can create very tender chunks of beef for this Instant Pot beef stew.

It's easy to make this delicious comfort meal and it takes less than an hour to create a warm and comforting meal for the family.

It all starts with cooking bacon slices in the inner liner and then searing the beef chunks to lock in the juiciness and the tenderness of the chuck roast.

To save time when making this stew, purchase a pre-chunked package of chuck roast.

If that's not an option, or you'd rather purchase the chuck roast and slice it yourself, slice the meat into bite-sized chunks. A good size cut would be roughly 1 inch.

When making this pressure cooker beef stew the goal is to have a comforting meal that's enjoyable. Too large cuts of beef make this meal less enjoyable.

Two blue bowls of pressure cooker beef stew on a wooden background with two spoons.

Ingredients in Pressure Cooker Beef Stew

  • Chuck Roast - a great cut of meat for stews
  • Vegetables - Carrots, celery, garlic, gold potatoes, and peas.
  • Bacon - slices of bacon increase the flavor of this stew
  • Tomato Paste
  • Seasonings and spices - salt, pepper, bay leaf, thyme, parsley, and rosemary
  • Beef Broth - low sodium variety
  • Cornstarch and Water - to create a slurry to help thicken the stew

RELATED: Instant Pot No-Bean Chili

A blue bowl of easy-to-make pressure cooker beef stew served with fresh rosemary.

Cooking Tips for Making Easy Beef Stew

As mentioned above, searing the meat to lock in flavor is an absolute must to get the most tender bites of beef. in this pressure cooker beef stew. Simply set the pressure cooker to SAUTE and sear all sides until brown.

If you're looking for a shortcut, you can omit searing the beef and dump all of the ingredients into pot after cooking the bacon. Shortcuts do change the overall flavor of this recipe.

RELATED: Instant Pot Chicken & Dumplings

Deglazing the inner liner is very important when using the Instant Pot on SAUTE. Any stuck-on food remnants will cause the dreaded BURN notice to pop up on your display.

To avoid this from happening, add 1 cup of the broth used in this recipe to the pot and then scrape the bottom of the liner to remove anything that has been left behind from cooking the bacon or searing the chunks of the chuck.

A known rule of pressure cooking is to not stir the pot - literally.

Stirring the pot results in the pot not being coming to pressure in most recipes. After the initial deglazing, add the remaining ingredients, close the lid, and then it's time to pressure cook the beef stew!

A big spoonful of tender chunks of beef and vegetables hovering over bowl of stew.

Once the time is up for cooking this meal, it is an absolute must to allow the pot to naturally release pressure for 10 minutes before releasing any remaining pressure and removing the lid.

YOU MAY ALSO LIKE: Instant Pot Cheeseburger Soup

Pressure cooker beef stew tastes the absolute best when the release time is done quickly and it's allowed to naturally release.

The reason being is when the pressure is quickly released it sucks the moisture out of the food and creates tough, chewy, and dry meat.

Allowing the Instant Pot to naturally release pressure creates juicy, tender, and flavorful cuts of meat for this Instant Pot Beef Stew. In fact, when pressure cooking any meat, it's important to not skip this step!

Warm and Comforting Meals

One of my favorite things about the fall season is the absolutely delicious warm and comforting flavors.

Hearty stews and chilis are a go-to during the season and quite honestly I make them year-round.

That being said, there's something extra special about eating a delicious bowl of homemade chili or a hearty bowl of vegetable beef soup in the cooler months. Another notable mention is this Instant Pot Autumn Beef Stew.

📖 Recipe

Yield: 6 servings

Easy Instant Pot Beef Stew

A bowl filled to the brim with Instant Pot Beef Stew.

Easy and flavorful Instant Pot Beef Stew using chunks of chuck roast cut into bite-sized pieces. Made in the Pressure Cooker with gold potatoes, sliced carrots, and a warm and comforting blend of spices.

Prep Time 10 minutes
Pressure Cook Time 35 minutes
Natural Release Time 10 minutes
Total Time 55 minutes

Ingredients

  • 2 lbs stew meat (chuck roast)
  • 4 garlic cloves
  • 6 slices of bacon
  • 3 carrots, sliced
  • 3 celery ribs, chopped
  • 2 lbs gold potatoes, scrubbed and quartered
  • 1 cup frozen peas
  • 4 cups reduced sodium beef broth
  • 1 teaspoon salt
  • ½ teaspoon salt
  • 1 tablespoon tomato paste
  • 1 bay leaf
  • 1 teaspoon thyme
  • 1 teaspoon parsley
  • 1 teaspoon rosemary
  • 2 tablespoon cornstarch
  • 2 tablespoon water

Instructions

  1. Set the Instant Pot to Saute and cook the 6 slices of bacon and then remove from the pot. Once cool, chop the bacon.
  2. Reserve the grease.
  3. Add the chunked pieces of beef to the liner along with the garlic.
  4. Sear the beef on all sides.
  5. Press cancel on the pot and add 1 cup of the beef broth.
  6. Use a spoon or spatula to deglaze the pot. Ensure there are no stuck-on bits remaining.*
  7. Sprinkle the thyme, parsley, rosemary, salt, and pepper into the pot.
  8. Add in the carrots, celery, peas, and gold potatoes.
  9. Top with the chopped bacon.
  10. Spoon in the tomato paste and pour in the remaining beef broth.
  11. Top with the bay leaf.
  12. Close the lid and set the Instant Pot to 35 minutes.
  13. Allow the pressure to naturally release for 10 minutes.**
  14. Carefully release any remaining pressure and remove the lid.
  15. Discard the bay leaf.
  16. Set the instant pot to saute and combine the cornstarch and water.
  17. Add the mixture to the pot, stir, and allow the stew to thicken.
  18. Press cancel and serve hot.

Notes

*Not deglazing the pot will most likely result in a burn notice.

**If the pot is not allowed to naturally release pressure, the chunks of beef may come out dry, chewy, and tough.

Always refer to your pressure cooker's manual for safety and proper use.

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Nutrition Information:

Yield:

6

Serving Size:

1

Amount Per Serving: Calories: 541Total Fat: 15gSaturated Fat: 6gTrans Fat: 1gUnsaturated Fat: 9gCholesterol: 161mgSodium: 1272mgCarbohydrates: 43gFiber: 6gSugar: 5gProtein: 60g

Nutrition calculation is a rough estimate and can vary depending on the cooking technique and the exact ingredients used. For informational purposes only.

Did you make this recipe?

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Debra

Sunday 18th of October 2020

Great tips for the instant pot....my new favorite way to cook everything. This came out great...tasty and not chewy (I waited for natural release as you suggested). Pinning to keep it in our roation.

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