Pressure Cooker Beef Stew (with VIDEO)

Home » Recipes » Pressure Cooker Beef Stew (with VIDEO)
| | |

A delicious Instant Pot beef recipe for one of the best comfort foods out there, this Instant Pot Beef Stew is flavorful, perfectly cooked and ready to enjoy in less than 30 minutes (including chopping time)!

An easy Pressure Cooker comfort food recipe, this Pressure Cooker Beef Stew is flavorful and delicious and comes together in less than 30 minutes

Pressure Cooker Beef Stew Recipe

It used to be that as soon as fall arrived, moms everywhere took out their crockpots for the season. They’d set the ingredients into the pot early in the day and leave it to simmer while they headed off to work or were busy at home.

Well, thanks to the advent of electric pressure cookers, that tradition has shifted slightly.

The instant pot is the proud realm of the mom who doesn’t have an extra 20-30 minutes in the morning, or who forgets to thaw out the meat for the week, or simply doesn’t plan supper until after she gets home from work.

For these moms, the instant pot changed everything.

This pressure cooker beef stew cooks in just 10 minutes!

You’re going to spend about 5-7 minutes prepping your ingredients (depending on how long it takes you to chop) and it will take the instant pot about 7 minutes to come to pressure. Add in that natural release time and from start to finish this recipe should take you about 30 minutes – but it tastes like it’s been simmering all day!

Unlike some beef stew recipes, this recipe keeps well in the fridge. My daughter was so excited to bring it to school in her thermos along with waaaaay too many saltine crackers.

Why you want to brown the beef: While skipping browning the beef will shave a bit of cook time off of this recipe, I urge you to avoid that temptation and give that beef the sear it deserves! I just brown the beef as I’m chopping up the vegetables and the timing works perfectly. Browning (or searing) the beef locks in the juices and flavors, resulting in tender, juicy beef cubes.

How to brown beef: First, you need to pat your beef dry and season it. Add oil or butter to the Instant Pot and let it get hot before adding the beef. Be careful not to overcrowd it or you will end up “braising” the beef instead of browning it. Sear it on each side.

If you want tender beef stew: Now, you can cook this instant pot beef stew for longer if you want fall-apart beef cubes, but just keep in mind that the veggies will be much softer (almost mushy) if you cook them for 20 minutes. One work-around is to cook the beef cubes on their own for 10-20 minutes in 1/2 cup of broth and then proceeding with the recipe, but keep in mind that with coming to pressure, that is going to add about 20-30 extra minutes to your cook time.

What is a slurry? A slurry is a flour-based thickener that is made by simply whisking together a bit of hot water or hot broth with some flour or cornstarch. It helps thicken stews, soups and gravies and avoids clumps that could form if whisking the flour or cornstarch directly into the soup.

How to make beef stew gluten-free: use cornstarch in place of the flour in the slurry to make this recipe gluten-free.

Check out our quick recipe video for how to make beef stew in the instant pot and then don’t forget to scroll down to grab your free printable recipe for our Pressure Cooker Beef Stew recipe:

 

Instant Pot Beef Stew Ingredients

  • 1 Tablespoon olive oil
  • 1 pound cubed beef
  • Salt and pepper, to taste
  • 1 yellow onion, chopped
  • 4 cloves garlic, sliced or minced
  • 2-3 stalks celery, chopped
  • 2 carrots, chopped
  • 2 cups potatoes, chopped
  • 1 Tablespoon Worcestershire Sauce
  • 2 Tablespoons Tomato Paste
  • 4 1/2 cups beef broth
  • 1/4 cup flour or cornstarch

Tip: I used celery, carrots and potatoes for my main vegetables but you can add any veggies you like. Keep in mind that while mushrooms, corn or root vegetables will cook at the same rate, softer vegetables like peas may overcook in this recipe.

Kitchen Tools You May Find Helpful

  • Instant Pot
  • Sharp kitchen knife
  • Cutting board
  • Ladle
  • Measuring cups and spoons
  • Wooden spoon

How to Make Pressure Cooker Beef Stew

Add oil to IP and select the Saute setting.

Season beef with salt and pepper.

Once the oil is hot, add the beef and brown on all sides, about 4-5 minutes. Meanwhile, chop the veggies.

Add the chopped veggies except the potatoes and saute for 2 minutes until onions are translucent.

Heat 1/2 cup of the broth in the microwave and then add in the flour to form a slurry. You can also use boiled water, if preferred.

Add the remaining broth to the IP and season to taste with additional salt and peppery, Worchestershire sauce and tomato paste. The flavor will become stronger as you cook it. Add the potatoes now, as well.

Add in the slurry and turn off the Saute setting.

Secure the lid on your IP and select the stew setting for 10 minutes.

(If you want the beef to be fall-apart tender, select 20 minutes but keep in mind that the vegetables will be slightly overcooked at that point.)

Note: I don’t note a pressure release method because either will work for this – so you don’t have to feel like you need to rush to quick release, but you also don’t have to wait for a natural release. You will not risk “overcooking” this stew if you let it natural release. 

Pin this Pressure Cooker Beef Stew Recipe:

A delicious Instant Pot beef recipe for one of the best comfort foods out there, this Instant Pot Beef Stew is flavorful, perfectly cooked and ready to enjoy in less than 30 minutes (including chopping time)!

Grab your free printable recipe card for our instant pot beef stew recipe:

Want to Save This Recipe?

Enter your email & I'll send it to your inbox. Plus, get great new recipes from me every week!

Please enable JavaScript in your browser to complete this form.

By submitting this form, you consent to receive emails from Sugar, Spice and Glitter.

Yield: 8 servings

Pressure Cooker Beef Stew

Pressure Cooker Beef Stew
Prep Time 10 minutes
Cook Time 10 minutes
Additional Time 5 minutes
Total Time 5 minutes

Ingredients

  • 1 Tablespoon olive oil
  • 1 pound cubed beef
  • Salt and pepper, to taste
  • 1 yellow onion, chopped
  • 4 cloves garlic, sliced or minced
  • 2-3 stalks celery, chopped
  • 2 carrots, chopped
  • 2 cups potatoes, chopped
  • 1 Tablespoon Worcestershire Sauce
  • 2 Tablespoons Tomato Paste
  • 4 1/2 cups beef broth
  • 1/4 cup flour or cornstarch

Instructions

  1. Add oil to IP and select the Saute setting.
  2. Season beef with salt and pepper.
  3. Once the oil is hot, add the beef and brown on all sides, about 4-5 minutes.
  4. Add the chopped veggies except the potatoes and saute for 2 minutes until onions are translucent.
  5. Heat 1/2 cup of the broth in the microwave and then add in the flour to form a slurry.
  6. Add the remaining broth to the IP and season to taste with additional salt and peppery, Worchestershire sauce and tomato paste. The flavor will become stronger as you cook it. Add the potatoes now, as well.
  7. Add in the slurry and turn off the Saute setting.
  8. Secure the lid on your IP and select the stew setting for 10 minutes.
  9. (If you want the beef to be fall-apart tender, select 20 minutes but keep in mind that the vegetables will be slightly overcooked at that point.)

Pin this Recipe for Later

Please leave a comment on the blog or share a photo on Pinterest

This pressure cooker beef stew recipe is tender, delicious and full of flavor! It’s the perfect comfort food for fall without being over-indulgent. 

For more delicious instant pot recipes, check out our Instant Pot Taco Pasta or our Pressure Cooker Hawaiian Pot Roast.

Check out our other Beef Recipes here:

Beef Recipes

Similar Posts

4 Comments

  1. Your ingredient list is incomplete…the only thing on it is Beef, nothing else.
    Also, in the directions (step 4) you say to add the chopped vegetables except the potatoes…but you don’t say when to add the potatoes.
    The recipe doesn’t say what type of pressure release method to use either.

    1. Thank you so much for calling my attention to this, Sue. I just switched recipe card plugins (which are like apps for your website) because this one loads on mobile faster, but I am having some issues with incomplete imports (like the incomplete ingredient list!)
      I don’t note a pressure release method because either will work for this – so you don’t have to feel like you need to rush to quick release, but you also don’t have to wait for a natural release. I will clarify this in the post.

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.