Instant Pot Beef Stew
The original recipe is from The Kitchn. I have made a few adjustments to their recipe which my family and I enjoy.
Servings: 4
Equipment
- Instant Pot or any Pressure Cooker
Ingredients
- 1 1/2 lbs. stew beef or boneless beef chuck cubed
- kosher salt and pepper
- 1 tablespoon vegetable oil
- 1 medium onion diced
- 2 to 3 cloves garlic minced
- 4 medium sized carrots sliced
- 3 to 4 medium sized Yukon Gold potatoes peeled** and cubed (read recipe note)
- 1 1/2 tablespoons tomato paste
- few sprigs of fresh thyme or 1 teaspoon dried thyme
- 32 fl oz (1 quart) beef stock or beef broth
- 2 tablespoons Worcestershire sauce*
- 1 tablespoon cornstarch more if needed
- 2 cups frozen peas
Instructions
- In a bowl, toss the beef with 1/2 teaspoon kosher salt and a pinch of black pepper. Set aside. Heat the vegetable oil in an Instant Pot or electric pressure cooker on the Sauté setting until shimmering. Once pre-heated, add the beef and let sear undisturbed until browned on the bottom, for about 5 to 7 minutes. Continue to toss and brown the beef and then use tongs to transfer the beef to a large plate. (If your beef is too crowded, you can brown in two batches if desired.)
- Add in the onion and garlic to the insert and season with some salt and pepper. Cook, stirring occasionally, until softened, 3 to 4 minutes.
- Add the tomato paste and the fresh or dried thyme to the onions and cook until the tomato paste is darkened in color, about 1 minute. Add in the carrots, potatoes, seared beef, and any accumulated juices from the beef. Pour in the beef stock and 2 tablespoons Worcestershire sauce and stir to combine.
- Place the lid on, close to lock and ensure that the valve is set to seal. Set to pressure cook on high pressure for 25 minutes.
- When finished, let the pressure release naturally if you can wait; for 10 minutes. Remove the lid and fish out the thyme sprig stems if you added in fresh thyme. Place your cornstarch into small bowl and add in 1 to 2 tablespoons of the beef broth from your instant pot. Mix together and add into the beef stew to thicken. Feel free to add a little more if needed. The beef stew should be very hot so there's no need to turn your instant pot back on for this. Pour in the frozen peas and mix together.
- Ladle into bowls, serve and enjoy! We love this beef stew with bread, rice, or even homemade focaccia bread!
Notes
*low sodium soy sauce is a great substitute if you don't have any Worcestershire sauce **My kids prefer this with the potatoes peeled BUT I WILL SAY THIS: peeling the potatoes may give you mushy potatoes since they are in the pressure cooker for 25 minutes. so, if your family is ok with it, I say keep the POTATO SKINS ON.