Transform your dinner routine with this incredible Instant Pot beef stew, which delivers all the rich, comforting flavors of traditional slow-cooked stew in just 60 minutes. This recipe creates perfectly tender beef and beautifully firm vegetables in a velvety, flavorful sauce that will remind you of your grandmother’s kitchen. The secret lies in a two-step cooking process that ensures your meat melts in your mouth while your vegetables maintain their texture and vibrant taste.
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Table of Contents
Why This Recipe Works
The magic of this Instant Pot beef stew lies in its two-stage cooking method. First, we pressure cook the meat with aromatics to achieve that fall-apart tenderness. Then, we add the vegetables for a shorter cooking time to maintain their structure and flavor. This technique, combined with browning the meat first and using chicken stock as our secret ingredient, creates a restaurant-quality stew at home.
Instant Pot Stew – Inspired by my Grandmother’s recipe
I wanted something to remind me of my Grandmother’s beef stew. She cooked plainly, letting food’s natural flavors come through. Her homemade beef stew was one of my favorite recipes, and the best thing about this recipe was when you enjoyed it the next day because it tasted even better.
This easy instant pot beef stew is made with beef, potatoes, onions, carrots, a little garlic powder, salt, tomato sauce, chicken broth, and smoked paprika. You really can make delicious stew in an electric pressure cooker.
Instapot beef stew ingredients
What one secret ingredient is in this recipe? Chicken stock. I use chicken stock as the stew base. I think the flavor of the chicken stock adds a richness and nice flavor profile that beef broth does not have.
People always ask, “did you just say chicken stock?”. Yes. If you prefer beef stock or beef broth, please use it. I urge you to try your beef stew with chicken stock just once.
- Beef chuck roast – Well-marbled cut that becomes incredibly tender and flavorful
- Vegetable oil – For browning the meat to develop deep flavors
- Kosher salt – Enhances all the natural flavors in the stew
- Chicken stock – The secret ingredient that adds richness and depth
- Tomato sauce – Provides body and subtle acidity to balance the richness
- Smoked paprika – Adds warmth and subtle smokiness
- Russet potatoes – Hold their shape well during pressure cooking
- Carrots – Add natural sweetness and beautiful color
- White onions – Provide an aromatic base and mild sweetness
- Garlic powder – This is a convenient way to add garlic flavor throughout
- Worcestershire sauce – Optional but adds umami depth and complexity
How to make beef stew in Instant Pot
It’s pretty easy to make delicious stew, you can make a beef stew that tastes like it cooked all day in your pressure cooker. I will walk you through the process.
- Cut your beef into bite-sized pieces. Small pieces of meat mean your stew tastes extra meaty, by increasing the surface area of the meat means more flavor comes through.
- Brown the meat first before pressure cooking it. The browning process will give your stew a depth of flavor.
- Using meat stock instead of water adds another layer of depth to the taste of your stew.
- Cooking the vegetables last results in the vegetables retaining all of their natural bold flavors. No one wants flavorless mushy vegetables.
Troubleshooting Tips
- Tough meat? Cook for an additional 5-8 minutes on high pressure.
- Too thin? Mix cornstarch with cold water and stir into hot stew to thicken.
- Are vegetables too soft? Reduce second cooking time to 5-6 minutes.
- Need more flavor? Add more salt, Worcestershire sauce, or a splash of red wine.
Storage & Reheating Instructions
- Freezing: Freezes excellently for up to 3 months in airtight containers. Thaw overnight in the refrigerator before reheating.
- Refrigerator Storage: Store in airtight containers for up to 4 days. Flavors actually improve overnight.
- Reheating Method: Reheat gently on stovetop over low to medium-low heat, stirring occasionally. Add splash of stock if needed to thin consistency.
Loved this recipe? Try my other Instant Pot recipes
- Easy Pulled Pork
- Pinto Beans in Instant Pot
- How to Make Instant Pot Mac and Cheese
- French Onion Rice Instant Pot
- Corned Beef Instant Pot
- Pressure Cooker Irish Stew
Best Hearty Soup Recipes
- Best Chicken Gnocchi Soup Recipe
- Copycat Zuppa Toscana Recipe
- Low Fat Vegetarian Black Bean Soup Panera
- White House Navy Bean Soup
- Chili Make With Tomato Juice
- Luby Green Chili Chicken Soup Recipe
- How to Make Crostini to Serve with Soup
Be sure to take a look at more of my easy soup recipes and Instant Pot meals.
Instant Pot Beef Stew with Tender Meat & Vegetables
Ingredients
- 2 1/2 pounds chuck roast cut into bite sized pieces
- 2 tablespoons vegetable oil
- 1 teaspoon kosher salt
- 16 ounces chicken stock
- 16 ounces tomato sauce
- 1 teaspoon smoked paprika
- 2 pounds potatoes, cut into bite-sized pieces
- 8 ounces carrots, cut into bite-sized pieces
- 2 large onions, cut into bite-sized pieces
- 1/2 teaspoon garlic powder
Instructions
- Cut beef into bite-sized pieces. Season meat with salt. Brown bite-sized pieces of roast in the Instant Pot on saute in vegetable oil, you may need to do this in small batches.
- Once the meat has browned add tomato sauce and chicken stock. Cook the meat on the manual high setting for 30 minutes. Perform a quick release.
- Then add the garlic powder, smoked paprika, vegetables and cook on the manual setting for 4 minutes.
- When the stew finishes you can either perform a quick release or a manual release.
Should I do anything different if the meat is frozen
I think you should be ok with the two cooking times, you may want to add a minute or two to the first cooking time.
Hello,
I’m new to this. I read that quick release dries out meat so release should be done naturally. Is that not the case in this recipe? I’m going to try this one this weekend. Can’t wait!
Thanks you!
I have been cooking with this pot for about 5 years now, I haven’t come across this yet.
I think that is only referring to meat cooked “dry” if you will. (I realize there is water at the bottom of the pot to create the steam and pressure.) This is completely submerged in water since it is a stew so it shouldn’t make it dry.
So very good! My husband & I like more tomatoe.. so I added 2 cans of stewed tomatoes to it instead of paste, some celery salt, garlic and it was delicious! Meat was so tender!
This was the most delicious stew I have ever had! So much broth and so very tasty. I cut back the second cook time to 18 minutes but will cut it back to 15 next time. I used white sweet potatoes and I don’t think they need as long. Please share more pressure cooker recipes. ????
Delish, I improvised a little, but next time I’ll cook the veggies for less time. I only cooked for 28 min and they were a little too mushy.
I want to make this for Christmas Eve so that it’s ready when we get home from church. If it sits in the keep warm mode for a few hours after finishing cooking, will that matter? Do you think it will make the veggies too mushy?
Alternately, if I wanted to just put the veggies and meat in at the same time, could I maybe just use the slow cooker option? How long would you recommend for that on low or high?
It depends on how long church is going to last, if it is an hour, it should be fine, if it is for several hours then I think the vegetables might be mushy.
Just made this. Smells so good, tastes so good, and so easy. Instant pot for life.
I am so glad you enjoyed this recipe.
People, please read all the instructions. Stephanie clearly stated why she used the chicken stock vs. The beef. She’s!
I can’t find an explanation for chicken stock anywhere, even though I read through four times. Help, please?
Well I like the flavor that it gives, I think the chicken stock makes the beef taste better.
You have garlic powder in the ingredients but not in the instructions… I almost forgot to add it!
Stephanie please make a whole turkey recipe for the instant pot. I actually made one just to see how it would come out. It was good but I need help.
This is finishing up right now, but I’m curious why you used soup instead of stew. I’m a newbie to the Instant Pot,so I’m still learning.
I was curious too why not stew setting first and then the soup setting.
Both the stew and soup use high pressure. The soup setting is for 30 minutes, the stew setting is for 35 minutes. I choose the soup setting because I wanted to cook the recipe for an additional 30 minutes. I have amended the recipe to show how to use the manual setting for both cooking times. Thank you for helping me bring clarity to the recipe.
The different between the two is five minutes. The soup setting is 30 minutes at high pressure, the stew setting is 35 minutes at high pressure. What I will amend the recipe to will be for 15 minutes at high pressure, then 30 minutes at high pressure.
This is the first recipe I tried in my InstantPot, and it was the best beef stew I have ever tasted, much less made myself. I added worcestershire and used fresh diced tomatoes instead of canned sauce, due to my personal preferences. Fast, easy, and so flavorful. And one-pot! I think I am going to love this appliance. Thanks for the recipe.
Tonight I cooked my first ever stew
I added 3 cloves of garlic and half the onion when I browned the meat
Yukon gold and red potatoes
Can of whole kernel corn and a can of green beans
1 tablespoon of Sierra Nevada Stout & Stoneground mustard
It turned out unbelievable and only took one hour start to finish
I did 15 min then 20 with a natural release
Your stew sounds delicious! I love adding beer to a soup or stew.
Thanks for the tips! Only 1 tablespoon of stout? I was searching for a Guinness Beef Stew Instant Pot recipe when I stumbled onto this one. It will be my first time using our new Instant Pot. Any thoughts how I could modify to include the rich Guinness stout flavor? Really only 1 tablespoon??? Thanks.
I think you can easily substitute about 16 ounces of chicken stock for Guinness!
The stout & stoneground mustard is one product: https://www.amazon.com/Sierra-Nevada-Stout-Stoneground-Mustard/dp/B000R1XOV4
Thanks for a great recipe! My husband who is a novice cook but is having fun learning the Instant Pot made this tonight ant it was fantastic. He added celery with the veggies (cause it’s my fave) and cut the second cook back to 15 minutes because I hate mushy carrots and it was perfect. We used the exact cut of meat you call for and it was so tender. I had some fresh herbs lying around waiting for thanksgiving, so we added some thyme and rosemary and let it simmer a few minutes white we set the table. I think you are right about the chicken broth, have it a nice complex flavor, and the paprika really shines too.
It is an awesome tool.
Please tell me the ‘Chicken ‘stock for Beef stew was a typo…
It was not a typo. It was intentional. I like the layering of different types of meats and their flavors together.
I used my fresh turkey broth I made from the remnants of the Thanksgiving bird. Was delicious!
This was my first stew in my Instant Pot. I followed the recipe only adding a couple of bay leaves and a medium sized turnip. I served microwaved frozen peas with it. It was delicious and it has given me more confidence to use the IP more. Thank you for the recipe!
I am so glad it worked out well for you. I love my instant Pot and use it all of the time
Going to try the beef stew recipe as my first use of my new instapot. One question: why are you using chicken broth for beef? Is that your personal choice or is there another reason? I would have thought beef broth would be better with beef.
My thought behind on this was to layer the flavors. I love when you can layer multiple protein flavors. You can use beef stock, absolutely, I like the flavor better when I use chicken stock, it’s just my personal preference.
I love my instant pot, I have done quite a few recipes and all have turned out pretty good, I haven’t tried the stew so I am trying it tomorrow I will let everyone know how it is
This was amazing! At family dinner my 32 year old son said this soup is his new favorite :). I didn’t have tomatoe sauce so used fresh tomatoes. Then before serving we added some ketchup. Sounds awful but I think it is what took it over the top. Also added some sweet potatoe, not yams, but the light colored sweet potatoe. Delish! Thanks for the recipe.
I am so glad you enjoyed the recipe. I love your use of the fresh tomatoes, and sweet potatoes. I should do a curry in that pot sometime soon.
When do you put the top lid on ?