Perfect Instant Pot Beef Stew
It’s about time we had a perfect Instant Pot beef stew recipe, don’t you think? No fuss and completely delicious, this stew is packed with flavor (and tender, fall-apart meat), and it is easy as can be to make.
Instant Pot recipes are a tricky thing.
I, for one, love my Instant Pot (ahem, both Instant Pots) with all my heart and soul.
I’ve become a crazy woman wondering, dreaming, thinking, and testing what recipe I can convert over to the IP! I’ve had some successes…and some pretty bad flops (creme brulee, I’m looking at you).
It’s a life-changing machine and truly has made my every day dinner-making life so much easier.
{Sidenote: my recommendation for the best size/type of Instant Pot is down below!}
However, I know not everyone has an Instant Pot, many have no plans to ever get one, and some of you probably haven’t even taken yours out of the box yet!
It leaves me wondering sometimes if I’m alienating readers by posting Instant Pot recipes.
And because I worry about everything (got a problem? let me know and I’ll do the worrying for you), these are the types of things that keep me up at night.
That’s why, where possible, I also try to include slow cooker or stovetop directions with Instant Pot recipes.
But this perfect Instant Pot beef stew definitely falls into an Instant Pot- (or other pressure cooker-) only category. There are no alternate directions because it’s lifechanging in the IP.
It’s definitely one of those landmark recipes that makes an Instant Pot a valuable (necessary??) asset.
If you only ever made this perfect Instant Pot beef stew in the miracle appliance, it would be worth it.
The good news for non-Instant Pot fans/owners: this Instant Pot version is based on the delicious slow cooker hearty beef stew recipe that’s been on my site for years.
So if you don’t have an Instant Pot, there’s still an amazing crockpot version at your fingertips.
Even though Instant Pot/pressure cooker recipes might be slightly polarizing, I’m afraid I can’t be stopped.
I have several more groundbreaking Instant Pot recipes up my sleeve to share this month – seriously, some of the best Instant Pot recipes yet to come.
But, never fear, if I haven’t convinced you to get an Instant Pot yet, in most of those cases, I’m including slow cooker and/or stovetop directions.
I don’t know about you, but I’m sitting here contemplating whether life and dinner really existed before the Instant Pot.
This perfect Instant Pot beef stew couldn’t be easier. And it’s one of my kids’ favorite, favorite, favorite meals of all time.
Once I figured out the trick to fall-apart tender meat without overcooking the vegetables, my stew-loving life was complete.
There’s nothing quite as wonderful as a warm, flavorful bowl of home cooked beef stew. Comfort food at its finest.
As with many other Instant Pot recipes, this beef stew has me saying: I’ll never cook beef stew another way!
And since I get asked a lot, here are a few quick notes about what Instant Pot I have and which one I recommend:
–All of my Instant Pot/electric pressure cooker recipes are written for the popular 6-quart model (I have the older 7-in-1 which is no longer available thanks to the recently introduced 9-in-1)
–I also have the 8-quart Instant Pot (again, I have the older 7-in-1 model that is no longer available)
–I use the 6-quart Instant Pot 85% of the time for my family of seven. The other 15% of the time when I am serving company, cooking in bulk to freeze, OR because I need to cook simultaneous Instant Pot recipes (like, rice in one and smoky chicken in another), I pull out the 8-quart. It is as amazing as the 6-quart…just a little bigger.
–The 8-quart, thanks to its larger size, does take noticeably longer than the 6-quart to heat up and naturally release pressure, but other than that, it functions just the same as smaller models
–Keep in mind that you can always cook small (very small) batches in a large pressure cooker, but you can’t cook double or larger batches in a smaller pressure cooker (especially observing safety guidelines about not filling it up more than halfway for foods like beans and rice).
–Ultimately, I recommend the 6-quart Instant Pot to just about everyone (unless their family is larger than 7-8 people or they enjoy making enough food to feed an army on a daily basis).
One Year Ago: From-Scratch Vanilla Pudding Cake
Two Years Ago: Pressure Cooker “Roasted” Whole Chicken
Three Years Ago: Chocolate Covered Strawberries Tuxedo-Style
Four Years Ago: Cinnamon and Sugar Breadstick Twists
Five Years Ago: Cheesecake Stuffed Chocolate Chip Cookie Bars
Perfect Instant Pot Beef Stew
Ingredients
- 1 tablespoon oil
- ½ cup chopped yellow or white onions
- 1 (6-ounce) can tomato paste
- 3 cups low-sodium beef broth
- 3 tablespoons soy sauce (see note)
- 2 tablespoons instant/minute tapioca (see note)
- 2 bay leaves
- ¼ teaspoon black pepper, I use coarsely ground
- 2-3 pounds stew meat, or a chuck or arm roast, trimmed and cut into 1-inch cubes
- 2 to 2 ½ cups chopped carrots, about 1/2-inch pieces
- 2 to 2 ½ cups peeled and chopped potatoes, any variety, about 1/2-inch pieces
- 2 cups frozen peas
Instructions
- Select the Saute function on the Instant Pot (use the + or – button to adjust the heat to the normal setting). Add the oil and onions, and cook for 2-3 minutes, stirring often, until the onions start to turn translucent. Add the tomato paste, stirring it into the onions, and cook for 1-2 minutes.
- Add the beef broth, soy sauce, tapioca, bay leaves and black pepper. Whisk or stir to combine.
- Add the stew meat and give a quick stir. Secure and lock the lid with the vent in the closed position. Cook on high pressure for 18 minutes (select “manual” or “pressure cook” and dial up or down to get to the right number, the IP will start on its own).
- When finished cooking, let the pressure release naturally for about 10 minutes and then quick release the remaining pressure. Add the carrots and potatoes. Wipe the seal and inside of the lid dry and make sure the ring is pressed down all the way (if the ring is out of place or too wet, the IP may not come back up to pressure). Secure and lock the lid with the vent in the closed position. Cook on high pressure again for 3 minutes.
- Quick release the pressure (or naturally release for 10 minutes and then quick release the rest). Take out the bay leaves. Stir in the frozen peas to heat through, and add additional salt and pepper to taste, if needed. The stew will thicken a bit as it cools.
Notes
Recommended Products
Recipe Source: Mel’s Kitchen Cafe
244 Comments on “Perfect Instant Pot Beef Stew”
I’ve used and loved your slow cooker version of this recipe for a while. I was craving it today after recovering from a stomach bug last week but it was too late in the day to start it. Lo and behold, I discovered this IP version on your site! Hallelujah! Thanks Mel! ❤️
I tried this and everyone LOVED it. I’m a family of 5 and there was nothing left! I even doubled the amount of potatoes. But I forgot the peas! I used tapioca flour, mixed it in COLD water (so it doesn’t clump), then dumped it in after everything was cooked. It worked out fine, but I also think if I just added it when the recipe says, it would be fine, too.
No, you’re not alienating us with instant pot recipes. I love them! The instant pot literally saved my life, and my kids because mamma don’t cook unless it’s quick and easy, due to several chronic illnesses.
Delicious! The only thing I added was about a teaspoon of salt! Other than that it was perfect.
Also, I used 1.5 tablespoons of tapioca flour because I didn’t have granulated tapioca on hand. Stirred it into about 1/2 cup of the stew broth after the stew finished cooking, before adding in the peas. Then I added the 1/2 cup of stew broth with the tapioca flour back into the stew and added the peas.
Thank you, Sarah, for trying the flour and posting about it. I have the flour on hand and was hoping someone tried it before me 🙂
Need to clarify, the flour is just like corn starch and needs to be stirred in a COLD liquid, otherwise it’s clumpy.
I am not a tapioca person so please excuse my lack of knowledge but is it visible like in the pudding and can you feel the little bubbles (or as my nephew call it fish eyes lol)
Valid question! No, it isn’t visible in the finished stew at all – it dissolves and thickens.
This is one of those hearty meals that comes together pretty quickly. Unfortunately, I only realized that I didn’t have potatoes when I needed to throw them into the instant pot and just left the potatoes out. It was still a great meal without it!
Absolutely delicious!! I am a passionate cook of all food, and this was amazing, my husband loved it. I’ve never used tapioca, instead, I mixed about 1/3 cup flour, added a bit of salt & pepper, and tossed the beef cubes to coat. Thank you Mel 🙂 its the only stew recipe I need.
Thanks for this. I have made my usual stew with increasingly larger size potatoes, and still they become too soft. I’m definitely trying this method next time.
This was amazing! So easy to use the Instant Pot and stew meat was perfectly tender. Great flavor too! Thanks for the tips for the tapioca (my store brand only said “granulated” and I only had pearls at home) and the time management to cut up the carrots and potatoes during the first pressure cycle! My husband and kids loved it!
I am a big fan of you and my Instapot. I did have trouble with this recipe. I followed the recipe to a tee. I never got the burn message however The PC just wouldn’t come to pressure when I put in the last vegetables. I stired it again and it finally came to pressure. (I did wipe dry the lid as directed). Bottom line, the meat, carrots and potatoes were cooked perfectly. The onions disingrateded, way to many peas and a full can of tomato paste overpowered it. The bottom of the pot showed that it did burn and stick in areas. I still love your site and this will not dissuade me from trying your recipes.
I would like to make this even simpler by using baby carrots and unpeeled baby potatoes. Will I need to increase the second cook time a tad? We don’t like mushy veggies.
I haven’t tried either variation so you’ll have to experiment, but I’m guessing the cook time will be about the same or slightly less with baby carrots (depending on how thin or thick they are).
This tasted more like homemade Dinty Moore beef stew than I would have liked. If that’s your jam, then this will be a great, easy recipe but if you want a more complex beef stew, don’t bother.
I love this recipe, but I would always get a burn notice on my Instant Pot whenever I made it. I finally figured out that it was the Tapioca causing the problem. So now I wait till the end to add the Tapioca, and no more burn notice!
I was skeptical about the flavor that soy sauce and tomato paste together would bring to this, but I was very happy with the results! Very flavorful — and the meat was tender, and the potatoes and carrots weren’t mushy. I have a Ninja Foodi pressure cooker, and the instructions worked perfectly. Thanks for another winning meal, Mel!
I’m so grateful for all of the previous comments because they really saved me tonight! I just got a new IP, and while making this, it went to “food burn” before hitting pressure. I thought all was lost, but then because of the helpful comments, I just let it naturally release the steam for 10 minutes, then stirred it and started it again. Then I continued as normal cooking for 18 minutes, etc. There were no problems after that and it turned out great! So thank you to those who posted comments, and Mel for responding to the comments!
This stew is comforting and delicious. It is more of a mild flavour of tomato and beef stew in a yummy gravy sauce.
I sauté the onions, then browned the beef chunks first. Then finally, I added flour thickener at the end of the whole process instead of the tapioca.
Serve with garlic mashed potatoes or rice. Or the Vietnamese way, with baguette!
I’ve made this twice and forwarded this recipe to many!
So it’s now at 2 hours. The sauce is thick and has triggered the “burn” warning on the instant pot which stops the heating. The info I found says NOT to put thickeners in until after the pressure cook stage. The smell is great and I’m very hungry. Hope I can hold out til it finishes.
2 hours?! It’s only supposed to be pressure cooked 18 minutes, then 3 minutes for the veggies.
I am a single person but got the 8 Qt. Pot because I make a lot of bone broth and need room for the bones. Also I like to cook less frequently and freeze for later. I also eat a diet for my MS that requires 9 cups veges a day and healthy meats. It’s not low carb but all my carbs are from veges and fruits. I would like to make a a quick meat and Vege dish in the instant pot that doesn’t necessarily need a sauce. Just spice the meat and end up with tender beef and large pieces of vibrant just cooked veges. Do you have any suggestions? Also wood like to do a flourless dark chocolate cake/torte. Have you a recipe for that? Much appreciate your sharing your passion.
Meryl
Hi Meryl – are you wanting to cook the flourless chocolate cake in the IP? I know a lot of people make desserts in the instant pot but I haven’t done much of that (yet). As far as a meat and veggie dish without a sauce – the trick with that is that you always need at least 1 cup liquid for the pot to reach pressure. But you could probably set the meat on a steaming basket over the broth and then add the veggies in at the end (after quick releasing the pressure)
Super easy to throw together and perfect for this chilly Halloween night! I’ve been making the crock pot version for years, but I like this one even better.
Delicious stew! Made it for supper this evening and my husband had two bowls. Left out the tapioca but it was plenty thick without it. The only thing I would change is that if you are not a super fan of tomato flavor, cut the amount of the paste back by at least 1/2 (or more)
Since finding this recipe, it’s the only recipe I use for beef stew. I love it, as does my husband who is…particular.
I made this stew for supper last night.The cool weather is moving in now. I needed something fairly quick and easy. My stew meat was still frozen. This was wonderful! The gravy was smooth with the granulated tapioca. Flavorful. We had cornbread and a salad with it. Thank you for a great meal.
Made this tonight for supper…Mel!!!! It was AMAZING! Thank you so much for a quick but DELICIOUS meal!
Just got new 6 qt. Instant pot and this was my first attempt using it. I made the stew according to the directions except I used flour (no tapioca) and I didn’t brown the onions. After cooking and opening the pot I noticed the broth/gravy was still thin so I added more flour to thicken. This stew was delicious. The meat was fall apart tender and the potatoes and carrots were soft but not mushy. The veggies cooked for 3 min. And probably Sat for another 2-3 min. At pressure before I could get free to release the pressure. My wife and I both thought that this recipe produced a great flavorful stew. Will definitely make again. ONE NOTE: I did get a BURN indication prior to reaching full pressure. Really couldn’t understand how anything could Burn since there was plenty of liquid and I didn’t sauteed the onion or anything else. I let the pot sit while I consulted the manual. The pot Sat for about 2-3 min while I checked the manual and during this time the BURN message went away and the display switched to ON. I waited a few more minutes and the display switched to 18. Went thru the 2 cook cycles with no further problems and had a great stew for dinner.
I have an 8 qt instapot (actually an off brand). How do I adapt recipes calling for a 6 qt instapot? Do I increase fluids? Other ingredients?
You shouldn’t have to adapt them much at all.
This is by far the best Insta Pot stew recipe I have found! I did cut the carrots a little smaller and I only had 1/2 cup frozen peas in my freezer. I was afraid to put the tomato paste in by itself, because of it possibly burning, so I mixed it with the beef broth first. I will definitely save this recipe and use it again! Thank you for sharing!!
This was one tasty stew! I followed the recipe as written, except that I used flour instead of the tapioca, sprinkling it over the onions and tomato paste and stirring the mixture for a few seconds before adding the rest of the ingredients. It worked out fine. My beef broth was homemade with soy sauce and Xiao xiang wine already in it so I didn’t add any more. One thing I found was that the potatoes cook a little faster than the carrots, so I will cut the carrots a bit smaller to even out the cooking times. I really hate hard cooked carrots! But this stew is very flavorful and you don’t miss the fact that the meat was not browned first. I will make this again!
Stew was delicious!
Excellent stew. I’m not sure if I would use tomato paste again but it was very good. I had to thicken it with corn starch at the end but the time was perfect. The vegetables were cooked just the way I like them, not mushy at all. The meat was very tender too. Browned it first then cooked it for 19 minutes. Veggies for 3 mins.
This was delicious, but I had issues cooking it. During the first pressure cooking stage, my IP said burn. So I released pressure. Some of the meat had stuck to the bottom. I read on another blog that thick tomato sauces can cause burning, and that you should layer the ingredients vs mixing them together? ANyway, I didn’t seem too thick to me and I followed your recipe exactly, but I added a half cup water to be safe. Brought it back to pressure and finished that step (I also turned it from ‘normal’ to ‘less.’ Still high pressure. I don’t understand quite what that means but it seemed like a decent idea). Then it burned again after I added the potatoes and carrots after releasing the pressure, they were actually already tender, so I went ahead and called it done. Thankfully, it was still delicious but I’m not sure I’ll want to try it again since I have no idea what went wrong.
Hmmm, that’s odd, Monica. Others have also gotten the burn warning on this recipe, but strangely, I haven’t. Next time I make it I’ll have to watch more closely to see if there’s a particular way I’m adding the ingredients or mixing or whatever to prevent that?? Sorry it was kind of a pain.
Tried it again and it burned as soon as it started pressure cooking. This time it was onions. I’m moving it to the stove and won’t try this again.
Hey Monica, I was in discussion with some other readers about Instant Pot burn issues and it seems like there’s a big problem that Instant Pots manufactured in the last 2-3 years get the burn warning far more than older Instant Pots. How old is your IP? I’m just curious if that could be at play here. I know that doesn’t necessarily help you for this recipe, but it does help me as I’m developing and testing IP recipes and encountering readers who may get the burn warning when I don’t (my IP is older, probably 4 years)
I noticed later that the beef burnt too. I simmered it all on the stove for about 30 minutes. I got my IP for Christmas 2018.
I had the same issue of the meat burning within the first minute. I released the pressure and gave it a good stir, then it was fine for the rest of the 17 minutes. My IP is newer as well, so that’s interesting and I’m glad it wasn’t just me. Would adding more oil to the pan to begin with help? Particularly as the tomato paste was sticking to the bottom of the pan at the beginning.
Yes, that might help…it’s unfortunate that the newer IPs result in the burn warning more often.
I’ve made the slow cooker version and it is amazing! How does this one compare to the slow cooker version?
Both are super tasty! It really just boils down to preference on cooking appliance, I think. 🙂
We LOVE this!! My husband keeps requesting it. It came to me at the perfect time, as I was tiring of my other favorite stew recipe.
My husband–a major carnivore, pitmaster, and expert in all things meat–made one small change. He browned the meat with olive oil and pink Himalayan salt first. I think it’s fabulous either way, but whatever. 🙂 Thanks, Mel! Another huge win!!