Instant Pot Beef Stew is very hearty and delicious with large chunks of beef, and tender potatoes and carrots.
The beef stew gravy is awesome and easy to make with my never fail gravy recipe.
Instant Pot Recipes are fast and this beef stew recipe is done in about 40 minutes once you get the ingredients in the pot.
Cooking in the Instant Pot
The Instant Pot has revolutionized the way I cook recipes. Especially the recipes that would normally take hours to cook, like beef stew.
I am really in love with my Instant Pot and use it to make many of my favorite recipes like this Instant Pot Beef Stew recipe.
One of the best things about the Instant Pot is that you can brown the stew meat and sauté the vegetables in the pressure cooker before you cook the stew.
How To Make Instant Pot Beef Stew
Browning the stew meat and sautéing the vegetables will add so much more flavor to the beef stew. It is worth taking the few extra minutes to do it before pressure cooking the beef stew.
Pressure cooking beef stew meat makes the stew meat moist and tender. I like large chunks of potatoes and carrots in my Instant Pot Beef Stew.
If you like a smaller cut of vegetables that would work also.
Once you have browned the stew meat and sauteed the vegetables it's time to add the rest of the beef stew ingredients to the Instant Pot.
I returned the browned beef stew and any drippings that have accumulated in the bowl to the Instant Pot.
I added the quartered potatoes and sliced carrots.
What Herbs to Season Beef Stew
I have three herbs I love to use to season beef stew or soup recipes.
I prefer to use fresh herbs whenever possible when seasoning my Instant Pot Stews and Instant Pot Soup recipes.
- Fresh Thyme
- Fresh Rosemary
- Dried Bay Leaves
Add the herbs and the beef broth to the Instant Pot and pressure cook following the directions below.
How to make beef gravy
Once the stew has finished cooking make the gravy by mixing the cornstarch and cool water together until lump free.
Pour the corn starch slurry into the Instant Pot and turn the sauté setting on. Bring to a boil, stirring occasionally until thickened.
The beef stew gravy is delicious from the infusion of flavors from the vegetables, herbs, and seasonings used to season the beef stew.
Print the Instant Pot Beef Stew recipe below
Helpful tips to make Instant Pot Beef Stew
- To save time dice, slice and cut the onion, celery, and carrots the night before.
- Only brown a few pieces of stew meat at a time to prevent the stew meat from steaming instead of browning. In other words, do not brown all the stew meat at once. I browned the amount I used in three batches.
- Instant Pot recommended cooking times for beef stew meat is 20 minutes per pound of meat. Cooking time will vary depending on the amount of stew meat you have used and how large you have cut the potatoes and carrots.
- How long for the Instant Pot to reach full pressure and start cooking will depend on how full the Instant Pot is. This Instant Pot Beef Stew recipe took about 20 minutes to reach full pressure and start to pressure cook.
More beef Instant Pot recipes
Check out some of my other easy pressure cooker beef recipes below.
Beef Stew Recipe
Ingredients
- 2 tablespoons butter
- 1 ½ to 2 lbs beef stew meat
- ¾ cup diced onion
- 1 cup sliced celery
- 1 tablespoon minced garlic
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 1 teaspoon ground black pepper
- 3 large carrots (sliced)
- 2 lbs Golden Baby Potatoes (cut in half or quarters)
- 3 large bay leaves
- 3 to 5 sprigs fresh thyme or 1 teaspoon of dried thyme
- 1 sprigs fresh rosemary or ½ a teaspoon of dried rosemary
- 6 cups beef broth
- 3 tablespoons cool water
- 3 tablespoons cornstarch
Instructions
- On the saute setting of the Instant Pot melt the butter and brown ⅓ of the stew meat at a time. Place the browned meat in a bowl as you continue to brown the remaining stew meat.
- Once all the stew meat has been browned add the onion and celery to the empty Instant Pot and saute for 2 minutes.
- Next add the minced garlic, salt, and pepper. Saute for another minute or two.
- Return the stew meat to the pressure cooker and add potatoes and carrots.
- Add the fresh or dried thyme, the fresh or dried rosemary and the bay leaves to the Instant Pot.
- Add the 6 cups of beef broth to the Instant Pot.
- Secure the Instant Pot lid making sure the valve is set to the sealing position.
- Press the manual button and set the timer for 35 minutes to pressure cook.
- Once the timer has gone off allow the steam to naturally release for 10 minutes.
- After 10 minutes carefully remove the lid from the Instant Pot.
- With a fork check to see if the potatoes and carrots are fork tender. If the potatoes and carrots are not fork tender at this point you can replace the lid and continue to pressure cook the beef stew for 5 more minutes. (see notes).
- Mix the cool water with the cornstarch until lump free. Pour it into the Instant Pot and stir to combine. Turn the sauté setting on and bring the beef stew to a boil to thicken.
- Makes 4 to 6 servings
Video
Recipe Expert Tips
- To save time dice, slice and cut the onion, celery, and carrots the night before.
- Only brown a few pieces of stew meat at a time to prevent the stew meat from steaming instead of browning. In other words, do not brown all the stew meat at once. I browned the amount I used in three batches.
- Instant Pot recommended cooking times for beef stew meat is 20 minutes per pound of meat. Cooking time will vary depending on the amount of stew meat you have used and how large you have cut the potatoes and carrots.
- How long for the Instant Pot to reach full pressure and start cooking will depend on how full the Instant Pot is. This Instant Pot Beef Stew recipe took about 20 minutes to reach full pressure and start to pressure cook.
Angela
This is my new go to beef stew recipe! A big hit in my home. The only thing that I changed was flouring my meat before browning. This also helps thicken the stew.