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.
Followed the recipe 100%. I thought that it would come out bland as so little salt was added but it came out great. My tip is to let it cool off a bit as it’s hotter than the surface of the sun and you can’t taste it. My brother and I destroyed it in two days.
Stephanie,this hearty Instant Beef Stew is the best.
Flavorful & less time!
Family loves ❤️ It!
Thank you!
Finally a recipe that tells you to add in the veggies at the end not in the beginning like most IP recipes do. Thank you. Learned from having mushy veggies when I first started using my IP not to follow that step but rather add the veggies in at the end. Thank you.
Delicious!!!
Hi, the potatoes were not done with the 4 minute cooking. Did I do something wrong?
I made this for my family as I am vegetarian but it smells really good. Just waiting for dinner time to serve it.
Four minutes should have been long enough. You can turn the pot on low or high, and let them continue to cook. You also may want to cut potatoes into smaller pieces. I typically cut potatoes into 1 inch pieces for beef stew.
I made this plus added flour to meat than browned meat, also added a pint jar of my zucchini and tomatoes in place of tomato sauce.. one of the best Beef Stews I have ever eaten. I also served over fresh biscuits.
Excellent dish!!!
I made this recipe this week end in my Instant Pot and it was great. I did however, substitute the smoked paprika with regular paprika. Maybe next time, I’ll put a little of the smoked paprika, since I’m not a big fan of smoked flavors.
Jennifer are the bread bowls dishwasher safe?
The recipe does look delicious. If you don’t have an Instant Pot, will it taste the same if you use a regular stainless steel pot? I do have a slow cooker if that would make it better. Thanks! Janice
You can use a stainless steel pot, no problem, you will most likely have to cook it longer than the 30 minutes. I would simmer the meat for about 60 minutes, then add in the veggies and cook for another 20 to 30 minutes.
My favorite Instant Pot recipe! I tweaked it by using beef bouillon in place of chicken stock. I added celery, mushrooms, 2 bay leaves and 1 tablespoon Worcestershire Sauce. Thank you for this recipe!
At first I thought the chicken stock wouldn’t work, but it did. This huge pot of stew was gone in two meals.
My new favorite instant pot recipe!
Excellent recipe! I add some fresh garlic and a bag of mixed vegetables instead of the carrots as my family likes the veggies!! I also toss the meat in flour and salt before frying.
I am confused on the instructions for the Instant pot recipe for “Instant Pot Beef Stew.” When discussing how to keep veggies firm in the Instant Pot beef stew you state that meat is cooked for 15 min with quick release, add veggies and spices and cook for 30 min. Under printable recipe it says 30 min for meat (quick release), add veggies and cook 4 min. Which is it?
Cook the meat for 30 minutes, quick release, cook the vegetables for 4 minutes.
GREAT RECIPE!
LOVED this! Super easy and very flavorful. I skipped the onion, added celery, Worcestershire and a thickening roux then served in a bread bowl. Hearty, delicious and exactly what I wanted. Thank you!!
Like others commenting, this was my first meal using my instant pot – I used a slow cooker for years, so I was nervous, and after it conked out, my husband researched and got us a multi-cooker (yay, I can still slow cook if I want!). I used your recipe and added a few things from my own favorite beef stew recipe (bay leaf, mushrooms, red wine, Worcestershire, flour), and I used fewer potatoes and less tomato sauce. At the end I added some chopped parsley for color, and it was a great success! The meat was melt in your mouth, served with warm sliced baguette, so good. Thanks for inspiring me to get out of my slow cooker comfort zone!
Why oh why would you use chicken broth in BEEF stew? That is just weird. I made the stew and it was fair, of course I used beef broth! I just don’t care for tomatoe sauce in beef stew.
Pat, I like to add it because I think layering different flavors of meat together make the final dish taste better.