This Instant Pot beef stew is tender meat combined with carrots, potatoes and peas in a rich and savory broth. An easy dinner that can be on the table in less than an hour!
I love a good beef stew, but it can take hours and hours for the meat to get tender. With a pressure cooker, you can make a delicious (and tender!) beef stew in a fraction of the time. I serve my beef stew with a side of garlic knots or with a cucumber salad for a complete meal.
I am in love with my Instant Pot, it has become such a big time saver in the kitchen! I love that I can have dinner on the table in no time, and this Instant Pot beef stew is the perfect example of that. A traditional beef stew would need to simmer for at least 2-3 hours. This Instant Pot version cooks in just 30 minutes, you can’t beat that!
How do you make Instant Pot beef stew?
The first step in this recipe is to brown your beef. If you’re in a huge hurry, you can skip this step, but I recommend taking the time to do it. The beef is combined with other ingredients including carrots, onions, potatoes, broth and seasonings, then pressure cooked to tender perfection.
What is the best beef for stew?
I use pre-cut beef stew meat for this recipe because it’s super convenient. Other great options would be a chuck roast, boneless short ribs or brisket that have been cut into 1-2 inch pieces. You want to look for a meat that has some fat content so that it will be juicy and tender after cooking.
How long do you cook beef stew in an Instant Pot?
This beef stew cooks for 30 minutes on high pressure. There is also some cook time involved in browning the meat, and the final step of thickening the stew requires you to simmer for at least 5 more minutes.
Tips for Instant Pot Beef Stew
- Cut your carrots and potatoes into large pieces so that they don’t get mushy in the stew after cooking.
- I like to use halved baby yellow potatoes. You can also use larger Russet or Yukon Gold potatoes that have been cut into 1 1/2 inch cubes.
- This recipe can be stored in the refrigerator for up to 3 days, or in the freezer for up to 2 months.
- Want to amp up your beef stew to a new level? Sprinkle some cooked, crumbled bacon over the top before serving.
- You can add other vegetables to your stew such as a can of tomatoes or halved fresh mushrooms.
Once you try this Instant Pot beef stew, you’ll never want to make stew on the stove top again. The beef comes out meltingly tender and full of flavor, and the pressure cooker does all of the hard work for you!
More great soup recipes
- Albondigas Soup
- Mexican Chicken Soup
- Hamburger Soup
- Chicken and Wild Rice Soup
- Chicken Tortellini Soup
Instant Pot Beef Stew
Ingredients
- 1 tablespoon olive oil
- 2 1/2 pounds beef stew meat
- salt and pepper to taste
- 1 onion diced
- 2 teaspoons minced garlic
- 1 pound small yellow potatoes quartered or halved
- 4 carrots peeled, halved and cut into 1 inch pieces
- 3 cups beef broth
- 3 tablespoons tomato paste
- 1 teaspoon dried thyme leaves
- 1 bay leaf
- 1 cup frozen peas
- 3 tablespoons flour
- 2 tablespoons chopped parsley
Instructions
- Turn the Instant Pot to Saute, then select More. Wait for the pot to heat up, then add the oil.
- Add half of the stew meat to the pot and season with salt and pepper to taste. Cook for 3-4 minutes on each side or until browned.
- Remove the meat from the pot. Repeat with remaining meat.
- Place all the meat in the pot along with the onion, garlic, potatoes, carrots, beef broth, tomato paste, dried thyme leave, bay leaf, and salt and pepper to taste.
- Stir to combine. Seal the Instant Pot and set it to Manual High Pressure for 30 minutes.
- Carefully vent the pressure valve, or let the pressure release manually.
- Remove 1/3 cup of stew liquid from the pot. Add the flour and whisk until smooth.
- Pour the flour mixture back into the pot, and turn the pot back to the Saute function.
- Add the peas to the pot. Simmer for 3-5 minutes or until stew has started to thicken.
- Sprinkle with parsley, then serve.
ReGina says
This was the best stew I ever made. The sauce was so flavorful! I did not add peas. My 5 year old loved it and so did my husband. This will be a monthly favorite!!
Diane Thomas says
This stew is delicious!
Easy recipe to follow had all ingredients
As directed very tender and broth savory
I will make this again
Thanks Diane
Linda says
Delicious. Didn’t have beef broth so used a beer. Other than that followed the recipe and loved it!
Wendy says
This is like my mom’s only way better because it’s cooked in an I P! It is so easy! I prefer no tomato so I omitted it. Since I made this at camp I didn’t have thyme or bay or parsley. I added 1/4 tsp. Italian seasoning instead and used 1/4 tsp. garlic powder instead of fresh. Yum, can’t wait to try it exactly as written when I get back home!
Linda says
do you peal the potatoes?
Sara says
I typically don’t but you can if ypu prefer!
Nitin says
Great recipe. the stew turned out delicious and perfectly cooked. I didn’t have thyme so I skipped it. Didn’t have parsley so I put chopped cilantro. I hit the chili bean button on my instant pot so it was high pressure cooked for 35 mins instead of 30 min.
Adorisa says
Followed as written. Delicious.
Kristina says
Best EVER recipe and I tried a lot!
Irene says
We made this dish tonight. It was awesome. Probably the best beef stew I have ever made. Full of flavor.
Candice says
Turned out fantastic! I did have to sub vegetable broth for beef broth, tomato sauce for tomato paste and cornstarch for flour. Will definitely make this again.
Tara says
I have never been fan of stews because I find the flavor bland for my palette.My husband on the other hand loves stews. I also don’t use my instant all that often but needed a quick goto meal and I just bought stew meat at Costco earlier in the day. I had all the ingredients except for flour (waiting for my online order to come in the mail). So I substituted with a packet of McCormicks country gravy mix instead. I also added one extra cup of broth and one packet of Lipton Beefy-Onion and the meal was a hit especially with my husband, I’ll certainly make this again.
Wende says
This turned out great! I also added an envelope of Lipton onion soup and about 2 cups extra broth. I didn’t have beef broth so I used chicken broth instead. The family loved this a lot!
Shawna says
This is the best and easiest stew. I have made it twice and was able to easily adjust the recipe both times with ingredients I had on hand. The base is delicious!
Kim says
Absolutely delicious! First time making it this evening – the stew was sooo flavorful and the meat was tender. The whole family enjoyed it and we have leftovers. Definitely a keeper.
Andrea Williams says
Instead of browning, can the stew meat be frozen, placed in the pot with the other remaining ingredients, then pressure cooked?
Sara says
I have never tried this but you might have to adjust the cooking time if you’re using frozen meat.
Christina says
So if you use frozen meat the time usually stays the same because the meat is defrosted once the cooker brings it to pressure due to the high temp. It will take a little longer to come to pressure so keep that in mind.
Gene says
Great soup,. And easy to make. Used yams instead of potatoes and turned out great. Thanks
TGL kitchen says
This recipe is a keeper. The beef in beef stew MUST be fork tender to be one that earns a place in the “saved” file and the use of the Instant Pot produces this result.
I tried something never tried before with this stew — baked flour aka “roux” flour as the thickener. I think it added another dimension of flavor to the stew.
I recommend using chuck roast and cutting it into large cubes instead of stew beef. The tomato paste also adds flavor. Homemade tomato paste and beef stock also add better flavor IMHO.
Thank you for this recipe!
Sara D says
Absolutely delicious! I used a frozen mix of peas, carrots, and green beans and only chopped up onions. I also used less broth and skipped the flour. It was amazing! Thank you for this recipe!
Sara says
Absolutely delicious! I used a frozen mix of peas, carrots, and green beans and only chopped up onions. I also used less broth and skipped the flour. It was amazing! Thank you for this recipe!
JD says
I added a half cup of barley and used chuck roast as it was cheaper than the stew meat. Great flavor and tender meat. I may lower the time to 20 min next time as the veggies were very soft. Great recipe!
kathi penkacik says
I did mine only 10 minutes, the meat and the vegetables were perfect. I used stew meat and it was browned before putting into the pot. I used creamer potatoes that were quartered. I put the peas into the cooker pot after pressure manually released and pot was on warm, the peas cooked in about 10 minutes while the flour was thickening. Perfect. Delicious. I am glad I read your comment about the mushy carrots and potatoes. They would have been way too overcooked if cooked for 30 minutes. I am wondering if the 30 minute time includes coming up to pressure?
Denise says
My potatoes and carrots were so mushy after 25 minutes of cooking on high. I followed the directions to a t. Wondering if my veggies were cut too small. I was wondering about less cooking time
Sara says
How big did you cut the veggies? I’d cut them larger and keep the cook time the same, otherwise you run the risk of the meat not being tender.