Instant Pot Beef Stew | Creme De La Crumb

Set it and forget it with this warm, comforting, tasty, tender Instant Pot beef stew. Keeping it simple with easy-to-find ingredients like beef, potatoes, and Italian seasonings is key to this tasty 45-minute  dinner. 

For more easy, filling Instant Pot meals, check out my recipes for Instant Pot Pork Chops and Gravy, Instant Pot Beef Stroganoff Soup, or Instant Pot French Dip Sandwiches. 

Why this Recipe Works

From easy to tasty, this Instant Pot Beef Stew recipe checks all the boxes!

Instant Pot — You can’t have an Instant Pot without the “Instant” part right? And, although it will take about 45 minutes of your time (but only about 10 of that is hands-on), it’s a whole lot faster than cooking this stew for hours and hours like a typical recipe would require. 

Potatoes — There’s no stew of any sort without potatoes in my book. The baby gold potatoes cook up just perfectly, soft, fork-tender, and are a great vehicle for soaking up all that yummy beef stew juice. 

Worcestershire Sauce — Another one of my secret ingredients, I put this sauce on lots of recipes featuring beef because it has a lovely saltiness and tang (just a hint!) that offsets the garlic and Italian seasonings just perfectly. 

Vegetables — Whether you like a lot or a little, the veggies are also the stars in this stew. Speed up prep time even more by substituting frozen veggies if you prefer them to fresh in this dish. 

Here’s How you Make it

You won’t believe how easy it is to fix this incredibly tasty beef stew right in your Instant Pot. Here’s how you do it:

1. Set the pressure cooker to “saute” and add butter. Melt the butter, then add in the garlic and onions and stir for 1-2 minutes, or until fragrant. Take the onions and garlic out and put in a dish for later. 
2. Add the oil to the pot, then add the beef on top of the oil and season with salt and pepper. Sear the pieces of beef on all sides for about 3-4 minutes, til browned. 
3. In a small dish, whisk together 1 cup of the broth, the tomato paste, worcestershire sauce, salt, pepper, and herbs. Pour this mixture into the pot on top of the beef. 
4. Add the potatoes and carrots to the pot as well as the onions and garlic you had set aside earlier. 
5. Add the lid, turn the vent to the “sealed” position and set to “pressure cook” or “manual” for 25 minutes. 
6. Let the Instant Pot natural release (which means do nothing) for 10 minutes, then turn the vent valve carefully to release the rest of the pressure/steam. Once the float valve has dropped, remove the lid. 
7. Change the setting to “soup.” Whisk together the rest of the broth and the cornstarch. Stir this into the soup along with the frozen peas. Stir as the liquid thickens and the peas thaw. 
8. Taste, add seasonings as you see fit, then serve, garnishing with fresh herbs if you like.

Ideas for Customizing this Recipe

It’s easy to customize this savory beef stew to your liking! 

• Skip the potatoes. Don’t like potatoes or don’t have any? No problem. Just skip them, and add more veggies instead!  
• Mix up the spices. If you don’t have Italian seasoning, you can use a teaspoon each of oregano, basil, rosemary, and parsley. Add a little spice with paprika or cayenne pepper.  
• Serve over rice. Or noodles too for that matter. All that sauce would be just lovely over the top of egg noodles or white rice. 

• Use chicken. Swap beef for chicken breast and beef broth for chicken broth. Easy, simple, still delicious. 

Expert Tips

Here are a few of my favorite ways to take this Instant Pot beef stew meal to the next level!

• Swap out the gold potatoes for baby red or any other favorite potato you have. Just make sure to cut the potatoes into uniform pieces (½ – 2 inches) for even cooking. 

• When buying the beef, I like to use beef chuck and cut it up myself, but you can also purchase pre-chopped stew meat or another cut of beef. 

• Don’t skip on searing the meat. This is your chance to lock in that delicious beefy flavor before cooking the stew all together in the Instant Pot. The sear will make for a nice, slightly crispy bite on the outside, and nice and tender on the inside. 
• Make the slurry with the cornstarch and beef broth, this is key to getting the sauce to thicken up. A little cornstarch is magical I tell ya! 

More Instant Pot Recipes

Did you make this dish? Please rate the recipe below! 

Prep Time: 15 minutes

Cook Time: 45 minutes

Servings: 6 servings

• Set your pressure cooker to SAUTE. Add butter, melt, then add garlic and onions and stir for 1-2 minutes until fragrant. Transfer onions and garlic to a dish and set aside.

• Add oil to the pot. Add beef to the pot and season generously with salt and pepper. Sear the beef pieces for 3-4 minutes until just browned on the outsides.

• Whisk together 1 cup of the beef broth, tomato paste, worcestershire sauce, salt, pepper, and dried herbs. Pour into pot.

• Add potatoes and carrots to the pot.

• Cover, turn vent to the SEALED position, and set to PRESSURE COOK or MANUAL for 25 minutes.

• Natural release (do nothing) for 10 minutes, then turn the vent valve and let the remaining pressure release. Once float valve has dropped, remove the lid.

• Set to SOUP setting. Whisk together remaining 1 cup of beef broth and the corn starch. Stir into the soup along with the frozen peas. Give it a stir as the liquid thickens and the peas heat up.

• Taste, add salt and pepper as needed, and garnish with fresh thyme or parsley if desired before serving. Enjoy!

For the potatoes: you can swap the gold potatoes for baby red, or any other favorite potato (regular size gold, red, or russet even) just be sure to chop the potatoes into pieces no larger than 1/2-2 inches. 
For the beef: I like to buy beef chuck and chop it up myself, but you can also use pre-chopped stew meat if you prefer. 

Calories: 392kcal | Carbohydrates: 14g | Protein: 35g | Fat: 22g | Saturated Fat: 9g | Cholesterol: 115mg | Sodium: 907mg | Potassium: 890mg | Fiber: 3g | Sugar: 5g | Vitamin A: 8291IU | Vitamin C: 16mg | Calcium: 80mg | Iron: 5mg