Instant Pot Beef Stew is a mouthwatering one pot dinner with fall-apart beef and tons of chunky hearty vegetables cooked in a delicious gravy-like broth. It’s just like my Ukrainian grandma used to make and I’m even sharing her 2 secret ingredients at the end.
Other hands-off recipes we like are this Instant Pot beef barley soup and Instant Pot chicken stew.
Reader’s Review
I was so tired today but didn’t want to do takeout. I searched for an Instant Pot stew and this was so easy (not having to brown the beef!) and so delicious (everyone loved!). Will definitely be on repeat!
Jenna
Why You’ll Love My Grandma’s Beef Stew
This soul-warming Instant Pot beef stew is a hands-off version of my grandma’s beef stew. And is the easiest and best comfort meal that will carry you through the winter season!
Food cooked under pressure tastes so much better, so that’s the reason enough to make a beef stew in Instant Pot! Fall apart beef, tender veggies, and broth that has so much flavor.
This is easy Instant Pot beef stew recipe with no paprika, soy sauce or balsamic vinegar convinced my husband, Alex, that Instant Pot recipes are worth celebrating. He makes it all winter long! It’s also budget-friendly because there are no fancy ingredients.
Ingredients for Instant Pot Beef Stew
- Beef stew meat: An affordable roast like beef chuck roast, rump roast, or any other cheap cut of beef will be fine as pressure cooking will tenderize it. Just cut into 1-inch pieces. Or by all means, use pre-cut stew meat.
- Potatoes: Yellow potatoes, yukon gold potatoes, red potatoes or baby potatoes will keep their shape better because they are waxier than they are starchy. Russet potatoes are good if you like more of a hearty stew. You can use sweet potatoes, just cut in larger sizes so they don’t get overcooked.
- Other veggies: Onion, celery, carrot, and peas.
- Tomato paste and stock: I used both low sodium. If yours are not, add less salt. Any broth like chicken broth, Instant Pot chicken broth, vegetable broth or beef broth works. Of course, beef broth is ideal and will result in more of a classic beef stew taste.
- Spices: Dried oregano, dried thyme, bay leaf, whole peppercorns, salt, and pepper.
- Fresh dill and fresh garlic (do not skip!): These are 2 secret ingredients. You can use less dill than I do, but give it a try.
- Water and cornstarch (optional): To thicken the stew at the end. Thicken it using arrowroot starch instead of cornstarch, if you prefer.
Variations
- A splash of red wine is a classic ingredient in some stews. It cooks off much of the alcohol but leaves a nice depth of flavor.
- Worcestershire sauce would add a nice umami flavor. Add 2-3 teaspoons to taste.
- Replace tomato paste with ketchup for a less intense tomato flavor.
- Omit the peas if you’re not a fan.
How to Make Beef Stew in Instant Pot
There is no need to saute anything, it’s just a dump and set healthy dinner.
In the recipe card below, you will find instructions for the most popular 6 quart and 8 quart Instant Pots. If you have 3 quart, cut 6 quart ingredients in half but use the same cooking time.
- Add ingredients in this order: To the bottom of Instant Pot, add vegetables, meat, tomato paste, spices, and broth. This particular order prevents the dreaded burn notice, which happens when there is not enough liquid. Keep the order and do not stir.
- Cook for 30-35 minutes on high pressure: Those 5 minutes are not a “make it or break it” bit of time, but the longer any stew cooks, the more flavorful it becomes. It will take about 20 minutes to come to pressure before the cooking time starts.
- Release pressure with natural pressure release or quick release. If you have time, allow the pressure to come down on its own. Quick release works too.
- Add peas and 2 secret flavor boosters: Peas in a stew are a classic, they will also help cool the beef stew. Then add fresh garlic and fresh dill. It is one thing to cook garlic and it’s completely different experience to eat a dish with freshly grated garlic. Try it, I promise you’ll be blown away.
Thickening Tip
If you like thicker stew, add a cornstarch slurry. In a small bowl, whisk 4 tablespoons of cornstarch and 1/4 cup of cold water. Press Sauté, add to the pot, stir with a spoon and cook for a few minutes until stew thickens up.
Tips for Best Results
- Browning the meat: This Instant Pot beef stew recipe is amazing as is, but if you do want to take that extra step to sear your meat, go ahead. If you’re looking for that crusty brown exterior, your best bet is to use a skillet on the stovetop. Otherwise, brown on Sauté function right in the pressure cooker.
- To make less: If this recipe is too much, cut the ingredients in half and keep the same cooking time.
- Don’t use dried dill weed: I don’t recommend to use dried dill as its taste is quite different from fresh one. If you are not a fan of dill or don’t have any on hand, add fresh parsley or skip it altogether.
- Game meat: I have used cubed venison and moose many times.
- Using frozen meat: Make sure no more than 2-3 pieces are clumped together. Cook time won’t change, Instant Pot will take longer to come to pressure.
- Adjust amount of dill and peas: I am Ukrainian, so we love dill. A few readers said the amount is overpowering. So add as much as you like. Same goes for peas.:)
What to Serve Instant Pot Beef Stew With?
As Ukrainian household, we like to serve homemade beef stew with simple cucumber and tomato salad and Ukrainian garlic bread (when I have time).
Having a basket of crusty bread, either sliced or a loaf to rip off as you go is perfect for sopping up any remaining gravy. Or even better, make my high protein Greek yogurt bread or cottage cheese bread.
Also a side of classic Caesar salad would be a great accompaniment.
How to Store and Reheat
Store: Refrigerate leftovers for up to 5 days in an airtight container. You can also store leftovers in the inner liner of the Instant Pot with a fitting glass lid or silicone lid. We love the second storage method because it makes stew easy to transfer from the fridge to the stove to reheat right in the same pot.
Freeze: I am not a fan of freezing beef stew because it contains potatoes. Freezing puts a lot of strain on potatoes that are low in fiber. The water expands and forms ice crystals which makes potatoes mushy once thawed.
But I do know some people are OK with freezing stew. Then keep it in airtight container for up to 3 months in a freezer.
Reheat: Reheat in the Instant Pot’s inner pot right on the stove or in the Instant Pot pressure cooker on Sauté mode, stirring a few times.
You can also reheat it in a small pot on the stove by simmering on low heat. Always reheat only what you are going to eat to keep the remaining beef stew fresh for as long as possible.
More Favorite Instant Pot Recipes
- Beef quinoa stew
- Instant Pot beef bone broth
- Instant Pot pot roast
- Instant Pot goulash
- Instant Pot beef stroganoff
Instant Pot Beef Stew
Equipment
Video
Ingredients
6 Quart Instant Pot
- 1 medium onion, chopped
- 2 large carrots, chopped
- 2 small celery stalks, chopped
- 3 large garlic cloves, grated & divided
- 2 pounds potatoes, cubed
- 1.5 pounds chuck roast or any cheap roast beef, cubed into 1″ pieces
- 3 ounces tomato paste, low sodium
- 2 cups beef broth, low sodium
- 1 teaspoon oregano, dried
- 1 teaspoon thyme, dried
- 3/4 teaspoon salt
- Ground black pepper, to taste
- 3 bay leaves
- 5 peppercorns
- 1 cup frozen peas
- 1/2 – 3/4 cup fresh dill, finely chopped
8 Quart Instant Pot
- 1 large onion, chopped
- 3 large carrots, chopped
- 4 small celery stalks, chopped
- 4 large garlic cloves, grated & divided
- 3 pounds potatoes, cubed
- 2 pounds chuck roast or any cheap roast beef, cubed into 1″ pieces
- 6 ounces can tomato paste, low sodium
- 3 cups beef broth, low sodium
- 1 1/2 teaspoons oregano, dried
- 1 1/2 teaspoons thyme, dried
- 1 1/4 teaspoons salt
- Ground black pepper, to taste
- 4 bay leaves
- 7 peppercorns
- 2 cups frozen peas
- 1 cup fresh dill, finely chopped
Slurry
- 1/4 cup cold water
- 2-4 tablespoons cornstarch or arrowroot powder, (6 and 8 quart correspondingly)
Instructions
- In Instant Pot, add onion, carrot, celery, 2 garlic cloves, potatoes and beef as you are cutting them. Then add tomato paste, beef stock, oregano, thyme, salt, pepper, bay leaves and peppercorns. No need to stir, just flatten tomato paste with a spoon.
- Close the lid, set pressure vent to Sealing and press Pressure Cook on High for 30 minutes. Display will say ON, Instant Pot will take about 20 minutes to come to pressure, you will see a bit of steam coming out from a valve, then float valve will rise and countdown from 30 minutes will begin.
- When display says OFF, stew is ready. Now your Instant Pot needs to bring pressure down before you can open it, which will be indicated by a dropped down float valve. You can let it do it on its own which will take about 15-20 minutes – Natural Release. OR you can do Quick Release by turning pressure valve to Venting position, which takes 2-3 minutes. I recommend doing so outside to avoid countertop mess and house smelling like stew for days.
- Open the lid, add peas, remaining 2 cloves of garlic and dill. Stir.
- To thicken beef stew: Switch Instant Pot to Saute. In a small bowl, whisk cold water with cornstarch, add to the pot and stir gently. Cook for a few minutes until thickened.
- Serve hot with crusty bread.
Notes
- Store: Refrigerate in an airtight container or inner Instant Pot pot with a fitting glass lid for up to 5 days.
- Freeze: I have not tried to freeze the stew as there are never leftovers and I question how well potatoes would thaw.
- If you made a slurry beforehand, make sure to stir it right before adding to the pot. Cornstarch settles fast.
- I don’t recommend to use dried dill. If you are not a fan of dill or don’t have any on hand, add fresh parsley.
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
My grandma was Ukranian too. We freeze the leftovers all the time. The potatoes are a little mushy, but it is still delish!
Oops, forgot to leave a rating!
Amazing!!! Made this last month and it was soo good – definitely a keeper. Wanted to make it against this week but we’re trying low carb diet – do you think I can sub sweet potatoes instead of regular ones? (Maybe not cut them small since they’ll get my mushy) Or do you have other suggestions?
I think sweet potatoes would be great.
I absolutely LOVED this stew!! My husband crinkled his nose at the thought of dill in a stew. But it lent an amazing flavor. Not one flavor overpowered the other and all flavors complimented each other. Thanks for this recipe!
Thanks for sharing Kati!
tried this recipe in my new instant pot. really liked the grated fresh garlic, omitted the peas. the only change I would make next time would be to skip the bay leaves altogether. I only used about 1-1/2 and hubby and I agreed it overpowered the stew. other than that, everything else was great!
Thanks for sharing Jennifer!
This is the easiest and best stew ever. It is now our family favourite. I printed this back before I think you changed the prep time- used to say 5 min? Anyway, i would still increase prep time to 1/2 hour to chop everything.
Love it and the garlic and peas and dill at the end are a must!
Yay! So happy that you have a new family favourite Sheri!
Glad to hear that, Sheri. Depends how fast you chop and how sharp are your knives. It takes me 20 mins to chop not so many veggies, cube meat and throw it all in and that’s why 20 mins I suggest. Baby potatoes save time. 5 mins was before when someone from a team updated recipes 3 years ago. That’s why I changed it to 20. It takes a village to run this website.
To freeze, cook potatoes separately as needed for amount of stew used.
I’m making this right now (on a stove top, because my instant pot won’t be delivered until next week). I’ll be trying this in the instant pot next week as well (can never have too much stew!).
But I must say, it is already smelling gorgeous and it has brought back lots of memories. My babysitter was a Ukraine or Russian lady and she always offered me tons of food (I was a very small child back then haha). It was always so tasty but as I was only 6 back then, I could never remember what it was she made (besides I never asked, i just ate what i was given). Now I have smelled the stew bubbling in my kitchen and I realise this was what she made for me 24 years ago! So thank you, the very long search is finally over and I can enjoy this stew once again!
Abby! I am so happy that my stew reminds you of the food that your babysitter made for you as a child! Awesome.
Can I use beef stock instead of bouillon cubes? If yes how much do I use for 6 and 8 qt Instant Pot? Bouillon cubes make my mouth so dry.
Yes. Same amount as water listed.
I’ve made it today after looking at many, many other recipes. It was delicious!
Thank you for the recipe, Olena!
I am glad you chose this recipe and liked it Elena!