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Instant Pot Beef Stew Recipe

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Our Instant Pot Beef Stew Recipe is perfect for a cold winter day, without having to wait hours and hours to eat!

 

Amazing Instant Pot Beef Stew Recipe

Amazing Instant Pot Beef Stew Recipe

Normally beef stew, because it contains tough cuts of meat and hard root vegetables takes hours in the slow cooker or Dutch Oven. With this instant pot beef stew recipe, you can be sitting down to eat in less than 2 hours!  Yep, you read that right.  This is an Instant Pot Beef Stew Recipe with amazing cooked-all-day flavor that is ready in about 90 minutes.  This recipe SO good that it made our top recipes of 2018 list!

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I’ll admit I was slow to join the Instant Pot craze.  I just wasn’t sure I wanted to have another appliance in my kitchen.  My friend Deb shared her Instant Pot 101 Cheat Sheet with me and now I’m so excited about all the time my Instant Pot saves me.

By the way, if you love this recipe, you’ll want to check out our Beef Tips and Gravy – another family favorite!

Instant Pot Beef Stew Recipe Shopping List

  • 2.5 lb bottom round beef roast
  • Yukon gold potatoes
  • sweet potatoes
  • red onion
  • beef stock
  • fresh thyme (rosemary is also delicious)
  • rainbow carrots

From the pantry: olive oil, salt and pepper.

One of the reasons I love beef stew so much is that it’s loaded with nutrient-rich root vegetables, which have a very high concentration of iron. Plus, root veggies are great sources of vitamins A, B, and C. Check out this Guide to Root Vegetables for everything you ever wanted to know about root vegetables!

Pro Tip: Look for root vegetables that are very firm – the harder, the better!

Delicious Instant Pot Beef Stew Recipe

You Might Also Need:

For a list of some of my favorite items to use when cooking, and why I chose them, please visit my Kitchen Resource page.

Pro Tips for this Instant Pot Beef Stew Recipe

The final amount of time needed may depend on the shape and thickness of the piece of meat. It is imperative that your roast is in the center of the inner pot to help with even cooking and tenderizing.

Instant Pot Beef Stew Recipe

Instant Pot Beef Stew Recipe

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4.87 from 30 votes

Instant Pot Beef Stew

This Instant Pot Beef Stew is flavorful comfort food at it's best!
Course dinner
Cuisine American
Keyword Instant Pot Beef Stew recipe
Prep Time 10 minutes
Cook Time 45 minutes
Natural Pressure Release (NPR) 30 minutes
Total Time 1 hour 25 minutes

Ingredients

  • 1 tablespoon olive oil
  • 2.5 lb bottom round beef roast
  • 1/4 cup flour
  • 6 small Yukon gold potatoes peeled
  • 3 medium purple potatoes peeled and halved
  • 2 large sweet potatoes peeled and sliced into 1" thick pieces
  • 1 medium red onion chopped
  • 6 cups beef stock or broth
  • 2 cups baby rainbow carrots
  • salt and pepper to taste
  • Fresh thyme about 8 whole stalks

Instructions

  • Heat the oil in the Instant Pot's inner pot using the saute setting.
  • Flour the bottom round roast, rubbing it all over the meat. Shake off excess.
  • Sear each each side of the meat until browned.
  • Remove the meat from the pot while you deglaze the pan using 1 cup of the beef stock or broth.
  • Return the meat to the center of the pot. Add the vegetables all around the meat. Season with salt and pepper to taste.
  • Add the remaining beef stock or broth and the fresh thyme.
  • Double check the sealing ring, then twist on the locking lid.
  • Cancel the Saute setting and select Meat/Stew setting for 45 minutes.
  • When the pressurized cook time has ended, the pot will beep a few times. Allow the Instant Pot to natural pressure release (NPR) for about 30 minutes.
  • Serve warm with crusty bread!

Notes

Note: The final amount of time needed may depend on the shape and thickness of the piece of meat. Be sure your roast is in the center of the inner pot to help with even cooking and tenderizing.

Easy Instant Pot Beef Stew Recipe

Instant Pot Beef Stew Recipe Variations

  • Add other root vegetables such as butternut squash, parsnips or golden beets for extra nutrition and flavor.
  • If you’re not a fan of thyme, use other herbs such as rosemary.  Bay leaves also give beef stew a wonderful flavor.

Slow Cooker Beef Stew Variation

Here’s how to make this recipe in your slow cooker instead of the instant pot:

  1. Season the beef with salt and pepper and then dust with flour.
  2. In a hot skillet, add 2 tablespoons of olive oil. Sear the beef on all sides, then place into the slow cooker crock.
  3. Deglaze the pan with the beef stock to get all the brown bits off the bottom and transfer them to the slow cooker.
  4. Add the prepared vegetables.
  5. Set the slow cooker on low for 8 hours.
  6. Just before the time is up, add the fresh herbs to brighten up the beef stew.

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Check out more delicious instant pot recipes, for more great quick meal ideas.

 

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Reader Interactions

Comments

  3. Dameon S says

    December 9, 2018 at 11:17 am


    If I won I think I would make bone broth first. It’s prerty expensive for me to buy and too time consuming to make at home.

    Reply

  17. Beth C says

    December 9, 2018 at 1:18 pm

    I would make kitcheri! Being vegetarian I have tried cooking beans so many times and for some reason, maybe it’s our altitude, I have had minimal luck- it seems the beans never cook properly and we have to compost them. I have been craving kitcheri for a long time and would love to cook up a big ole pot of it, secure in the knowing that it will actually be edible…lol!!
    Thanks for the great giveaway!

    Reply

  25. Elizabeth Tarlow says

    December 9, 2018 at 2:19 pm

    Without a doubt, I’d make your Instant Pot Beef Stew! I’ve pinned the recipe and can’t wait to make it! Keeping my fingers crossed, as I’ve wanted an Instant Pot for the longest time now 🙂 Thanks for this chance!

    Reply

  30. Susan Burge says

    December 9, 2018 at 4:08 pm

    I’d love to make polenta in it, but I expect it would be better to start with something more basic. I’d probably make some bean soup first. I love bean soup, but it takes so long to cook.

    Reply

  48. Anne says

    December 9, 2018 at 8:00 pm

    Your beef stew looks so good! But if I’m your lucky winner, the fist thing I’d make is a cheesecake. I’ve seen some luscious recipes for pressure-cooker cheesecake and i’m dying to know how they come out!

    Reply

  56. susan D says

    December 9, 2018 at 10:51 pm

    I don’t know anything about the instapot so hopefully a good recipe book will be included to help me pick my first meal!!!

    Reply

  58. Leslie says

    December 9, 2018 at 11:39 pm

    I am told that steaming eggs in n instant pot is the way to go for hard boiled eggs. I would like to try it the next time I make egg salad or deviled eggs.

    Reply

  62. Kayley says

    December 10, 2018 at 1:10 am

    I have a recipe saved for a “Vegan Cheese Vegetable Quinoa” made in an instant pot and it’d be one of the first things I’d try!

    Reply

  72. Maria Robinson says

    December 10, 2018 at 9:57 am

    I would make your stew recipe as I have no idea how to use an Instant Pot yet,so I would try a tested recipe, plus is sounds wonderful.I wouldn’t have thought to use sweet potatoes in stew.

    Reply

  97. Natalie says

    December 12, 2018 at 6:06 pm


    My friend Jill has an instant pot and raves about it — she told me a recipe for kalua pork with cabbage and it sounds amazing (with bacon) Jill uses her pot a lot and she has convinced me it would be a great pot to use in the kitchen!

    Reply

  107. Lauryn R says

    December 16, 2018 at 12:39 am


    I would make this beef stew recipe first! Mine usually takes 8 hours so I would definitely love to see how good it tastes made in an instant pot!

    Reply

  128. Derek Miller says

    December 20, 2018 at 4:50 am


    I would like to try to make a traditional Gumbo in the instant pot, I imagine it would present some challenges but in the end be a huge success.

    Reply

  132. Samantha says

    December 20, 2018 at 2:22 pm


    I want to make the meatloaf you showed up a couple months ago. I would have already but I personally dont own an instant pot. My mom does and she uses it for everything including … yogurt! Isnt that wonderful!!

    Reply

  134. Celeste Herrin says

    December 20, 2018 at 7:20 pm


    I would make chicken and dumplings! Although I would have to quickly follow up with that awesome beef stew!!

    Reply

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