Instant Pot Kentucky Burgoo–a big pot of meat and vegetables that tastes oh so good and feeds a crowd!
Instant Pot Kentucky Burgoo
What a fun word! Burgoo! It makes me feel a little silly to say it out loud. Burgoo is a stew-like concoction of a variety of meats and vegetables. It’s a Kentucky tradition and is often cooked in huge quantities in a kettle. It can frequently be found at barbecues, political events and on Derby Day. Nobody knows for sure the origin of the word burgoo but there are several theories out there. One is that it’s from a mispronunciation of the word barbecue or perhaps ragout. Whatever its origin I’m glad it’s here because it is so tasty!
My version of Burgoo is made in the Instant Pot (or course!) and has beef, chicken, cabbage, okra and lima beans (and more). If you’re thinking “I don’t think I’ll like it” then I want to tell you, I really think you should give it a shot. I’m usually on the fence about some of these ingredients but when all simmered together they taste so good.
How to Store and Freeze
This recipe for Instant Pot Kentucky Burgoo makes a lot!!! The 6 quart pot was almost completely full…that’s close to 24 cups of stew. If you don’t have a crowd to feed then I suggest sharing this with another family, saving half for another day or halving the recipe. It’s excellent as a Sunday dinner when you want lunches for the coming week.
- Refrigerate leftovers in an airtight container(s) for up to 3 days.
- Freeze in ziploc freezer bags or airtight containers, leaving about 1/2-inch of space to allow for expansion. Freeze for up to 3 months.
- To reheat, allow to thaw in the refrigerator first.
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Instant Pot Kentucky Burgoo
- Prep Time: 30 minutes
- Cook Time: 30 minutes
- Total Time: 1 hour
- Yield: 10–12 servings 1x
Description
A big pot of meat and vegetables that tastes oh so good and feeds a crowd!
Ingredients
- 2 cups chicken broth
- 1 pound beef stew meat or chuck roast cut into cubes
- 1 small 3-4 pound whole chicken
- 1 pound potatoes, peeled and cut into cubes
- 2 medium carrots, peeled and sliced
- 1 cup diced onion
- 2–3 cups chopped cabbage
- 1 (14 oz) can corn, drained
- 1 (14.5 oz) can diced tomatoes
- 1 cup frozen lima beans
- 1 cup frozen okra
- 2 (8 oz) cans tomato sauce
- 3 Tbsp Worcestershire sauce
- 1 to 1 1/2 tsp kosher salt
- 1/2 tsp black pepper
- 1/8 tsp cayenne pepper
Instructions
- Clean out cavity of chicken and rinse. Pour broth into Instant Pot. Add the stew meat and the chicken (breast side down) into the pot. Lightly salt and pepper the chicken.
- Cover Instant Pot and secure the lid. Make sure valve is set to sealing. Set the manual/pressure cook button to 20 minutes. When time is up let the pot sit for 10-15 minutes and then move the valve to venting. Remove the lid.
- Carefully remove the chicken and set on a cutting board.
- Add potatoes, carrots, onion, cabbage, corn, tomatoes, lima beans, okra, tomato sauce, Worcestershire sauce, kosher salt, pepper and cayenne pepper into Instant Pot with the broth and beef.
- Cover Instant Pot and secure the lid. Make sure valve is set to sealing. Set the manual/pressure cook button to 10 minutes.
- While its cooking, debone the chicken and remove the meat. When time is up move valve to venting and remove the lid. Stir in the chicken meat into the pot.
- Ladle into bowls and serve. Salt and pepper to taste.
Notes
This makes a huge amount! My 6 quart Instant Pot was full to the top when I added the chicken back in. You can share this with another family, save half for another day or halve the recipe.
- Category: Stew
- Method: Instant Pot
*Karen Petersen is a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for sites to earn advertising fees by advertising and linking to amazon.com.
What would be the best way to do this in a crockpot?
I would do steps 1 and 2 in the crockpot by cooking the chicken until tender and falling off the bones…probably about 6-8 hours on low.
Then add in the remaining ingredients listed in step 4 and slow cooker for 6 more hours on low.
I’m looking forward to trying this recipe. Could I use canned chicken instead of a whole chicken? I get a lot of canned chicken from the food pantry and I try to find recipes that work with it.
Sure! That would be great. I would cook the stew meat as stated and then add in the chicken and the rest of the ingredients for the second pressure cook
this is a delicious dish!
i served it to 10 guests at our derby party, including one local restaurant critic who said she wanted to lick the bowl.
i added a few strips of turkey “bacon” fried in a little bourbon before cooking, then served it with a dash of smoked paprika. i made it the night before and reheated it for the derby. i think a lot of dished benefit from the next day reheating.
thanks for sharing. i will look for other ideas on your site.
Mark
Oh I’m so happy to hear this!! Thanks for sharing.
Hi Karen,
This is a delish recipe. It is hearty and very flavorful. We are trying to eat more vegetables, so I was attracted to the recipe. My husband does not care for cabbage, so I cut it into small pieces–no one detected that there was cabbage in the stew/soup! I love that it makes so much–I am planning to freeze some. Thank you so much for sharing this!
Lori
★★★★★
I am so glad you liked it Lori! I love all the veggies too!
Burgoo stew is on the menu at Keenland Race Track and quite popular. As the story goes the meat in the stew is squirrel but I think those days are over
I added a couple fresh cli
Sliced jolopenos to mine when
★★★★
I hope so 🙈
In East Texas, in the Piney woods, the meat would be fresh squirrel or rabbit or even a combination of both. And after first good frost and hot killing time, it might have pork in it also. It was on our table a lot of times but, I stuck to something else. Loved to hunt, could clean and cook squirrel and rabbit but, couldn’t make myself eat it. I’m in my 70s and still will not eat either meat. Hubby likes it and I’ll fix it for him but, not for me.
Nice,, Karen. How much is a serving or portion in cups or ounces?
Thank you.
It makes almost 6 full quarts which is 24 cups. I would say for 12 servings it’s about 2 cups of soup.
Hey Karen, this looks SOOO good. However, what can I substitute for the 2-3 cups chopped cabbage (allergies), please?
I’m gonna try to reduce the sodium, too.
Thanks, always, for your fantastic recipies !!!
Can you eat Kale?
Delicious! I used low sodium broth & diced tomatoes with no added salt, frozen corn to reduce sodium too snd it was absolutely delicious!! Thank you for the great recipes I get in my email everyday. I’ve made many of them and it’s helping get me out of a cooking rut!
★★★★★
I’m so glad to hear it Paula!
I would just add more of everything else to compensate for the cabbage. And I have bought lots of Burgoo in western Kentucky and it never has okra in it.