Instant Pot Nana’s Beef Stew—a beef stew with lots of flavor and only a few ingredients. This recipe is made fast and easy with your Instant Pot. It tastes wonderful with fresh baked bread.
Note: the SLOW COOKER instructions are listed in the recipe card below
Instant Pot Nana’s Beef Stew
Sometimes the best tasting dinners come from the most simple and basic recipes. This recipe for beef stew only calls for a handful of ingredients you likely have at your house. I know that beef stew might sound a little boring but when I tasted it I immediately fell in love with the rich taste and the homey, comforting, back-to-grandma’s house feeling. The fresh baked bread that was dunked in the stew truly enhanced that feeling.
You can make this stew fast in your Instant Pot or simmer it all day in your slow cooker. It is up to you. If you make nana’s beef stew in the Instant Pot you’ll cook the meat for 15 minutes and then use a quick release and add in the carrots and potatoes and bring the pot back up to pressure for a few more minutes. You’ll finally end with a natural pressure release to ensure the meat is nice and tender.
The double pressure cooking time is the way that I find is best to cook recipes like this. It ensures that the meat is cooked until tender but that the vegetables don’t turn to mush. It does add an extra step but I think you’ll find that it is worth it. Besides you can peel and chop the carrots and potatoes while the pot cooks the meat the first time around. You see it all works out perfectly.
I bought a package of beef stew meat from my grocery store but you can also choose to buy a chuck roast and cut it up into cubes yourself. To tell you the truth I wish that I would have done that. The beef stew meat I bought was in rather large chunks and I would have preferred much smaller. C’est la vie.
Instead of thickening the stew with a cornstarch slurry or a roux I did something a little different. I added in a cup of instant potato flakes. This thickened the stew immediately. I have been keeping a box of potato flakes in my pantry lately to thicken sauces and stews quickly. It’s a little trick! If you’d prefer, you can always thicken with cornstarch or flour instead.
More Instant Pot Beef Recipes…
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Instant Pot Nana’s Beef Stew
- Prep Time: 15 minutes
- Cook Time: 30 minutes
- Total Time: 45 minutes
- Yield: 6 servings 1x
Description
A beef stew with lots of flavor and only a few ingredients. It tastes wonderful with fresh baked bread.
Ingredients
- 2 pounds beef stew meat (or chuck roast cut into cubes)
- Fresh crack pepper
- Pinch of sea salt
- 1 1/2 cups diced onions
- 4 cups beef broth (or 4 cups water with 4 tsp better than bouillon beef base)
- 4 bay leaves
- 4 carrots, sliced
- 4 medium Russet potatoes, peeled and cubed (about 1.25 pounds)
- 1/4 cup Worcestershire sauce
- 1 Tbsp sugar
- 1 (8 oz) can tomato sauce
- 1 cup potato flakes
Instructions
Instant Pot Instructions:
- Add beef to Instant Pot. Add in about 7 cracks of pepper and the salt and onions. Toss. Add in broth and bay leaves.
- Cover and secure the lid. Make sure valve is set to sealing. Set the manual/pressure cook button to 15 minutes. When time is up move valve to venting to quickly remove pressure.
- Add in the carrots, potatoes, Worcestershire sauce, sugar and tomato sauce.
- Cover and secure the lid. Make sure valve is set to sealing. Set the manual/pressure cook button to 15 minutes. When time is up let the pressure release naturally for 10 minutes and then move valve to venting. Remove the lid.
- Stir in the potato flakes to thicken stew.
- Ladle into bowls and serve with fresh bread.
Slow Cooker Instructions:
- Add beef to slow cooker. Add in about 7 cracks of pepper and the salt and onions. Toss. Add in broth and bay leaves, carrots, potatoes, Worcestershire sauce, sugar and tomato sauce.
- Cover and cook on low for 6-8 hours.
- Stir in the potato flakes to thicken stew.
- Ladle into bowls and serve with fresh bread.
Notes
I used my 6 quart Instant Pot Duo 60 7 in 1*.
Recipe adapted from Best Recipes
- Category: Beef
- Method: Instant Pot or Slow Cooker
Instant Pot Nana’s Beef Stew by 365dayscrockpot on Jumprope.
*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.
I made the Instant Pot Nana’s Beef Stew. Tasted great, but nearly all my beef dissolved! I used store cut beef stew meat. I think 2 fifteen minute sessions in the IP is the cause. That’s a lot of cook time!
★★
How would I alter the cooking for red potatoes instead of russet? Should I leave them whole and cut afterwards?
Or Yukon gold also…. And, if adding celery will that change the cook time?
Leave the Yukons in bigger pieces or halves. And no change for celery!
You could leave them in bigger pieces or whole. If you do cut them smaller they may get overdone.