Instant Pot No Peek Stew—an easy beef stew recipe with only 6 ingredients! Tender chunks of beef, carrots, celery and potatoes in a savory sauce. Perfect comfort food.
Get the SLOW COOKER recipe here
Instant Pot No Peek Stew
My mom used to make what she called No Peek Stew when we were growing up. She made it in a heavy pot with a lid in the oven. It was one of those recipes that was cooked slow and low for several hours. I loved when she would make it with her famous “air buns” (big fluffy rolls). It was a perfect dinner on a cold Montana evening. I took her recipe and created an Instant Pot version of it.
These days I’m all about warm, cozy and comfortable. Have you heard of the word Hygge? Hygge is a Danish and Norwegian word for a mood of coziness and comfortable conviviality with feelings of wellness and contentment. To me hygge means minky blankets, fluffy pillows, warm apple cider, candles flickering, fireplace burning and this stew with freshly baked bread.
Instant Pot no peek stew turns out best when you pressure cook the meat for a while and then add in the vegetables. The vegetables seem to cook into puree if they are added at the same time as the beef. It does seem a little annoying but believe me that it is worth it!
A little trick I learned is to use potato flakes as a thickener. Just sprinkle in a few tablespoons of instant potato flakes after the stew has pressure cooked to thicken it up to your desired consistency. If you don’t have potato flakes on hand you can use a cornstarch slurry.
More Beef Stew/Soup Recipes…
Instant Pot Beef and Barley Soup
Instant Pot No Peek Stew
- Prep Time: 20 minutes
- Total Time: 20 minutes
- Yield: 6 servings 1x
Description
An easy beef stew recipe with only 6 ingredients! Tender chunks of beef, carrots, celery and potatoes in a savory sauce. Perfect comfort food.
Ingredients
- 1 cup water
- 1 pound beef chuck roast, cut into small 1/2 inch pieces (or stew meat)
- 1 onion soup mix packet
- 2 cups sliced carrots
- 1 cup sliced celery
- 1 pound potatoes (peeled or unpeeled), cubed
- 1 (10 oz) can Campbells condensed tomato soup
- Potato flakes or Cornstarch, if needed
Instructions
- Add water, beef and onion soup mix into Instant Pot.
- Cover Instant Pot and secure the lid. Make sure valve is set to sealing. Set the manual/pressure cook button to 10 minutes. Perform a quick release by moving the valve to venting. Remove the lid.
- Add in carrots, celery and potatoes.
- Cover Instant Pot and secure the lid. Make sure valve is set to sealing. Set the manual/pressure cook button to 1 minute. When time is up allow the pot to sit for a full natural pressure release or about 15 minutes. Then remove the lid.
- Stir in the tomato soup. If needed you can thicken the stew. You can use a couple tablespoons of instant potato flakes to thicken the stew or you can make a cornstarch slurry. To make a slurry, turn your Instant Pot to the sauté setting. In a small bowl stir together 1 Tbsp of cornstarch with 1-2 Tbsp of water, until smooth. Then pour the mixture into the Instant Pot. The cornstarch mixture will thicken up contents of pot quickly.
- Ladle into bowls and serve with crusty bread. Salt and pepper to taste.
Notes
I used my 6 quart Instant Pot Duo 60 7 in 1*.
- Category: Beef
- 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.
I haven’t made the recipe yet but it looks great! I was wondering if you have previously posted the recipe for your mom’s “air buns”? I searched but didn’t see them. Sounds interesting!
★★★★★
oh I haven’t posted that recipe. I will have to write it out and include it. They are so tasty!
The first time I made the stew according to your directions, and it was quite good but a little on the “sweet” side for me.
The second time I made the stew, I added a cup of Better Than Bouillon beef stock (with water) and two small, minced Serrano peppers. At the end, I removed the broth and reduced it in a saucepan by about 1/3 to get the correct thickness.
My partner and I are from Texas, and we love that extra little “sting” which Serrano pepper brings without overpowering the dish the way jalapeño does. The beef broth added the necessary depth of flavor, and of course, we love the sting of the Serrano pepper!
My partner and I ordered your cookbook, and gave copies of it as Christmas gifts. That is a GREAT cookbook!
★★★★
Meant to give you five stars — sorry about that! – Mark
★★★★★
Thanks so much for the idea on the serrano pepper. Will have to try it! and thanks for ordering the book!
This turned out great! I added Hungarian paprika to the meat. I also added quartered baby Bella mushrooms, salt, pepper, and oregano. I didn’t have any tomato soup so I used half a large can of tomato paste and another cup of water. It came out very tasty. I don’t need to make the corn starch slurry.
★★★★★
Awesome! Glad to hear it worked well with the tomato paste. I’ll have to try that sometime.
This stew was delicious! Adding the condensed tomato soup really brought out the flavor. Next time, I’ll stir in some frozen peas near the end.
★★★★★
I love the idea of peas! And yes to the tomato soup. It’s the secret ingredient
The absolutely best stew I ever made. I didn’t have any tomato soup so I looked online for a substitute and found one with tomato sauce and it came out just perfect. My husband and I loved it. I make a lot of the recipes from this site and so far I have never been disappointed.
★★★★★
Wow I’m so glad you enjoyed it Patsy!
Dear Karen, I always look forward to your newsletters. I used to be a Physician’s Assistant, but after about 12 years of loving my job I developed an AV malformation in the left frontal lobe of the brain, I was given about a 20% chance of surviving the surgery. I’m still here. But I had great problems with another of my great loves, cooking. The frontal lobe is where one processes Many things, like numbers and cooking. Then I got my Instant Pot . Love at first pot of beans. Your site helps me so much because I can’t convert regular recipes to Instant Pot recipes (math).
Thank you so much for all the great recipes and the great variety.
Very Truly yours
Tom Yongen
I’m so glad you are still here! Wow!! I’m so glad my site is helpful to you.
Can I use some kind of beefy or oniony soup rather than tomato? Not a fan
You can, however I must say that the tomato soup is not really detectable. But if you’re still unsure use something else.
No can do on the Campbells Condensed soups (must be GF) – any suggestions? That’s one even Pacific Foods hasn’t come up with a GF alternative for yet. 😉
I usually find it easy to come up with alternatives, and I love all your recipes! They have become staples in our home. 🙂
walmart has a gluten free condensed tomato soup, it’s their great value brand 🙂
Good to know Rebecca! Thank you.
Looks great, Karen!! Any way to make this in an 8 qt. without having to double all the ingredients?
Yes you can make it in the 8 quart. Just use 1.5 cups of water instead of 1. Should be fine.
Doesn’t doing a QR on the stew meat make it tough? Or does the additional time after adding veggies plus NPR keep it tender?
I’ve learned so much from you and several friends have got an IP after sending them a link to your site. Thank you!
I have the same question!
Right. If you just did the QR it would be tough. But because you bring it back up to pressure and finish off the dish with a NPR it is just fine!