I love making a big, comforting pot of beef stew in March during the final doldrums of winter – it warms up the last frosty days of the cold season, but hints at Spring to come with carrots, onions and peas.
If you’re short on time (i.e. not ready to spend your whole day stirring a pot on the stove until the beef is fall-apart tender), use this Instant Pot shortcut, which, in my opinion, is even more delicious than the more time-consuming method. Just be sure not to skip browning the beef and sautéing the vegetables before pressure cooking the stew – all of those browned bits impart tons of flavor.
Enjoy!
Equipment
- Large stock pot
- Instant Pot
Ingredients
- 2 tbsp olive oil, divided
- salt and pepper
- 2 pounds chuck roast, cubed
- 1 yellow onion
- 3 garlic cloves, minced
- 5 medium carrots, washed and cut into 1-inch pieces
- 4 Yukon Gold potatoes, washed thoroughly and quartered
- 2 cups beef stock or broth
- 8 ounces tomato sauce
- 1 tbsp coconut aminos
- 1 bay leaf
- 1 tsp dried thyme
- 2 tbsp corn starch
- 2 tbsp oat milk
- 1 cup fresh or frozen peas
Instructions
- Place 1 tbsp of olive oil into a large stock pot on your stove and warm over medium heat.
- Once the oil is hot, carefully place the chuck roast cubes into the stock pot in a single layer and brown on all sides.
- Remove beef from stock pot and place into Instant Pot.
- Add onion to the remaining oil in the stock pot, cooking until translucent and fragrant, scraping the pan as it cooks so that the drippings from the beef coat the onion.
- Add garlic, carrots and potatoes to the stock pot and cook about another 5 minutes.
- Carefully transfer the vegetable mixture and oil into the Instant Pot with the beef cubes.
- Add beef stock, tomato sauce, coconut aminos, bay leaf and thyme to the Instant Pot and stir to combine.
- Close and seal the Instant Pot, and cook on high pressure for 35 minutes, then allow pressure to release naturally (this usually takes about 10 minutes).
- Carefully open the lid, then remove bay leaf.
- Remove about 1 cup of the beef stock (liquid only) from the Instant Pot and place in a heat-safe mixing bowl, then add the corn starch and oat milk, whisking briskly until well-combined.
- Add the contents of the mixing bowl back into the Instant Pot, then add the peas and allow to sit for a couple of minutes to warm through.
- Serve.
