Slow Cooker Beef Stew
This Instant Pot Beef Soup recipe will show you how to make a vegetable and beef stew in the Instant Pot. In some places, this would be known as a vegetable beef soup, hence the post title.
This recipe is similar to my slow cooked beef in beer recipe, but this recipe uses red wine which gives a more mellow taste to the sauce. This beef soup recipe could also be done in the slow cooker, of course, but would take between 3 and 4 hours to get the meat as tender as this recipe does in the Instant Pot.
Instant Pot Cooking – Is it worth getting an Instant Pot?
We have only recently bought our Instant Pot and are already finding it a great addition to Gav’s Kitchen. In the past, I have sworn by using our Le Creuset Dutch oven for slow cooking meals in the oven.
But I must admit I have now been semi-converted. Although there are still recipes where I would still use my Dutch oven, the Instant Pot is just superior when it comes to time and energy savings for meals like this one. And once you have mastered it, there are so many things you can do with it.
Instant Pot Beef Soup
You can saute, slow cook, pressure cook, steam, warm, make yoghurt and rice all with this one piece of kit.
It combines the use of pressure and temperature to produce fantastic meals in a fraction of the time. And it means I do not have to turn my oven on. You can even program it to start when you are away, or during the night using the delay start button.
So if you do not already have one, it might be a good birthday present for someone (I bought one for myself!)
(I have no association with Instant Pot by the way, I just like the product as it saves me time and energy).
Instant Pot Vegetable Beef Stew
This recipe is great as it does not take much preparation time and you can prepare it upfront and just start cooking about an hour or so before you want to eat it. And really it does taste divine.
The pressure cooker part of the Instant Pot works like magic and turns your cut of meat into super tender falling apart chunks.
Which meat cut to use in your beef stew? Well, have a look at this link for some tips.
The vegetables you throw into your soup are really up to you. Here I have used carrots, potatoes, onion and peas but there is a huge list of other veggies you could try if you wanted to. Do not let me constrain you. Green beans, sugar snaps, leeks for example? Try experimenting, it’s fun!
We love to eat this meal in front of the TV accompanied with some buttered bread to mop up the juices.
Let me know how you get on in the comments section below!
How to make beef stew in the Instant Pot
Instant Pot Beef Soup
This delicious beef soup or beef stew cooked in the Instant Pot is a super easy way to quickly make a beef stew that tastes like it has been slow-cooked for 3 or 4 hours, with meat that melts in your mouth.
Ingredients
- 1200g lean stewing beef (chuck steak)
- 370g potatoes (either peeled and chopped or new potatoes with skins)
- 3 carrots (about 340g after peeling and chopping)
- 2 tbsp vegetable oil
- 4 tbsp plain flour
- 1 red onion, sliced
- 1 tsp garlic puree
- 3 tbsp Worcestershire sauce
- 400ml beef stock
- 2 tbsp tomato puree (tomato paste)
- 2 sprigs fresh thyme (chopped) (or 1 tsp dried thyme)
- 2 bay leaves
- 1 cup red wine
- 3 tbsp pearl barley
- 1 cup petit pois (pees)
- 1/2 tbsp Marmite
- 1-2 tsp cornflour
- 1 tbsp Apple Cider Vinegar
- Salt and Pepper
Instructions
- Season the plain flour and use it to coat the beef. Then fry the beef pieces in batches in the vegetable oil to brown them. (You can do this in the Instant Pot on saute if you wish. But I do this in another pan, just so I can add the rest of the ingredients to the Instant Pot pan while I am doing it. It is one pan extra, but it is more efficient.)
- In the meantime prepare the other ingredients and add them to the Instant Pot. Slice the onion, peel and chop the carrots, prepare the potatoes and add to the pan.
- Add the Worcestershire sauce, the tomato puree, garlic puree, beef stock, thyme, bay leaves, red wine, pearl barley, Marmite and Apple Cider Vinegar to the Instant Pot.
- As the meat batches are browned, add them to the Instant Pot. When all the meat is browned you are ready to cook (or you can keep the pot in the fridge until you are ready to).
- Cook for 35 minutes on the high pressure setting. This will actually take longer as it will take about 20 minutes before the Instant Pot is at temperature and pressure, and starts its 35 minute cycle.
- Allow about 10 minutes for a natural release of pressure. Then carefully relieve the remaining pressure using the quick release pressure relief valve and then remove the lid.
- At this point you can add the peas and check the sauce for thickness. If you wish to thicken the sauce further, then mix the cornflour with some water in a cup and add to the pot, stirring it in.
- Now simmer on saute for about 5-10 minutes covered with the Instant Pot lid until the sauce has thickened to your liking and the peas are cooked.
Notes
Serve up with a nice slice of buttered bread.
These quantities will serve 6-8 people.
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