Instant Pot Beef Stew

This Instant Pot Beef Stew is everything slow roasted stew is, but without the long cook time! Fall apart beef and tons of veggies, plus its ready to eat in under an hour.

Inspired by Beef Bourguignon

This Instant Pot beef stew recipe is inspired by one of our all-time favorite recipes to spend cooking all day with our family in the winter — BEEF BOURGUIGNON.

We wanted to take all the things we love about beef bourguignon (the rich flavors, the fall-apart beef chunks, the perfectly cooked vegetables), but make it a meal you can easily whip up for weeknight dinners with your family.

Best Beef for Beef Stew

We love boneless chuck roast for beef stew for a couple reasons:

• It’s a tougher cut of meat than many leaner alternatives, but when slow cooked (or emulating the slow cooking process in the Instant Pot through pressure cooking!) it breaks down the meat and becomes oh so tender and delicious.
• Beef chuck is a cheaper cut of meat meaning this high-end tasting beef stew is super budget-friendly!

Beef Stew Ingredients

We love beef stew because it’s truly a complete meal in a bowl– meat, veggies, and so much flavor. Here’s what you need:

Meat

• Boneless beef chuck roast, sliced into 1-inch chunks

Vegetables

• White onion
• Celery stalks
• Carrots
• Russet potatoes
• Baby bella mushrooms
• Frozen peas

Get that delicious flavor

• Dry red wine
• Beef broth
• Worcestershire sauce
• Balsamic vinegar
• Tomato paste
• Fresh rosemary sprigs
• Fresh thyme sprigs
• Garlic cloves
• Dried rosemary
• Dried thyme
• Onion powder
• Smoked paprika
• Garlic powder
• Brown sugar
• Salt
• Black pepper
• White whole wheat flour

Beef Stew Seasoning

This beef stew seasoning adds so much flavor to this Instant Pot beef stew. It’s salty, savory, and a little bit sweet. Here are the ingredients you need for our perfect beef stew seasoning mix:

• 1 teaspoon dried rosemary
• 1/2 teaspoon black pepper
• 1 teaspoon dried thyme
• 1 teaspoon onion powder
• 1/2 teaspoon smoked paprika
• 1 tablespoon garlic powder
• 1 tablespoon brown sugar
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1 tablespoon white whole wheat flour

Instant Pot Beef Stew Tips & Tricks

Don’t cut beef into too large of chunks

Because chuck meat is a tougher cut of meat, it relies on slow cooking to break down the meat and make it tender and flakey. If you cut the beef into chunks that are larger than 1 – 1.5 inches, you run the risk of not cooking the stew for long enough to break down the beef.

Don’t skip browning the beef

Browning the beef before Instant Pot cooking your stew (you’ll do this right in the Instant Pot!) draws out the delicious flavors of the beef, which allows it to soak into every bit of this stew as it cooks down.

BONUS: this preheats your Instant Pot, which will eliminate the time it takes to preheat before pressure cooking your stew.

Deglaze your Instant Pot

Right after you brown the beef for this beef stew, you’ll remove the beef, and deglaze the bottom of the Instant Pot by adding red wine to the Instant Pot. Use a wooden utensil to scrape off all the brown bits on the bottom of the Instant Pot.

This step not only helps prevent the Instant Pot burn notice, but also distributes the delicious flavor from browning into the wine liquid, which allows it to flavor the entire stew.

Don’t skip the herb bundle

The herb bundle (we used fresh rosemary and fresh thyme) is a must have for this beef stew! It allows your stew to incorporate all the flavors of fresh herbs without needing to dig around in the stew to fish them out at the end.

Simply bundle tightly the fresh rosemary and thyme with baker’s twine, and place right in the Instant Pot. You’ll easily be able to remove it from the beef stew right before serving.

What to Serve with Beef Stew

Serve this deliciously savory beef stew with something starchy (what better to soak up that yummy broth with!). We recommend any of the following:

How to Store Beef Stew

Store this Instant Pot beef stew in an air-tight container in the fridge for 3-4 days.

To Freeze: let cool completely before transferring into an air-tight container, making sure to remove as much air as possible. Place into the freezer for up to 3 months.

How to Reheat Beef Stew

We love to reheat this beef stew just as it was cooked — low and slow!

In the Oven: Allow the beef stew come to room temperature (about 30 minutes) before placing in an oven-safe dish with a lid. Reheat at 350°F for 45 minutes, or until reheated thoroughly.

On the Stovetop: Allow the beef stew to come to room temperature before placing in a stock pot and reheating over low / medium heat on the stovetop.

In the Microwave: We don’t loveee this method, but if time is of the essence, reheat your beef stew on low / reheat in the microwave until reheated thoroughly.