This is the BEST Paleo Beef Stew made in the Instant Pot you'll ever make. It's literally dump and forget recipe that you can make in less than an hour! It's on our regular rotation no matter what season it is.
Beef Stew is the quintessential comfort food. And while you can use the slow cooker to cook for hours, you only need about an hour from beginning to the end when you use the pressure cooker. And you know the Instant Pot is my favorite electric pressure cooker because it has a stainless steel liner pot and it has never failed me. And recently, I started using Mealthy's Multipot (Use my discount code 'drkarenslee' for $10 off if you use this affiliate link) and it's just as great, if not better. If you want to see my review of Multipot (and a recipe), check out my Facebook Live video here.
There are no real tricks or secrets involved with cooking beef stew. But you can make mistakes. Believe me, I've ruined Beef Stew in the past because I cooked it on too high heat or cooked it too fast. Or cooked the wrong type of meat. But since I've been making it in Instant Pot, I. Have. Never. Ruined. Beef. Stew. Even with the wrong cut of beef, using this method in the Instant Pot never failed me.
Best Cut of Meat for Beef Stew
Obviously, you should use quality meat (See A Complete Meat Buying Guide for Your Health to see which types of meat you should buy) but regardless, it should have some marbled fat in it, like a chuck roast. Bottom round works too, as long as the cut is fatty.
You can't go wrong with good meat but if you are conscious of your budget, Instant Pot is perfect for making inexpensive meat real tender Beef Stew. The only tip I would like to suggest is to make sure the meat is grass-fed beef at least.
So let's put some pressure on!
The Best Paleo Beef Stew in Instant Pot
- Brown the meat. You need this step because not only does it seal the meat to keep the meat from crumbling apart, you want the those browned bits to add to the nice deep meaty flavor to the stew. Dust the meat with gluten free flour or arrowroot flour if you're avoiding grain. Not all sides have to be perfectly browned. No, I'm not perfect either. Brown just enough so that meat juice is sealed in while the outside is browned. If you are using frozen meat, you can still brown it! Yes! You can.
2) Then, take out the meat and sauté onions and garlic in the pot until translucent. Oh, the smell.....don't you just love how onions and garlic smell when you sauté them? The smell always makes me feel like a great chef.
3) Now, the veggies. If you don't mind soft veggies, you can add all the ingredients in the pot at once. If you want little firmer veggies, you can add them at the end. Add the herbs. Don't forget the bay leaves! Let me just say, the marriage of these hearty veggies and the fatty meat is such a wonderful union. This is a "must" dish to make in Instant Pot with all the goodness of the grass-fed beef, vegetables, spices, and herbs all sealed in for that deep hearty flavor.
And voilá! The BEST Beef Stew you can make in the Instant Pot or Mealthy's Multipot. It's much quicker than simmering for hours in the crockpot or on the stove top and so much more tender! Add some chopped parsley on top, you're ready for a hearty meal.
The Best Paleo Beef Stew in Instant Pot®
The Best Paleo Beef Stew in Instant Pot
Equipment
Ingredients
- 2 lbs chuck roast cut into 1" chunks
- 1 teaspoon sea salt
- 1 teaspoon black pepper
- 2 tablespoon arrowroot flour divided
- 2 tablespoon avocado oil
- 1 med onion coarsely chopped
- 4 cloves garlic crushed
- 2 tablespoon tomato paste
- 4 small tomatoes roughly cubed
- ¾ cup red wine Cabernet Sauvignon is the best but you can use what you have
- 1 cups beef broth
- 1 carrot peeled and cut in 1" chunks
- 2 celery stalks cut in 1" chunks
- 1 cup white mushrooms quartered
- 1 lbs potatoes or yucca if avoiding potatoes or radish if keto
- 3 3" sprigs fresh thyme or ½ teaspoon dried thyme
- 2 large bay leaves
- 1 small handful parsley chopped, reserve 1 tablespoon to garnish
Instructions
- Coat the meat with salt, pepper, and 1 tablespoon arrowroot flour. Toss gently and set aside.
- Set Instant Pot on "Sauté" and insert the liner pot.
- When the screen displays "Hot", add 1 tbsp. avocado oil.
- Brown the meat in small portions, not crowding the surface of the pot.
- When all sides are browned, take them out, and add a new batch.
- Repeat this until all the meat are browned. This shouldn't take more than 15 minutes.
- Add remaining avocado oil and sauté onions.
- When they are translucent, add garlic.
- Add tomato paste, wine, broth and herbs and simmer for about 5 minutes while scraping the bottom and sides.
- Then, add the meat and stir well together.
- Set the Instant Pot on HIGH Pressure and set the timer for 20 minutes.
- When the timer goes off, turn the vent handle to "Venting" and release the pressure manually (QR), watching for sputtering liquid. There shouldn't be any but just be careful, just in case..
- When the float valve drops down, open the lid, add the vegetables, herbs, and mix well.
- Close the lid tightly, and turn the vent handle to "SEALING".
- Press the "PRESSURE COOKER" or "MANUAL" button (HIGH pressure) and set the timer for 10 minutes.
- When the timer goes off, let the pressure release naturally. (NPR)
- When the pressure is completely released, and the float valve drops, open the lid carefully.
- Take out about a cup of the liquid from the pot and add 1 cup of cold water.
- Add arrowroot flour to the liquid and whisk vigorously to make the slurry.
- Add the slurry to the pot stir well, and simmer until it thickens.
- Garnish with remaining parsley and serve immediately.
Raia T. says
Beef stew is one of the ultimate comfort foods! Thank you so much for sharing it at Savoring Saturdays, Karen! 🙂
Alyse says
I've been thinking about getting an instant pot and you might just have convinced me with this recipe, looks so yummy!
Emily @ Recipes to Nourish says
Oh yum! Love all of the big beautiful chunks of veggies and the meat too. Love IP stews, this one looks awesome!
Megan Stevens says
I love that arrowroot option. This looks perfect!
lindaspiker says
Lovely! Great recipe. Pinned.
reneekohley says
Yummy! Looks so good!
Beth Martin says
I haven't tried stew yet in the Instant Pot. This looks delicious, and it's another way to get more broth in!
[email protected] says
I love stew! I probably would sub some turnips or parsnips in lieu of the potatoes. I am amazed at how well the Instant Pot makes food.