I love stew pretty much all year round. But in the summer, hanging out with my stove for hours on end isn’t my idea of fun. Thanks to this Instant Pot Beef Stew Dinner, my oven and I are on a welcome hiatus.
What Cuts Of Beef Can I Use For This Dish?
To make it easy on yourself, you can purchase ready cut stew meat. However, if you wanted to save some money, you can purchase a small, cheap roast and cut it up into bite-sized pieces for this simple beef stew. However, don’t buy anything expensive because the Instant Pot will make tender any really tough cut of meat.
Directions For How To Assemble The Instant Pot Beef Stew Freezer Meal:
1. In a large bowl, combine the meat, salt, pepper, Worchester sauce, curry powder, garlic powder, tomato paste, bay leaves, and gravy packet (if using). Mix all ingredients together, and transfer to an 8 x 7-inch freezer bag. Set aside.
2. Using the same bowl, give it a quick rinse. Combine the corn, celery, onions, and carrots. Transfer them to another freezer bag.
3. Optional Step: Dip the cut potato chunks into water mixed with lemon juice for a few minutes in order to stop any browning. Drain the water.
4. Add the potatoes to another freezer bag.
5. Group together all the smaller freezer bag ingredients into one large gallon size freezer bag. Add the printed recipe into the bag as well for reference.
6. Freeze for up to 3 months.
For easy reminders, you can also print out the recipe and include that in the big container bag when assembling the beef stew soup. This will make it so that the printed recipe can be re-used again. That will save you time when you make the freezer meal, and the cooking instructions are right there, super handy!
Directions for Cooking the Stew From Fresh
Add all ingredients to the pressure cooker and add the beef broth.
Move the toggle switch to the “sealing” position.
Cook on manual high pressure for 15 minutes. Do a Natural Release for 5 minutes. Release any steam.
Thicken with cornstarch slurry if you prefer a thicker homemade beef stew.
Cubed potatoes and turnip in acidulated water
(water with lemon juice added to prevent browning)
Directions for Cooking Instant Pot Beef Stew from Frozen
Remove all ingredients from the bags. Place in the instant pot insert. Add two cups of liquid (beef broth, water, etc).
Place the lid on the top, and put the toggle switch into the “seal” position.
Cook on manual high pressure for 18 minutes. Do a natural release for 10 minutes.
Release any remaining steam after 10 minutes is up. Thicken with cornstarch slurry if you prefer a thicker stew.
**Note: Expect the pot to take a longer time to come to pressure before cook time begins.
Directions for Cooking Beef Stew In The Slow Cooker
Thaw the bags of ingredients in the fridge the night before.
Add all ingredients to the slow cooker bowl. Add approx 1 ½ – 2 cups of broth or water.
Cook on high for 5-6 hours or low for 7- 8.
Thicken with a cornstarch slurry if you prefer the stew to be thicker.
How Long Will The Stew Be Good For In The Freezer Meal Bags?
I would say they would easily be safe up to three months in the freezer in proper freezer meal bags.
What Else Can I Use For The Pressure Liquid For This Instant Pot Stew?
A Beef broth would be the very best, but you could use a veggie broth, chicken broth in a pinch, beer (stout/ale), canned beef consomme, or even just water.
Tips and Tricks For Making Beef Stew Excellent
Leaving the skins on the potatoes helps to add extra nutrition.
A good tip is to double the recipe ingredients and then you will end up making TWO freezer meals at one time. How awesome is that? Then you can freeze one meal and make the other for a quick and easy dinner that night!
The curry powder is optional but adds a nice depth of flavor.
The cooking liquid is an excellent opportunity to add more flavor, so even if you only use water, try seasoning the water if you can with different spices.
What Side Dishes Can I Serve With The Stew
A nice crusty fresh bun with butter would be amazing. You could also serve a fresh green salad on the side. To extend the stew, you could also serve it over rice or even mashed potatoes.
How Can I Make This Recipe Low Carb?
Simply omit the potatoes in the recipe, and for any thickening slurries, use xanthan gum mixed with water. Serve on Cauliflower Rice or Cauliflower mashed ‘fauxtatoes’.
Can I Refreeze The Cooked Leftovers?
Absolutely! You never have to waste any food with this beef stew because you can safely freeze cooked portions up to a month in the proper freezer bags/containers.
This hearty Instant Pot Beef Stew is one of a small collection of Instant Pot dishes that I made with time-saving, freezer meal uses in mind.
One example of those kinds of meals besides this one is my Instant Pot BBQ Pork with onions! Take a look at the photo below, so you can see how scrumptious it looks. It’s even easier than this recipe and just as delicious!!
Instant Pot BBQ Pork Freezer Meal
Stay tuned for more to Instant Pot freezer meal ideas to follow this recipe shortly!
I sincerely hope you find this recipe for Hearty Instant Pot Beef Stew as delicious as I did, and if you made any changes to the recipe or directions, I’d LOVE to hear about them! Thanks so much for stopping by The Salty Pot today and I hope you have a wonderful day!
**DON’T FORGET TO SAVE THIS HEARTY INSTANT POT BEEF STEW PIN TO YOUR FAVORITE PINTEREST BOARD TO USE FOR LATER!!**
Hearty Instant Pot Beef Stew
Yield: A big pot of stew!
Prep Time: 15 minutes
Cook Time: 15 minutes
Additional Time: 10 minutes
Total Time: 40 minutes
Hearty and delicious, this Instant Pot Beef Stew is reminiscent of your grandma's stew, but it comes together in a fraction of the time! Beefy and savory, the flavors of this stew are amazing when combined with the hearty vegetables. This recipe is a winner!
Ingredients
- 2 lbs stew meat
- ½ onion large (or 1 medium)
- 2 potatoes, russets, large, cut in bite-size pieces with skins on
- 2 carrots, small, sliced
- 2 - 3 ribs celery, sliced
- 1 turnip, small, peeled and chopped
- 1 can, niblet corn, drained
- 1 can mushrooms, stems, and pieces
- 1 tablespoon Worcestershire sauce
- 1-2 bay leaves
- 2 teaspoon garlic, minced
- 1 teaspoon curry powder
- 2c beef broth
- 2 tablespoon tomato paste
- as desired, salt and pepper
- 1 packet brown gravy mix (optional)
- cornstarch slurry (see notes below)
- 1 teaspoon browning *optional
Instructions
Directions for Cooking the Stew From Fresh
Add all ingredients to the pot (except optional browning liquid) (If you're going to use the browning to dark the color, add a very tiny amount at the end of cooking) and add the beef broth.Move the toggle switch to "sealing". Cook on manual high pressure for 15 minutes. Do a Natural Release for 5 minutes. Release any steam. Thicken with cornstarch slurry if you prefer a thicker stew.
Directions for Cooking Instant Pot Beef Stew from Frozen
Remove all ingredients from the bags. Place in the instant pot insert. Except optional Browning liquid. (If you're going to use the browning to dark the color, add a very tiny amount at the end of cooking) Add two cups of liquid (beef broth, water, etc). Place the lid on the top, and put the toggle switch into the "seal" positing. Cook on manual high pressure for 18 minutes. Do a natural release for 10 minutes. Release any remaining steam after 10 minutes is up. Thicken with cornstarch slurry if you prefer a thicker stew.Add the optional browning liquid at the end.
**Note: Expect the pot to take a longer time to come to pressure before cook time begins.
Directions for Cooking Beef Stew In The Slow Cooker
Thaw the bags of ingredients in the fridge the night before. Add all ingredients to the slow cooker bowl except the optional Browning liquid (If you're going to use the browning to dark the color, add a very tiny amount at the end of cooking). Add approx 1 ½ - 2 cups of liquid. Cook on high for 5-6 hours or low for 7- 8. Thicken with a cornstarch slurry if you prefer a thicker stew.
Notes
1. If you are cooking the stew from a freezer meal, expect the stew to take extra time to come to pressure.
2. An optional step is to dip the stew meat pieces into flour, and then brown them in a frypan before using them for the stew. They can be frozen in the seared state, or you can simply use the meat plain, with no searing.
3. A cornstarch slurry is made using 1tbsp of cornstarch mixed into 2 tablespoon water. Stir together and add to the dish to thicken.
4. Remember to remove the bay leaf after cooking time is up.
5. If you prefer the stew to look a little darker, add the 1 teaspoon of browning that is optional in the ingredient list.
Nutrition Information:
Yield: 10Serving Size: 2 cups
Amount Per Serving:Calories: 316Total Fat: 7gSaturated Fat: 3gTrans Fat: 0gUnsaturated Fat: 4gCholesterol: 90mgSodium: 432mgCarbohydrates: 32gFiber: 3gSugar: 3gProtein: 33g
