Pressure Cooker Beef Stew with Root Vegetables [Instant Pot]

Pressure Cooker Beef Stew with Root Vegetables gets its flavors from the sweetness of the turnips and parsnips and can be on your table in under one hour.

Pressure Cooker Beef Stew with Root Vegetables and Cheesy Grits

Beef Stew is a warm and homey meal and makes us think of family time around the dinner table. Remember the good old days of enjoying a nice leisurely dinner and exchanging stories of our day.  That was before the new fast paced World of computers and mobile devices. Gosh and I used to think faxes were fast paced!

My favorite Beef Stew recipe (coming soon) is one that my friend Phyllis gave to me many years ago. You may remember the name, Phyllis, because she is the one who gave me the recipe for my Pressure Cooker New York Cheesecake, which started a Cheesecake craze in the pressure cooking World!

Another favorite Beef Stew recipe is Ree Drummond’s recipe. I’ve taken liberties with her recipe to make it work in the Instant Pot, Mealthy MultiPot or Pressure Cooker.

Cast of Ingredients for Pressure Cooker Beef Stew with Root Vegetables

I love that my Pressure Cooker Beef Stew with Root Vegetables can be on my table in under one hour, instead of three and a half hours on the stove! It is awfully good on the stove though. You should try it that way, as well.

It used to be cheaper to cook your own meals, rather than to go out to eat. Prices for good food have gone way up, so most of us are on a budget and want to get the most from our money. It is often times cheaper to buy a nice big piece of Chuck Roast, rather than a package of already cut up, “Stew” meat.

Plus, I prefer to choose a beautiful Chuck Roast and cut up the meat myself. When there is a sale, I’ll buy six or more pounds of Chuck Roast(s), process the meat for various recipes and then use my FoodSaver Vacuum Sealing System and package them into two pound bags.

Some I cut for Stew, others, I slice to use in my Chinese Take-Out Beef and Broccoli or Pressure Cooker Mongolian Beef, recipes, to name a couple. I also add marinades to Foodsaver bags of meat for easy “Freezer” meals.

Allow the Pressure Cooker to Fully Heat

Always allow your Pressure Cooker cooking pot to fully heat up, before adding a fat. Doing so, makes your Stainless Steel pot, non-stick! So, allow your Pressure Cooker to fully  heat and then add the oil and butter.

Why both? Because, butter burns at higher temperatures, so the oil will help keep the butter from burning, but still have a nice buttery taste. Alternatively, you can use my Homemade Simple Ghee if you like as Ghee is great with higher heat.

Optional Way to Cook Onions

I love camaralized onions, but there is an extra step.

Quarter your Onion

With this method, you would first sear the onions and then add them in with the root vegetables.

Let the Onions get Brown

Therefore, if you like, you can cook the onions similarly to my Pressure Cooker Classic Pot Roast Dinner recipe, and then add them in with the root vegetables.

For this method you would first sear the onions and allow the onions to begin to caramelize by letting them sit in the very hot cooking pot. Turn them to the next side, once you see some caramelization. They will break up a bit and that is fine. Pull them out as they caramelize and set them aside for later. They will get added back into the Pressure Cooker after the meat has cooked.

After you have removed the onions, then pick up with the beef.

Otherwise, just start with the beef, follow along with the recipe card and add the onions at the same time as the root vegetables!

Potato Starch Protects and Keeps Meat Juice

I prefer to either an Asian Potato Starch or Bob Mills Potato Starch, rather than flour, as I love the flavor it gives when coating meat and shrimp. If you don’t have any, go a head and use cornstarch.

Potato Starch Coating on Chicken Instead of Slurry

• When using the pressure cooker, more liquid than normal is needed, so the sauce often times needs to be thickened. With my “starch protection method,” the starch on the meat adheres to the meat nicely and allows the pot to come up to pressure with the little amount of liquid in the pot. As the release of the potato starch is slow, you will not get a burn notice.
• As the meat cooks and releases liquid, it also releases the starch and therefore thickens the sauce without gumming up.
• Best of all, with the nice and thickened sauce, you don’t have to worry about making a starch slurry after pressure cooking.

Pro Tip: Coating beef, pork of chicken with potato starch before cooking under pressure, ensures extra juicy meat. It also saves you the step of having to make a slurry to thicken the liquid in the pot.

Give the Meat a Good Sear

I usually add in the garlic after browning my onion because garlic will burn quickly and onions take longer to become translucent and fragrant.

Deglazing with Beef

Your Pressure Cooker cooking pot will look like there is stuff stuck to the bottom. Smile, that is all the good flavor stuff! The stuffs Stews are made from! Grab your Spatula and the beer and let’s make a little Fond.

Since we will be cooking in a Pressure Cooker and not simmering on the stove, the alcohol won’t have a chance to burn off as much as it does on the stove.

So, dump the beer into the Instant Pot and glaze away. Grab your Spatula and scrape the bottom of the cooking pot to free the yummy bits and pieces.

Because you heated up your cooking pot before adding the oil, it became non stick and the pieces just slid right off the bottom and you are left with lovely flavors from the fond.

Add the Beef Stew Meat back into the Pressure Cooker cooking pot

Dump in your Beef Broth and all the seasonings. I make my own Pressure Cooker Bone Broth/Stock and freeze in one cup Foodsaver pouches, so I added in three of them. The broth will defrost quickly in your pot. Make sure you use Beef Broth/Stock for this and not chicken broth/stock. This recipe needs the richness of the beef stock.

Chop the Vegetables to Similar Size

Try to cut the vegetables all the same size, so that they will cook evenly and look perfect on  your plat.

Add Back the Onions and Raw Vegetables

After a quick cook time, you will have a delicious Beef Stew! The beef will be so tender and the veggies perfectly crisp.

Pressure Cooker Cheesy Grits

I like to serve this Pressure Cooker Beef Stew with Root Vegetables on top of my yummy Pressure Cooker Southern Style Cheesy Grits. If you have a second Instant Pot, Mealthy MultiPot or Pressure Cooker you could make up the grits, or you can use the Pot in Pot method with the set up like my Pressure CookerPerfectly Cooked Pot in Pot Rice recipe.

Pressure Cooker Beef Stew with Root Vegetables

No need to make a starch slurry as a few good stirs will thicken up the gravy!

Kitchen Equipment and Essentials

• Instant Pot, Mealthy MultiPot or Pressure Cooker
• J.A. Henckels Classic 7-inch Hollow Edge Santoku Knife
• Amco Advanced Performance 18/10 Stainless Steel Measuring Spoons
• Culina Stackable (Dry) Stainless Steel Measuring Cups
• Anchor Hocking Glass (Liquid) Measuring Cups
• Rösle Stainless Steel Flat Whisk– a MUST have, probably my most used utensil
• Cilio Olivewood Spatula
• Rachael Ray Stoneware EVOO Oil Dispensing Bottle
• Alton Brown Salt Box
• Bellemain Porcelain Ramekins
• My FANTASTIC Teak Cutting & Charcuterie Board & Compartments
• 3.5 Quart Stainless Steel Mixing Bowl
• Potato Starch
• Pressure Cooker Southern Style Cheesy Grits

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Here is the handy printable recipe:

Pressure Cooker Beef Stew with Root Vegetables

5 from 3 votes

Print Pin Rate

Course: Dinner, Main Course

Cuisine: American

Prep Time: 20 minutes

Cook Time: 33 minutes

Total Time: 53 minutes

Servings: 6 servings

Calories: 467kcal

Author: Jill Selkowitz

Ingredients

• 3 Tablespoons Extra Virgin Olive Oil
• 1 Tablespoon Butter
• 2 pounds Chuck Roast cut into 2 inch cubes (or Stew Meat)
• 1/2 teaspoon Paprika
• 1 Tablespoon Kosher Salt (1.5 tsp if using Sea Salt)
• 1/2 teaspoon Freshly Ground Black Pepper Freshly Ground
• 1-2 Tablespoons Potato Starch or Flour
• 8 oz Beer
• 3 cloves Fresh Garlic minced
• 3 cups Beef Broth
• 1 Tablespoon Worcestershire sauce
• 4 tablespoons Tomato Paste
• 1 1/2 teaspoons White Sugar optional
• 1 large Yellow/Brown Onion cut into quarters
• 3 large Carrots cut into large chunks
• 2 large Parsnips cut into large chunks
• 1 medium Turnip cut into large chunks
• 1-2 Bay Leaves

Cheese Grits

• 6 cups Pressure Cooker Cheese Grits

US Customary - Metric

Recommended Products

Instant Pot Electric Pressure Cooker

J.A. Henckels Classic 8 inch Chef's Knife

Liquid Measuring Cup Set

Stainless Steel Measuring Spoons

Potato Peeler

High Heat Resistant Spatula

Instructions

• Select Saute/Browning on Instant Pot pressure cooker and allow the pot to fully heat. (Prepare the meat while the pot is heating.)
• Cut chuck roast in half and remove any large chunks of fat and connective tissue.
• Cut chuck roast into slightly bigger than bite-sized pieces and place into a large mixing bowl.
• Sprinkle salt, black pepper and paprika over meat and rub in well.
• Sprinkle potato starch over meat and massage into meat until the meat is once again transparent and not white. (This avoids having to make a starch slurry after pressure cooking.)
• When pot is hot, add oil and butter to pot and then swirl to coat bottom of pot.
• If there is any loose potato starch in the bowl, shake it off the meat and then add the chunks of meat to the Instant Pot or pressure cooker.
• Allow meat to sear in the hot oil for about 15 seconds without touching the meat. The meat will loosen from the bottom of the pot once seared.
• Once the meat becomes loose (you can tell by gently using your spatula to push the meat a bit) flip the meat over and sear the next side in the same manner as the first.
• Sear each side of the beef cubes until a crust forms and meat has loosened from the bottom.
• Pour in beer and deglaze the cooking pot by using a good high heat spatula and scraping the bottom of the pot to remove any bits that have stuck to the bottom of the pot.
• Add garlic to the cooking pot and mix through while scraping up anything that has stuck to the bottom of the pot.
• Pour in beef broth and Worcestershire sauce and mix through.
• Mix in tomato paste and sugar.
• Add in the onions, carrots, turnips and parsnips and mix through.
• Drop in Bay Leaves and push under the liquid.
• Turn off pressure cooker.
• Lock on lid and close pressure valve.  Cook at high (most machines default to high pressure) pressure for 5 minutes.
• When Beep sounds, wait 10 minutes and then release the rest of the pressure.
• Remove lid and remove the bay leaves.
• Give the stew a good stir. Taste and add more salt, pepper or paprika.
• It's ready to eat, or you can let it simmer for a thicker gravy.

Notes

Beef broth or wine can be used in place of beer.

If you find that the meat is not easily lifting off the bottom of the pot after searing, add in the red wine/Shaoxing wine right away and deglaze the bottom of the pot. Then continue on with the recipe.

Any type of potatoes can be used. If you don't want to use the Yukon Gold, try small Russets or New (baby) potatoes.

We like to buy chuck roast when it is on sale and then cut it into cubes. It is so economical and there are so many This Old Gal fantastic recipes, which cook in under 30 minutes. We divide up the meat into one and two pound packages and when we are ready to cook, whalaa, cubed beef stew meat.

Freezing Beef Stew

Divide the cooked beef stew into portion size amounts and use a FoodSaver Vacuum Sealing System or other freezer safe, air tight receptacle and place in the freezer.

Instant Pot Beef Stew is easy to reheat and can be brought to the office for a delicious, warm and hearty lunch. It can be heated back up in a Instant Pot, Mealthy MultiPot or Pressure Cooker, Crockpot Lunch Warmer or microwave, so keep a lot in your freezer.

Nutrition

Nutrition Facts

Pressure Cooker Beef Stew with Root Vegetables

Amount Per Serving

Calories 467 Calories from Fat 243

% Daily Value*

Fat 27g42%

Saturated Fat 10g63%

Cholesterol 109mg36%

Sodium 1908mg83%

Potassium 1111mg32%

Carbohydrates 23g8%

Fiber 5g21%

Sugar 9g10%

Protein 33g66%

Vitamin A 6337IU127%

Vitamin C 20mg24%

Calcium 85mg9%

Iron 4mg22%

* Percent Daily Values are based on a 2000 calorie diet.

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Pressure Cooker Beef Stew with Root Vegetables