Pressure Cooker Beef Stew

Merry Christmas!  Hope everyone has a wonderful holiday.   Also ... for those of you with my cookbook ... I am in the process of doing an update which includes my pressure cooker recipes (some that I have posted here, some that I haven't).  Drop me a line if you want one!



One of the things the pressure cooker excels at is cooking chuck roast... everytime I have cooked various recipes, the meat always comes out flavorful and tender.  I am not going to promote this recipe as "easy" ... even though I have simplified it from the "weeknight stew" recipe I used for inspiration, or quick ... even though it probably does cut an hour off the time it would take to cook on the stove.  But this does make a really, really good stew.  Serve to company good stew.

I took inspiration for this recipe from Serious Eats Pressure Cooker American Beef Stew, but short-cutted a couple of steps.   It could possibly be even better if you did the extra steps, but I'm happy with how this comes out. A couple of the key items I did keep in is adding gelatin to the store bought broth (if you had some great homemade chicken broth, you could skip this), as well as adding some high umami ingredients, like soy sauce, fish or Worcestershire sauce (the recipe calls for both, but I don't keep Worcestershire sauce in my pantry).   I also shortened the cooking time... I have found that a lot of the Serious Eats pressure cooker times are just way too long for the Breville pressure cooker.  I think the Breville's cook at a bit higher pressure, so if you are using a Instant Pot, look at the manual on their recommended cooking times.  And let me know how it works and I will update the recipe for both types of cookers!


On the beef:  you really want to use chuck roast (or chuck steaks).  Don't buy stew meat, this is often a mix of miscellaneous small bits of meat, that doesn't have the fat and tough connective tissue that nicely breaks down into tender meat under pressure. One of the twists on this recipe is doing the browning of the meat while in steak form, as it keeps from drying out the meat while still getting the nice brown flavor.

And one last note:  if you like to just have stew for 2, make a batch of the meat but instead of adding the potatoes and carrots, cool down the pot, then split the meat and gravy into 3 1 quart containers (or freezer zip lock bags).   Refrigerate (to store for a couple of days) or freeze each of these.  When you are ready for stew, put the mixture (thaw first if frozen) into a medium pot.  Add a couple of chopped potatoes and carrots, cook on the stovetop until the potatoes and carrots are done (about 45 minutes).  That is a quick and easy meal!

Beef Stew

Serves 5-6… I usually figure about 1/2 pound of meat per person.  

2 - 3 lb beef chuck roast
Salt and pepper
2 tablespoons oil or fat (like olive oil)
Generous ¼ cup flour

3 cups low-sodium chicken broth
4 packets powdered unflavored gelatin (1 ounce)
1 tablespoon soy sauce
1 tablespoon fish sauce or Worcestershire sauce
2 tablespoons tomato paste (optional)
1 teaspoon dry or fresh thyme or other herb (rosemary, oregano, Italian herbs)

8 ounces mushrooms (brown cremini or white button), quartered
1 large onion, chopped
2 - 3 ribs celery, sliced 
2 - 3 cloves garlic, minced
1 cup wine (white or red, or use more broth)

6 carrots, peeled and sliced
4 - 6 potatoes, cubed (peel if desired)
More fresh herbs (parsley, etc.)

Cut meat into steak-like pieces, each 1 to 1 ½ inches thick.  Salt the meat.  Heat the oil in pressure cooker using sear function.  Brown each side of the meat (do in single layer batches), and place on large plate to cool.   Meanwhile, mix the broth, gelatin, sauces and thyme in a large measuring cup.  If you would like, heat a bit in the microwave to get to pressure quicker. Set aside.  

Put mushrooms, onions, celery, and garlic into the hot cooker.  Add salt and pepper.  Let cook until onions are translucent.   Add wine; scrape any bits from the bottom.  Let the wine cook down by half.   

Cut the meat into 1 – 1 ½ inch cubes, removing any large chunks of fat.  Toss with flour.  Add the meat to the pot then then add the broth mixture.  Pressure cook using the “chili and stew” setting for 20 minutes (10.5psi, quick pressure release).   When complete, add carrots and potatoes then use “vegetable” setting for 8 minutes (7.5psi, pulse pressure release).  Serve with additional fresh herbs.