This hearty, classic Instant Pot beef stew is a favorite meal to warm up with on a rainy day.
4
Servings
14
Ingredients
36
Comments
Ingredients
- 1 ½ cups dice Carrot
- 1 cup dice Celery
- 2 cups peel and dice Yukon Gold Potato
- ¾ cups dice Onion
- 1 ½ teaspoons mince Garlic, Cloves
- 2 ¼ teaspoons Worcestershire sauce
- ½ teaspoons Thyme, Dried
- ½ teaspoons Basil, Dried
- 1 whole Bay Leaf
- ¼ teaspoons Black Pepper
- 1 pound Stew Beef
- 7 ¼ ounces Diced Tomatoes, Canned
- 7 fluid ounces Beef Bone Broth/Stock
- ⅛ teaspoons Salt
Containers
Supplies
Cooking Instructions
Freeze For Later Cooking Day Directions
Easy Assembly/Dump and Go
These directions help you cook or prepare this meal PRIOR to being frozen for serving later (see Serving Day Directions when you are ready to prepare it to eat).
Why would I want to freeze this?
- Divide all ingredients among indicated number of round freezer containers. Label and freeze.
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Make From Frozen Serving Day Directions
Prog. Pressure Cooker
These directions help you cook or reheat this meal AFTER it's been frozen for when you are ready to eat it.
- Prep from frozen
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Make It Now Cooking Directions
These directions are for cooking this recipe to serve immediately and NOT to freeze for later.
- **Due to the nature of pressure cooking there is always room for inconsistency. The times given here are based on 4 servings fresh. If you are using more servings you may need to increase your cooking time.**
- Place all ingredients into inner pot.
- Lock cover into place and seal steam nozzle.
- Cook on high pressure for 35 minutes.
- Naturally release pressure for 5 minutes and quick release remaining pressure.
- Remove bay leaf.
Nutrition Facts
- Servings Per Recipe
- 4 Servings
- Serving Size
- about 2 cups Amount Per Serving
- Calories
- 303
- Total Fat
- 6g
- Saturated Fat
- 2g
- Trans Fat
- 0g
- Cholesterol
- 73mg
- Sodium
- 520mg
- Total Carbohydrates
- 36g
- Fiber
- 7g
- Sugar
- 6g
- Protein
- 29g
- WW Freestyle
- 6
36 Comments
Join the discussionIs the stew meat supposed to be cook beforehand?
Hi Angela. The meat does not need to be cooked before freezing. If you saute first, then cook for 10 minutes the IP should cook it thoroughly.
No
According to the recipe and freezer containers required, each container would serve 4 people?
Holle, our system will automatically default to serving 4 people, unless you change the serving size for your menu.
Thanks. I guess I am trying to figure out the logistics of serving the meal. As written, this recipe makes enough food for 8 servings, however it appears that when freezing it, I will freeze 2 containers of 4 servings each.
So my question is, if I need all 8 servings to feed my family, will I need to go through the sauté/pressure cook cycle twice?
In other words, does a 64 oz round freezer container hold only 4 servings, or all 8?
Sorry I am having a hard time explaining it!
I understand your question. I have used both frozen portions in one cooking cycle. Yes, it fit in the pot and yes, it was thoroughly cooked.
I guess they suggest you freeze it in smaller portions in case you want to cook less, but it also will allow the stew to cook quicker with more surface area being exposed.
I’m not sure where I went wrong, but this wasn’t very good. It took nearly 40 minutes to come to pressure and the result was a bunch of mushy vegetables. So mushy that just a quick stir to add some seasoning made it look like I was eating a bowl of mashed potatoes with chunks of beef. Some recipes have said to add the vegetables later in the cooking process… maybe I should’ve done that with this recipe?
We’re sorry to hear this didn’t turn out as anticipated. We plan to retest this recipe while cooking the beef stew/liquid for 10 minutes and then add the vegetables for another 10. We appreciate your feedback!
Don’t dice the carrots and potatoes. Do much bigger chunks and cook a while longer. I did that and it came out quite delicious. It did take a long time to come up to pressure but it was worth it. I bought my Instant Pot two days ago and already I’m a convert after making three things.
Wonderful!! Thank you for the tips!
Used whole small red potatoes and baby carrots. This wAs a big hit! Came out perfect.
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I made this and my family loved it! I didn’t dice my vegetables instead I chunked them. My family likes chunks of potatoes and carrots. I also added a can of Golden Mushroom soup and I liked the gravy look to it. I will definitely make this again.
Yum! ? Thanks for sharing!
I made this and it was really good. I added extra to the recipe and it barely fed 2 adults a toddler and a 9 year old girl.
I’m making freezer meals for a friend who I should having surgery. She doesn’t have an instant pot. Can this just be reheated some other way?
Yes, it can be cooked in the slow cooker for 6-8 hours, or on the stove top as well. Hope that helps!
I thought it was delicious! I tried to use more broth because I underestimated how much was listed in this recipe and ended up making mine a little watered down, so I recommend doing what they say 🙂
Glad to hear you enjoyed it! 🙂
I’m confused….cooking from fresh AND frozen are the same amount of time…how is that possible? Shouldn’t frozen be longer?
Our test cooks have found that the same amount of pressure cooking time is needed, but with frozen, it will take longer for the Instant Pot to come to pressure. Just a reminder, though, there are so many variables with pressure cooking (and we would rather have you add time at the end than end up with a burnt meal!), that additional cooking time may be necessary!
I do not have that broth, and the roads are icy. Can I use regular bullion water?
Yes, you sure can!
I’m confused. Do I cook this and put it in containers to freeze. Cook it again when I want to eat it? Seems like it’s being cooked twice. Does everything just go in a bag raw and frozen then cooked?
Hi Martha, Great question. There are 3 sets of instructions on our recipes. The make it now is if you want to make it now and not freeze it for later. (from fresh). The next 2 sets of instructions are how to freeze and cook it later. The freeze for later instructions tell you how to assemble and freeze your meal, and the cook from frozen give you your thaw and cook day instructions. So to answer your question, you don’t cook this meal twice. You would put all your ingredients in raw and freeze according to the freeze for later instructions. Then, you would follow the cook from frozen instructions when you’re ready to cook your meal and serve it. I hope this helps!
Is it okay for the pressure to release naturally for longer than 5 minutes? Will leaving it longer overcook the veggies? I plan to turn on the IP right before I go pick up my kids from school, but will be back sometime after the 5 min NPR time.
Hi Terry – That is a great question. Your meal will continue to cook while doing a natural pressure release. If you’re worried that your veggies will get mushy, you could reduce the cook time a little and then let the natural pressure release longer while you are out. I hope this helps!
Prepped, froze, and cooked from frozen as instructed. Veggies were cooked but meat was so tough. Is there some trick I’m missing? It was barely edible.
I find meat is more tender if I let it Natural Pressure Release for 20 minutes. They were tender. Thanks for the feedback!
Do you put the lid on the pot during the sauté time.
No, you should leave the lid off during the saute step. Good question!
Do the potatoes have to be par boiled before freezing?
Good question. No, they do not.
I want to try this this weekend. Can I make it using frozen beef stew meat to eat right away (not make it a freezer meal)? I hope that makes sense. I’ve been leary of putting frozen meat in my PC
Hi Tina, you can cook directly from frozen in your Instant Pot (yay!) so you can definitely use frozen beef stew meat to make this dish!