Instant Pot Beef Stew

Even though the summer months are quickly approaching, a gloomy day always gets me in the mood for a hearty soup or stew. This Instant Pot Beef Stew was a perfect cozy touch to this rainy New Jersey night!

Ingredients

1.5 lbs stew meat, cubed

1/4 cup flour

1 tsp fresh ground pepper

1 tsp kosher salt

5 tsp vegetable oil

2 tbsp red wine vinegar

1 cup red cooking wine

1 packet McCormick Beef Stew seasoning

4 cups beef broth

2 bay leaves

2 cups cubed gold potatoes

2 cups chopped carrots

2 cups chopped celery

Directions

1. Combine the flour, salt, and pepper on a plate. Coat each piece of beef in the flour mixture.
2. Set the Instant Pot to “Saute” mode. Pour 3 tsp of vegetable oil in. Once hot, begin browning the beef, in batches. Be sure not to overcrowd the pot. Remove each batch of browned beef to a plate once it is sufficiently browned, about 5 minutes per batch. Add additional oil between batches if needed.
3. Remove all beef. Add in the vinegar, cooking wine, and beef broth. The pot will have a lot of brown bits stuck to it which need to be scraped up with a wooden spoon before pressure cooking (this will prevent the “BURN” notice). This is known as “deglazing.”
4. Once the pot is sufficiently deglazed and no more brown bits are stuck to the bottom, add the beef, seasoning pack, and bay leaves into the liquid. Cancel saute mode.
5. Set the Instant Pot to the Meat/Stew setting for 45 minutes. Flip your vent to “Sealing” mode before beginning the pressure cooking. It will take some time to build pressure before cooking time begins.
6. After 45 minutes completes, allow the pot to naturally release pressure for 10 minutes (it will read LO:10). After the natural pressure release is complete, flip the vent to “Venting” mode to quick release the rest of the pressure. Be sure to use a hand towel or spoon to avoid steam burn.
7. Stir beef mixture and add in vegetables.
8. Close the pot and set back to “Sealing” mode. Pressure cook on high for 9 minutes. Complete a 10 minute natural pressure release after 9 minutes cooking time is completed (should read LO:10 again).
9. Serve over egg noodles, rice, or on its own!

Weight Watchers Freestyle SP: 9 points per serving of beef stew (about 6 servings total). Points were calculated using the Recipe Builder on the WW app (calculate points for whatever you add separately).

Print a copy of this recipe for your recipe binder!