20 December 2018

Slow Cooker Beef Stew

Slow Cooker Beef Stew - made in the Instant Pot set on the slow cooker function / www.delightfulrepast.com

Slow Cooker Beef Stew was the first thing I wanted to make in my new Instant Pot. Yes, folks, I finally broke down and bought one. I didn’t have room for one more countertop appliance, but I needed to replace my slow cooker’s cooking pot. Here’s the story.

I love my slow cooker, the Cuisinart 6-quart multicooker slow cooker, but I damaged the nonstick surface of the cooking pot and so was going to have to order a replacement. Since I was interested in trying a pressure cooker, I thought I’d try the combination slow cooker pressure cooker Instant Pot with its uncoated stainless steel cooking pot.


Slow Cooker Beef Stew - made in the Instant Pot set on the slow cooker function / www.delightfulrepast.com
This photo shows how I protect the wall and undercabinet lighting from grease spatters with a dish towel when sauteeing in a countertop appliance. Or I can set it on something on top of the stove and turn the range hood on.


This time I used packaged grass-fed stew meat, but I really prefer to buy a piece of chuck (about 2.75 pounds) and trim it and cut it up myself into larger pieces. 

I’ve written my recipe instructions for the cook who is new, as I am, to using the Instant Pot as a slow cooker. If they are not clear, do tell me so that I can clarify them. Anyone using a regular slow cooker (or the stovetop) can easily make adjustments. 

Then I’ll try out the Instant Pot in its main function as a pressure cooker. I’m brand new to pressure cookers, probably because my mother and grandmothers didn’t use them, so it’s going to be an adventure. Have you jumped on the Instant Pot bandwagon yet? I think I might be the last person on the planet to get one!

Update 01/17/19: Pressure Cooker/Instant Pot Beef Stew, Classic Stovetop Beef Stew.


Slow Cooker Beef Stew - made in the Instant Pot set on the slow cooker function / www.delightfulrepast.com



Slow Cooker Beef Stew


(Serves 4 to 6)

2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
2 1/4 pounds (1.02 kg) lean beef chuck, cut into 1.5-inch pieces
1 teaspoon salt, divided
1 teaspoon coarsely ground black pepper, divided

2 teaspoons Worcestershire sauce
1/2 cup (4 fluid ounces/118 ml) drinkable dry red wine or water
1/2 large onion, chopped (6 ounces/170 grams—about 3/4 cup)
1 1/2 pounds (24 ounces/680 grams) Yukon Gold potatoes, cut into 1-inch pieces
4 medium carrots (12 ounces/340 grams), peeled, cut diagonally into 1-inch slices
3 stalks celery (6 ounces/170 grams), sliced diagonally into 1-inch pieces
1 1/2 cups (12 fluid ounces/355 ml) chicken broth or water
4 to 5 tablespoons (half a 6-ounce can) tomato paste
1 teaspoon marjoram
1/8 teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes
1 bay leaf
Slurry of 1/4 cup unbleached all-purpose flour and 1/2 cup water
Garnish: 2 tablespoons chopped flat-leaf parsley and/or 1 cup of frozen peas

1 Brown the beef in two or three batches. (I do three because I’m really into thorough browning.) Plug in the Instant Pot. Select the Saute program. Press the Saute key again to go from Normal temperature to More. When the word Hot appears on the display, add 1 tablespoon of oil to the stainless steel cooking pot of the Instant Pot. 

2 Dry the beef cubes a batch at a time with paper towels, add to hot oil and brown very well in single layer, sprinkling with 1/8 teaspoon each salt and pepper and 1 teaspoon Worcestershire sauce. Transfer browned beef to a bowl. Repeat. (And repeat again if you’re doing three batches.)

3 Deglaze the cooking pot with 1/2 cup wine or water. Press the Cancel key. Add the beef back to the Instant Pot, along with all remaining ingredients except the slurry and garnish. 

4 Put on the optional Instant Pot glass lid, or use the pressure cooking lid with the steam release handle turned to Venting. Select the Slow Cook program. Within 10 seconds, press Slow Cook to set temperature to Normal. Within 10 seconds, press “+ or –“ to set time to 6 hours.

Note: Instant Pot users have reported all kinds of timing differences in the slow cooker function, so you’ll just have to see about this!

5 After 6 hours (if your stew is done), shake together flour and water until mixture is smooth. Stir the smooth slurry into the stew, taste and adjust seasoning; press Saute and continue cooking, stirring occasionally, for 5 minutes to thicken. Remove bay leaf, and sprinkle on parsley or stir in frozen peas. 

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Jean

65 comments:

Louca por porcelana said...

Really mouthwatering...I think I will try to do this recipe!Merry Christmas,dear Jean!Thanks for sharing the most delicious recipes the whole year!

Thomas "Sully" Sullivan said...

The mystique of thoroughly cooked beef still escapes me, especially when glurped together with veggies the texture of modeling clay. Methinks it’s memories of Sunday dinners when my mother cooked this concoction for my dad’s boarding house tastes. However, I’m thinking that a pressure cooker might be a good pre-ski glove warmer for me! It is a fancy looking machine, Jean, perhaps worthy of your culinary skill.

Angie's Recipes said...

I love my slow cooker :-) and use it all the time to make broth. Actually just throw in some oxtails with just water and black salt :-))) Your beef stew looks so yummy, Jean.

Jean | DelightfulRepast.com said...

Thank you, Maristella! I hope you like it as much as we do!

Jean | DelightfulRepast.com said...

Sully, I'm sure MY beef stew is a far cry from your childhood beef stew. Nothing glurpy or modeling-clay-textured about it. Perfectly cooked meat and vegetables in a smooth sauce of the perfect viscosity, just thick enough to bring all the separate ingredients together into one dish, but not so thick as to be at all glurpy! Keep your gloves warm!

Jean | DelightfulRepast.com said...

Thanks, Angie. I need to use the slow cooker more often. And I think I'll be using the slow cooker function of the Instant Pot far more often than the pressure cooker function. What a great idea to make broth in it. I've boiled it away one too many times on the stovetop!

Grace said...

It all sounds terribly complicated. I'll stick to slow cooking foods on my stove. (Beef stew or lamb stew or is simply not anything I grew up eating so I've never made it as an adult.)

TONY said...

I like a good beef stew. I generally cook a stew in an ordinary cooking pot. Marilyn and I used to have a slow cooker about thirty years ago.
However, one major difference with the ingredients I use. I tend to pour a bottle of Guinness into my stews. I like the flavour. No alcohol survives the cooking process of course. All the best, Tony

Jean | DelightfulRepast.com said...

Grace, I hear you! I'm very low-tech. And I love cooking things slowly, stovetop or oven, in my big Le Creuset dutch ovens.

Jean | DelightfulRepast.com said...

Thanks, Tony. Good idea about the bottle of Guinness, but I'm not sure I could leave out my red wine!

Vee said...

That looks so delicious and hearty. I like your solution for splatters on the kitchen counter. Happy cooking!

Jean | DelightfulRepast.com said...

Vee, thank you. Glad you appreciate my splatter solution, too! I always end up with a neck problem when I have to clean underneath the upper cabinets, so … anything to avoid that!

Pauline Wiles said...

No, I can confirm you're not the last person to get one. Like you, I have zero room for any further appliances in my life! Very fond of beef stew, though. Happy Holidays to you and yours.

Jean | DelightfulRepast.com said...

Oh, good, Pauline! I'm not totally "out of it" then! Hope you're having a lovely time and will be moving into 2019 smooooothly!

Gerlinde de Broekert said...

I am just getting aquatinted with my slow cooker that is stored in my garage and I am looking for new recipes. Yours looks delicious! Happy Holidays !

Jean | DelightfulRepast.com said...

Thanks, Gerlinde! I am hoping to use it more this winter, as part of my "simplifying" my life. Happy December!

Nora @ Teacup Tales said...

I adore my 6 quart Cuisinart slow cooker (same one you had), so I'm not sure if I really need an Instant Pot. Since my family is tired of my beef stew recipe, I'll try this one. Great meal for a winter dinner!

Tea Cottage Pretties said...

OH my, this looks delicious. I recently purchased an instant pot as well. My crock pot had actually cracked. I am totally in love with my pot. I have made so many fabulous things in it. I love making chicken noodle soup and Chicken tortilla soup. Thank you for sharing your recipe. I am going to have to try it. Thank you for visiting me at Tea Cottage Pretties.

Mike said...

I read this when it hit my reader yesterday and my mouth started watering and my tummy started growling.

I've got an Instant Pot in my Amazon wish list and might have to buy it for myself for Christmas!

As always, enjoy your site, one of my favorites and I subscribe to 100+ food/recipe websites.

Cranberry Morning said...

No, you're not the last person to get an Instant Pot. I do not have one. But I'll say that I love your recipe for beef stew and have used it several times. It is the best!!

Marisa Franca @ Allourway said...

Thank goodness this is a slow cooker recipe instead of an Instant Pot. I don't have room for another piece of equipment in our kitchen. The stew sounds wonderful - certainly nothing like the gooey glop that we used to get at school or that Sully mentioned. A nice dinner on those cold wintry nights.

Cocoa and Lavender said...

Jean - I don’t even have the traditional slow cooker (crock pot, in my youth) - I borrow my neighbor’s and hope she will upgrade to an instant pot soon! ;-) Your beef stew looks truly mouthwatering, and I’m glad I make my own Worcestershire sauce - it does add great flavor but somehow the tiny bit of garlic in the store bought kills me...

Lea Ann (Cooking On The Ranch) said...

Congrats on the purchase of that Instant Pot. You'll have fun with it. And I look forward to more recipes. I'm sorry to hear about the damage to the slow cooker. I have one just like it, love it and would be very upset if something happened. Merry Christmas to you and your family.

Jean | DelightfulRepast.com said...

Nora, I love that model, too. I'm sure I'll end up getting a new cooking pot for it. I just wish they'd make one that isn't nonstick. Hope the recipe makes a nice change for the fam!

Jean | DelightfulRepast.com said...

Beverly, thanks so much. I'm looking forward to trying the pressure cooking function next time. I love chicken tortilla soup -- hadn't thought of doing it in the Instant Pot!

Jean | DelightfulRepast.com said...

Mike, thank you, I am honored! Hope you get your Instant Pot (one way or another!). I think I'm going to have fun learning how to use it.

Jean | DelightfulRepast.com said...

Judy, thank you! I'm so glad you like it. Now I have to figure out how to adapt it to the pressure cooker (so, eventually, you'll be seeing *that* version here on the blog).

Jean | DelightfulRepast.com said...

Thanks, Marisa. I always say, there's nothing better than a good beef stew and nothing worse than a bad one! I don't know if I really *need* to get into pressure cooking -- I'm not usually that pressed for time.

Jean | DelightfulRepast.com said...

David, you'll have to tell me how you make your own Worcestershire sauce -- I've gotten even more sensitive to garlic and am afraid my Lea & Perrins might have to go. :-(

Jean | DelightfulRepast.com said...

Lea Ann, thanks. I love that slow cooker, too, and will probably get a replacement cooking pot for it. Just wish it was stainless steel. Have you had any trouble with the nonstick coating on yours?

Cheryl said...

I am usually the last person to jump on any bandwagon, thus, there is no Instant Pot in my kitchen. Yet. Your beef stew makes me want one. (Or is it your beef stew that I really want?!)

From A Worcestershire Hill said...

I am always looking for a new recipe for beef stew and will try yours as it sounds so good. I have never had a slow cooker as I have always used a pressure cooker. Mine is 46 years old and was a wedding present. I have today cooked a Christmas pudding (dried fruit, suet, breadcrumbs, brandy, flour egg) for 1.45 hours rather than steaming in an open pan for three hours plus. and will be cooking braising steak tomorrow and a another, smaller, Christmas pudding. I am considering an Instant Pot, or equivalent, but have very little work surface on which to put it. BTW have I been shopping today to Worcester where Worcestershire Sauce used to be produced.

Gillian.

Jean | DelightfulRepast.com said...

Cheryl, thank you. I can picture us now at the side of the road, watching all sorts of bandwagons roll by! :D

Jean | DelightfulRepast.com said...

Gillian, I've done lots of steamed puddings in my slow cooker (and on the stovetop), and I'm really looking forward to trying them in the Instant Pot. I'm brand new to pressure cooking and so am taking it slowly! I've always thought I should visit Worcester since the sauce was so prominent in the kitchen of my childhood!

Margie said...

You're not the last one Jean as I still don't have an Instapot. Your stew looks great! Merry Christmas!

Jean | DelightfulRepast.com said...

Thanks, Margie! Wishing you a wonderful 2019!

Pom Pom said...

Hi Jean! That looks like a great recipe. Maybe I need an Insta-Pot.

ellen b. said...

Well...I never even thought of splatter protection like that but it's brilliant!
Dear Jean, I wish you and yours a very Merry Christmas!

Karen @ Beatrice Euphemie said...

Hi Jean, your beef stew looks delicious - the perfect comfort food this time of year! I was just mentioning to the Mr. how I would like to use the slow-cooker more often, so I think I will start with this - thank you! Let us know how you like the Instapot! Hope you have a wonderful Christmas and 2019! x Karen

Jean | DelightfulRepast.com said...

Karen, thank you. I honestly thought I was the only person on the planet who didn't have one!

Jean | DelightfulRepast.com said...

Oh, Ellen, I love it when someone thinks my idea is brilliant! :D Wishing you a wonderful 2019.

Jean | DelightfulRepast.com said...

Karen, thank you. I, too, need to do the slow cooker thing more often. Hope you and the Mr like the stew! Have a wonderful 2019.

Jean | DelightfulRepast.com said...

Thanks, RTC. Happy winter!

April J Harris said...

What lovely comfort food, Jean! Your Slow Cooker Beef Stew looks delicious. I like the addition of the red pepper flakes! I haven't bought an instant pot yet, but I do have a slow cooker. Thank you so much for being a part of the Hearth and Soul Link Party. Hope to see you at the Christmas edition of the party which starts on Sunday 23rd December!

Susan J Meyerott, M.S. said...

No, Jean--I'm the last hold out for the instapot. Actually I'm the last hold out for a microwave oven! Can you believe that? I was raised using a pressure cooker so I have one of those and a slow cooker (crockpot). So I learned something from your recipe--add Worcestershire sauce. I'm going to give it a try. As always, your dish looks great!

Jean | DelightfulRepast.com said...

Thank you, April! I'll see you on the 23rd!

Jean | DelightfulRepast.com said...

Sue, I was the second to last holdout for a microwave--finally got one before 2000. I remember because I told a friend "I finally got with the 90s and got a microwave" and she informed me that microwaves were not a 90s thing, that they'd come out in the 50s! Let me know how you like the Worcestershire sauce!

Phil in the Kitchen said...

Perfect for a winter day. I do enjoy using my slow cooker and the same goes for my pressure cooker. The truth is I don't use either of them as much as I feel I should.

Jean | DelightfulRepast.com said...

Thanks, Phil. I know what you mean--I have a bunch of countertop appliances I rarely use because I love doing things the old-fashioned way. I'll be chopping away, enjoying the feel of using a good knife, and my husband will walk in and ask why I didn't just use the food processor!

Sandi@ Rose Chintz Cottage said...

Yum! Your stew looks great, Jean; a nice warm meal on a cold day! I also don't have an Instapot but I do have a slow cooker. I have never made a beef stew in the slow cooker but I will have to do that in the New Year. Thanks for the recipe and enjoy the Holidays!

Miz Helen said...

I would love a bowl of that delicious Beef Stew, it is very cold here and this just looks like the perfect dish for today! Wishing you a very Merry Christmas and thanks so much for sharing your awesome post with us at Full Plate Thursday!
Miz Helen

Jean | DelightfulRepast.com said...

Sandi, thank you so much! And I hope you have a wonderful time with your family!

Jean | DelightfulRepast.com said...

Thank you, Miz Helen, AND for taking the time to host during this busy time. Wishing you a wonderful 2019.

Debbie - Mountain Mama said...

I almost bought one....and then talked myself out of it, as I really have no room for more kitchen toys, and I don’t think a need for one. Perhaps you will change my mind...I’ll live vicariously through you for now! Merry Christmas Jean!

Jean | DelightfulRepast.com said...

Debbie, I'm going to try to post something about it in its pressure cooker function soon. So far I've just enjoyed it as a slow cooker with a stainless steel cooking pot. We'll see.

Karen (Back Road Journal) said...

I've been hungry for beef stew lately and yours sounds like a good one. Merry Christmas.

Jean | DelightfulRepast.com said...

Karen, thank you. This stew is one of my very favorite winter meals. Wishing you a warm and wonderful winter!

kitty@ Kitty's Kozy Kitchen said...

Hi Jean! Belated Merry Christmas wishes to you, my friend!! I broke down and bought an IP, too, and have enjoyed using it. I will try your stew recipe, as I have a chick roast in the freezer, and I like to cut my own cubes of beef, too. I didn't know that you can buy a glass lid for the IP, when using it as a slow cooker.

Jean | DelightfulRepast.com said...

Thank you, Kitty! Yes, the glass lid is great. Easier to clean than the pressure cooker lid, too. Just click on the link in the post to order one!

Big Rigs 'n Lil' Cookies said...

I was thrilled to see a beef stew recipe from you as that sounds like such a great meal right now, then to see that it was an Instant Pot recipe I was more excited! I am a few weeks ahead of you in getting one, but have only made a few things in it. I have not tried the slow cooker part at all yet, but I will have your recipe waiting to be my first :)

Jean | DelightfulRepast.com said...

Thanks, BRnLC! I love beef stew in winter. Mr Delightful is already asking when I'm making it again, and I've already made it twice this month! Let me know how it turns out for you.

Jaki said...

Now that is proper winter food! It's mouthwatering in the picture alone! Thank you for sharing this with #TriumphantTales and a very Happy New Year to you!

Jean | DelightfulRepast.com said...

Thanks, Jaki! That's a good description: "proper winter food!"

The Lazy Gastronome said...

Now that looks amazing!! I haven't seen you at our What's for Dinner party for awhile. I'd love it if you shared shared some of your great recipes again.

https://lazygastronome.com/whats-for-dinner-sunday-link-up-243/

Jean | DelightfulRepast.com said...

Helen, thank you so much. And thanks for reminding me to visit #whatsfordinner!