To Serve Man

Instant Pot Guinness Beef Stew

Irish 20 minutes prep 80 minutes cook

All the flavor of a slow-cooked stew done in a fraction of the time in the pressure cooker. Made with beef stew meat, onion, celery, carrots, parsnips, and of course, Guinness.

beef stew pressure-cooker irish comfort-food guinness

Ingredients

  • beef stew meat (2 pounds)
  • salt (1 tsp)
  • black pepper (1/2 tsp, ground)
  • butter (2 tbsp)
  • onion (1 large, 8 oz, chopped)
  • celery (2 stalks, chopped)
  • tomato paste (2 tbsp)
  • Guinness extra stout (1 cup)
  • beef broth (1 1/2 cups)
  • dried thyme (1 tsp)
  • carrots (2, cut into chunks)
  • parsnips (4 medium, about 1 lb, peeled and cut into chunks)
  • potatoes (1/2 lb, peeled and cut into chunks)
  • cornstarch (2 tsp)
  • water (2 tsp)
  • fresh parsley (1/4 cup, chopped)

Instructions

Sear the meat

  1. Pat beef stew meat dry with paper towels, then season on all sides with salt and black pepper.
  2. Select the high "Sauté" setting on the Instant Pot{}. Heat butter or neutral oil.
  3. Brown the beef in two batches, searing for 4 minutes per batch and flipping halfway through. Transfer meat to a dish.

Cook the aromatics

  1. Add onion and celery to the now-empty pressure cooker. Cook until onions begin to soften, about 4 minutes.
  2. Stir in tomato paste and cook for 1 minute.

Pressure cook the meat

  1. Pour in Guinness extra stout. Use a stiff spatula to scrape up any browned bits from the bottom of the pot.
  2. Let simmer for 5 minutes to reduce the beer, then stir in the reserved beef, beef broth, and dried thyme.
  3. Secure the lid on the pressure cooker and set to "sealing" position. Cancel the sauté program, then select "Meat/Stew" or "Pressure Cook" setting at high pressure for 30 minutes.
  4. When finished, let pressure release naturally for 10 minutes, then quick release remaining pressure.

Add vegetables and finish

  1. Open the pot. Optional: skim off some fat with a ladle if desired.
  2. Stir in carrots, parsnips, and potatoes (or rutabaga or celery root).
  3. Put the lid back on and set to "sealing" position. Select "Pressure Cook" at high pressure for 3 minutes.
  4. While stew finishes, mix cornstarch with water in a small bowl to make a slurry.
  5. When cooking ends, perform a quick pressure release.
  6. Stir in the cornstarch slurry right away while stew is still bubbling. The residual heat will thicken the stew within a couple minutes.
  7. Ladle into bowls and serve hot, garnished with fresh parsley.