The Most Amazing Instant Pot Beef Stew

A super easy Instant Pot Beef Stew recipe with the most amazing Peruvian flavors! Super tender pull apart beef in a delicious green sauce served over rice. A dream come true!

A Peruvian Instant Pot Beef Stew Recipe

This is basically an Instant Pot version and a beef version of the famous Peruvian Lamb Stew called “Seco de Cordero”.

It needed quite some adapting though. Mainly because the Instant Pot seals and none of the liquid evaporates. The original lamb stew calls for beer and wine for the sauce.

I did add both in my first recipe testing and OMG I almost got drunk just opening the lid of the pot. Ha! Just kidding. Um, maybe not…

None of the alcohol evaporates when cooking under pressure in a super sealed Instant Pot. So in case you were considering cooking anything at all that calls for alcohol to flavor things in your pressure cooker, either leave it out and replace by broth or massively reduce the amount of alcohol.

Another thing is that due to lack of water evaporation, the sauce of the instant pot beef stew is fairly liquid and not nice and thick once you finish cooking the meat to perfection.

No reason to worry though. A simple recipe hack and the sauce becomes mega delicious and creamy: adding a cornstarch or tapioca starch slurry.

Instant Pot Beef Stew Recipe with a Peruvian twist

Most Instant Pot Beef Stew Recipes out there are tomato based. I have a hard time digesting tomato based sauces and stews so I’m always on the lookout for alternatives.

My Slow-Cooker Pot Roast for example is roasted red  pepper based and a ton of recipes here are all based on cilantro/beef broth sauces.

This Beef Stew Recipe has a Peruvian twist on top of all. The cilantro water is typically Peruvian and ají amarillo is a Peruvian yellow chili that has a very distinct extraordinary flavor. It’s the number 1 ingredient in Peruvian cuisine.

You can find easily find ají amarillo paste on Amazon. There is different brands and I’m sure they’re all fine. The one I get the easiest here in Canada is this * one, so that’s the one I’ve always used since moving here and it’s great.

* that’s an affiliate link and I earn a small commission if you buy the product through the link at no extra cost to you.

Make your Instant Pot Beef Stew Paleo

I used cornstarch in my recipe to thicken the sauce you can easily prepare a starch slurry with tapioca starch though and make your Instant Pot Beef Stew Paleo.

Green Healthy Cooking is not a strictly paleo blog but I have a lot of Paleo Recipes on this site for my paleo readers. Love you all!

I served this stew over Instant Pot white rice but to keep the recipe paleo you can serve it either with sweet potatoes or fried plantains. The sweetness contrast the spiciness wonderfully! And that’s how easy it is to make this Instant Pot Beef Stew Paleo!

5 from 2 votes

Print

Instant Pot Beef Stew

A super easy Instant Pot Beef Stew recipe with the most amazing Peruvian flavors! Super tender pull apart beef in a delicious green sauce served over rice. A dream come true!

Course Main Course

Cuisine Peruvian

Prep Time 15 minutes

Cook Time 35 minutes

Total Time 1 hour

Servings 4 people

Calories 478 kcal

Ingredients

• avocado oil
• 2 lbs stewing beef
• sea salt
• pepper
• 1 onion
• 2 cloves garlic
• 1-3 Tbsp ají amarillo (optional but HIGHLY recommended)
• 1/2 bunch cilantro
• 1 cup beef broth
• 1/2-1 tsp sea salt
• pepper
• 1 cup frozen peas
• 1 Tbsp cornstarch (or tapioca starch for paleo)
• 1 Tbsp cold water
• cilantro for garnish

Instructions

1. Pre Prep: Remove meat from fridge at least 30 minutes before starting to cook so it's not too cold.

   In the meantime, peel and chop onion, peel and crush garlic and prepare "cilantro water".

2. Cilantro Water: Add 1/2 bunch of cilantro (stems and all) to a blender, add beef broth and salt and pepper to taste. Amounts will depend on saltiness of beef broth.

3. Brown Beef: Preheat instant pot by pressing the "sauté" button and wait until it says "hot". Once hot, add a splash of avocado oil and then brown the meat in 4-5 batches. Do NOT add all the beef at once. The individual pieces should not touch each other while browning. If you add too much meat at once it will release too much liquid and boil instead of brown. Add more oil as needed in between batches. Remove the browned beef and set aside in a bowl.

4. Deglaze: Once all the meat is browned, add some water to the pot and deglaze the bottom by scrubbing off all the burnt bits and pieces with a wooden spatula. Then remove the inner pot and rinse and dry before continuing.

5. Sofrita: Add another splash of avocado oil to the pot (still on sauté setting) and fry onion, garlic and ají until they start browning. 

6. Pressure Cook: Add browned beef and cilantro water back into the instant pot, put on the lid and turn the vent to the sealing position. Press "cancel", then "manual", make sure "high pressure" is selected and set the timer for 35-40 minutes (depending on the size of the beef cubes).

7. Natural Pressure Release: Meat should always be depressurized slowly. Let the instant pot release pressure naturally. This means, you should not turn the valve to the venting position but rather wait until the safety pin drops on its own. This will take 10-20 minutes (depending on each individual pressure cooker).

8. Add peas: Once the safety pin dropped, open the pot, add 1 cup frozen peas and let them defrost in the hot sauce for about 2-3 minutes. Then remove all meat and peas with a slotted spoon leaving all the liquid in the pot and set aside. 

9. Cilantro Sauce/Gravy: Add 1 Tbsp starch and 1 Tbsp cold water to a small bowl and stir vigorously until all clumps are gone. Hit "sauté" again on the instant pot. Add starch slurry and whisk into the liquid. Continue stirring until the sauce comes to a boil and cook for about 1-2 minutes. The gravy will start to thicken fairly quickly.

10. Serve: Serve the meat and peas over white rice and pour plenty of cilantro gravy over it. Garnish with freshly chopped cilantro.

Recipe Video

Nutrition Facts

Instant Pot Beef Stew

Amount Per Serving

Calories 478 Calories from Fat 153

% Daily Value*

Total Fat 17g 26%

Saturated Fat 6g 30%

Cholesterol 176mg 59%

Sodium 600mg 25%

Potassium 680mg 19%

Total Carbohydrates 11g 4%

Dietary Fiber 2g 8%

Sugars 3g

Protein 64g 128%

Vitamin A 6.9%

Vitamin C 21.8%

Calcium 3.5%

Iron 34.1%

* Percent Daily Values are based on a 2000 calorie diet.

WHAT CAN BE PRESSURE COOKED WITH WHAT?

Get access to my FREE cheat sheet to help you mix and match ingredients + all of Green Healthy Cooking's new recipes directly into your inbox.

Success! Now check your email to confirm your subscription.

There was an error submitting your subscription. Please try again.

First Name

Email Address

We use this field to detect spam bots. If you fill this in, you will be marked as a spammer.

Get instant access! Unsubscribe at any time. Powered by ConvertKit