Instant Pot Beef Stew

Instant Pot Beef Stew 2 lbs beef chuck roast (fat trimmed), or beef stew meat 2 tbsp all purpose flour 1 tsp salt 1 tsp ground black pepper 1 tbsp vegetable oil 2 large potatoes cut into large chunks 2 large carrots cut into thick slices 3 sticks celery cut into thick slices 1 onion cut into large chunks 2 cloves garlic minced 3 tbsp tomato paste 1 bay leaf 1 sprig rosemary 2 cups beef broth In a ziploc bag, add the beef along with salt, pepper and flour. Give the bag a good shake so that the beef is well coated in flour. If you choose not to use flour, then just season the meat with salt and pepper. Press on SAUTE in the Instant Pot, and wait until it's hot. Add vegetable oil, and brown the beef cubes until they're browned but not cooked through. Remove from the Instant Pot and set aside. You might have to do this in batches as an overcrowded Instant Pot will make it difficult to brown the beef. Also feel free to skip this step and just add all the ingredients in the Instant Pot (without the flour), and pressure cook. Deglaze the pot with water, then add the beef and the rest of the ingredients (potatoes, carrots, celery, onion, garlic, tomato paste, bay leaf, rosemary, and beef broth). Stir to combine, then cover with the lid. Make sure that the vent is on sealing position, press on MANUAL or PRESSURE COOK and set at 20 minutes. Allow the Instant Pot to come to pressure, then cook for 20 minutes. Once the cooking is finished, quickly release the steam. Discard the rosemary sprig and bay leaf, and thicken the sauce (this is optional) by combining 2 tbsp of cornstatch with 1 tbsp of water and mixing this in the sauce. Set the Instant Pot on SAUTE, and as the stew starts to boil it will thicken. Garnish with fresh chopped parsley leaves and serve. Diana’s Tips Pat meat dry with kitchen towels before coating it in flour and seasoning. If you’re following a keto diet, use almond flour instead of all-purpose flour. For gluten-free, use GF flour. Do not skip browning the meat, this extra step gives the beef a lovely flavorful crust so it results in a much better flavor and it’s totally worth it. After browning the beef, deglaze the pot and scrape every little bit from the bottom of the pot using a wooden spoon. This will prevent you from getting the BURN message, and give your stew a better flavor. Meats usually call for natural release, but for this recipe I just cook on high for 20 minutes then do a quick release. However, I don’t open the lid right away as I wait for the liquids to stop boiling. When you thicken the gravy with a cornstarch slurry, make sure that you do it right away before the liquids cool down. It also helps to let the Instant Pot heat the liquids up by pressing on SAUTE setting. If you don’t have corn starch available, use flour, arrowroot, potato starch, or even tapioca instead. You can add peas at the end of the cooking process if you like (fresh or frozen). Store the fridge for up to 3 days, or freeze in portions for up to 3 months (without the potatoes as they don’t freeze well).