The-Go-To Instant Pot Stew

This recipe is applicable for the substitution of any meat and can also be made vegetarian!

Servings: 6-8 (serving increases with increased additional vegetables of choice). I fill my instant pot up to the maximum 2/3 line (using an 8 quart instant pot).

Preparation time: ~ 10 minutes

Cooking time: 30-45 minutes

Ingredients

• Meat of choice: 1-2 pounds. I prefer beef roast cut into stew cubes with 2 beef bone marrow for a richer broth
• Salt: 1 tsp or more depending on preference. 1 tsp first and adjust after the stew is done if needed.
• Worcestershire sauce: 1 tsp
• Ground pepper: 1/4 tsp. Use ground peppercorn or Szechuan pepper for a good punch in flavor (spicier)
• Vegetable oil: 2-4 tbsp as needed to quickly brown meat. You can skip this if you choose not to brown your meat.
• Yellow onion: 1 or 1 tsp of onion powder
• Ginger: 4 slices or 1 tsp of ginger powder
• Garlic cloves: 5 or 1 tsp of garlic powder
• Mushrooms: type of choice, amount of choice. I sliced 6 brown mushrooms
• Hunt’s Tomato paste: 1/2 of a 156ml can. The remaining half can be put in a ziplock bag for freezing. Can be other brands too.
• Tomatoes: Fresh of choice or canned. I used Hunt’s Tomato sauce ~680ml. You can use any tomato cans! This recipe is very forgiving and versatile with volume and vegetable choices
• Broth: 5-7 cups depending on how much vegetables you have in the stew. Start with 5 and adjust after putting all the vegetables in. Do you want more or less soup?
• Stew carrot: 1 (don’t skip this. This makes the broth sweet!)
• Celeries: 1-2 stalks
• Corn kernel: 1/2 cup more or less depending on preference
• Chickpeas: 1 can of Unico Chick Peas for 540ml
• Beans: 1 can of 398ml. I used Bush’s Best Sweet & Tangy Vegetarian Baked Beans
• Peas: Fresh or frozen, 1 cup
• Thyme: fresh or dry, 1-2 tsp
• Herbes de Provence: 1 tsp
• Italian herbs: 1 tsp
• Small potatoes: Yukon or Alberta, etc. I used 5. More or less depending on preference
• Bay leaves: 4 
• Bell pepper: ~ 2 cups. I used 1 Italian bell pepper
• All-purpose flour or cornstarch: as needed depending on the preferred thickness of broth. I like it without

Preparing the ingredients

1. Boil water in a large pot and boil choice of meat and bones for about 10 minutes so that the meat impurities float to the top. Scoop the impurities out
2. If you used meat in this stew, after boiling the impurities out, conserve the water for cooking as that would serve as the broth ingredient. You can also use your own prepared broth or store-bought instead of this
3. Prepare your vegetables. Cut the onions in any way you like; garlic can be minced or whole; carrot can be large or small chunks; celeries can be in thin “c’s”, and bell pepper can be diced. Basically, you can cut it however you want as it will not affect the stew
4. Drain the meat and brown it over vegetable oil (2-4tbsp). Add onions, garlic, salt, and pepper. You can skip this step and throw everything into the instant pot if you like. It will barely affect the stew. In theory, the browning adds another depth of flavor. Same as for roasting any vegetables ahead of time. I simply don’t have the time to do this with a toddler and found no lacking of flavor just throwing everything straight in and skipping the browning or roasting steps! Be as fancy and complicated as you wish. 
5. I like a more watery stew for dipping bread or poured over rice. If preferred, you can wait until your stew is cooked before you adjust the thickness of the stew. This can be done with all-purpose flour, adding 1/4 cup at a time or with cornstarch, mixed with some cold water. You can even add extra potatoes to mash them afterward as a roux. 
6. Set the instant pot to 25 minutes, high, under the stew function. 
7. For garnishes, feel free to adjust additional salt as desired and or parsley, cilantro, etc. 

Plating

1. I love to eat this over rice, toasted bread, or baguette!