Instant pot recipes don't have to be instant. You can use your instant pot as a slow-cooker, too! In cold weather, a hot bowl of stew can be the perfect fall meal to come home to. Mr. Fleur makes delicious stews for us and it makes me fall in love with him every time! Each stew lasts a few days and is great during busy days when you come in the door wanting comfort food. This instant pot recipe keeps well in the fridge for a few days but doesn't freeze well due to the potatoes and carrots. (Don't worry - it won't last that long.)
This instant pot recipe is naturally gluten-free. If you don't have an instant pot, use a heavy pan and a slow cooker or crock pot instead. If you would like to make this stew meatless, it is still delicious, just use vegetable stock and omit the meat.
xo,
Beretta
Instant Pot Recipes: Cold Weather Stew
Active Time: 10-20 minutes
Instant Pot Recipe Timesaver: 3 hours
Slow Cook Time: 6 hours
Ingredients
6 oz. crushed tomatoes
2 russet potatoes, cut into bite-sized pieces
1 cup wild rice ( we love Lundberg brand)
1 cup baby carrots or sliced frozen carrots
1/2 large or one small yellow onion, chopped roughly
1 cup water
3 springs fresh thyme
3 springs fresh rosemary
2 TBSP minced garlic
2 tsp each dried savory, sage, basil, and oregano
2 tsp pink salt and fresh ground pepper
2 cups Sangiovese (Try Bocelli)
2 cups no-salt-added beef or vegetable broth
Optional: 2 lbs lamb or stew beef, cubed and trimmed , 2 tbsp canola for browning
To thicken: 2 tbsp corn starch, 1/2 cup cold water
Before serving the stew, mix cornstarch with1/2 cup cold water and stir vigorously to combine it (this is called a slurry, also used in making gravy). Stir the slurry into the stew and let it low heat for 5 minutes or so.
A note about stew meat: f you buy already cubed stew meat, purchased it trimmed lean so your stew is not greasy. You can get trimmed and cubed lamb from most grocers, which is more expensive, or buy a small de-boned leg of lamb and trim it.
Instructions
Step 1
Meatless stews will skip this step.
In a heavy skillet over medium heat, OR in your Instant Pot on sauté setting, sear the meat with half of the onion, half of the fresh spices and all of the dried spices until brown on all sides - work in batches if needed. Use a few splashes of Sangiovese to deglaze the pan and scrape up the browned bits.Then, turn the pot off.
Step 2
Turn the instant pot to Slow Cook
Add all of the other ingredients except 1/2 a cup of water and corn starch to the Instant pot or slow cooker. Cook on high for 2 hours, then low for another 4 hours. Alternately, if you want to leave the house, you can low cook it for 6-8 hours. Thicken, then serve.
*TIME-SAVER METHOD:
In Instant Pot, after sautéing, turn off. Turn on and close the lid and set toggle to middle. Set to manual cook for 30 minutes. Make sure it seals. After 30 minutes, do not touch it and allow the natural release for 10 minutes. After 10 minutes, turn the toggle to quick release the steam. After steam has released, carefully open and stir, then cover and set to Slow Cook and cook for 2 hours. Thicken, then serve.