It’s that time of year again, and maybe it’s time to write down the recipe we call “Irish Stew” around our house. Honestly, I make some sort of version of this stew all winter long. The Guinness is what makes this Irish in our home, I guess. You can sub any other beer into the mix, add mushrooms, add barley, change up the seasonings, use different veggies – you get the idea. The point here is that this is an easy way to make a great tasting stew.
Serve with a salad – if you are that sort. Or make up some homemade biscuits while the stew is cooking – if you are that sort. Can you guess which one I am?
Irish Stew in the Instant Pot
Ingredients
- 2-3 T olive oil
- 2 pounds of beef stew meat
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 1/2 teaspoon pepper
- 1 large onion chopped (about 1 1/2 cups)
- 1 T dried thyme
- 2 T tomato paste
- 1 cup of Guinness or other dark beer (or substitute with beef stock)
- 1 1/2 cups of beef broth
- 4 large carrots, peeled and cut into chunks
- 1 pound of potatoes, peeled and cut into 1 inch pieces
Directions
- With in the insert in your electric pressure cooker, turn on the saute function to medium heat. Add 1 T of olive oil and allow to warm up about one minute. While the oil is warming, season your meat with salt and pepper. Add 1/2 of the the meat to the pressure cooker and allow to brown on one side – 3-4 minutes. Turn the meat and allow to brown on another side. Remove the browned meat to a separate bowl. Repeat with the remaining meat, adding extra oil, if necessary. Remove all of the meat to a separate bowl and rest. You do not need to sear all sides of the meat – this is mainly for color and some flavor. If you are in a real hurry, this step can actually be skipped.
- After browning the meat, add another tablespoon of oil and the onions. Allow the onions to cook a couple minutes until they are slightly translucent. Add the thyme and and stir and cook another 30 seconds or so. With the pot still on the saute setting, add about 1/4 cup of the beer and stir the bottom of the pan to loosen any browned bits that may have stuck to the pan. This step is important and it helps to reduce the chance of getting a “Burn” error later in the cooking process. Turn off the saute setting.
- Add the remaining beer and the beef stew to the stew. Lock the lid onto the pot and set the cook time to 45 minutes. Double check that the vent release tab is set to the sealing position. When the cooking time is done, allow to natural release for 10 minutes and then quick release the remaining pressure. Remove the lid.
- Add the carrots and potatoes to the pot. Stir and lock the lid back onto the pot. You may need to press down on the lid to close the lid. Double check that the vent release tab is set to the sealing position. Cook at high pressure for 3 minutes. When the cook time is complete, quick release the pressure from the pot, if you are eating right away. You can also allow the pot to go into the keep warm function at this point, and dinner will be ready when you are. If you would like a thicker stew, you can pull a few of the potatoes and carrots out of the pot, mash with a fork, and stir back into the stew.
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