Great Beef Stew


Ingredients
  • 1 tablespoon oil
  • 1 large cup chopped yellow or white onions
  • 6 ounce can tomato paste
  • 1 can tomato sauce, then fill can with water and add it as well, then go forward with the 3 cups of beef broth, the better than beef worked great, though, i may try it with beef stock and see if there is a difference
  • 3 cups low-sodium beef broth - I use 3 TBS of better than beef bullion
  • 2 tablespoons instant/minute tapioca (see note) - needed more tapioca, probably total of 4 tablespoons
  • ADD TAPIOCA AT END
  • 1/4 teaspoon black pepper (I use coarsely ground)
  • 2-3 pounds stew meat (or a chuck or arm roast, trimmed and cut into 1-inch cubes)
  • 2 to 2 1/2 cups chopped carrots, about 1/2-inch pieces - I used 6 skinny carrots
  • 2 to 2 1/2 cups peeled and chopped potatoes (any variety), about 1/2-inch pieces - I used 4-5 large potatoes
  • 2 cups frozen peas
Steps
  1. Add the tomato paste, tomato sauce and water to Instant Pot
  2. Add the beef broth and black pepper. Whisk or stir to combine.
  3. Add the stew meat and give a quick stir. Secure and lock the lid with the vent in the closed position. Cook on high pressure for 28 minutes, I had frozen meat, but even if I didn't I would still cook it 28 minutes, very tender, just fell apart.  (select “manual” or “pressure cook” high.
  4. When finished cooking, let the pressure release naturally for about 10 minutes and then quick release the remaining pressure. Add the carrots and potatoes.  Secure and lock the lid with the vent in the closed position. Cook on high pressure again for 3 minutes.
  5. Quick release the pressure. Stir in the frozen peas to heat through, and add additional salt and pepper to taste, if needed. Add the Instant tapioca to thicken - The stew will thicken a bit as it cools.
Notes
  • FYI: Maximize time by getting the first round of ingredients cooking in the pressure cooker and using that time to chop the carrots and potatoes. 
  • Instant tapioca is sometimes called “granulated tapioca” – small or large pearl tapioca is not the same. It thickens the stew without any odd textures or flavors (I haven’t tried subbing tapioca flour, cornstarch or flour,