A tiny touch of dark chocolate makes this Instant Pot Beef Stew feel luxurious, decadent and absolutely delicious!
You've probably heard of chocolate or cacao in chilli so why not add it for a luxurious Beef Stew?
In this household the chocolate we buy regularly is Lind'ts 85% (or Aldi's version).
That's dark, very dark.
But the little Tapita absolutely loves it.
This Chocolatey Beef Stew makes a luscious sauce, enjoy with a nice glass of red wine if you can.
Or a beer.
I made this in my Instant Pot.
You can make it in your stove-top pressure cooker if you have one.
I like the Instant Pot because I don't have to babysit it.
Just leave it to it and I get on with life (or with putting my feet up).
You will find all my Instant Pot recipes here and, if you're a newbie, you will find my guide to get started here.
Have you joined my Pressure Cooking UK with Feisty Tapas Facebook group?
Ready to give it a go?
Instant Pot Beef Stew
Serves 4 people, or two very hungry greedy people, you choose
Fancy printable card further down
Ingredients
- 1 onion, large, chopped
- 3 cloves of garlic, finely chopped
- 1 stalk of celery, chopped
- Extra virgin olive oil or oil of your choice
- 1 tin of plum tomatoes
- 150 ml vegetable stock
- 100 ml red wine
- 600 g beef, diced (I used braising steak)
- 7 g porcini, a handful, add more if you have more (I was down to my last 7 g)
- 280 g mushrooms, quartered
- 220 g carrots, sliced in half cm coins
- 40g Lindt 85% chocolate (4 squares)
Note: if you have a Thermomix just stick in the bowl the onion, garlic and celery and chop on speed 5 for 5 seconds.
Method
1. Press Sauté, add a dash of the oil of your choice, and fry the chopped onion, garlic and celery.
2. Add the beef and, if you have time, brown it using the Sauté button (if you do brown it, make sure you deglaze by adding a bit of red wine or stock and scraping the bottom of the pot with a wooden spoon at the end). Add the rest of the ingredients, stir. Lock the lid in. Steam release handle pointing to Sealing. Press Pressure Cook / Manual and programme 25 minutes, do a natural release at the end (the natural release is important).
3. If you would like to thicken the sauce, press Keep Warm/Cancel then press Sauté, then Adjust to set it to More and let it bubble with the lid off so that it reduces, stay near your pot as it happens quickly.
Tip: really nice served with mashed potatoes.
Enjoy!
📖 Recipe
Instant Pot Beef Stew
Equipment
- Instant Pot
Ingredients
- 1 onion large, chopped
- 3 cloves of garlic finely chopped
- 1 stalk of celery chopped
- Extra virgin olive oil or oil of your choice
- 1 tin of plum tomatoes
- 150 ml vegetable stock
- 100 ml red wine
- 600 g beef diced (I used braising steak)
- 7 g porcini a handful, add more if you have more (I was down to my last 7 g)
- 280 g mushrooms quartered
- 220 g carrots sliced in half cm coins
- 40g Lindt 85% chocolate 4 squares
- Note:
Note: if you have a Thermomix just stick in the bowl the onion, garlic and celery and chop on speed 5 for 5 seconds
Instructions
- Press Sauté, add a dash of the oil of your choice, and fry the chopped onion, garlic and celery.
- Add the beef and, if you have time, brown it using the Sauté button (if you do brown it, make sure you deglaze by adding a bit of red wine or stock and scraping the bottom of the pot with a wooden spoon at the end). Add the rest of the ingredients, stir. Lock the lid in. Steam release handle pointing to Sealing. Press Pressure Cook / Manual and programme 25 minutes, do a natural release at the end (the natural release is important).
- If you would like to thicken the sauce, press Keep Warm/Cancel then press Sauté, then Adjust to set it to More and let it bubble with the lid off so that it reduces, stay near your pot as it happens quickly.
Cath Mc says
Thank you Maria, saved to try for next time I'm making beef casserole.
Live the idea of the chocolate, I do add it to chilli.
Jan B says
Sounds great! I can’t wait to try this - I’m shopping tomorrow too (including Lidl).
What’s the best way / time to add dumplings to this please? I’ve never found a recipe with proper English dumplings, only American “biscuits” which they think are the same thing as dumplings!
Many thanks.
Maria says
After doing a Natural Pressure Release if it’s a meat stew. Add the dumplings on top and press Sauté.
I like to place the glass lid on. You can use a lid that fits loosely.
If your multicooker has an air fryer lid, air fry at 180°C for 15-20 minutes.
You can even combine the two methods: sauté first then brown with the air fryer lid.
The methods above work both with suet dumplings following the usual instructions on the box and with suet-free dumplings like the ones in this recipe (just don't try to do those at pressure with something with a longer cook time like a beef stew) https://www.feistytapas.com/2019/02/instant-pot-chicken-stew-dumplings/
Hope that helps, Maria