Tender beef, hearty root vegetables and a blend of delicious Asian ingredients come together to create this delicious Asian Beef Stew perfect for those living a Paleo/Whole30 lifestyle! This stew tastes like it's been simmering for hours thanks to the Instant Pot Pressure Cooker. Full of flavor and easy to make, this stew is the type of comfort food the whole family will love -especially on a cold night!
First and foremost, I feel like I should preface this post with a confession, so here it goes: I've never liked beef stew. There, I said it. Perhaps I've just never had good beef stew, but when I reflect back on the beef stews I've had in the past the first things that comes to mind is Alpo. And gross.
So now you're probably wondering why on earth I'd create a recipe for beef stew if I don't even like it. Well, there's a very logical explanation for that. I can't say no to a good sale and there was a very good sale on stew meat at Safeway. Naturally, I stocked up. I know there are other ways I could have used my stew meat stash, but I was determined to create a beef stew recipe that I genuinely enjoyed and lo and behold, I did it!
This stew leans more towards an Asian dish, with ingredients such as fish sauce and coconut aminos. That's the main reason it won me over. My taste buds gravitate towards traditional Asian flavors and ingredients, so this stew speaks my language.
Jump to:
Ingredients for Instant Pot Asian Beef Stew with Root Vegetables & Possible Ingredient Variations
You're obviously going to need an Instant Pot or a pressure cook of some sort. As far as the ingredients go, here's what you'll need!
- 2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil: you could easily swap the EVOO for avocado oil, coconut oil, ghee or whatever quality cooking oil you have on hand.
- 2 pounds beef stew meat: I recommend using 2 pounds of chuck or round for this recipe. They're both affordable cuts of meat that will tenderize to perfection in the Instant Pot. It's also fairly easy to find these cuts in the grocery store already cut into cubes which is a huge time saver.
- 3 tablespoons tapioca starch: if you have no reason to eliminate grains from your diet, corn starch will work just as well. 1 tablespoon will be used to coat the meat before browning and 2 tablespoons will be used to make a slurry (more on that later).
- 2 large onions
- 4 cloves garlic
- 2 cups beef stock
- 3 tablespoons almond butter: you can use any nut butter in place of the almond (cashew, walnut, etc). You could even use peanut butter if you have no reason not to!
- 2 tablespoons coconut aminos: gluten-free soy sauce works too!
- 1 tablespoon fish sauce
- ½ tablespoon dried thyme leaves, 1 teaspoon paprika, ¼ teaspoon turmeric, 1 bay leaf
- 1 pound of potatoes
- 1 pound of rutabaga
Is This Stew Low Carb/Keto-Friendly?
In short, no -but it can easily be modified to fit into your low carb lifestyle. In order to the cut the carbs, simply swap the potatoes out for a less carby root vegetable. You could double up on the rutabaga or use celery root (celeriac), turnips or carrots! You could even use a combination of all of the above!
How to Make Asian Beef Stew with Root Vegetables in the Instant Pot
- To begin, press the "SAUTE" button on your Instant Pot. After a minute or so, add 2 tablespoons of EVOO to the pot and heat until hot but not smoking.
- While the Instant Pot is heating up, go ahead and prep the meat. If not already cut into pieces, cut the stew meat into 1 inch cubes removing any visible fat. Next, toss the cubed meat in 1 tablespoon of tapioca starch and season with salt and pepper. The tapioca starch will help brown the meat as well as thicken the sauce. Reserve the remaining 2 tablespoons of tapioca starch for a slurry you're going to make later.
- Once the stew meat is evenly coated in tapioca starch and seasoned, dump it into the Instant Pot and brown for 5 to 7 minutes or until all of the meat is evenly browned but not cooked through. Once the meat has a nice brown crust, remove it from the Instant Pot and set it aside on a clean plate. Leave the Instant Pot on the "SAUTE" mode. While the meat is browning, you could totally be multi-tasking by chopping the onions and giving the garlic a good peel and smash! There's no need to mince the garlic. The smashed cloves will fall apart in the Instant Pot.
- Carrying on, add the onions to the Instant Pot and saute for a minute or until just softened, scraping up any browned bits from the meat along the way. There's so much flavor in those bits! Then, toss the smashed garlic into the Instant Pot and saute until fragrant (another minute or so). Season with salt and pepper and hit "CANCEL" on the Instant Pot.
- In a medium mixing bowl, whisk together the beef stock, almond butter, coconut aminios, fish sauce and all of the dried herbs and spices. Pour the liquid into the Instant Pot with the onions and garlic and give it a good stir.
6. Add the browned meat back to the pot and stir. Close the lid and make sure the steam valve is pushed back to "SEALING." Press the "MEAT/STEW" button and set the timer for 20 minutes. While the Instant Pot is busy working it's magic, go ahead and peel/chop the root vegetables. Once the Instant Pot tells you it's finished, carefully manually release the pressure and remove the lid.
7. Add the root vegetables to the Instant Pot, without stirring them into the meat and onions. Let them hang out on top of everything while the Instant Pot does the rest of the work. Once again, close the lid, seal the steam valve and set the Instant Pot to pressure cook on high pressure for 10 minutes. Once finished, let the pressure release naturally for 10 minutes. After 10 minutes, manually release any remaining pressure. Remove the lid, stir and discard the bay leaf.
The last step is to make a quick slurry and add it to the stew.
What is a Slurry?
In cooking, a slurry is used to thicken a sauce. By adding some sort of flour to liquid and pouring it into a saucey dish, ideally the sauce will thicken.
How to Make a Slurry for this Asian Beef Stew
Easy. In a small bowl, whisk together 2 tablespoons of tapioca starch with 1 cup of the hot liquid from the stew and 1 cup of cool water. Slowly pour the slurry back into the pot while stirring. At this point, your Instant Pot should have switched over to the "KEEP WARM" function automatically, so just leave it be for 5 to 10 minutes or until the sauce has noticeably thickened. Season to taste with additional salt and pepper and serve!
How to Serve this Stew
- I love garnishing this stew with fresh cilantro, chives, sesame seeds and a dollop of sriracha for even more of an Asian feel.
- This stew is certainly a meal in itself, but you could make it even more hearty by serving it over cauliflower rice, warm jasmine rice, mashed potatoes or rice noodles.
What to do with the Leftovers
This recipe will yield quite a bit of stew. Unless you're feeding a crowd, you'll probably have leftovers! I simply stored a few portioned out containers in the fridge to eat throughout the week and froze the rest in a freezer bag. This stew will last up to 3 months in the freezer which is great because I have a feeling that we're in store for a very long, very cold winter. The worst has yet to come.
This easy and healthy Instant Pot Asian Beef Stew with Root Vegetables is the ultimate one-pot wonder comfort food. Pressure cooking stew meat turns a relatively tougher cut of meat into fall-apart juicy morsels of deliciousness. You'll have a meal that tastes like it's been simmering away for hours on the table in no time! If you have any other questions about this stew, don't hesitate to ask via the comment box below or any of my social media channels.
If you make this recipe, please let me know! Leave a rating and a comment below and tag your photos #paleoishkristaeats on Instagram. Stay warm out there friends and snuggle up with some Asian Beef Stew! 😉
Pin Now! Cook Later!
Hungry for more hearty dishes to keep you warm and cozy this winter? Look no further than the recipes below!
- Instant Pot Beef, Sausage and Butternut Squash Chili
- Leftover Chicken Soup
- Paleo Turkey and Broccoli Divan Casserole
- Vegan Roasted Root Vegetable Gratin
📖 Recipe
Instant Pot Asian Beef Stew with Root Vegetables | Paleo & Whole30
Ingredients
- 2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
- 2 pounds beef stew meat chuck or round
- 3 tablespoon tapioca starch divided into 1 and 2 tablespoons
- 2 large onions chopped
- 4 cloves garlic peeled and smashed
- 2 cups beef stock
- 3 tablespoons almond butter
- 2 tablespoons coconut aminos
- 1 tablespoon fish sauce
- ½ tablespoon dried thyme leaves
- 1 teaspoon paprika
- ¼ teaspoon turmeric
- 1 bay leaf
- 1 pound rutabaga peeled and chopped
- 1 pound potatoes peeled and chopped
- salt and peper
- cilantro optional
Instructions
- Set the Instant Pot to "SAUTE". Once hot, add 2 tablespoons of extra virgin olive oil to the pot. Heat until hot but not smoking.
- While the EVOO is heating, pat the stew meat dry with a paper towel. In a large bowl, toss the stew meat with 1 tablespoon tapioca starch until evenly coated. Season with salt and pepper.
- Add the stew meat to the Instant Pot and brown for 5 to 7 minutes, stirring frequently. While the meat is browning, chop the onions and peel/smash the garlic. Once all of the meat is evenly browned, remove the meat from the Instant Pot and set aside on a clean plate. Leave the Instant Pot on the "SAUTE" function.
- Add the chopped onions to the Instant Pot and cook for 1 minute while scraping up any browned bits from the stew meat. Add the smashed garlic cloves to the pot and saute for an additional minute or until fragrant. Season with salt and pepper. Hit "CANCEL" on the Instant Pot.
- In a medium bowl, whisk together beef stock, almond butter, coconut aminos, fish sauce, dried thyme leaves, paprika, and turmeric until smooth. Pour liquid into the Instant Pot with the onions and garlic. Stir.
- Add browned stew meat and bay leaf to the Instant Pot. Stir. Secure the lid and make sure the steam valve is set to "SEALING". Set the Instant Pot to the "MEAT/STEW" (high pressure) function for 20 minutes. Meanwhile, peel and chop the rutabaga and potatoes. When the Instant Pot beeps to indicate it's finished, quickly release the pressure manually. Once all of the pressure has released, carefully remove the lid.
- Without stirring, add the rutabaga and potatoes to the contents of the Instant Pot. Close the lid. Seal the steam valve and cook on "HIGH PRESSURE" for 10 more minutes. Allow the pressure to release naturally for 10 minutes. Release any remaining pressure manually, carefully open the lid and discard the bay leaf. Leave the Instant Pot on "KEEP WARM."
- In a small bowl, whisk together 2 tablespoons tapioca starch, 1 cup of hot liquid from the Instant Pot and 1 cup of cool water to create a slurry. Pour into the Instant Pot and stir until the stew thickens (5 to 10 minutes). Season to taste with additional salt and pepper. Serve hot, garnished with fresh cilantro (optional). Enjoy!
If you’d like to receive my monthly newsletter, don’t forget to subscribe! You’ll be kept up-to-date on all of the latest Paleoish Krista recipes! Pretty cool, right? I thought so too!
