Beef Stew

Beef stew is a great recipe to experiment with or to just use up whatever is in the fridge. That said, here is my favorite way to make it. I pressure cook it for speed but that also means being careful not to prep too many veggies to fit in the instant pot. If cooking in a crock or standard pot nothing really has to change except time.

• ~3-4 lbs. whole chuck
• 1 bunch of celery
• 2-4 yellow onions, depending on size and preference
• 6-12 carrots, depending on size and preference
• ~5 cloves of garlic (but it never hurts to increase this)
• 1 little can of tomato paste (~6 oz)
• 1 Sutter Home (or equivalent) 187 ml bottle of red wine
• Pepper
• 3 bay leaves (4 or 5 if you're pulling small or partial leaves)
• Beef stock
• Fresh sage (optional)

1. Chop chuck into ~1 inch cubes and place in pot
2. Smash garlic cloves with the side of your knife, then mince. Add to the pot
3. Chop celery, onions, and carrots to your preference. I go medium thick for all of these but it isn't life or death. Add to pot
4. Add pepper to taste (I'm thinking 1 TBS minimum)
5. Add tomato paste and wine, then stir in pot until well mixed
6. Add beef stock to cover (or just to the max fill line if you are that high up in an instant pot)
7. Add bay leaves. Stir again
8. Pressure cook on high for 30 minutes (if using standard pot, turn on high until bubbling, reduce to a simmer and cook for at least 4 hours stirring every once in a while to make sure nothing is getting stuck to the bottom. 6 hours is better)
9. Taste for salt, adding if necessary. If you used a base for your stock, feel free to add more of that instead of plain salt
10. Remove bay leaves
11. Ladle yourself a bowl and top with minced sage if available. Not really necessary but I like it. Enjoy and refrigerate or freeze the rest for later

• Some honorable mention vegetables include parsnips, brussels sprouts, and potatoes


• Roasting the beef and / or vegetables before cooking can create a richer flavor. Honestly though i usually skip this. It's the acidity from the wine and tomato that really make this recipe for me


• I tend to pick cabernet for the wine because i assume it provides the richest flavor. I'm not really an expert in Sutter Home so feel free to experiment

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