Instant Pot Tomato Beef Stew
A comforting tomato beef stew made in the Instant Pot. Short ribs are simmered with tomatoes, carrots and aromatics until fall-apart tender, finished with a rich, glossy sauce. Serve over steamed rice or pasta fora proper comfort meal.
Ingredients
- 700 g boneless short ribs, cut into chunks I bought bone-in short ribs and removed the bone myself, yielding about 700g of meat.
- 2 tsp sugar, for the caramel
- 5 garlic cloves, smashed
- 5 g finely sliced ginger
- 1 tbsp soy sauce
- ½ onion, sliced or diced about 140g
- 250 carrots, cut into chunks cut it fairly large, as pressure cooking will soften it further
- 4 tomatoes, cut into wedges or diced, peeled if you prefer about 350g
- 70 g tomato purée
- 2 bay leaves
- 45 ml cooking wine
- 260 ml beef stock or water
- A handful of finely chopped spring onion, to garnish
- Vegetable oil, for cooking
FOR SEASONING
- Salt and black pepper
Instructions
- Caramelise the sugar: Set the pressure cooker to ‘Sauté’ and heat the oil. Add the sugar and cook until it caramelises to a deep amber colour. Immediately add the short rib chunks and sear until browned.
- Build the base: Add the garlic, ginger, onion, carrot, tomatoes, tomato purée and soy sauce. Cook until softened and fragrant.
- Deglaze and add liquid: Pour in the cooking wine, scraping the bottom of the pot to release any browned bits. Add the beef stock or water and the bay leaves.
- Pressure cook: Seal the lid and cook on ‘Pressure Cook’ setting for 35 minutes. Allow the pressure to release naturally, or release manually once ready.
- Check and season: Open the lid and check that the beef is tender. Season with salt to taste.
- Reduce the sauce: Switch back to ‘Sauté’ function and simmer for about 10 minutes, until the sauce has thickened.
- Serve: Garnish with the spring onion and a crack of black pepper. Serve hot.
If you prefer the carrot and tomatoes to keep more bite, hold back a portion of each before pressure cooking. Let some carrot and tomato pressure cook along with the beef, as this helps build a deeper, more layered flavour in the sauce. Add the reserved portion in later, once you switch back to 'Sauté' to reduce the sauce, so they soften slightly but still hold their shape.
Notes
