Beef stew will be ‘extra tender, rich and flavourful’ if you add cook’s 1 tasty ingredient

Beef stew are simple to , but sometimes, they can lack flavour or end up being a watery mess. Home cook Michele has taken to her food blog to share how to cook a stew that will give you fork-tender beef, potatoes, and vegetables in a rich, savoury gravy ready in an hour.

She claimed that the delicious depth of flavour and texture comes from “one secret ingredient”. Michele said: “My secret ingredient that makes the stew extra tender, rich and flavourful. What is it you ask? Instead of adding tomato sauce, I add a tomato-based chilli sauce. Yes, chilli sauce! It adds additional flavour to give the gravy more depth of flavour. My husband could not stop talking about how good the gravy was.”

Michele recommends using an instant pot or pressure cooker to cook beef to quicken the process.

She said: “Normally, beef stew needs to be cooked slowly in a slow cooker or the oven to get that tender beef and rich, savoury gravy.

“However, the instant pot or pressure cooker speeds up the cooking yet still gives you that same tender beef and vegetables and flavourful gravy.”

Ingredients

907g beef, cut into one-inch pieces

One tablespoon oil

Two medium potatoes, cut into 1-inch pieces

Half a large onion, chopped

Two teaspoons of minced garlic

Two celery stalks, chopped

Two carrots, chopped

One cup of red wine

Two tablespoons of Worcestershire

One quarter cup chilli sauce (a tomato-based chilli sauce)

Two to two and a half cups of beef broth

Salt and pepper, to taste

Two teaspoons of Italian seasoning

Two tablespoons of cornstarch

One-quarter cup of water

Two tablespoons of fresh parsley, chopped

Method

Start by cutting the beef into about one-inch bite-size pieces or use pre-cut stewing meat. Chop the potatoes, onion, carrots, and celery. This can be done the day before if desired.

Press the saute button. Wait until “hot” appears on the front of the instant pot. Then add oil to the inner liner pot within the Instant Pot.

When the oil starts to sizzle, add the stew meat. Let it brown for a couple of minutes. Then turn the meat so it browns on all sides. Don’t cook it all the way through. The goal is to just brown the outside of the meat.

Add the chopped onion and garlic to cook. Add additional oil, if needed. Cook until the onions are translucent.

Deglaze the pan by pouring in the wine. Scrape all the brown bits from the bottom of the pan. That adds flavor to the sauce and helps to prevent getting the “burn” warning on the Instant Pot.

Add the potatoes, carrots, celery, beef broth, Worcestershire, and chilli sauce, followed by salt and pepper as well as Italian seasoning.

Pressure cook the beef stew with high pressure for about 35 minutes. Release the steam naturally for about 15 to 20 minutes. This time can vary.

If the gravy is too thin, mix two tablespoons of cornstarch with a quarter cup of water and stir into the beef stew while it is hot. Garnish with chopped parsley.