Pressure Cooker Guinness Beef Stew With Horseradish Cream

By Sarah DiGregorio

Pressure Cooker Guinness Beef Stew With Horseradish Cream
Johnny Miller for The New York Times. Food Stylist: Susan Spungen.
Total Time
1½ hours
Rating
5(1,468)
Notes
Read community notes

The first step of this hearty cold-weather stew is to put together a quick, aromatic roux directly in the pressure cooker. It sounds fussy, but it’s really not, and it ensures that the final stew is thick and rich, not watery. Beef chuck is the ideal choice here because it is a flavorful cut that becomes fall-apart tender when pressure cooked — and it does so in a fraction of the time that it would take to braise in the oven. Espresso and cocoa powders subtly reinforce the dark, toasty flavors in the Guinness gravy. Pass the horseradish cream at the table so everyone can top their own bowls. (Here are slow cooker and oven versions of the recipe.)

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Ingredients

Yield:6 servings
  • 3pounds beef chuck, fat trimmed and meat cut into 2-inch pieces
  • 2tablespoons plus ⅓ cup all-purpose flour
  • Kosher salt and black pepper
  • ¼cup vegetable oil
  • 3large garlic cloves, chopped
  • 2dried shiitake mushrooms, halved (optional)
  • 2tablespoons tomato paste
  • 2teaspoons packed brown sugar
  • 1teaspoon unsweetened cocoa powder
  • 1teaspoon onion powder
  • ½teaspoon caraway seeds
  • ½teaspoon instant espresso powder
  • 2½cups Guinness or other stout beer
  • 2½cups beef broth or stock
  • 2fresh thyme sprigs
  • 1pound red or Yukon gold potatoes, cut into 1- to 2-inch pieces
  • 1 to 1½pounds root vegetables, such as carrots, turnips, rutabaga, celery root, or parsnips, peeled and cut into 1- to 2-inch pieces
  • 1tablespoon balsamic vinegar
  • 1teaspoon Worcestershire sauce
  • 1teaspoon lemon juice, plus more to taste
  • ¾cup sour cream
  • 3tablespoons jarred horseradish
  • ¼cup minced scallions or chives
Ingredient Substitution Guide
Nutritional analysis per serving (6 servings)

953 calories; 37 grams fat; 13 grams saturated fat; 1 gram trans fat; 20 grams monounsaturated fat; 3 grams polyunsaturated fat; 45 grams carbohydrates; 6 grams dietary fiber; 10 grams sugars; 106 grams protein; 2098 milligrams sodium

Note: The information shown is Edamam’s estimate based on available ingredients and preparation. It should not be considered a substitute for a professional nutritionist’s advice.

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Preparation

  1. Step 1

    In a large bowl, combine the beef and 2 tablespoons flour. Season generously with salt and pepper and toss to coat. Set aside.

  2. Step 2

    Using the sauté setting, heat the oil in the pot. Add the garlic, dried shiitakes (if using), tomato paste, brown sugar, cocoa, onion powder, caraway seeds and espresso powder. Cook, stirring constantly, until the mixture is fragrant and evenly combined, 1 to 2 minutes. Add the remaining ⅓ cup flour and cook, stirring and scraping constantly, until the mixture forms a thick, dry paste, about 1 minute.

  3. Step 3

    Add the beer and broth and bring to a boil, whisking constantly to scrape any browned bits from the bottom of the pot. Let boil until noticeably thickened, about 1 minute. Add the beef and thyme and stir to combine. Cover and set steam valve to sealed position. Cook on high pressure for 22 minutes.

  4. Step 4

    Let the pressure release naturally for 5 minutes, then release the remaining pressure manually. (If you find that too much liquid is spurting out with the steam, close the knob to seal again, wait a minute, and then turn the knob to release the rest of the pressure.) Open and stir in the potatoes and root vegetables. Set steam valve to sealed position and cook on high pressure for 10 minutes. Allow the pressure to release naturally for 10 minutes, then release the remaining pressure manually.

  5. Step 5

    Open the lid. If the beef and vegetables are not tender, pressure cook on high for 3 more minutes and manually release the pressure. Add the vinegar, Worcestershire sauce and lemon juice. Taste and season with more salt, pepper and lemon juice if necessary. (If the stew tastes flat, add more lemon juice first, then more salt and pepper; acid is key to making it taste lively. It may need a surprising amount of salt, especially if you have used unsalted or low-salt stock.)

  6. Step 6

    Discard the thyme sprigs and skim the fat from the top using a ladle or by passing a clean paper towel just over the surface of the stew. (If you would like the stew to be thicker, transfer the beef and vegetables with a slotted spoon to a bowl or plate. Using the sauté setting, let boil until it is the desired consistency. Add the beef and vegetables back into the pot.)

  7. Step 7

    Make the horseradish cream: Stir together the sour cream, horseradish and scallions in a small bowl. Season with salt. Serve stew in bowls with a spoonful of the horseradish cream.

Ratings

5 out of 5
1,468 user ratings
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Cooking Notes

queenfiona

Good recipe. Omitted the sugar because the stout I used was pretty sweet. Doubled the garlic & added an onion. Otherwise followed the recipe. Used parsnips & turnips as the root vegetables. Easy & very tasty. The horseradish cream makes the recipe -- don't omit. Of note, this recipe gets pretty much to the max-fill line in an 8qt Instant Pot, so if you have a 6 qt Instant Pot, you may need to scale things back

Cheryl

I was taught to sear my stew meat first, for extra flavor. I mixed the meat with flour, salt, pepper as directed. I’m not a fan of onion powder so I rough chopped 1/2 onion. I set the instant pot to normal sautée, added couple Tbsp oil, added onions, and sautéed beef in 4 quick batches, just enough to put a sear on two edges of each piece. I removed all meat to a bowl, deglazed the pot with 1/2 cup beef broth, and poured that any onions to a separate bowl. Then I followed the rest of recipe.

Kim

I like how this recipe makes you open 2 cans of Guinness but only uses a bit of the second can. Nicely done!

Mimi Pond

This was beyond perfect. I made it in my electric pressure cooker. I used a "coffee stout," about 1/4 cup real espresso instead of espresso powder, some Trader Joe's Umami seasoning along with the other ones, and used only carrots and baby yukon gold potatoes. Big hit with the husband, especially the horseradish cream. The meat was superbly tender, as were the vegetables. Wonderful depth of flavor!

David

Really good and the horseradish cream elevates it. So does the lemon juice, so don't be afraid to be generous. Added onions as part of the root veggies and a couple of bay leaves along with the thyme. Building the umami through the sautéed roux is a much more satisfactory approach than trying to brown the meat on the fairly feeble pressure cooker sauté setting.

duggan

This is an over processed venture. If it justifies spending 30 bucks on a Dinty Moore look and taste-alike ‘cause you are making it from scratch? Go for it. I like a little life left in my food. Reduce pressure cooking times for everything. Add one large chopped onion —please add—to the saute mix. You can ditch the espresso and chocolate posturing. Replace 20 oz of Guinness if you don’t have it with a lovely red—a generous cup. Keep the dried shitakes (or porcini)

Daisy R.

I noticed the other versions of this recipe (slow cooker and oven) call to sauté the meat after coating in flour and removing from pot, then continuing to go about the recipe, sautéing the veggies, etc. You might want to consider doing the same in this recipe.

Natasha

Can this be made with pork instead of beef?

james

Delicious! I used carrots, turnips, parsnips, and peas as my veggies and it was so tasty! This recipe is a winner! Though be sure to sear the meat and cook the onions down first as the other commenters recommend, and use butter in the roux instead of oil :)

Susan

Made this last night. The flavors are wonderful and in the Instant Pot its a great weeknight dinner.

Lemanswinner

I've made this twice. It's a keeper. However, it makes way more sauce than necessary. Next time, I'll reduce the beer and the stock by a cup each.

C from Colorado

Sorry. That was a bit long but there is more. I make a roux of cornstarch and water and mix in a spoonful of the cooked broth before adding the whole to the stew. It thickens nicely with little mess. Obviously, you should salt and pepper to taste and of course add other herbs you like, such as thyme and bay leaf. For the broth, if you want that yeasty flavor of beer/stout, use that as part of the liquid. There's too much prep going on here, IMHO.

C from Colorado

Personally, I have never measured for stew. I pat the meat dry, brown, then add chopped onion, and sauté a bit to soften and slightly brown the onion. Then add beef and veg broth and some red wine (the amounts depend on how much meat and how many veg you are going to add). I use a 75% beef to 25% veg combo for a nice flavor. I let that cook in the oven for an hour or so, then add the veg--carrots, potatoes, parsnips, turnips, whatever I have. Add more liquid and cook for 3-4 hrs. more @ 225.

Drake Baer

Added 1 TB more cocoa powder at the end, which made the dish astonishingly good. Of course, don’t use onion and garlic powder unless you’re making this after the Apocalypse when grocery stores have been looted of alliums. Aside from adding a tad more Guinness, and some carrots and peas, and then kale right after pressure-cooking, I made this exactly as written (a rarity), and we thought this might be the best beef stew ever.

Evelyn

Great Recipe! I browned the beef before adding into the liquid. I didn't add the extra flour to the beef either and it came out great. Would definitely make again. I also cooked half of the carrots in the pressure cooker with the beef since we like soft carrots. The rest, along with potatoes, we boiled and then added them to the finished beef. Both were good.

KatherineF

Used my Instapot. High pressure for 30 minutes for the meat then 3 minutes with the root vegetables. Meat was so tender but next time I would do 2 minutes with the veg. Great recipe the stew was better the next day

Jenny

Instead of a pressure cooker, I used my dutch oven and put in the oven @ 300' for 6 hours. The last 3 hours, i dropped in the vegetables and added more broth and Guinness. It was perfect.

Liz

Followed the recipe exactly except I browned the meat first as it says to do in the other versions. The stew was flavorful. The horseradish cream overwhelmed everything and so next time I will skip it.

Scott D.

We tried this last night and doubled the recipe in one 12qt InstantPot. Mistake. Everything took forever and burned the bottom during the meat cook; swapped to another InstantPot insert and that one burned too. Flavors were great, but the steps need some rework. Recommend less flour, and searing meat first. Other than that, we all agreed this dish is probably best left as the original Oven-Braised version, as it took us almost 3hrs anyway!

Sj

The finished product was delicious. However, each of the 3 times it was coming up to pressure, the "burn" alert went off. The first time, it seemed to self-correct (the alert went away after a minute), but the second and third times I had to pour out the stew and scrub the inner pot, then pour it back and proceed. I will make the recipe again, but either in the slow cooker, or thickening the broth at the end of cooking in the Instant Pot.

Sarah

Delicious! Used half carrots, half parsnips. They and the potatoes cooked just right for my taste (tender but not mush). Used Better Than Bouillon for stock and added a few extra dried mushrooms (they were so small). Love the idea of adding onions (maybe pearl?) next time. Thank you for the lovely recipe!

dianne

Pressure cooked the beef in the sauce on its own, then added vegetables and pressure cooked for 5 minutes. Delicious

Amber

Miserable. Burns to the pot unless you stir constantly. Cannot, therefore be done in the instant pot. Do not attempt unless you want to scrub multiple pots and and not eat dinner. I think the problem is the amount of flour. The 1tsp instead of 1/3 cup plus 2tbsp. This ruined a lot of expensive ingredients for me.

Jeff

In reading the comments I noticed quite a few people having problems with the BURN warning with the instant pot. When I first got it I would get that message so often that I almost gave up on using the IP. My workaround is to never use the sauté function on the IP. I do all the prep work for the base sauce in my Dutch oven, and after the final adding the beef I stir it all together in the IP and then pressure cook it for the 20 minutes. The rest I make using the IP. No more burn warnings!

Jason

I shaved a few things off this recipe because I didn't have certain things on hand. One thing to note is that rather than use stout and broth, I just used a 16oz bottle of St Peter's Cream Stout and skipped the broth. It came out incredible. I also didn't need to add extra salt after the initial salting of the meat, so I'm not sure why the author says "It may need a surprising amount of salt". Don't skip the lemon!

Ali in California

This was just mediocre for me. Not my favorite beef stew and my kids didn’t like the flavor profile that came from the stout and cocoa. I won’t be cooking it again.

Tipsy24

This was very good for a cold winter’s evening. The only addition I made was to use one real onion. I would definitely add a parsnip next time too to add depth to the flavor. The better than bouillon helps too for the broth.

A little more of everything🤌

Why onion powder instead of raw onion??

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