Instant Pot Beef Stew

March 2020. The world changed this week. COVID lockdown. Washington State stay-at-home order. James and I both working from home in the Fremont apartment — his laptop at the dining table, mine at the desk. The commute is ten feet. The kitchen is the break room. The doenjang jjigae is the cafeteria lunch.

I made kimchi jjigae the first night of lockdown. James made beef noodle soup the second night. By the third night we were cooking together, side by side, making whatever we had, and the cooking was sanity, the one thing that felt normal when nothing else was. Korean food as pandemic food. Kimchi as preservation. Doenjang as survival. The cuisine built for Korean winters works for American pandemics.

I called Karen. She and David are isolated in Bellevue. David is seventy-seven, high-risk. Karen is scared. I said I would bring food when it was safe. She said make kimchi jjigae. I said I always make kimchi jjigae. She said I know. The knowing is the comfort. The jjigae is the promise.

The birth mother search is likely paused — Korea entering its own pandemic protocols. The agencies operating at reduced capacity. The search that I initiated with bravery is now on hold, frozen by a virus, and the freezing is frustrating but the life continues and the cooking continues and James is at the dining table and the apartment smells like doenjang and sesame oil and the world outside is empty and silent and the world inside is full.

Saturday: no Bellevue this week. First missed Saturday in months. I called Karen. She was making pot roast. The normalcy of the instruction. The comfort of the recipe. The pot roast continues even when the world does not. The jjigae continues. The cooking continues. We continue.

James made beef noodle soup on night two of lockdown, and something about that—the broth, the warmth, the act of just making something—lodged itself in me as the antidote to everything frightening outside our windows. When I think about the recipes that held us together that spring, it’s always the ones built around slow-cooked meat and deep, savory broth: the kind of food that smells like someone is taking care of you. This Instant Pot Beef Stew became a staple in the weeks that followed, because it delivers that same grounded, nourishing feeling James’s soup did on night two—and it comes together fast, which matters when the world outside feels like it’s asking for everything you have.

Prep Time: 15 minutes | Cook Time: 35 minutes | Total Time: 50 minutes | Servings: 6

Ingredients

2 lbs beef chuck, cut into 1 1/2-inch cubes
1 teaspoon kosher salt, plus more to taste
1/2 teaspoon black pepper
2 tablespoons olive oil
1 medium yellow onion, diced
4 cloves garlic, minced
2 tablespoons tomato paste
1 tablespoon Worcestershire sauce
3 cups beef broth
1 lb baby potatoes, halved
3 medium carrots, cut into 1-inch pieces
2 stalks celery, sliced
1 tablespoon cornstarch
2 tablespoons cold water
Fresh parsley, chopped, for serving

Instructions

Season and sear the beef. Pat beef cubes dry and season with salt and pepper. Set the Instant Pot to “Sauté” mode and heat olive oil. Working in batches, sear beef on all sides until browned, about 3–4 minutes per batch. Remove and set aside.
Build the base. Add onion to the pot and cook, stirring, until softened, about 3 minutes. Add garlic and tomato paste and stir for 1 minute until fragrant. Stir in Worcestershire sauce.
Deglaze and combine. Pour in beef broth, scraping up any browned bits from the bottom of the pot. Return seared beef to the pot along with potatoes, carrots, and celery. Stir to combine.
Pressure cook. Secure the lid and set the valve to “Sealing.” Cook on High Pressure for 35 minutes. When the cycle completes, allow a natural pressure release for 10 minutes, then carefully turn the valve to “Venting” to release any remaining pressure.
Thicken the stew. In a small bowl, whisk together cornstarch and cold water to form a slurry. Set the Instant Pot back to “Sauté” mode, stir in the slurry, and simmer for 3–5 minutes until the broth thickens. Taste and adjust seasoning.
Serve. Ladle into bowls and garnish with fresh parsley. Serve with crusty bread or over steamed rice.

Nutrition (per serving)

Instant Pot Beef Stew — The Comfort We Cooked Toward When the World Went Quiet