Instant Pot Red Chile Beef Stew #instapot

First of all, I must make a confession. I made a tomato based red chile sauce last month and canned a dozen pint jars plus four quart jars. Needless to say, I had to adjust this recipe so that you don’t have to make a huge batch of chile sauce as I did.

So, Instapot. Yes, it’s the rage and I was given one for a Christmas gift. No kidding, I stared at the box for a week before I unpacked it. I can’t help it, I am daunted by LED displays and a manual that states Do’s and Don’ts. The first time I used it I took all the dried Guajillo and Pasilla chiles and rehydrated them. Perfect result! After that, I was determined to try a real recipe.

Ingredients

2 lbs beef stew meat, cubed
1 tablespoon New Mexico chile powder
¼ cup quality flour
1 tablespoon olive oil
1 large yellow onion, roughly chopped in large pieces
3 large carrots, sliced in 2” pieces
4 celery stalk, sliced in 2” pieces
1 8oz package mushrooms, quartered
4-6 roasted garlic cloves
1 14 oz can crushed tomatoes
1 4oz package Guajillo chiles
1 teaspoon cumin, or more if you like cumin

Directions

Mix the chile powder and flour well in a plastic bag, add the meat and toss to coat.

Chop the vegetables, set aside. Keep the mushrooms separate for later. If you don’t have roasted garlic on hand, add the garlic to the chile water, pull out and press the garlic.

In a small sauce pan, bring water to a boil and then add the chiles. Boil 10 minutes, cover and turn off the heat. Wait about 15 minutes and drain into a bowl to capture the water. If you boiled your garlic, remove and press the garlic. Place the chiles in a food processor with the garlic and pulse, adding the water until your chiles form a paste. Remove any skin that did not hydrate. Add the crushed tomatoes and cumin, pulse a few times to mix well. Or, scrape the chile paste into a bowl, add the tomatoes and cumin, mix well.

Select the Sauté setting and add the olive oil. Wait about a minute to warm up and then add the meat. Toss until lightly browned, about 2-3 minutes and make sure to scrape the bottom and sides. Remove the meat from pot into a large mixing bowl, set aside. Place the chopped onions to the bottom of the pot, add the meat back in, add the carrots and celery, then add the chile tomato mixture.

While the stew is cooking, saute the mushrooms until browned, set aside.

Cover Change the setting to Manual and set it for 35 minutes on High. Now, this is supposed to be “instant” but I discovered it takes time for the machine to actually get to the correct temperature before the cooking begins. Refer to your Instant Pot manual for specifics.

Add the mushrooms before serving. This is especially tasty with warm tortillas!

It’s worth it! Bon Appétit!

#instantpot #redchilebeefstew #redchiles #beefstew