Spicy Beef Stew Recipe Without Wine (Instant Pot) (2024)

FAQs

What can I use in place of wine in beef stew? ›

Why is stew meat tough in instant pot? Stew meat can become tough in the instant pot if you cook it too quickly.

When you slow-cook tough cuts of meat like beef chuck, the acid present in the wine eventually helps to break the meat down, making it more tender. Red wine in beef stew also adds depth of flavor — some of the liquid evaporates in the oven, which concentrates the flavors going on in the pot.

Taste: For overall taste, the pressure cooker was the hands-down winner. Beef, carrots, and potatoes all retained their rich flavors. After 8 hours in the slow cooker, they emerged bland and seemed to need salt.

If using vegetable broth, I recommend adding ¼ cup of coconut aminos when adding the broth for a greater depth of flavor. Tart cherry juice can also be used as a "red wine" replacement.

Wine of any type is not a required ingredient in beef stew. When it is used, it's usually red (Pinot Noir / Burgundy). But you can use anything you want. There are no food police, nobody is going to give you a ticket for using a different ingredient.

Unfortunately, once you overcook a piece of meat in the pressure cooker, there's no going back. You'll be left with a pile of dry, crunchy, tasteless fibers and no amount of additional pressure cooking is going to put that moisture back into the meat.

Chuck meat is your best bet for beef stew, but it's also a pretty tough cut so it needs time to break down and become tender. Rush the cooking process and the beef will be tough and chewy. Follow this tip: For really tender meat, cook the stew low and slow, for approximately two hours.

Pressure cooking, like slow cooking, will tenderize tough cuts of meat like beef brisket, beef chuck, pork shoulder and lots of other cheaper, tougher cuts. Pressure cooking (or slow cooking) is not the best approach for cooking expensive, tender steaks or rib roasts.

Adding wine to stews is not unknown. Here's the standard operating procedure used happily for many generations: fry red meat (beef or pork) until the surface is golden; add wine (red or white will do) to the ingredients, close the lid and cook on low heat for a few hours; wait, wait, wait (check your phones); finish!

Which wine is best for stew? ›

Go for a pinot noir if you like your stews light and fruity, cabernet sauvignon if you like it strong and rustic, and a merlot if you fall somewhere in between. But most importantly, use a wine that you're also happy to drink.

The vinegar will loosen all the brown bits from the bottom of the pan and add flavor. Cook until the vegetables are softened, then add the tomato paste and cook for a minute more. Add the beef back into the pan and sprinkle with the flour.

Go for the chuck

The most common beef used for stew is chuck steak, also known as gravy beef or braising steak. Beef chuck comes from the forequarter of the animal consisting of parts of the neck, shoulder blade and upper arm. It is easy to find and it's affordable, making it a great choice for your stew.

If you want your corned beef in a fraction of the time it normally takes, I highly recommend cooking it in the Instant Pot or pressure cooker. A 3 1/2 – 4 1/2 corned beef will be perfectly tender in just 60 – 90 minutes as opposed to several hours in the slow cooker or on the stove top.

Can you overcook stew in a slow cooker? A slow-cooked stew is pretty forgiving, but cooking beyond the point of tenderness can dry out the meat as well as the cooking juices and sauce. If serving is delayed, switch your slow cooker to warm until you're ready to eat.

Use balsamic vinegar as a 1:1 substitute for red wine vinegar in most recipes. You can also dilute it with white vinegar or red wine. Because of its thicker, sweeter properties, you may need to reduce the sweetness in the recipe you're following.

White grape juice: Use white grape juice as a substitute when you want to add sweetness, or deglaze the pan. For a punchier substitute, try mixing a tablespoon of vinegar or lemon juice per cup of grape juice. Chicken or vegetable stock: Substitute stock for white wine when you want to add depth of flavor to a dish.

In today's recipe for a French-style beef stew that I adapted from one I had for beef bourguignon, I substituted unsweetened concord grape juice for some of the two cups of wine used in the original recipe. I only used one cup of the grape juice, since it has a pretty intense flavour and natural sweetness.