Instant Pot Beef and Black-Eyed Pea Stew. Beef and bean stew in the pressure cooker, with dried beans that don’t need any soaking.
I loved the pork and black-eyed pea chili I made last month, so I had to try black-eyed peas in a beef stew. The results were fantastic, and I couldn’t wait to share them…except then the Thanksgiving Turkey rush started, so I had to hold the recipe. But, better late than never, here it is.
I love beef stew, and I love to use it as an excuse to travel the globe, from Ireland to Texas to Provence. This stew doesn’t have a specific place that it’s from. It’s a mashup of my Easy Beef Stew with black-eyed peas, using Paprika and thyme as the spices.
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🥫Ingredients
- Dried black-eyed peas
- Vegetable oil
- Beef chuck
- Paprika
- Fine sea salt
- Fresh ground black pepper
- Onion
- Celery
- Carrot
- Garlic
- Dried Thyme
- Tomato Paste
- Red Wine
- Chicken broth
- Baking soda
- Crushed tomatoes
See recipe card for quantities.
🥘 Substitutions
Dried black-eyed peas are one of the keys to this recipe. You can substitute canned, but they will get a bit mushy by the time the pork is cooked through. If you want to substitute another small dried bean, like cranberry, small red, or navy beans, soak them overnight, and increase the pressure cooking time to 20 minutes to cook them all the way through.
Beef chuck - 1-inch cubes of beef chuck roast match the cooking time of the black-eyed peas. It’s OK if they’re cut a little smaller, but try not to get bigger cubes. Top round, bottom round, or boneless beef short ribs can be substituted for the chuck roast.
Onion, celery, carrot, and garlic: These aromatics are the base of all my stews. You can get by with just the onion, if you’re missing ingredients, but I like the mix of all of them.
I like the flavor combination of paprika and thyme. You can skip one or both if you want. If you have Smoked Spanish paprika, use it; I love the extra smoky flavor you get. Also, I use “sweet” paprika - that is, not hot paprika - but if you want to up the heat, go with hot paprika.
Chicken broth: use homemade chicken broth (which you should make in batches and freeze, since it’s one of the killer recipes that the Instant Pot makes), or low-sodium store-bought chicken or beef broth if you don’t have time to make your own. Or, substitute water, and add ½ teaspoon of salt. I usually go with chicken broth over beef broth, because it’s easier to make and adds depth to the recipe without taking away from the beefy flavor.
Wine adds a hint of acid to the stew, and the alcohol helps bring out the flavor in the spices. I prefer red wine blends, like a Cote du Rhone, for cooking, but any dry red wine will do, especially since we’re only using ½ a cup.
Skipping the wine: If you don’t want any alcohol in the dish, substitute a little more chicken broth or water for the wine.
The baking soda helps keep the beans tender. There are some acidic ingredients in this chili (paprika, tomatoes), and an acidic environment toughens up the beans. The baking soda helps counter the acid in the other ingredients.
I use crushed tomatoes to make sure they become part of the stew sauce, but if you want chunks of tomatoes, substitute a can of diced tomatoes.
🛠 Equipment
📏Scaling
This recipe scales down easily - cut everything in half and it will fit in a 3-quart pressure cooker. Scaling up runs into space issues; if you have an 8-quart pressure cooker, you can double this recipe, but it’s too much to fit in a 6-quart pressure cooker.
🤨 Soaking Black-Eyed Peas?
I get the “to soak or not to soak?” question all the the time. I don’t soak black-eyed peas. They cook in 15 minutes under pressure - soaking them seems like a waste of time when they cook so quickly.
Sorting Peas
Black-eyed peas are an agricultural product, and like other beans, stuff tends to creep in when they are processed. Dried beans should always be sorted and rinsed before using, to get rid of any twigs, stones, clumps of dirt, or broken beans.
To sort the black-eyed peas, I pour them out on one side of a rimmed baking sheet (a half-sheet pan), to keep the peas from escaping. Then I slowly run my fingers through the pile of peas, pulling them towards me on the sheet. I watch the peas as they move, looking for anything that doesn't seem right. If I see something, I poke around in the peas until I find what caught my eye, and discard it. I repeat this a couple of times, until I'm satisfied everything is out of the peas.
Then I dump the peas into a fine mesh strainer and rinse them under cold running water, to wash off any dirt or dust.
Now the black-eyed peas are sorted, rinsed, and ready for soaking or cooking.
💡Tips and Tricks
- Simmer to thicken: If you have the time, and want thicker stew, simmer for 10 to 20 minutes after pressure cooking. Set the Instant Pot to Sauté mode adjusted to low, with a 20 minute cooking time, and leave the lid off to let the broth evaporate. Stir occasionally, scraping the bottom of the pot with a flat-edged wooden spoon to make sure nothing is sticking and burning. When the chili is thickened to your liking, cancel the heat and it is ready to serve.
- Why do you brown the meat on only one side? Browning adds a lot of flavor to a stew. The layer of caramelized brown bits left in the pot (“fond” in French) dissolve into the liquid of the stew, adding depth and body. That said, I only brown the beef on one side, unlike traditional recipes; it takes too long to brown the meat on all sides - I do not have the patience. Browning one side gives me the best balance of flavor and speed.
- Can I skip the browning step? Well, yes, you can, but as I said above, you’re going to lose some of the beefy flavor from the browned bits melting into the stew. I consider it an essential step, but if it’s the difference between making stew and not making stew, go ahead and skip it.
Instant Pot Beef and Black-Eyed Pea Stew
- Total Time: 1 hour 15 minutes
- Yield: 10 servings of stew 1x
Description
Instant Pot Beef and Black-Eyed Pea Stew. Beef and bean stew in the pressure cooker, with dried beans that don’t need any soaking.
Ingredients
- 8 ounces (1 heaping cup) dried black-eyed peas, sorted and rinsed
- 1 tablespoon vegetable oil
- 2- to 3- pounds beef chuck roast, cut into 1-inch cubes
- 1 teaspoon fine sea salt
- 1 teaspoon paprika
- ½ teaspoon fresh ground black pepper
- 1 onion, diced
- 1 celery rib, diced
- 1 carrot, peeled and dicd
- 2 cloves garlic, crushed
- ½ teaspoon fine sea salt
- 2 tablespoons paprika
- 1 teaspoon dried thyme
- 2 tablespoons tomato paste
- ½ cup red wine
- 2 cups beef or chicken broth (homemade or low-sodium store-bought)
- 1 teaspoon fine sea salt (if using homemade broth)
- ½ teaspoon baking soda
- 14- to 16-ounce can crushed tomatoes
Instructions
- Sort and rinse the black-eyed peas: Sort through the black-eyed peas, removing any debris or broken peas. Put the peas in a fine mesh strainer and rinse with cold water, then set aside in the strainer for later.
- Sear the beef in three batches: Heat the vegetable oil in an Instant Pot using Sauté mode adjusted to high (medium-high heat for other pressure cookers) until the oil starts to shimmer, about 3 minutes. While the pot heats, sprinkle the beef cubes with 1 teaspoon salt, 1 teaspoon of paprika, and ½ teaspoon black pepper. Add ⅓ of the beef and sear until well browned on one side, about 3 minutes. (Don’t crowd the pot or the beef will steam, not brown). Remove the browned beef to a bowl, add the second batch of the beef to the pot, and sear until browned on one side, about 3 more minutes. Repeat with the remaining beef - in the pot, sear until browned on one side, then into the bowl with the rest of the beef.
- Sauté the aromatics: Add the onion, celery, carrot, and garlic to the pot, and sprinkle with ½ teaspoon of fine sea salt, 2 tablespoons of paprika, and 1 teaspoon of dried thyme. Stir in the spices, then add the tomato paste. Sauté until the onions soften and the tomato paste darkens, about 5 minutes, occasionally scraping the bottom of the pot with a flat-edged wooden spoon to loosen any browned bits of beef, onion, or tomato. Pour the red wine into the pot, bring to a simmer, and simmer for 1 minute. Scrape the bottom of the pot with the wooden spoon one last time to make sure nothing is sticking. Stir in the beef and any juices in the bowl. Add the rinsed black-eyed peas, then pour in the beef broth and sprinkle with 1 teaspoon of salt (if using homemade broth) and ½ teaspoon of baking soda. Pour in the crushed tomatoes and give everything a stir.
- Pressure cook the stew for 15 minutes with a Natural Release: Lock the pressure cooker lid. Pressure cook at high pressure for 15 minutes in an Instant Pot or other electric pressure cooker, or for 12 minutes in a stovetop pressure cooker. (Use Manual or Pressure Cook mode in an Instant Pot). When the cooking time is over, let the pressure come down naturally, about 20 minutes. (You can quick release any remaining pressure after 15 minutes if you’re in a hurry.) Remove the lid, tilting it away from you to avoid any hot steam.
- Simmer to thicken (optional, if you have extra time): Set the Instant Pot to Sauté mode adjusted to low, and simmer for another 15 minutes to thicken, scraping the bottom of the pot occasionally to make sure nothing is sticking.
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Serve: Ladle into bowls, serve, and enjoy!
- Prep Time: 15 minutes
- Cook Time: 1 hour
- Category: Sunday Dinner
- Method: Pressure Cooker
- Cuisine: American
☃️ Storage
This stew can be made a day ahead, refrigerated, and reheated - if anything, it tastes better this way, thanks to a day of letting the flavors mingle.
To store for later, portion into 2-cup containers, and refrigerate for up to 3 days, or freeze for up to 6 months. I love having stew in the freezer - it makes a great grab-and-go lunch, reheated for about 5 minutes in the microwave.
🤝 Related Posts
Instant Pot Pork and Black-Eyed Pea Chili
Instant Pot Texas Beef Stew With Sweet Potatoes
Instant Pot Jamaican Beef Stew
Instant Pot Beef Tips
Instant Pot Shredded Beef
My other Instant Pot and Pressure Cooker Recipes
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Janice Dowdeswell
In the ingredients list you have two measures of paprika, 1 tsp and 2 tbsp but in the instructions you reference 1 tsp and 2 tsp. I presume the second measure in the ingredient list should be 2 tsps?
Mike Vrobel
Thank you for noticing that - fixed - and yes, 2 tablespoons is the right amount.