Instant Pot Beef Bourguignon
Deeply rich French-style beef stew with wine, herbs, and tender melt-in-your-mouth beef
Ingredients
for Instant Pot Beef Bourguignon
Ingredient List
- 800 g (1.8 lb) beef chuck, cut into large cubes
- 1 tbsp (15 g) Olive Oil guide
- 4 cloves (16 g) garlic guide, minced
- 150 g carrots, sliced
- 200 g mushrooms, halved
- 1 medium red onion guide, chopped
- 1 1/2 cups (360 ml) low-sodium beef broth guide (or water)
- 1 cup (240 ml) dry red wine
- 1 tbsp tomato paste
- 5 g kosher salt guide
- 1/2 tsp ground black pepper guide
- 1 tsp dried thyme
- 2 bay leaves
💡Helpful Tips
- Cut beef into large chunks: smaller pieces can overcook and lose structure.
- Choose dry wine: avoid sweet wines to maintain depth and balance.
- Add mushrooms later if needed: for firmer texture, sauté them separately and mix at the end.
Quick Illustrated Guide - Instant Pot Beef Bourguignon
This quick visual guide shows the entire cooking process at a glance - from preparing and searing the beef to pressure cooking and finishing the sauce for a rich, classic result.
Want full details? Follow the step-by-step beef bourguignon instructions below.
How to Cook Instant Pot Beef Bourguignon (Step-by-Step Guide)
-
Prepare the Beef
Cut the beef chuck into large, even cubes about 1 1/2 to 2 inches (4 to 5 cm) wide. Try to keep the pieces close in size so they cook at the same speed. If some pieces are much smaller, they may dry out before the larger ones become tender.
Place the beef on paper towels and pat it very well on all sides until the surface feels dry rather than wet. This is important because dry beef sears properly, while wet beef releases moisture and starts steaming instead of browning.
Sprinkle the beef lightly with part of the kosher salt and ground black pepper. Do not add all the salt at this stage, because the sauce will reduce later and become stronger in flavor. The goal here is to give the meat a balanced base seasoning before it goes into the pot. -
Sear the Beef
Turn the Instant Pot to Sauté mode and let the inner pot heat for 2 to 3 minutes. Add the olive oil and wait until it looks fluid and hot. Carefully place the beef into the pot in a single layer, leaving a little space between the pieces. Work in 2 or 3 batches if needed, because overcrowding prevents proper browning.
Let the beef sit without moving it for about 2 minutes on the first side, then turn it and brown the other sides. The goal is not to cook it through, but to create a dark golden crust on the outside. If a piece sticks, give it a little more time - once properly seared, it usually releases more easily.
When each batch is browned, transfer it to a plate. Keep all the browned bits left on the bottom of the pot, because they will dissolve into the sauce later and add a great deal of flavor. -
Build the Flavor Base
With the Instant Pot still on Sauté mode, add the chopped red onion to the same pot. Stir for 2 to 3 minutes until it softens and begins to look glossy. If the pot seems dry, stir constantly so nothing burns. Then add the minced garlic and cook for about 30 seconds, just until fragrant.
Add the tomato paste and stir it into the onion and garlic for about 1 minute. Try to spread it across the bottom of the pot so it cooks slightly and loses its raw taste. This step helps create a deeper, fuller sauce with a more developed flavor.
Do not rush here. The onion should soften, the garlic should smell aromatic but not burn, and the tomato paste should darken slightly. These small changes tell you the base is ready for the liquid. -
Deglaze and Add Liquid
Pour in the red wine first and immediately begin scraping the bottom of the pot with a wooden spoon or silicone spatula. Loosen every browned bit you can find. This step is very important because nothing should remain stuck to the bottom, otherwise the Instant Pot may show a burn warning during pressure cooking.
Once the bottom is clean, add the beef broth (or water), dried thyme, and bay leaves. Stir well so the seasonings are evenly distributed through the liquid. Then return the browned beef to the pot, including any juices collected on the plate.
Add the sliced carrots and halved mushrooms on top and gently stir once or twice. Make sure most of the beef is surrounded by liquid, but it does not need to be completely submerged. The pressure environment will cook everything evenly. -
Pressure Cook the Stew
Turn off Sauté mode. Close the lid securely and set the steam valve to Sealing. Select Pressure Cook or Manual on HIGH pressure and set the time to 35 minutes. The Instant Pot will need several minutes to build pressure before the countdown starts, so do not worry if the timer does not begin immediately.
During this cooking stage, the beef slowly softens as the connective tissue breaks down. This is what gives Beef Bourguignon its signature tender texture and rich body. Avoid opening the lid early, because the meat needs the full pressure time to become properly soft.
While it cooks, prepare your side dish if desired. Mashed potatoes, buttered noodles, or toasted bread all work well because they absorb the sauce beautifully. -
Finish and Serve
When the cooking time ends, let the pressure release naturally for 10 minutes. This helps the beef stay juicy and gives the bubbling inside the pot time to calm down. After 10 minutes, carefully turn the valve to Venting and release the remaining steam. Open the lid away from your face.
Check the beef by pressing a piece gently with a fork or spoon. It should feel very tender and easy to break apart, but it should still hold its shape. Remove the bay leaves. Then switch the Instant Pot back to Sauté mode and let the sauce simmer uncovered for 5 to 8 minutes, stirring occasionally, until it becomes slightly thicker and more glossy. This final simmer gives the dish a more luxurious, concentrated finish.
Taste the sauce and add the remaining salt or a little more pepper if needed. Serve the Instant Pot Beef Bourguignon hot, making sure each portion gets beef, carrots, mushrooms, and plenty of sauce.
📌 Common Mistakes When Making Instant Pot Beef Bourguignon
Instant Pot Beef Bourguignon is not difficult once the sequence is understood, but it is a dish where small technique errors can change the final result more than many cooks expect. The flavor depends not only on pressure cooking itself, but also on how the meat is browned, how the pot is deglazed, and how the sauce is finished after cooking.
Because the dish contains beef, wine, broth, vegetables, and aromatics, each stage builds on the previous one. If one stage is rushed, the final stew may still be edible, but it can taste flatter, look thinner, or have beef that is less tender than it should be.
The guide below highlights four of the most common problems people run into when making Instant Pot Beef Bourguignon, along with practical ways to fix them so the stew turns out deeper, smoother, and more balanced.
| Problem | Most Likely Cause | Quick Fix |
|---|---|---|
| Beef feels chewy instead of tender | Pieces were too small, too lean, or not cooked long enough under pressure | Use beef chuck in large cubes and keep the full pressure time. |
| Sauce tastes weak or one-dimensional | Beef was not browned properly or the pot was not deglazed well | Sear in batches and scrape up all browned bits after adding wine. |
| Instant Pot shows a burn warning | Sticky browned residue remained on the bottom before pressure cooking | Deglaze thoroughly until the bottom feels completely smooth. |
| Stew is watery at the end | The sauce was not reduced after pressure cooking | Simmer uncovered on sauté mode for several minutes to concentrate it. |
Using the wrong cut of beef or cutting it too small
Beef Bourguignon depends on collagen-rich meat that becomes tender during pressure cooking. If the beef is too lean, it can stay firm and dry even when the timing seems correct. If the cubes are too small, they may lose their shape and feel less juicy in the finished sauce.
This is one of the main reasons why two versions of the same recipe can produce very different textures. The dish needs beef that can soften gradually while still staying substantial enough to hold together.
Rushing the browning stage and overcrowding the pot
When too much beef is added at once, the meat releases moisture faster than it can brown. Instead of forming a flavorful crust, it starts steaming in its own liquid. The difference is important because browning creates the deep, savory notes that make the sauce taste layered rather than plain.
Even if the stew later cooks under pressure, the flavor lost at this stage cannot be fully rebuilt. Pressure softens the meat well, but it does not replace the flavor created by proper searing.
Not fully deglazing the pot after adding the wine
After searing, the bottom of the pot is covered with browned residue. That residue is valuable flavor, but it must be dissolved into the cooking liquid before pressure cooking begins. If it stays stuck to the bottom, the Instant Pot may interpret it as scorching and trigger a burn warning.
In addition, incomplete deglazing leaves flavor behind instead of transferring it into the sauce. The finished stew may therefore taste less complete than expected.
Serving the stew immediately without reducing the sauce
Pressure cooking tenderizes the beef beautifully, but it also leaves a fairly loose cooking liquid. If the stew is served immediately, the sauce may feel more like broth than a finished Bourguignon. That can make the dish seem less luxurious, even when the flavor itself is already good.
A short uncovered simmer after cooking changes both body and intensity. The sauce becomes shinier, slightly thicker, and better able to cling to the beef and vegetables.
Quick Summary
Better Instant Pot Beef Bourguignon comes from getting the structure right at every stage: choose a proper stewing cut, brown the beef in batches, deglaze the pot completely, and finish by reducing the sauce. These four adjustments dramatically improve tenderness, depth, and the final restaurant-style texture of the dish.
