This lightened-up Instant Pot Butternut Squash Beef Stew is a warm and comforting meal packed with flavor, vegetables and nutrients from velvety butternut squash that melts into the broth for a thick and delicious stew.
After relishing the warm, sunny Florida weather during our spring break last week, we were smacked in the face with temperatures in the upper 40s and lots of rain in Charlotte on Monday. Just when I thought my Instant Pot and slow cooker might find themselves tucked away for a while with the onset of spring and summer, I found myself craving a warm and comforting meal.
Oh hello, Instant Pot Butternut Squash Beef Stew!
If I were a better food blogger, I would’ve shared this recipe with you guys in the fall because it definitely screams cozy, cold weather meal, but here I am, making Instant Pot Butternut Squash Beef Stew and sharing the recipe with you guys in April. Maybe this one will appeal to you to make on the next dreary day in your area so it won’t be a total loss?
I always find myself craving soups, stews and Instant Pot meals on rainy days and continue to use my slow cooker and pressure cooker year-round for this very reason. Well, that and the fact that they make getting dinner on the table for our family of 5 much easier!
This Instant Pot Butternut Squash Beef Stew is a recipe I first made eight months ago and it found its way into our regular meal rotation ever since. It is packed with veggies and flavor and gets its thickness from butternut squash that melts into the broth, resulting in a velvety beef stew that always has me going back for seconds. It’s a stew that has all the makings of a rich and hearty meal but somehow doesn’t leave you feeling heavy.
Oh and one time-saving tip: Use pre-cubed frozen butternut squash in this recipe if you have it available at a grocery store near you. It makes this recipe a million times easier and the flavor is identical! No need to use any extra elbow grease chopping up the squash for this recipe!
If you decide to give this recipe a try, I’d love to know what you think! I also always appreciate any reviews and star ratings you’d like to leave, as this helps other people find and trust my recipes, too!
Instant Pot Butternut Squash Beef Stew
- Prep Time: 10 minutes
- Cook Time: 40 minutes
- Total Time: 50 minutes
- Category: dinner, beef
- Method: Instant Pot, pressure cooker
- Cuisine: American
Description
This lightened-up Instant Pot Butternut Squash Beef Stew is a warm and comforting meal packed with flavor, vegetables and nutrients from velvety butternut squash that melts into the broth for a thick and delicious stew.
Ingredients
- 1 tablespoon olive oil
- 2 onions, diced
- 4 cloves garlic, diced
- 3 large carrots, chopped
- 2 pounds beef chuck roast, cut into 1 inch cubes
- sea salt and pepper, to taste
- 2 tablespoon tomato paste
- 2 1/2 cups beef broth
- 1 tablespoons dried oregano
- 1 tablespoon dried thyme leaves
- 2 bay leaves
- 1 16-ounce bag frozen diced butternut squash (fresh butternut squash may also be used)
- parsley, for garnish (optional)
Instructions
- Heat the olive oil in the Instant Pot using the sauté mode. Add onion, garlic and carrots and cook until onions start to become soft and translucent.
- Add the beef in a single layer and season with salt and pepper. Brown the beef, cooking it for approximately 4 minutes on each side.
- Stir in the tomato paste and cook for one minute.
- Add remaining ingredients and cook on high pressure for 35 minutes. Quick release and stir everything together, using a spoon to mash up and large chunks of butternut squash. The butternut squash will break down and melt into the broth, resulting in a thick and hearty stew.
- Spoon into bowls and top with parsley, if desired, and enjoy!
P.S. Please welcome Krista to the PBF team!! She shot the beautiful photos for this post and I’m so excited she will be sharing her amazing talent for food photography with all of us on the blog.
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sounds yummy! how would you modify for the slow cooker?
Hi Kim! Great question! For the slow cooker, I would do steps 1-3 on a stovetop and then transfer everything to a slow cooker and cook on low for 8 hours or until the meat is nice and soft!
Thank you! So yummy… 10/10!
Looks delicious Julie!
Will use my slow cooker and make this tomorrow. Although I’ll do a vegetarian style. Veggie broth is perfect! Also a few cut up white potatoes. At serving time, nice to add green (frozen) peas!!
Yummy 😋 with white rice too!!
Thanks for the recipe.
SO YUMMY … I added in barley as a booster as hubby loves Beef Barley soup. I used JOE BEEF BUTCHER”S BLEND as the spice and we ate almost the whole pot…
Delicious and nutritious!
So easy and tasty
I made this yesterday and it was delicious! I recently got an Instant Pot and have been looking for new recipes to try. My boyfriend practically gobbled it up so that is definitely saying something. I love the addition of the squash and this was just so easy to throw together!
This is a solid 5-star recipe that I’ve been making on repeat for months! Thank you Julie! I also love that I can get all of the ingredients at Aldi. Sometimes I add potatoes or diced cauliflower.
I’m so so glad to hear it, Nancy! So appreciate you trusting my recipe and for taking the time to leave a review.
Absolutely delicious. My family loves this tasty stew!
I meant to review this stew last year when I made it for the first time and forgot! I’ve since made it several times and really love it. It is truly awesome and very simple to throw together. It’s one I’ll be making on repeat in the cooler months! I’ve added barley before but love it with or without.
I love this recipe! I’ve made it several times, so easy and it’s delicious! Will put this back in the regular rotation for fall and winter.
I love this stew! So easy to make and so delicious. Never would have though to add butternut squash to beef stew, but never want beef stew without it. Waiting for it to get cooler to make again this Fall/Winter.
This sounds amazing-Thank you for sharing. How many servings if not doubling the recipe?
I haven’t eaten beef stew in decades, but I tried this one! It was DELICIOUS! Thanks for this hearty, delicious recipe!
This was so delicious. I’m so Glad I came across your recipe on Instagram. As soon as we finished eating it, I added it to our family recipe book that is passed on to each generation. I will make this time and time again.
Side note: your website likes to reload a lot on its own and made it really difficult to leave a review since I had to start over each time. Also had to keep scrolling down when making the recipe because it would reload and start at the top. I finally just took a screen shot so that I didn’t have to deal with it.
If you use fresh butternut squash, would you roast it first? I couldn’t find frozen at my store. Thanks!