A comforting bowl of Mom’s Beef Stew always made things better.
This was one of my favorite meals growing up. A meat and potatoes meal at its best! All that was needed to complete this meal was a tall glass of cold milk, bread and some butter that melted upon impact of the hot stew! I still remember dipping my torn off piece of light bread into that buttery juice. I’m not sure if it’s strange or not to add butter to your Beef Stew, but we sure did, and boy was it ever good!!
My Mom had one of the old pressure cookers of the 70’s. That thing would hiss, jiggle and rattle so bad that it sounded like a mean coon! That’s probably not a sentence you read that often. LOL! I’ll save my irate raccoon story for another day 😁
Every time she used it, without fail, she would yell over and over again DO NOT RUN! Even though I don’t specifically remember running around the house, she informed us that the running would make the pressure cooker blow up! I’m sure there’s absolutely no logic or truth to this, but in her head she was convinced it would happen. Sadly the pressure cooker did blow up once and she cleaned chicken and dumplings off the ceiling for days. Ironically we were at school when it happened. Thinking back I wonder why in the world we didn’t ask her if she had been running?? LOL
Yeah, probably a smart move we didn’t 😉
This is one of the few recipes I asked for as an adult. My Mom never used beef broth, just plain water. But I think the broth gives it a richer taste. I also throw in some fresh garlic and some herbs from time to time depending on what mood my taste buds are in. 😁
Also my Mom never would’ve used baby carrots. I wonder if there was such a thing as baby carrots back in the day? WOW! You know you’re old when you start referring to your childhood as back in the day. LOL
But when I can get organic baby carrots for a $1 a bag, I’m all over that! So use what you have!
Give this simple and comforting recipe a try with regular carrots, baby carrots, or no carrots at all. Just don’t forget to try your beef stew with a big chunk of butter. Yum!!!
*Pics updated 2020

Mom's Beef Stew
Ingredients
- 2 lbs stew meat
- 7-8 Potatoes peeled and diced
- 1 large onion quartered
- 2 cups beef broth
- 1 cup water
- 2 large carrots peeled and diced, or baby carrots
- 1 6oz can tomato paste
- Salt and pepper
Instructions
- Season meat with salt and pepper. Place stew meat, broth, water and onion in Instant Pot.
- Cook on high for 22 minutes;
- Add potatoes, carrots and tomato paste; cook additional 12 minutes or till potatoes are soft.
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2 comments
My mother made this like that too, Vicky growing up same jingle lol oh the memories
Your Moms Beef Stew looks fantastic! Thanks so much for sharing your awesome recipe with us at Full Plate Thursday and you have a great week!
Miz Helen