Rich and tender Easy Instant Pot Venison Stew comes together quickly for the perfect rustic, comforting dinner to use up your harvest in the freezer.
I honestly don’t know how to fully describe how impressed I was with this instant pot venison stew the first time I made it. J was away for the weekend and I wanted to test something in the Instant Pot for the blog. I happened to have some beef broth laying around, and there was venison defrosted in the fridge. So, to the kitchen, I went.
Sometimes, I like to make venison stew on the stovetop. But when I’m in a pinch and don’t have 2 hours to wait for the meat to get tender, this is the trick.
I quickly diced up a mirepoix, or onions celery and carrots. That’s the base of any good French soup or stew. I kept the rest of the ingredients simple because I didn’t want anything fancy. I added a French spice blend called herbs de Provence. It’s lovely and Wal Mart actually has a great organic variety for under $3. So sorry, no substitutions there. So, get you some herbs de Provence, friends.
I sauteed in the IP, added my liquid ingredients and went along on my merry way. When I made this soup the first time, we were packing to move into our first home, so time was scarce.
I let the cycle finish, waited 10 minutes and I did a manual release because I wanted the stew to stop cooking. Then I casually scooped myself a bowl. I sat down on the couch to take a packing break and BAM.
The most tender piece of venison I’ve ever had in maaahhhh life, friends, because of the Instant Pot. I KID YOU NOT. This stew is honestly beautiful. It’s rustic, simple and even the most staunch venison opposer would probably fall in love with it. Instant Pot:1 Allie: 1 (I call this a win win situation).
I’ve found that the Instant Pot is perfect for cooking tender venison, you have to try my Instant Pot Red Wine Venison Pot Roast and my Instant Pot Venison Shepherd’s Pie.
Easy Instant Pot Venison Stew (slow cooker friendly)
- Prep Time: 15 minutes
- Cook Time: 35 minutes + heating and release time
- Total Time: 1 hour 10 minutes
- Yield: 6 1x
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Rich and tender Easy Instant Pot Venison Stew comes together quickly for the perfect rustic, comforting dinner to use up your harvest in the freezer.
Ingredients
- 1 Tbsp. olive oil
- 1 lb. venison, diced with all sinew removed – I used leg meat*
- 2 tsp. herbs de Provence
- 1 tsp. salt
- 3/4 tsp. black pepper
- 4 cups diced potatoes, I left the skin on
- 2 cups diced carrots
- 1 cup diced celery
- 1 large onion, diced
- 2 garlic cloves, minced
- 1 15 0z. can diced tomatoes
- 4 cups unsalted beef broth
- 3–4 dashes Worcestershire sauce
Instructions
- Dice the potatoes, carrots, celery and onion. Mince the garlic. Set aside in a bowl.
- Dice the venison into bite-sized chunks, being sure to remove any of the silvery sinew tissue. Leaving this on makes the meat tough.
- Add the olive oil to the base of the Instant Pot and add the cubed venison. Add the spices and seasoning.
- Turn the Instant Pot to “Saute” for 10 minutes.
- Allow the venison to saute for 5 minutes and add the bowl of vegetables. Saute until the cycle ends with the lid off.
- Add the tomatoes, broth and Worcestershire sauce. Stir well and secure the lid.
- Select “Manual” or “Pressure Cook” on high pressure and adjust the time to 30 minutes. Allow the Instant Pot to do its thang. Go pour some wine, do your nails, whatever.
- When the cycle finishes, allow it to naturally release for 10 minutes before turning the knob to venting according to manufacturer’s instructions.
- Allow the Instant Pot to vent fully, remove the lid and serve!
Notes
- beef would work well, too! You can use any cut of venison, backstrap would be lovely. Leg meat is tough, so this recipe helps it to be tender and delish!
- If you want to make this in the slow cooker, saute the venison in a pan and add it to the slow cooker with all of the other ingredients. Let it cook for 4-5 hours on high or 8 hours on low.
- herbs de Provence is a French spice blend. It’s lovely and Wal Mart actually has a great organic variety for under $3. If you have to substitute, use Italian seasoning.
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how much garlic do I mince?
2 cloves will be perfect!
Made this last night with some leg meat and bone broth I’d made the night before. I left out the can of tomatoes (substituting equivalent broth) since my wife doesn’t like them and used chinese celery for regular celery (it’s much leafier and stalks thinner) because that’s what I had, and this dish was OUTSTANDING. This will likely be my go-to for any kind of beef soup/stew.
Also, for any doubters, “herbs de provence” is great stuff to keep on hand. It’s been a cabinet staple of mine for over 20 years.
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Hey Chris! I am SO glad you liked this and that the substitutions worked well. I imagine this template would work well with almost any meat and vegetable! 🙂
High Pressure? Low pressure?
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high works well for me
This isn’t Dinty Moore folks!
Best venison stew on the net! Harvested by your truly (yes, this is Allies husband) and prepped/cooked by the best chef….or food blogger in town!
Slice it, dice it and throw it in the instant pot. 35 minutes later and you will have yourself one of the best home cooked meals you ever laid your tongue on.
Sincerely, J
★★★★★
Well, I sure am glad you like it!!! 🙂
Miss AK recently posted…5 Ingredient Mulled Wine
This is the first thing I tried in my Instapot – I had some deer in the freezer I have been trying to find a use for. I love how rustic and earthy this stew is – it turned out so well! Thank you for sharing 🙂
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Hey Sarah!!! I am SO glad. This is my favorite thing to make in the IP, hands down. Thanks so much for letting me know you loved!
I made this a couple days ago, I didn’t expect it to be so delicious, because it’s too simple, but it was super delicious.. My whole family liked it, I didn’t have beef broth, so I used chicken broth . I will make another IP of this again soon.
Thank you for sharing this recipe.
Oh, Sharon, I’m so glad! Sometimes it’s the most simple things that steal our hearts!
This was the second meal we tried in the Instant Pot and we are BLOWN AWAY! We were looking for a way to use up a (slightly freezer burned) stockpile of venison from 3 months ago and this stew was PERFECT. So delicious and such a good way to get more veggies into my SO’s diet 🙂
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I am so so glad! Thanks so much for your comment & for making the recipe! 🙂
This was AMAZING. Thanks so much for this great recipe. YUM!
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Of course, Bri! Thanks so much for trying it!
I am now wishing I had more venison in the freezer! This was absolutely delicious!!
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Here’s to hoping you can harvest some more!!! <3
I can not adjust my sauté to 10 minutes but I made do with the programmed 30 minus 20. I have it in the IP now on manual, but I only set it for 15 minutes because I am worried the vegetables are going to be to soft. Has anyone had a problem with too soft vegtables?
Hi LouAnn! All of the recipes are tested so the directions indicate what has worked for me! Sorry you’re unable to program saute for 10 minutes, mine easily lets me do that! I hope you get it figured out! You can always set it for 15 minutes if you like a firmer vegetable and see what you think. Thanks for checking out the recipe!
Trying this tonight on a cold night here in ND. The deer and moose are plentiful but going to try it with venison chuck roast, cut up first. Now to find a recipe for herbs de Provence…… 30 miles from town makes not a quick run to the store to get….will have to suffice with what I have on hand.
I’ll be back later with a complete review and what I had to substitute.
Hey Rena! Thanks so much for your comment, I would LOVE to get my hands on some moose to try this with. I think the chuck roast will be divine. The herbs de Provence is lovely (I actually get mine from Wal Mart, if you have one in your town I recommend picking up their organic version the next time you go. It’s about $2). That blend has basil, fennel, marjoram, parsley, rosemary, lavender, tarragon, and thyme. Since this soup borrows a lot from French cooking techniques, it works well, but just blend what you have from those spices, or even use some Italian seasoning if you’re really in a pinch! Can’t wait to hear what you think!
Good morning Miss Allie! It is divine! So because of where I live (a longggg way from town) I had to improvise somewhat:
Basil, marjoram, parsley, tarragon, thyme, oregano, Famous Daves burger and steak seasoning, seasoning salt and garlic salt. Although looking back I wonder if a drop of Lavender EO would have been ok too.
Broths: already had a veggie broth open so used 1 1/2 cups of that and then an additional carton of beef broth.
More than a couple shakes of the Worcestershire sauce, like “shake, shake shake……shake, shake, shake,….. shake your bootie, shake your bootie,” well kinda like that anyway (gosh am I dating myself here???? KC and his band from WAY back when!)
I first cut the venison roasts up as they needed trimming badly into nice bite size pieces. I keep a sharp scissors just for this purpose in my countertop whirlygig. Turned on the Saute button and added some avacado oil and let it brown for a bit then added all the rest of the recipe and my altered ingredients.
YEP, it’s a keeper folks! You don’t even taste venison in the recipe. I highly suggest this if you have picker eaters that ‘don’t like venison’. I promise you, they will NEVER know the difference!
This stew, crusty bread and warm homemade applesauce-it was fantastic on a chilly night in North Dakota! And the left overs for lunches are even better!
★★★★★
Hmm I will try the lavender EO in mine next time! I’m wondering if it may be too much, but it could also be a GREAT hack! I’m so so glad you enjoyed the recipe and you all have no idea how much these comments mean to me! THANK YOU!!!! <3
Miss AK recently posted…Wedding Registry Must Haves
Woot woot! Venison stew
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<3
This sounds really fun to try. I am ALWAYS looking for something to do with everything my husband harvests. I have a package of stew meat (I’m not sure what…but thinking mule deer) and elk. I have a killer stew recipe from a dutch oven cookbook and was going to try that one in my instant pot but am glad I ran across this recipe. You had me at ” herbs de Provence”!! lol.. You don’t find a lot of French cuisine recipes on here for wild game. I’m running to Walmart right now (had to get some fabric paint for a Vday craft any way) Wish me luck!!
i hope you were able to find it and try the recipe!! 🙂
Thanks for the recipe. It was so simple. Unfortuanately I didn’t have many of the ingrediants but all my substitutions seemed to work except for too much water according to my husband. He actualy made me turn the liquid into a gravy. My daughter complained that the veggies were too soft, so I was wondering if I could cook it less or put not saute them. She said she likes to chew her vergies! Teenagers! But she ate it and said she’d eat it again. It was a nice meal for hot snowy night. Will be sure to get those Herb de Provence next week at Walmarts. But for tonight, Italian seasoning worked for us!
You can absolutely just reduce the time for the pressure cooking! The vegetables don’t get mushy on me, but perhaps mine are in bigger pieces! So glad the substitutions worked!
How many servings does this make? I want to try for a large group so need to figure out how to adjust ingredient quantities. Thx.
Hey Joe! This makes 6 servings.
Hi Allie,
I’ll be making this recipe soon and had a question re the setting for cooking the stew. I understand the manual setting at 30 minutes—and just checking to see if that should be at ‘normal’ or ‘high’ pressure. Also, I have a meat/stew setting and was wondering about using that. Thank you!
Sue
Hi Sue! I use normal pressure! I haven’t used the meat/stew setting, but I’ll test that out the next time I make it and report back. If you decide to try it, I’d just decrease the cooking time by 5-10 minutes and test to see what you think! You can always cook it a little while longer if you’d like. Thanks for your questions!
Can I use ground venison for this recipe too?
Hey Julia! I would think you can, but I haven’t tested this! It will be more of a soup than a stew consistency, but give it a go and let me know what you think! Follow all of the directions (just saute the ground venison when it says to sear the stew meat)! Interested to see if you like it! 🙂
Just made this and it is delicious!
I don’t have an instant pot so I cooked it in my pressure cooker. 8 min at 15 psi. It turned out just right, Veggies are not mushy which is my chief complaint with a slow cooker. The herbs are ” spot on”.
Excellent! Followed the recipe closely except sliced up 6 green onions instead of regular onions that my son’s won’t eat. Used a venison steak. This recipe is definitely a keeper!
★★★★★
Glad to know the green onions worked out and that you enjoyed the recipe 🙂
Miss AK recently posted…Air Fryer Chicken Wings with Sweet and Spicy Wing Sauce
Cannot rate, as I have not made. Searching for a recipe for a family member..excited to find this one! .Can this be doubled or even tripled? If so, any adjustments? Thank you.
You can certainly double or triple this recipe, I have not done so because we usually only have 2-3 roasts each year and I use them sparingly. You may just need to up the saute time on the Instant Pot and sear each piece of roast separately so everything has a nice sear on it. If your meat isn’t fall-apart tender, simply up the cooking time by 10-15 minutes.
Would you happen to know if these same times will also work in the crock pot pressure cooker?
I’ve never used that machine, but these times should work in any pressure cooker!
Cooked this for the family this evening and it was a hit. Ran low on broth so I added some locally brewed brown ale. Just enough left over stew to take in to work tomorrow…barely enough. Might try this again with some elk sitting in the freezer
oh man that’s an excellent addition. thanks so much for trying!
When you say leg meat, are you talking front shoulder meat, or shanks? I’m curious if 30 minutes is enough time to fully tenderize even chunked up shanks. I’m going to try it tonight and see I guess.
Shanks could work if broken down correctly. Did you have luck?
Best stew I’ve ever made!
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I’m SO glad you enjoyed it!
Wow, this worked perfectly!! I was unsure about the cook time and thought it sounded too long but I followed the recipe and was FANTASTIC! I used venison steak (cut into pieces) and couldn’t be happier with how this turned out. Thanks Allie!
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First time making this stew. Followed it exactly. What amazing flavor, The venison was so tender. Definitely a keeper! Thank you for sharing.
SOO glad you enjoyed it! 🙂
Hi- was wondering what I could sub for the diced tomatoes as I have none ?
Any ideas ?
🙂
Thank you
Hi Sondra – you could add more celery or carrots to bulk up the stew, but I wouldn’t recommend omitting the diced tomatoes. Their flavor and texture is really important in this recipe and makes the stew. If you can, I would add some!
I got an Instant Pot for Christmas and just made this as my first recipe. Yum! Everyone in the family loved it – even my picky 15-year-old daughter! The deer meat came out so tender! I’ll definitely make this again!
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I’m SOOOO glad, Leigh!
I just made this for dinner tonight. I didn’t use tomatoes cause I don’t have any on hand. Everything else made to the T. Very good stew thanks for sharing
absolutely!!! So glad you enjoyed!
Is there a reason why you use manual/pressure cook instead of the “stew” setting?
Thanks!
This is totally personal preference – it works better for me! I also know that some may be using regular pressure cookers and felt these directions would be more easily adapted! Thanks for your question!