This warm and hearty Instant Pot vegetable stew recipe is super easy to make. Made with almost 10 veggies and healthy ingredients, this nutritious stew is vegan and gluten-free friendly. It’s great for batch cooking and meal prepping as it keeps well and can be used over a few days. Stovetop instructions included.
WHAT WE LOVE ABOUT THIS Vegetable Stew
This stew is hearty, thick, comforting and very tasty but the real reason we think it’s so good is the number of veggies you’ll be getting in each serving. Made with about 10 types of vegetables, it is really is a nutritional powerhouse! Plus, it’s vegetarian, vegan and gluten-free friendly and is easily adaptable for those following something like a Whole30 or a paleo diet.
We’ve provided both the Instant Pot and stovetop instructions below. It is much quicker with the Instant Pot and the cooking time is based on how long the potatoes would take.
HOW TO MAKE INSTANT POT VEGETABLE STEW (VIDEO)
You will find the full list of ingredients, instructions and nutritional breakdown in the recipe card below. Watch this video to see just how easy it is to make this veggie stew. A few notes to keep in mind:
Vegetables: the key vegetables are onions, celery, carrots, and potatoes but the rest is really up to you. We wanted to load up this dish with as many veggies as possible so we used green beans, zucchini, dried mushrooms, peas, etc. You can add peppers, cauliflower, broccoli and both frozen and fresh veggies will work.
Seasonings & sauces: feel free to experiment with herbs and spices; we used dried thyme and bay leaf but any other hardy herbs like rosemary or mixed herbs will work. Soy sauce can be swapped with gluten-free Tamari or coconut aminos for Whole30.
Thickening the stew: the broth in the stew will thicken with some of the potato starch that will dissolve during cooking, however, you will want to give it more body by adding a little flour right at the end. We used tapioca flour mixed with just a little bit of water, which once added to the hot stew, will thicken the liquid instantly. You can use arrowroot, cornflour, or regular flour.
WHAT TO SERVE WITH VEGETABLE STEW
This vegetable stew is pretty hearty so it can be served as the main dish. You can, of course, also serve it as a side dish with some protein of choice. Toasted bread or rolls are great to soak up the liquid, and you can go a step further by making some garlic bread.
The stew is topped with gremolata – a mixture of chopped fresh parsley and lemons zest – which adds a nice fresh touch and aroma to the dish. You can sprinkle any fresh herbs you have on hand.
Store leftover stew for 3-4 days in the fridge or freeze it for up to 3 months.
MORE INSTANT POT RECIPES FOR YOU
- You Will Love These Healthy Winter Stews
- More Vegan Instant Pot Stew Recipes
- Moroccan Chickpea Spinach Stew
- Instant Pot Potato Corn Chowder With Pickles

Instant Pot Vegetable Stew
- Prep Time: 20 minutes
- Cook Time: 30 minutes
- Total Time: 50 minutes
- Yield: 5-6 1x
- Category: Main
- Method: Instant Pot
- Cuisine: British
- Diet: Vegan
Description
The ultimate comfort food, this Instant Pot vegetable stew is made with loads of veg and delicious broth with herbs and spices. It’s thick, hearty and is vegan and gluten-free friendly.
Ingredients
For The Cooking stage
- 2 tablespoons olive oil
- 1 onion, diced
- 1 tsp salt
- 4 cloves garlic, roughly sliced
- About 1oz / 25 g dried porcini mushrooms
- 2 medium carrots, sliced thick
- 1 large celery stick, sliced
- 3 medium potatoes, peeled and diced into cubes (1.5 lb/700 g)
- 1/2 sweet potato, diced into cubes
- 1 medium zucchini, diced
- 4 oz /120 g fine green beans, sliced in halves and tails removed
- 2/3 to 1 cup frozen baby peas
- 1 tablespoon good quality ketchup (tomato paste for Whole30)
- 2 tablespoons soy sauce or Tamari (coconut aminos for Whole30)
- 1 teaspoon dried thyme
- 2 bay leaves
- 1 teaspoon paprika powder
- 1 teaspoon cumin powder
- 1 cup tomato passata or chopped canned tomatoes
- 500 ml / 2 cups vegetable stock
- 1 vegetable stock cube, crushed (for extra flavor)
- A pinch of pepper or chilli (optional)
Finishing & serving
- 3 tablespoons tapioca flour or other fine flour or starch
- 2–3 tablespoons water
- 1/4 cup finely diced parsley
- Zest of 1 lemon
Instructions
- Pre-dice the vegetables and set them aside.
- Turn the Instant Pot on and select the Sauté setting. Once heated, add the olive oil, onions and half a teaspoon of salt. Cook for 2-3 minutes, then add the garlic, dried porcini mushrooms and stir.
- Add the rest of the vegetables and stir. Now add all final ingredients listed in the cooking stage and stir through. Press Cancel to stop the Sauté.
- Secure and lock the lid and point the top valve to Sealing (on older models). Press Manual/Pressure Cook and adjust the time to 5 minutes using – and + buttons. It should say HIGH pressure underneath. After a few moments, ON sign will come on indicating that the Instant Pot is building up the pressure. On older models, you might also hear 3 beep sounds. and adjust the time to 5 minutes. The pressure will take about 10-12 minutes to build up and THEN the cooking timer of 5 minutes will appear on the screen. Please note, some cooking does begin while the pot is building up the pressure.
- Once the timer ends, leave the pot undisturbed for 8-10 minutes for the built-up pressure to release naturally. You will see a new timer on the screen showing you how long it’s been sitting idle. Then, use the quick release method by pointing the top steam handle to Venting or pressing on the steam knob (on newer models) to let off the rest of the pressure and steam.
- Mix the tapioca flour with water in a small bowl. Open the Instant Pot lid and stir in the tapioca slurry mixture into the stew. Stir through, you should see the sauce thicken slightly. Now, taste the stew and add more salt or pepper if you like. You can also add a little drizzle of lemon juice.
- Serve the stew topped with fresh parsley and lemon zest, also known as gremolata.
- STOVETOP INSTRUCTIONS: Preheat a large stew pot over medium heat. Add the olive oil, onions and salt and cook for 2-3 minutes, stirring a few times. Add the rest of the ingredients and stir through. Pop the lid on top and cook over medium heat for 40-45 minutes until potatoes are nice and soft. Stir a few times and check the heat, it should not be boiling but rather simmering or bubbling away. Finish the stew same as above.
Notes
See a few suggested modifications under How To Make Instant Pot Vegetable Stew above the recipe, plus check out the how-to video.
Nutrition
- Serving Size: 2 cups
- Calories: 286
- Sugar: 12.1 g
- Sodium: 1486.9 mg
- Fat: 6.8 g
- Saturated Fat: 1.1 g
- Carbohydrates: 52.2 g
- Fiber: 9.4 g
- Protein: 7.6 g
- Cholesterol: 0.2 mg
Keywords: Vegetable stew, stew, Instant Pot, pressure cooker, vegetarian, vegan, gluten-free
Could I add lentils to this without absorbing too much liquid? Or would you add more liquid in that case?
Hey Jack, you can add lentils for sure but as with any additional ingredients, you will either have to add a bit more liquid or the stew will be thicker. It’s up to you how you like it.
Did you reconstitute the mushrooms?
★★★★
Unbelievably quick, delicious AND easy!
I suspect any vegetables would work with this wonderful recipe – very hearty and thick, perfect for winter 🙂
★★★★★
Best stew recipe ever!! I left out the spices, using just salt and pepper. I didn’t have any mushrooms, but there are SO many veggies in this stew, I didn’t even miss them. Really good!
★★★★★
Thanks, Susan. Good to know it works just as well without mushrooms.
This was absolutely delicious. I also added about a tablespoon of nooch and I added a can of drained cannellini beans. Didn’t have dried porcinis, so I used rough chopped button mushrooms and a tablespoon of dried shiitake powder.
★★★★★
Great recipe! Made this last night and my wife absolutely loved it. Had to make a few alterations as I didn’t have all the ingredients. Swapped mushrooms for a large orange pepper. Used frozen sliced green beans and increased the amount of potato and carrot as I didn’t have sweet potato. I also used approx 1/2 teaspoon of celery salt as I didn’t have any celery and only used 1 low sodium veg cube with 500 ml water. The next time, I may keep these alterations and add a can of pre-cooked green lentils as I get the feeling that it may round it off nicely 🙂
★★★★★
Thanks, Dylan. Lentils would be a great addition with extra protein 😉
Looks good, but how do I modify this for a 30 qt Insta Pot?????????
Hey Jenny, do you mean a 3-quart? The mini one? Timings and instructions should all be the same, just halve the ingredients.
What if I don’t have dry mushrooms, can I use regular and do I add after cooking or before
You can add the type of mushrooms you have available and add them along with the other veggies to cook.
Very tasty! My veggies came out mushy though- they almost disintegrated. Maybe change the pressure or the amount of cool time? Not sure.
★★★
Really depends on how they were cut as well. Some people like their veggies softer than others, so by all means maybe use less natural release time if you want to try it again.
So yummy! Made it tonight. Left out the mushrooms because my son doesn’t like them and it was still delicious! Thank you for my new favorite stew!
★★★★★
Thanks, Janny! Happy it’s a hit with the family even without the mushrooms 😉 You can also add some chickpeas or lentils in the future if you want to add a bit more fibre or protein.
Great suggestions! I’m making it again tonight.
This was a really nice melding of flavors. I found the instructions on the pressure confusing. I just did 12 minutes once high pressure was attained, followed by 10 minutes of natural pressure release. Not sure what the 5 minutes/3 beeps meant. I used small golden potatoes and simply cut them in half- left unpeeled and a smaller sweet potato cut into equivalent chunks. Also, used a full 14.5 oz can of chopped tomatoes and an equal amount of veggie broth. Much easier and no leftovers from the can of tomatoes. Good recipe!
★★★★★
Thanks, Carol. Glad you enjoyed the recipe. The 5 minutes is the time for pressure cooking and 3 beeps is what you hear on some older models of the Instant Pot once the pot starts coming to pressure. It might be different on newer models, which is indeed confusing for some when recipes were published before those models were released. We’ll update with clearer instructions based on your feedback, thanks so much!
Made this last night, directions were perfect and the stew was great!
*I added a sweet Red Pepper and a Jalapeno pepper
Thanks
★★★★★
Thanks, Elisa. Glad you liked it and those sound like excellent additions 🙂
I have made this several times now and it is AMAZING
★★★★★
Thanks, Tressa 🙂
I made it today. Delicious!!!
★★★★★
Thanks, Karine. So glad you enjoyed it!
I have not made this, but if I do I will leave green beans out. Please tell me if the beans are hard when you get done with your recipe?????
The last time I did the green beans tasted really bad and hard.
Thank you
Bought new instapot need recipes