With hearty beef and turmeric-spiced coconut milk, this flavor-packed Instant Pot Beef Curry recipe is classic comfort food with an Indian twist. Tender bites of beef and vegetables come together in an aromatic Indian beef curry adapted from the state of Kerala.
Table of Contents
Introduction
This is a delicious and easy beef curry recipe made with coconut milk. It’s adapted from a recipe that comes from the South Indian state of Kerala, which is where my family lives.
This Kerala beef curry recipe is a beef stew that’s referred to as ‘ishtu’ (pronounced ‘ish-too’ and derived from ‘stew’). There are vegetable, mutton, and chicken versions of the recipe.
This Instant Pot Indian beef curry comes from a recipe by Asha Gomez, an Atlanta-based chef, who shared the recipe in Bon Appetit magazine. It’s a mildly spiced recipe that gets its heat from green chili peppers (jalapeno or serrano).
Learn more about your Instant Pot…
- Natural vs Quick Release: What are the different types of steam release and when should you use them?
- Instant Pot Tips and FAQs: What are some of the most commonly asked questions about the Instant Pot?
- Instant Pot Not Sealing: Why is your Instant Pot not sealing and what can you do to fix it?
- Common Instant Pot Problems: What are the most common problems encountered by Instant Pot users and how to solve them.
- Instant Pot Sous Vide: If you have a Sous Vide button on your Instant Pot, learn how to use it for perfectly cooked foods.
My pressure cooker beef curry recipe is great for a busy weeknight and it’s one that’s often requested by my family! I love how the pressure cooker curry has such a beautiful golden color.
Beef cooked in an Instant Pot comes out so tender and flavorful. It almost melts in your mouth. The Instant Pot is the best way to cook beef!
And if you have leftover beef curry, it tastes even better the next day. I even like to make this recipe a day ahead of time for maximum flavor.
Fresh crusty bread is so delicious with the curry, allowing you to soak up all the wonderful curry sauce. That’s what my family likes to do.
More Instant Pot recipes …
- Rendang Curry is popular in Southeast Asia including Indonesia and Malaysia. It’s a delicious and spicy curry with creamy coconut milk, tender meat, and bold spices.
- Thai Massaman Curry is a delicious beef curry with vegetables and creamy coconut milk. The beef is cooked to tender perfection in the Instant Pot!
- Korean Beef is an Instant Pot adaptation of Korean beef bulgogi that tastes amazing with vegetables over rice!
What are Some Tips for Making Indian Beef Curry Stew in the Instant Pot?
Spiciness
A lot of Indian food uses curry powder, or individual spices such as red chili powder, garam masala, coriander, and cumin.
But this curry has simple ingredients and doesn’t rely heavily on Indian spices. I like to add more chile peppers than I normally do in other Indian recipes – it gives it that extra kick of spice which is balanced out by the coconut milk.
I find that jalapeno pepper spiciness can vary and it’s hard to get a consistent level of heat and so I like to use serrano peppers which I find are fairly consistent in their spiciness.
Make it more or less spicy by varying the quantity of green chili peppers.
Beef
I use stew meat but you can use any cut of beef that has some fat: beef chuck, chuck roast, bottom roast, or bottom round. Meats with higher fat content do very well in the Instant Pot pressure cooker, but make sure your trim the fat so it’s not excessive.
To save time, you could skip the browning of the beef, but the flavor won’t be the same because you wouldn’t get all that caramelization incorporated into the curry.
When you’re browning the beef, don’t crowd the inner pot. Do it in batches so you don’t end up boiling the meat! It’s actually easier to brown the beef in a large non-stick frying pan.
Flavor
I use a secret ingredient in this recipe, and that’s A1 Steak Sauce. My mother-in-law adds A-1 to an Indian beef recipe that I love and it gives it so much flavor and umami. So I had to include it in this recipe!
Vegetables
This recipe uses potatoes and carrots. You can substitute other vegetables with a similar cooking time. If using quick-cooking vegetables, cook them in Sauté mode.
Carrots: I frequently use baby carrots rather than sliced carrots and keep the same pressure cooking time.
Potatoes: I like to use Yukon gold potatoes but any kind will work.
Broth
You can use either beef broth or chicken broth. I generally use chicken broth because that’s what I usually have on hand.
This curry has a lot of liquid because that’s how we like to eat it. If you’d like a thicker curry with less liquid, feel free to increase the quantity of beef and vegetables and/or decrease the quantity of broth.
FAQS
This curry has a lot of sauce for those who like to eat it as a stew. Reduce the broth to 1 cup to make it thicker.
Yes, you can double the recipe. Keep the cooking time the same. You can also halve the recipe with no other changes.
Make the recipe spicier by adding more green chili peppers (serrano or jalapeno). To make it less spicy, reduce the quantity or omit the chiles.
You can keep this beef curry in the fridge for 3 to 4 days. It’s important to cool the curry to room temperature before storing it in an airtight container in the fridge.
You can freeze it for 2 to 3 months. To freeze coconut beef curry, allow it to cool to room temperature before transferring it to an airtight container. To reheat the curry, remove it from the freezer and allow it to thaw in the fridge overnight.
Freezing can sometimes affect the texture of the coconut milk in the curry, causing it to separate. You could add a small amount of cornstarch before freezing, which can help prevent separation.
Yes, first prepare the ingredients on the stovetop (sear beef, saute onions) and transfer all ingredients to a slow cooker including the coconut milk. Omit or halve the broth if you want a thicker curry. Slow cook on on high for 4 to 5 hours or on low for 7 to 8 hours.
Yes, this recipe can be made on the stove. More details are in the recipe card.
The beef curry tastes even better the next day, so you can definitely make it ahead of time and refrigerate it.
Pressure Cooker Beef Curry Ingredients
- Broth
- Beef
- Carrots
- Ginger
- Turmeric
- Salt
- Potato
- Onions
- Garlic
- Jalapenos
- Steak sauce
- Pepper
- Cilantro
- Coconut milk
- Oil
How to Make Beef Curry in the Instant Pot (Step by Step Instructions)
- Saute Beef Cubes and Add Onion, Garlic, Ginger
- Deglaze, Add Spices, Broth, and Beef
- Pressure cook and release pressure
- Pressure Cook the Vegetables and Add Coconut Milk
Saute Beef Cubes and Add Onion, Garlic, Ginger
- Put Instant Pot on Saute mode. Once the Instant Pot has pre-heated, add oil and heat until it’s shimmering. Add the beef cubes.
- Working in batches, sear cubed beef pieces until browned on all sides, stirring frequently. *
- Remove beef and set aside. Press Cancel to turn Instant Pot off, to keep the onions from burning in the next step.
- Add onions, garlic, ginger, and jalapenos and mix well.
* This step can be done in a large nonstick frying pan, which is quicker.
Deglaze, Add Spices, Broth, and Beef
- Select Saute again. Add a tablespoon or two of broth and deglaze the inner pot. Saute till the onion mixture is golden brown, stirring often. This will take about 3 to 5 minutes. Deglaze as needed if the onions start browning too much or sticking to the bottom of the pot.
- Season with salt and pepper, turmeric, and A1 steak sauce. Stir until fragrant, about 30 seconds to 1 minute. *
- Stir in the remaining broth and make sure there are no brown bits stuck to the bottom of the inner pot. The bottom of the pot should be completely clear.
- Stir in reserved beef pieces.
* If the Instant Pot becomes too hot and the ingredients are burning, turn it off to cool it down and turn it back on once cooled. You don’t want to burn the spices! Again, if the mixture sticks to the bottom of the pot, deglaze by adding a tablespoon of broth and stirring to remove the browned bits.
Pressure Cook and Release the Pressure
- Close the Instant Pot lid.
- Program the Instant Pot to pressure cook on high pressure for 15 minutes.
- The display will go from On to 15:00. The float valve will go up after a few minutes. The display will count down to 00:00.
- Release the pressure using the quick release method. The float valve will go down and the lid can be opened.
You can also do a full natural release or 15-minute natural pressure release where you wait for 15 minutes and then release remaining pressure by moving the steam release valve from Sealing to Venting.
Pressure Cook the Vegetables and Add Coconut Milk
- Stir in the carrots and potatoes. Close the lid again and pressure cook for 3 minutes on high pressure.
- Release the pressure using the quick release method and remove the lid.
- Stir in coconut milk.
- Heat through on Saute mode to thicken the sauce. Stir in chopped cilantro.
Serve as a soup or stew with bread or as a curry with Instant Pot white rice or jasmine rice or naan.
Try My Other Indian Curry Recipes!
How to Make Beef Curry on the Stovetop
- Heat oil in a dutch oven over medium-high heat. Sear cubed beef until browned. Remove beef and set aside.
- Add onions, garlic, ginger, and jalapenos, and cook until fragrant.
- Stir in salt and pepper, turmeric, and A1 steak sauce.
- Stir in the broth and reserved beef.
- Cover the pot and simmer until the beef is tender.
- Add carrots and potatoes and simmer until vegetables are cooked through.
- Add coconut milk and heat through to thicken the sauce. Stir in chopped cilantro.
See the recipe card below for detailed instructions.
Instant Pot Beef Curry Recipe with Coconut Milk
Equipment
Ingredients
- 3 Tbsp vegetable oil for searing
- 2 lbs beef stew meat cut into 1-inch cubes
- 1 cup onion chopped
- 5 tsp garlic minced
- 1 Tbsp ginger chopped finely
- 1 jalapeno or serrano pepper or to taste, seeded and chopped finely *
- 2 cups beef broth or chicken broth **
- 1 tsp salt or to taste
- 1 tsp black pepper powder or to taste
- 1 tsp turmeric powder
- 2 tsp A1 steak sauce optional
- 1 1/2 cups carrots peeled, cut into 1-inch pieces
- 1 1/2 cups potatoes cut into 1-inch cubes
- 14 oz. coconut milk unsweetened, regular fat (1 can)
- 1/2 cup cilantro chopped
Instructions
Instant Pot Instructions
- Select the Saute function. Add oil to Instant Pot and working in batches, sear beef until browned on all sides, stirring frequently. Be careful not to burn. Turn off Instant Pot if it gets too hot. Remove beef with a slotted spoon and set aside.
- Turn Instant Pot off and add onions, garlic, ginger, jalapenos and stir well.
- Select Saute again and add 1 to 2 tablespoons of broth to deglaze Instant Pot, scraping up all the brown bits.
- Saute onion mixture till golden brown, stirring often. This will take about 3 minutes. If the mixture sticks to the bottom, add a tablespoon or two of broth.
- Add reserved beef, salt, black pepper, turmeric, A-1 steak sauce and saute briefly to coat the beef with spices.
- Add broth and stir.
- Close Instant Pot Lid and pressure cook on HIgh Pressure for 15 minutes.
- Do a quick release of pressure (QR) and open the lid. [Read More: The Different Pressure Release Methods]
- Add potatoes and carrots to Instant Pot and close the lid again.
- Pressure cook for 3 minutes on high pressure and do a quick release of pressure (QR).
- Add coconut milk to the Instant Pot beef curry and stir to combine. Taste and season with salt to taste.
- Select Saute mode and heat through.
- Turn off Instant Pot, sprinkle beef curry with cilantro and stir. Serve with crusty bread, naan or over rice.
Stovetop Instructions
- Heat oil in a dutch oven over medium-high heat. Working in batches, sear cubed beef until browned on all sides, stirring frequently. Remove beef and set aside.
- Add onions, garlic, ginger, and jalapenos, and cook until fragrant, about 2 to 3 minutes. Deglaze the pot with some broth as needed.
- Add salt and pepper, turmeric, and A1 steak sauce, stirring constantly, until fragrant, about 30 seconds.
- Stir in the broth and reserved beef, scraping up any browned bits from the bottom of the pot. Bring to a boil, reduce the heat to a simmer, and cover the pot. Simmer until the beef is tender, about 1 hour. If the curry becomes too thick, add some extra broth as needed
- Add carrots and potatoes and simmer until vegetables are cooked through,, about 10 to 15 minutes. Add coconut milk and heat through to thicken the sauce. Stir in chopped cilantro.
Notes
- Prep time does not include steps that are already accounted for in the ingredient list, e.g. chopped onions, minced garlic, cubed beef, etc.
- * Use jalapeno or serrano peppers with care: add them per your spice tolerance. To make this a thicker curry, reduce the liquid at the end in Saute‘mode, or use 1 1/2 cups broth instead of 2.
- ** This curry, as written, has a lot of gravy because that’s the way we like to eat it – as a stew. If you prefer a thicker curry, reduce the quantity of broth.
- Adapted from Chef Asha Gomez in Bon Appetit.
- Please read the blog post for some useful tips.
Nutrition
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I am not a certified nutritionist. I provide my best estimate of nutritional information merely as a courtesy to my readers. If you depend on nutritional information for dietary or health reasons, I suggest using your favorite online nutrition calculator to confirm the nutritional value of this recipe based on the actual ingredients that you use.
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More Beef Recipes
Instant Pot Beef Rendang
Thai Instant Pot Massaman Curry with Beef
Instant Pot Korean Beef
Joleen Hevner
Added 1 1/2 tsp garam masala to this and it had more of an Indian flavor and was amazing.
I’m one of those weirdos that can’t tolerate cilantro (but I wish I could because it’s in so many things), so I had to leave that out.
Paint the Kitchen Red
Joleen, thank you for sharing. I’m glad you like the recipe, sorry about the cilantro 🙂
Sheena
I just made this and about to try it…but one question, wheres the curry? Is it just adding the turmeric? Um gonna add curry paste to the coconut milk before adding it. And also the broth seems really greasy is that normal?
Paint the Kitchen Red
Sheena, the word “curry” in Indian cooking refers to a dish with gravy, not the spice called curry powder. You can definitely add a curry paste but this recipe is a simple South Indian curry without heavy spices. The spice comes from the jalapenos. The grease is probably from the beef. If the beef was fatty, there will be grease. You can skim the fat off. I always trim the extra fat before cooking. Hope that helps.
Janet
I was happy to learn that I can cook veggies apart from meat. I have not had my Instant Pot for very long, but I have figured out that it is quicker to saute everything on the stovetop. (I wash that extra pan while the Instant Pot finishes up the cooking.) This was a simple to make, delicious dish, and I look forward to trying some of your others. Thanks
Paint the Kitchen Red
Janet, that’s wonderful to hear! Thank you for trying the recipe – one of my faves!
Jessica
I just have to rate this recipe because my family has been loving it since I found it, so thank you!! My 2 year old really enjoys it, I do leave out the spicy pepper because of her. Using coconut cream enhances the flavour of the stew, and makes it a bit thicker.
Paint the Kitchen Red
Jessica, that’s so kind of you to take the time to comment and rate the recipe. I appreciate it!
Nat
I have made this many times now. It’s so delicious and easy to make and serves well with sour dough bread. Mmm. My company loved this as well. It’s in my “make again” list for sure. You won’t be disappointed.
Paint the Kitchen Red
Thank you, Nat. I’m so glad you enjoy it as much as we do!
Sarah Pont
Why do you separate cooking the meat and the veggies? Is that just so that the veggies don’t get overcooked?
Paint the Kitchen Red
Sarah, exactly. You could cook them together, but it would be very soft. I know some people cook beef stew with the veggies and like it that way.
Beck and Bulow
We don’t like chilli heat but like spice, so I didn’t add chilli and it was very subtle, so I added 3 tsp curry powder. Didn’t think it needed sugar. Absolutely delicious. Definitely doing this one again.
Paint the Kitchen Red
Thank you for your comment. Glad you liked the recipe.
Mary
Thank you for this great curry recipe that reminds me of my father’s curry growing up. It is mild, but the flavors were spot on, as I have been searching for years for a recipe that reminds me of my childhood. Your secret ingredient must have been my father’s as well:)
Paint the Kitchen Red
What a wonderful comment – thank you for sharing. I’m thrilled that you liked the recipe!
Arie
Thank you Neena. This recipe is delicious! I did use flour and water as a thickener and sauted at the end for a bit longer. I’m new to Instant Pot and am already finding Paint the Kitchen Red is becoming my go to recipe site. Love the deep East Indian flavours and don’t need too many specialty spices.
Paint the Kitchen Red
Thanks, Arie! I’m so happy to have you follow my recipes!
Bill G
Respectfully this recipe is so bland. Zero flavor. Will not make again.
Paint the Kitchen Red
Sorry to hear you were disappointed with the recipe. It is a family favorite South Indian recipe which is milder than restaurant-style curries. The spice mostly comes from the green chili.
Holly Hooper
I made this tonight almost exactly as the new directions say. In fact just perfect. I love soup. Will be a family favorite.
Nancy
Very good. I’m looking forward to trying some of your other recipes. Thank you!
Paint the Kitchen Red
Thanks, Nancy! I hope you get to try other recipes out – would love to hear back from you 🙂