Quick And Easy Instant Pot Venison Stew

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As the cold weather digs in and the colorful leaves fall off the trees, cue plenty of fun family moments of leaf catching, I crave plenty of cozy, warm, and filling stews. And if you love venison and wild game, this Instant Pot Venison Stew certainly ticks all the boxes. It is a flavorful stew the whole family will love.

Nothing gets me more excited than bringing you simple seasonal recipes that are easy to cook too. Less time cooking and more time enjoying all those fall moments.

And this Instant Pot Venison Stew, filled with tender chunks of venison meat, is all about simple quality ingredients with minimal prep that pretty much cook themselves, aka a dump and start recipe.

Just as easy as this hearty Instant Pot Beef Stew or easy stove top Venison Stew. and family favorite Instant Pot Goulash Stew.

The secret to this delicious venison stew is the caraway seeds. They add a distinctive and aromatic punch to your stews and are worth it. But if you don’t have any or prefer not to, then simply omit them or swap them out for something else.

This hearty meal is very adaptable and is all about the flavors that you like. If you like venison, then check out this easy Venison Burger Recipe.

Why Make This Recipe

Here are just some of the reasons this Venison Stew Instant Pot is so awesome;

• Easy – This Instant Pot stew is super easy to make (more about this below).
• Delicious – Pressure cooking venison makes it so tender.
• Affordable – It needs only 11 ingredients, all of which you already have in your pantry.
• Great for Gatherings – It is great for feeding a crowd. Simply double or triple the recipe, and you are good.
• Meal Prep – Leftovers freeze very well, so that is a few weeknight suppers sorted.
• Fun – This gives you another reason to use your magic Instant Pot, right?!

Ingredient Notes

• Venison – this recipe calls for venison cut into 2-inch cubes bite sized pieces
• Vegetables – bulk up your stew with sweet potatoes, carrots, and celery.
• Broth – feel free to use beef broth or beef stock. But vegetable broth or chicken broth works well too.
• Seasoning – this flavor is from Italian seasoning (or french spice blend => Herbs de Provence), my secret ingredient, caraway seed, and salt
• Umami – yes, add some umami by adding in some chopped anchovies. Add more or less to your taste.
• Sweetener – a little bit of honey adds some sweetness. Feel free to use maple syrup instead.
• Tomato sauce – you can use sieved tomatoes or tomato sauce. Just make sure these have no extra seasoning attached.

Ready to make this Instant Pot Venison Stew recipe? Gather your ingredients, and let me show you…

How To Make Instant Pot Venison Stew

Get complete ingredients list and instructions from the recipe card below.

Let me tell you a little secret here. Making venison stew in your pressure cooker is so easy. Seriously.

Option 1 –  DUMP & START aka the super eeeeeeeeeeeeasy way.

1. Layer the ingredients starting with the cubed venison, sweet potatoes, carrots, celery, beef broth, Italian seasoning, caraway seeds, anchovies, honey, and salt.
2. Place the tomato sauce at the top but do not mix.
3. Close the lid, and turn the valve to the sealing position. Press the stew button, and wait until done, then dig right in.

Option 2 – Brown the venison first, aka the slightly less easy way.

1. Using the sauté function, heat the olive oil or avocado oil in your Instant Pot and brown venison stew meat in batches. Remove meat from the Insert pan and set aside.
2. Deglaze the insert with a splash of broth. 
3. Add all the ingredients (minus the tomato), including the browned meat, into the Instant Pot insert and stir to combine.
4. Then add the tomato on top. Do not mix in.
5. Close the lid, turn the valve to the sealing position, choose the stew setting and allow to cook until done.
6. Let the pressure release naturally about 10-15 minutes before opening.

So this only adds about 7 minutes of cooking time to your stew, but the browning of the meat adds such an amazing extra depth of flavor, so do it if you have time.

Tips for Making the Best Instant Venison Stew

• Please cut the sweet potato and carrots into large cubes. Otherwise, they will turn to mush.
• If you want to thicken the soup, then you can mash some of the sweet potatoes after cooking.
• Add an extra half a cup of beef stock for a thinner stew.
• This Venison Stew tastes sooo good served with steamed broccoli. See my ‘What to Serve with Instant Pot Venison Stew’ section below for more ideas.
• Don’t overcook the venison if you are doing the browning option.

Delicious Variations

• Add various other spices to your taste if you prefer. I like garlic powder, red pepper flakes, fresh rosemary or fresh thyme, etc.
• You can swap the sweet potatoes for regular potatoes if you prefer.
• You can swap the tender venison for other meats like stewing beef or elk instead.
• Should you want to get a slightly thicker deer stew, then mash some of the carrots or sweet potatoes to thicken.
• Add a dash of Worcestershire sauce, red wine vinegar, or tomato paste for extra flavor.

FAQs

What is Venison?

Venison is deer meat, but I find there is a bit of confusion about what is venison exactly. A particular part of the deer? A particular cut of deer meat?

Venison is ANY part of the deer that can be consumed. Even deer liver would be considered venison. But for this venison stew recipe, you’ll use venison shoulder or venison leg cubes.

I love cooking with venison because it’s leaner than beef and also has more vitamins and minerals. (Ticking off all the ‘healthy eating’ boxes right there.) It also can’t be intensively farmed, and most deer have lived a natural life until just before you get it from the butcher.

Lots of people talk about eating ‘pasture-raised’ (not factory-farmed) meat these days, and most venison is that way naturally.

Serving Suggestions

This is a great recipe to serve with so many sides.

• Crispy Garlic  Smashed Potatoes.
• Instant Pot Rice.
• Instant Pot Steamed Broccoli.
• Air Fryer Brussel Sprouts.
• I love it with smothered potatoes or with smothered cabbage.

More Venison Recipes

For more tasty Venison Stew recipes, try these options:

• Easy Venison Stew.
• Easy Venison Chili.
• Juicy Venison Burgers.
• Slow Cooker Venison Stew.

Weight Watchers Points

There are just 4 Blue Plan SmartPoints in a serving of Instant Pot Venison Stew.

Thank you for reading my Pressure Cooker Venison Stew recipe post. And please come visit again as I continue to slice, dice and dream up affordable Air Fryer recipes, Instant Pot Recipes, Southern Recipes and more. Thanks for supporting Recipes from a Pantry, food blog.

Instant Pot Venison Stew Video

Tools Needed

• An awesome Instant Pot.
• A sharp knife and handy cutting board.
• Measuring cups and spoons.
• Seasoning set.
• Best ever sea salt.

Get the Instant Pot Venison Stew Recipe:

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