This Instant Pot Spanish Pork Stew is a delicious recipe bursting with flavor.
Packed with seasonal fresh vegetables, this recipe offers a ton of nutritional value without sacrificing great taste. This is definitely a dish you should be proud to serve your family!
Aside from being a healthy meal choice, it’s also super easy to make. Instant Pot Pork Stew is a true one pot meal, making it a quick and easy clean up too, perfect for all the busy working parents out there.
Table of Contents
Can I Use Pork Loin Instead?
Yep! Pork loin is leaner and tends to dry out more easily, which is why I chose pork shoulder for this recipe.
But pork loin also works. Pork shoulder turns melt in your mouth tender when cooked in a pressure cooker.
Here’s a pro tip for you: pork butt is very similar to pork shoulder and actually comes from the same area of the pig (pork butt is a bit of a misnomer!) So, you could also easily use pork butt in this Instant Pot Spanish Pork Stew recipe and have great results.
Can I Use Chicken Stock Instead?
Absolutely! Chicken stock will work just as well as beef stock in this recipe. It will give you a slightly lighter, more mellow flavor.
Should I Use Fresh or Canned Tomatoes?
Either! I recommend using fresh tomatoes when they are in season to get the most nutrients possible. Whenever possible, I always like to use fresh, seasonal vegetables to benefit from the different nutrients that nature gives us all year round.
When tomatoes are out of season though, canned diced tomatoes are an excellent choice. Make sure to drain them before using in this recipe.
Should I Peel the Parsnips and Carrots?
Yes, for the optimal texture I would suggest it. The skin can be a little rough and unpleasant even when cooked.
However, you don’t absolutely have to, as long as you wash them well first. Since parsnips and carrots are root vegetables that grow in the ground, you want to make sure you wash all that dirt off!
How Do I Keep the Potatoes from Getting Mushy?
I recommend using a waxy potato variety that holds its shape—such as Yukon gold potatoes. These won’t get as mushy as starchy russet potatoes, for example.
Cooking the potatoes for 40 minutes may seem like a long time. However, we do actually want the potatoes to break down a little bit. When this happens, they release starch into the stew which helps to thicken it up a little bit, and the result is an amazing texture!
What Should I Serve it with
This recipe is a complete meal all on its own, with hearty chunks of pork, vibrant vegetables, and filling starchy potatoes. However, I occasionally choose to serve it with jasmine rice or brown rice for when I’m looking to make something extra hearty.
Substitutions
The best part of this recipe is that it’s really flexible. You can also try making this stew with chicken instead of pork and adding some spices to create a different dish every time. Makes it extra easy to offer your family a healthy but mouthwatering dinner that they’ll never get sick of!
How to make
Gather your ingredients:
Chop pork into small cubes.
“Sauté” vegetables, garlic, and bay leave about 2 minutes, until tender.
Add pork cubes and cook for another 2 minutes while stirring
Pour beef stock and add salt and pepper to taste.
Cook at high pressure for about 40 minutes, then release the steam naturally.
Adjust with salt and pepper and serve warm.
Instant Pot Stew Recipes
Instant Pot Spanish Pork Stew
Ingredients
- 2 tablespoon olive oil
- 2 cloves garlic minced
- 5 tomatoes chopped
- 3 potatoes diced
- 2 onions chopped
- 2 parsnips diced
- 2 carrots diced
- 1 lb pork shoulder cut into cubes
- 2 bay leaves
- 1½ cup beef stock
- salt and pepper to taste
Instructions
- Press “Sauté” and pour oil into the Instant Pot.
- Add garlic, vegetables and bay leaves and saute for 2 minutes.
- Add pork cubes and saute for another 2 minutes while stirring, until they are browned on each side.
- Add beef stock, salt and pepper and stir well.
- Close the lid and cook at high pressure for 40 minutes.
- When cooking time is complete, wait for a natural pressure release.
- Serve and enjoy 🙂
Nutrition
The Instant Pot Pork Stew Spectacular
Anyone have stove top or crock pot instructions? Sounds amazing!
We liked this a lot, so many thanks, Corrie. I love my Instant Pot, too. At times of the year when fresh tomatoes are rather disappointing, I use canned Italian tomatoes (common here in the UK) as they are consistently tastier. Seems they also contain more anti-inflammatory antioxidant Lycopene than fresh tommies.
Glad you liked the recipe! And that's a good idea-- canned tomatoes are an excellent sub when fresh tomatoes are out of season.
Cooking the potatoes and veggies for 40 minutes will make them dissappear. I always put the meat first for 25 min. then Quick Release and put the potatoes and carrots for 0 to 1 min. Remember that also the time until the pressure is reached is also a time that needs to be considered for the veggies.
What makes this dish Spanish? Did I miss something?
Why would you drain canned tomatoes ? The juice adds flavor and it is a Stew .
I like a hearty stew with not so much liquid so I would strain them, but you can always add the juice in. Totally up to you!
Where did you get that knife? (I want one HAHA)
I am confused about this recipe. It calls for two cuts of pork, yet the photo and the ingredient list does not show/mention the chops?
Sorry it was a typo. Pork shoulder is used in this recipe.