Instant Pot Beef Mechado. This Filipino-style beef stew is made quicker using the Instant Pot Duo Crisp. This stew is marinated in soy sauce and fresh lemon juice, and it is pressure cooked for thirty minutes to get that super tender beef. So easy to make!
What is Beef Mechado
Beef Mechado is one of those Filipino-style stews that is loaded with tomato sauce. The beef chunks are marinated with fresh lemon juice and soy sauce overnight, so the beef chunks have this tangy/sour taste. The sauce is very creamy due to the tomato paste and cornstarch slurry. This is pressured cook to fall off the bone tender. This is good when eaten with rice.
My husband lives on the North side of the Philippines, so there are dishes that he cooks which are not familiar to me. The first time I tasted Beef Mechado was when my mother-in-law visited us and brought a container of this, and I love it.
This is different from the typical stew since, Mechado is on the tangy side- due to the lemon that marinates the beef, and we also use the marinade to be in the creamy sauce. I think you’ll be surprised how different this stew is from what you have tried before.
Instant Pot Beef Mechado Ingredients
- Beef– I prefer to use beef roast or any beef meat that has fat in it.
- Bell pepper– red and yellow bell pepper is highly recommended as it enhances the taste of the sauce.
- Tomato paste and sauce add taste to the taste and make it creamy.
- Onion– red is more acidic, so I love using it, but you can use yellow onion too.
- Carrots and Potatoes
- Fresh Tomatoes
- Bay leaves– this is a must
- Soy sauce and fresh lemon juice– I use this as a marinade. Keep the marinade, and don’t throw it away since we will add it to the sauce.
- Water and cornstarch are mixed together to make the sauce extremely creamy.
- Canola Oil
- Salt to taste
How to Make Beef Mechado in the Instant Pot
This is an overview of the instructions. Refer to the recipe card for detailed process.
- Step One: Place beef in the medium size bowl, squeeze out one lemon juice and add the soy sauce. Cover the meat and marinate it overnight in the fridge.
- Fry the Potatoes and Carrot-brown the potatoes and carrots.
- Step two: When ready, place the inner pot in the Instant Pot base and push the sautee button setting. Set the saute time to thirty minutes. You will notice that the oil is getting hot, so add the beef. Brown the meat on all sides, or it’s no longer pink in color. Add the onions and fresh tomatoes and add one cup of water. Add the bay leaves on top. Turn off the sautee button and cover using the pressure cooker lid. Push the pressure cook button and set the pressure on HI, and set the timer to thirty minutes.
- Step three: When time is up, quickly release the pressure and push the saute button for thirty minutes. Add the fried potatoes and carrots. And add the bell pepper. Cook for another three minutes. Add in the tomato sauce and tomato paste. Add in the cornstarch slurry. Cook for ten more minutes or until the sauce is very thick.

How do you store Beef Mechado:
- Beef Mechado is best for the next day, so you can put it in a sealed container and refrigerate it for up to four days. I also put them in a ziplock and freeze them.
How Do you Reheat It?
- If it is frozen, you can put it on the counter and let it thaw, then heat it in the microwave for two minutes. You can also reheat it frozen and microwave it for six minutes.
For more Instant Pot Recipes:
Instant Pot Beef Mechado
Equipment
- 1 Instant Pot Duo Crisps plus Air Fryer Lid
Ingredients
- 1.65 lb Beef Roast cut into big chunks
- 1 Lemon Juice of one lemon
- 1/2 Cup Dark Soy sauce
- 1 cup red onion chopped
- 2 medium fresh tomatoes, diced one medium tomato is a little bigger than a golf ball.
- 2 pieces dried bay leaves
- 1 carrot six inch length carrot cut into small bite size pieces
- 1 large potatoes one large size potato is the same size is three inches in length and two inches wide
- 1/3 cup tomato sauce
- 1/2 red bell pepper chop
- 2 tbsp tomato paste
- 1 cup water
- 1/4 Cup Cooking oil
- Additional sauce for seasoning if needed.
Slurry
- 2 tbsp water
- 1 tbsp corn starch
Instructions
Marinate the Beef
- Place beef in the medium size bowl and squeeze out the juice of one lemon and add the soy sauce. Cover the meat and marinate it overnight in the fridge.
Fry the Potato and Carrots
- When ready, place the inner pot in the Instant Pot base and push the sautee button setting. Set the timer to thirty minutes. You will notice that the oil is getting hot, so add in the the potatoes and carrot. Brown the carrots on each side and transfer to a plate.Add more cooking oil if needed and brown the beef on all sides, or it’s no longer pink in color. Push the meat to the side of the pot and saute the onions and the fresh tomatoes. Add in one cup of water. Add the bay leaves on top. Turn off the sautee button and cover using the pressure cooker lid. Push the pressure cook button and set the pressure on HI and set the timer to thirty minutes.
- When time is up, quickly release the pressure and push the saute button for thirty minutes. Add the fried potatoes and carrots. And add the bell pepper. Cook for another three minutes. While waiting, mix the water and cornstarch together.Add in the tomato sauce and tomato paste. Add in the cornstarch slurry. Cook for ten more minutes, or until the sauce is very thick.Add soy sauce if needed and season according to your liking.
Video

Shobelyn Dayrit says
You can use any IP. Use a manual setting.
Beth says
Curious if I really need the Crisp instant pot with air fryer lid? I don’t see anything in the recipe itself that indicates any settings are needed that aren’t found on a regular instant pot. Just want to be sure before I try this.