Ethiopian Beef Stew | Key Wat in Instant Pot (2024)

This easy Key Wat is a deep colored, bold flavored and hearty Ethiopian beef stew seasoned with warm and earthy Ethiopian spices. It's a wonderfully rich and succulent beef curry cooked in the Instant Pot or on the Stove until the meat is fall-apart tender.

Easy Ethiopian Beef Stew

Key Wat (or 'Wot') is a signature dish that you'll find in most Ethiopian restaurants. It may also be referred to as Key Sega Wat (spicy) and Alicha Sega Wat (mild), and it uses the quintessential spice blend known as Berbere, a well-balanced spice mix that can easily be made at home.

This, combined with beef stew meat, creates an utterly rich, ultra-satisfying and easy Ethiopian beef stew that you can prepare any night of the week.

Slow Cooked Beef Stew Flavor in Half the Effort

I take help from my Instant Pot whenever I want to achieve moist and tender beef stew with hearty, robust flavors. I make this recipe often because:

• My family loves the incredibly balanced and bold flavors of this curry, it's a perfect blend of earthy and spicy.
• One 'short-cut' ingredient (fried onions) gives it a deep color and slow-cooked flavor in much less effort and time.
• It's a one-pot recipe that can be ready in less than an hour, most of which is hands-off cooking time.
• Gentle heat and pressure creates a fork-tender, melt-in-your-mouth texture.
• It's completely Gluten-Free, even when served with the Ethiopian flatbread injera, or good old basmati rice!

Ingredients - Notes & Substitutions

The two main ingredients in this dish are beef stew meat and Berbere seasoning. The remaining ingredients include ghee, aromatics, fried onions, tomato paste and water.

• Beef Stew Meat: The best cut of beef for stewing is chuck, which is easily available in most supermarkets at an affordable cost. This has a lot of connective tissue and fat, which is exactly what we want for any stew recipe. Look for whole or pre-cubed beef chuck at the meat counter. We want 1-inch size pieces.
• Berbere: The special spice blend from Ethiopia is a mix of nutmeg, cloves, cumin, coriander, fennel, cinnamon, cardamom and more. I prefer to make it at home, but a store-ready spice mix will work too. Just keep in mind that it may vary in spice level. Alternatively, I have included a substitute spice mix for Berbere below.
• Fried Onions: In this recipe, I also add an additional, but optional, ingredient - fried onions. Just a tablespoon of fried onions adds a deep color and slow-cooked taste to this stew that you typically get from fried-browned onions. You can certainly use homemade fried onions, but if using store-bought, do check their expiration date before using.

Berbere - Popular Ethiopian Spice Mix

Berbere spice blend provides a distinctive tangy flavor to stews and curries and is very easy to make at home. I have included an easy recipe for Berbere in my post for Ethiopian Red Lentils.

Berbere Blend Substitute

Store-bought spice blends work too, but they tend to vary in spice levels. But if you don't want to invest in a new spice mix, here is a convenient and close substitute made by mixing a few pantry spices along with garam masala.

The quantities listed below are enough to season 1½-2 pounds of meat. Simply combine the mix below and use. If you want to double the quantity, store the remainder in a small glass jar in a cool, dark place (such as your spice cabinet) for up to 6 months.

• ½teaspoonground black pepper
• ½teaspoonturmeric powder
• 1½tablespoonscoriander powder
• 2teaspoonsground cumin
• ½teaspoonground nutmeg
• 1tablespoonpaprika(if using smoked - reduce to 2 teaspoon)
• ½teaspooncayenne pepper
• 1tablespoongaram masala

How To Make Key Wat in an Instant Pot

I prefer to make this recipe in my electric pressure cooker, the Instant Pot, because I don't have to baby sit the pot. Here are the step by step instructions, which can be used for any comparable electric pressure cooker:

1. Turn the Instant Pot on Sauté mode. Wait 30 seconds till the inner pot is hot and add ghee or butter. Add chopped onion, ginger-garlic and salt and cook till slightly caramelized, about one minute (Pic 1).
2. Now, add fried onions, tomato paste, berbere seasoning, ground coriander and ¼ cup water, stir well and cook for one minute (Pic 2).
3. Add the remaining water and beef cubes. Press "Cancel", close the lid and set valve to 'Sealing' position. Press Meat/Stew, 30 minutes. Wait for natural release of pressure (Pic 3).
4. Open the lid and check for seasoning. Add sugar. This is optional, but highly recommended. The pinch of sugar brings together all the warm spices in the stew (Pic 4). If you like to thicken the curry, turn on saute and simmer the stew for 3-5 minutes until it reduces to your desired consistency.

Note: Sometimes, the cut and quality of meat affects cook time. If at this point the beef isn't fork-tender, you can pressure cook it for another 5 minutes, followed by a natural pressure release.

Stovetop Method for Key Wat

You can also make Key Wat in a traditional Dutch oven or heavy-bottomed sauce pot. Follow the instructions below.

1. Heat a heavy bottom sauce pot or dutch oven over medium heat. Wait 30 seconds till the pot is hot and add ghee or butter. Add chopped onion, ginger-garlic and salt and cook till slightly caramelized, about one minute.
2. Now, add fried onions, tomato paste, berbere seasoning, ground coriander and ¼ cup water, stir well and cook for one minute.
3. Add the remaining water and beef cubes. Cover and cook for 40-45 minutes, stirring every 5-7 minutes or so, till the meat is fork-tender.
4. Uncover and check for seasoning. Add sugar. This is optional, but highly recommended. The pinch of sugar brings together all the warm spices in the stew.

Variations - Doro Wot, Beg Wot, Root Vegetables

You can also make this wat (or wot) recipe with lamb (beg), chicken (doro) or the addition of root vegetables.

• Doro Wot: Use boneless skinless chicken cubes and reduce the cooking time to 5 minutes.
• Beg Wot: Use lamb pieces and adjust the cooking time to 20 minutes.
• Root Vegetables: Make this dish more hearty by adding some root vegetables like carrots, potatoes or parsnips when you add the stew meat.

Serving Suggestion for Ethiopian Beef Stew

In an Ethiopian restaurant, key wat is served family style over a spongy flatbread called Injera.

Injera is a gluten-free (made with teff flour), fermented flatbread that pairs very well with the stew flavors. In Ethiopia, it is used as a spoon to scoop up all those juices!

I've never made Injera from scratch, but I do find the flavors very similar to that of a dosa, a south-Indian fermented crepe. So, on weekends, I serve Key wat with a crisp dosa.

On weeknights, I personally like the flavors of butter couscous, rice or quinoa with this stew. A garden salad dressed with lemon vinaigrette or some fresh stir-fried veggies sprinkled with berbere makes it a complete meal.

Recipe Tips & Notes

• Use store-bought or homemade berbere substitute blend. If using pre-made berbere spice blend, add 1.5-2 tablespoons​(depending on how spicy you like it). If using the berbere blend substitute, use the listed quantity and store any excess in your spice cabinet.
• Replace the water with beef stock. The stock will provide a deeper, darker, richer flavor.
• Use a Dutch oven or heavy sauce pot for the stovetop method. A heavy bottom pan evenly distributes the heat and withstands a longer cooking time.
• Adjust cooking time depending on texture. My kids like the fall-apart tender texture of the beef, so I cook it for 30 minutes. For a firmer texture, reduce the cooking time to 25 minutes.

Commonly Asked Questions for Key Wot

More Ethiopian Recipes From My Kitchen

• Instant Pot Misir Wot: An Ethiopian vegetarian stew gracefully prepared with clarified butter, aromatics, berbere and red lentils.
• Ethiopian Spiced Chicken Noodle Soup: A hearty and satisfying chicken noodle soup recipe delicately spiced with an Ethiopian spice blend.

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📖 Recipe

Recipe was updated in 2020 to include substitute spice mix instructions, process shots and better recipe photos.