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YumThis hearty Instant Pot Jamaican Stew Peas recipe is the perfect taste of the Island, with delicious Kidney Peas cooked in coconut milk, thyme, allspice and topped with dumplings.
I can't exaggerate how delicious this Instant Pot Jamaican Stew Peas recipe is! It is so delicious that my hubby requested it two days in a row. It is the Instant Pot version of my popular Jamaican Stew Peas with Dumplings (Spinners) recipe with minor tweaks. I have also perfected my Instant Pot Jamaican Rice and Peas recipe.
I enjoyed making this recipe in the Instant Pot because I basically added all the ingredients and set the pot and walked away. I do presoak the beans to reduce the adverse effects on digestion.
How To Cook Instant Pot Jamaican Stew Peas?
The First Method With Dried Beans
- 1. To prepare this Instant Pot Jamaican Stew Peas, sort 1 pound or 2 cups of dried kidney beans removing debris and broken beans. Wash beans and cover with water at least 2 inches above beans.
- 2. Allow to soak for at least 6 hours or overnight, the following morning you discard water, Add kidney beans to Instant Pot with 8 cups of water and place the lid on sealing, cook on manual high pressure for 28 minutes. At the end of 28 minutes, use the Quick release method.
- 3. Make sure there are at least 3 cups of the bean broth in the instant pot along with the cooked beans. Add to the Instant pot the remaining ingredients, coconut milk, onion, garlic, ginger, green onions, carrot, thyme, allspice, salt, and dumplings.
- 4. Stir and close the knob (sealing) set the Instant Pot on High Pressure or Manual Pressure for 20 minutes. After the Instant Pot has beeped, allow it to Natural Release for 10 minutes then turn the knob to venting and Quick Release.
- 5 After it is finished releasing the steam, open the cover and remove Scotch bonnet pepper and thyme, then serve. It is delicious served with rice but it was so hearty I served it with a large salad.
The Second Method Uses Canned Beans
- Rinse and drain canned beans, place the beans in Instant Pot, add vegetable broth, coconut milk, onion, green onions, garlic, ginger, carrot, thyme, Scotch bonnet pepper, allspice, and salt
- To prepare dumplings, place gluten-free flour in a bowl, add salt and water, mix to form into a dough. Take pieces of dough and roll into the palm of your hands to form into cylindrical pieces or balls. Drop onto stew.
- Place the lid on the Instant Pot and set the knob to Sealing. Set Instant Pot to Manual mode, HP for 20 minutes.
- After finish pressure cooking, allow the Instant Pot to natural release for 10 minutes. Then Quick Release, turn the knob to Venting, placing a damp cloth over vent. Be Careful.
- Remove lid and serve.
Other Vegan Stews To Try
Blackbean and Butternut Squash Stew
- Energy:
- 335 kcal / 1400 kJ
- Fat:
- 5 g
- Protein:
- 17 g
- Carbohydrate:
- 55 g
Ingredients
- 6 cups cooked kidney beans, or 4 (15 ounce) cans drained and rinsed
- 3 cups bean broth if using beans from scratch, or vegetable broth if using canned beans
- 2 cups coconut milk
- 1 small onion, chopped
- 2 green onions, chopped
- 3 cloves garlic, minced
- 1/2 teaspoon fresh ginger, grated
- 2 medium carrots, cut into circles
- 2 sprigs thyme, or 1 teaspoon dried
- 1 Scotch Bonnet pepper, or 1 teaspoon cayenne pepper
- 1/2 teaspoon allspice
- 1 1/2- 2 teaspoons salt
- 1 batch Dumplings, (recipe below)
- 1 cup gluten-free flour, ( I used Pillsbury Best Gluten-Free Flour Blend)
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- water, to form dough
- Preparation:
- 35 min
- Cooking:
- 20 min
- Ready in:
- 55 min
Instructions
Place bean broth or vegetable broth and cooked beans in Instant Pot, add coconut milk, onion, green onions, garlic, ginger, carrot, thyme, Scotch bonnet pepper, allspice, and salt
To prepare dumplings, place gluten-free flour in a bowl, add salt and water, mix to form into a dough. Take pieces of dough and roll into the palm of your hands to form into cylindrical pieces or balls. Drop onto stew.
Place the lid on the Instant Pot and set the knob to Sealing. Set Instant Pot to Manual mode, HP for 20 minutes.
After finish pressure cooking, allow the Instant Pot to natural release for 10 minutes. Then Quick Release, turn the knob to Venting, placing a damp cloth over vent. Be Careful.
Remove lid and serve.
*Note: I refer to bean broth as the liquid that remains after you cook soaked beans or aquafaba.
Notes
Mines did not come out anything like your picture. What did I do wrong? Its not thick or even red like yours.
Cindy it depends on the beans you used, there are two types of kidney beans sold in the stores here in the USA, one is light kidney beans and the other is dark kidney beans. I only use dark kidney beans. For thicker stew peas, after you are finished, you could easily switch to saute mode and cook the stew peas stirring until it reaches the consistency you love or I bet if you let it cool some it will get very thick. Also please double check that you followed the instructions to the T.
Hi Michelle. I want to try this dish today and I have a quick question. You said to reserve the liquid from cooking the dry beans (option 2) in the Instant Pot. Then add the bean broth to the pot along with the beans and other ingredients. I’m so confused by this step of reserving the liquid separately when it’s going to go back into the same pot. Can you explain more? I don’t want to get it wrong! 😩
I see what the problem is now. I need to separate the two methods. I added a method using dried kidney beans and one for canned kidney beans. I hope this helps.
Amazing. You did it again Michelle, with another awesome recipe. The results were fantastic. I added jamican pumpkin, yam and potatoes. I used whole wheat spelt flour for the dumplings. Stew peas and redpea soup are my favorite things. To make it into a soup I just cooked the beans in 8 cups of water and used all the bean broth. Increased the pimento seasoning to 1tsp. And decreased the coconut milk to 1/2 cup. Tastes great both ways. Thank you for sharing these great recipes. You have quickly became my favourite vegan food blogger! Cant wait to try all your recipes out.
Cee-cee, I’m so happy you enjoyed it and I love your adjustments. You made my day, thank you for your feedback.
Yummy yummy yummy!!
Made this today and it was delicious!!
I used cayenne pepper instead of scotch bonnet…lol.
I also added yucca/casavva… it added a nice thickness to it.
Thanks for the recipe.
Tamieka, I’m so happy you enjoyed it and I love your adjustments.
Hi Michelle, I didn’t see my post from yesterday and forgot everything I typed, so I created a much smaller post today. But I’m glad the post showed up and you were able to see it. Yes, I meant the Lion of Judah brand of soya chunks (not curls). Sorry about that.
Thank you Carolyn, I appreciate that.
Hello Michelle
This recipe looks really good, but I am not a vegan and would like to add meat as well. Any instructions on how do to do that? Either beef or smoked turkey would work for me.
Rasheda this is a vegan website, I suggest you use Google, I’m happy you stopped by anyway.
hi, about to try this recipe and I’m new to the instant pot! when cooking the peas initially in the pot you’ve mentioned high pressure for 35 mins but not what type of release to do? is it a quick release or 10min natural release. many thanks
Tee sorry about that quick release is fine.
Hello! This recipe looks absolutely amazing!! My family is from Jamaica and my husband and I have stopped eating meat and chicken 1.5 years now. To find a vegan recipe of stew peas and rice is heavenly! Here’s my question — to get the true taste of stew peas w/o using meat, I’d like to use Soy Curls. Any suggestions on how I should season the soy curls to resemble the meat taste of oxtails? Any help you can provide will be greatly appreciated!
That’s wonderful Elizabeth, I’m happy you have found my page and congrats on your journey. There are several ways to approach the Soy Curls but here is one, rehydrate using just enough water (or you can use a vegan bouillon plus water). squeeze out as much liquid as possible. Toss soy curls with oil, add Bragg’s liquid aminos to taste if you only rehydrated with water. Add thyme, Italian seasoning, nutritional yeast flakes. onion powder, garlic powder, paprika. Bake on an oiled baking sheet in a preheated oven at 400 degrees for 25-30 minutes, stirring halfway. Stir in this seasoned Soy Curls after the stew peas are finished cooking. Make sure you don’t cook it in the Instant Pot, just stir baked soy curls in at the end. Obviously I didn’t test this recipe so please let me know how you like it. Happy Holidays
Hi Michelle, i appreciate the quick reply! Yes, i will certainly try the recommendation on how to season the soy curks and will let you know. I told my meat-eating brother i found a vegan stew peas recipe, he about fell out his chair!!! Have a wonderful Thanksgiving and Merry Christmas to you and your family.
Hahaha, I can’t wait for you to make it for him. Whenever I make it for non-vegqns it is usually a big hit.
Hi Michelle, Happy New Year to you, it’s Elizabeth. I’ve made this dish several times. I haven’t tried making it with the soy curls, however I made it this evening with soy chunks and it was AMAZING!!! I used 2 1/4 cups of veggie broth (that I heated in a sauce pan) and 1 cup of hot water. I added Ocho Rios brand meat seasoning, black pepper, onion powder, powdered thyme, and salt and soaked the chunks for 20 mins. Once they rehydrated, I squeezed any excess water out of the chunks and added them in the stew. So good!!! If you’re interested I used the Lion of Judah brand of soy curls (the light color) which created a nice brienisj color once hydrated.
Hello Elizabeth, that’s wonderful. I’m so happy it worked out for you. I haven’t tried the Ocho Rios brand seasoning as yet, I need to check it out. Your adjustments sound amazing. I believe you meant the soy chunks brand is the Lion of Judah. Thank you very much for your inspiration.Happy New Year to you and your family.
CanI use can kidney beans instead of dry?
Absolutely, this is what I would do, use about 3-4 cans kidney beans, half the amount of other liquids in the recipe. Add the remaining ingredients as written except I would add the salt after its cooked and cook on high pressure for about 10 minutes. Bear in mind that I didn’t make it this way as yet, it is a suggestion. If it works, let me know.
Hi! I don’t have a instant pot, how long do you think it would need to cook in a regular pot?
Hello Francesca, check out my recipe that’s done in a regular pot. The link is also on the same page as the Instant Pot version or here: https://healthiersteps.com/jamaican-stew-peas-dumplings-spinners/
I did not think it possible to enjoy stew peats this much without the meat – I’m becoming a regular on your site.
Thank you Karen, I’m so happy you enjoyed it. I appreciate your feedback.
Hello! I am looking to make this and i have been hesitant sine i am only making for 1. Would you be so kind to help with vegetable broth and bean broth amount? I was thinking 1 cup dry kidneys beans would work for 1. Thanks in advance
1 cup dry kidney beans would be half of the recipe. So just half the ingredients and if you have a lot leftover, freeze the remainder in portion bags.
Wow! Why am I just finding your website. Just when I needed some inspiration for vegan cooking. I was about to go back to cooking meat (the recipes I know). I’m so grateful. I love that they are “our” recipes too. I see you sis. Great work. Give thanks
Hi Sis. welcome to my website, I’m so happy you found my website, nothing happens by chance. Please enjoy and let me know how you are doing and I’m open to creating recipes that I haven’t posted as yet. Also, check out my cookbook, it has many recipes that are not on my website.
Hi! This recipe looks great! Wondering if you have tried it in the crockpot or have any tips for trying the recipe that way?
Indra, I haven’t tried it in a crockpot but it should be fine in the cockpit
This is a great idea
My family enjoyed this dish. Simple to make and absolutely delicious. 👍👍👍
Awe thank you Debbie, so happy your family enjoyed it, its definitely our family favorite as well.
Hey there! I’m hoping to make this tonight, but the cooking time seems really high… doesn’t everything get overlooked and mushy? I’m an instant pot noob, but most of the recipes I’ve tried are cooked for 3-5 minutes with immediate quick release. Also, can I use canned beans? Thanks!
Kate, I have a video on my facebook page of the above post, it the very same photo that’s showing here and you can see it doesn’t look like mush. I’m sure you can reduce the time but I will leave it as it worked perfectly for me.
Thanks so much, Michelle! I’ll let you know how it turns out :)