Instant Pot Mountain Dew stew is incredible! Thick sweet and savory sausage and cabbage stew using soda pop as the liquid. SO good!
We call this Instant Pot Mountain Dew stew! You can call it whatever you want but it’s packed with potatoes, cabbage and sausage goodness. One easy Instant Pot recipe we love. (affiliate links present)
Instant Pot Kielbasa Stew
Yes there are tons of pressure cooker stew recipes out there but this one is quite different. With a sweet note my husband and kids loved, it’s hearty and almost better the next day.
You can make it in a Crockpot Express or as an easy Ninja Foodi recipe too. Give it a whirl this week and let us know what you think.
If you are new to pressure cooking we have a lot of easy one pot meal recipes for you here. To begin with let’s start with a few basic tips:
- Make sure to Bookmark our InstaPot recipes page. We add new ones each week!
- Then PRINT this —–> Instant Pot cooking times cheat sheet that will help you understand how long meat, vegetables and beans take to cook in your pressure cooker.
- I HIGHLY recommend you buy this non stick pot.
- You should know how to deglaze a pressure cooker after sautéing but it won’t have as many issues with this better liner.
For reference, this is the model I have (a 6 quart) and use for all recipe creations.
You may just think of diced beef, carrots and taters when you think of stew but you need to think outside of the box! Then there is a world of options.
You really can use your favorite meat, vegetables, liquid and some tomato paste to thicken it at the end. Cabbage is a great addition but many times can’t be cooked much longer than 5 minutes.
We thought potatoes and cabbage would be great. We have also made smoked sausage and cabbage and onions but that takes much longer.
You could, I prefer cornstarch myself. With either one you need to add cold water to it and whisk so it is smooth. Add at the end on saute and it will become thicker. It will continue to as it cools as well.
This is what we used. It only took 6 minutes on high pressure.
Stew Instant Pot
I literally added NO seasonings to this. With the andouille sausage spices there wasn’t a need for it. Every single person who tried it gave it a resounding thumbs up.
- Smoked sausage
- Onion
- Cabbage
- Potatoes
- Carrots are optional
- Mountain Dew
- Tomato paste
- Cornstarch to thicken
You’ll only need about 1/2 a head to make this. Don’t let the rest go to waste though, make one of our other Instant Pot cabbage recipes with it.
Is smoked sausage already cooked?
Yes. You’re essentially just heating it up so there aren’t any worries regarding it being underdone and unsafe. I chose to saute it first just to get a bit of caramelization on the outsides and really bring out those flavors.
What is the best smoked sausage?
Usually grocery stores only carry 2 brands, with a few different varieties. I prefer the kielbasa or andouille varieties for things like this and our Instant Pot sausage and rice.
If you wanted to make your own smoked brats you could. Just finish, slice into dials and skip the first step of sauteeing.
Now let’s talk about potatoes. Why? Well because we’re in Idaho so there’s that. 😉 No, but really. I don’t have a strong preference in regards to which you use.
There was a bag of russets in the pantry so that is what I went with. I really do love red potatoes because they stay a bit firmer and don’t fall apart as much. Too long and these will be more like mashed potatoes than part of a stew.
Keep the onions in big chunks so they stay in tact nicely too and now it’s time for the soda.
Why the heck would I ever choose to use Mtn. Dew for the liquid? Well this idea came from a friend who makes this while camping, I added the tomato base idea at the end to make it more of a stew consistency.
He said that 1 liter of this particular soda made it amazing so I went with it, it was a hit!
Mountain Dew Recipe
If you google this you’ll actually be surprised to see that people have made all sorts of things with this green soda pop. From cheesecake to brownies, and tons of cocktails.
You can even use it to make our 2 ingredient soda pop cake! Yes it would turn green too if you use white cake mix. This might be fun at Christmas time as a sort of “Grinch cake!”
This is what it looked like once it was done. It continued to thicken more as it sat too. If you want the cabbage to stay firm I might set to 4 minutes instead of 6.
Time needed: 10 minutes
Instant Pot Mountain Dew Stew
- Saute
Prepare vegetables. Put 1 tbsp or so of olive oil into your pressure cooker with sausage dials and saute for about 5 minutes, stirring so they can brown just a bit.
- Layer
Turn pot off and layer in sliced onions on top, then your cubed potatoes (the smaller they are the softer they’ll get, don’t make too small or they’ll just fall apart).
Then cubed cabbage squares broken apart. Make sure to not pass the overfill line inside your pot. Pour your liter of soda on top of everything, do not stir together. - Cook
Close lid and steam valve and set to high for 6 minutes followed by a quick release. (note: it will take a bit for it to reach pressure since there is a lot inside, that is okay)
Do a quick release when done. Lift lid and set to saute again. - Thicken
Scoop 1/2 cup of the hot liquid from the pot into a measuring cup, then add your 1/2 cup of tomato paste, whisk together until smooth. Add this into your pot, stir.
To thicken add cornstarch and a bit of cold water into a dish, just enough to whisk together so it is smooth and not lumpy. Add this and stir continuously until it thickens. Turn pot off. - Serve
It will continue to thicken a bit as it cools and sits, serve with rolls with some parmesan cheese on top if desired.
If you love trying new things you’ll love this and our swamp cabbage too. You know I won’t share anything that wasn’t a complete hit in my house. As much as you’re thinking ehhhhh, you’ll have to see for yourself.
Instant Pot Mountain Dew Stew
Equipment
- pressure cooker
Ingredients
- 1 sausage link, we used andouille 13.5 package, sliced into dials
- 1 onion, sliced
- 3 medium potatoes, sliced into chunks
- 4 c cabbage, cut into 1.5" cubes
- 1 liter soda, Mountain Dew, used half a 2 liter container, 4.5 cups
- 1/2 c tomato paste
- 3 tbsp cornstarch
Instructions
- Prepare vegetables. Put 1 tbsp or so of olive oil into your pressure cooker with sausage dials and saute for about 5 minutes, stirring so they can brown just a bit.
- Turn pot off and layer in sliced onions on top, then your cubed potatoes (the smaller they are the softer they'll get, don't make too small or they'll just fall apart), then cubed cabbage squares broken apart. Make sure to not pass the overfill line inside your pot.
- Now pour your liter of soda on top of everything, do not stir together.
- Close lid and steam valve and set to high for 6 minutes followed by a quick release. (note: it will take a bit for it to reach pressure since there is a lot inside, that is okay)
- Do a quick release when done. Lift lid and set to saute again. Scoop 1/2 cup of the hot liquid from the pot into a measuring cup, then add your 1/2 cup of tomato paste, whisk together until smooth. Add this into your pot, stir.
- To thicken add cornstarch and a bit of cold water into a dish, just enough to whisk together so it is smooth and not lumpy. Add this and stir continuously until it thickens. Turn pot off.
- It will continue to thicken a bit as it cools and sits, serve with rolls with some parmesan cheese on top if desired.
Video
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
Wow. This was absolutely amazing!! Mountain Dew Stew! I used teriyaki pineapple chicken meatballs and added some pineapple chunks. Will definitely make again!
Glad it was a hit
Wow!b Nice blog
Could you use the diet brand?
Your site sucks. Why do I have to close 5 pop ups just to see a damn recipe?