You should see significant browning/color change of the Paste.
If you are using Wine it could be another Source of acidity or other Tomato Products.
No tomato paste.
Yes soy sauce, beef and veggie Better than Bullion, Worcestershire sauce (not too much as it’s vinegary/spicy). Brown the meat, of course. Get the onions nicely golden. I always add powdered gelatin for mouth feel.
Also try Umami powder from Trader Joe’s - it’s got powdered porcini. And don’t sleep on onion and garlic powders for layers of flavor. You could also try Lipton beef onion soup packets for lots of sodium and msg.
ETA: a little brown sugar
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Ooh yeah. Butter, definitely. Also bay leaf and thyme.
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I’m averse to sugar ever since my MIL sneaked sugar into a stew I was making when my back was turned, and that made it overly sweet and unpalatable to me; I hate it when someone interferes with stuff I’m cooking. But I will try a pinch (and only a pinch) the next time.
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A pinch of sugar will pretty much go unnoticed in most any dish. My mom used to add a pinch (a tiny pinch) to her tomato sauce & salad dressings, none of which tasted even remotely sweet.
It’s just for balance 
Are you building layers of flavor? Sauté each ingredient before dumping in the instant pot.
I also recommend the small bottles, they are about 4 oz.
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Really? Butter? To make a stew more beefy?
Interesting.
Serious question, not being snarky at all.
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Has anyone tried mushroom ketchup in their stew?
It’s basically beef fat 
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I’d watch out for the vinegar.
Hey Ho now! People should stay away from other people’s cooking projects — unless they specifically ask you to taste and adjust!!!
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No but I have used tomato ketchup to tweak flavor in things I wouldn’t admit to (that no one would ever have guessed).
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I am not a fan of chuck in stews. I prefer to use brisket, boned out cross cut shank or something like that. Shortrib is even better. Also, letting the stew cool slowly and then refrigerating overnight improves the flavor.
I only use carrot, celery onion and leek, loads of fresh herbs and lots of pepper and some red chile or Aleppo pepper. I also like to puree the veggies and liquid coarsely before reheating the stew. This lets me adjust the liquid and makes it thick and clingy. I can also control the fat content by removing some if necessary.
Last, I will sometimes braise veggies til almost soft and then simmer in the liquid as i reheat.
On the wine front, you can buy a box of Bota or some other bag in the box wine in 500 ml boxes. Use what you need and freeze the keftover.
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That’s not a sugar issue, that’s a MIL issue! Had she tried that in my kitchen, she’d have pulled back a bloody stump.
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I add a bit of better than bullion beef. Do not dilute too much
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I like to use a blade roast. I avoid the packages labeled “Stewing beef”.
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for stew, I get chuck. cut it up into largish pieces.
brown the living daylights out of it, then dice up to put it in the pot.
any super heavy browning / crust dissolves into the stew liquid - which aaaah , , , makes for ‘more beefy’
the Better Than Bullion stuff is el’super concentrated - so it is a good option for ‘stronger’ flavor than stock/etc.
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That’s the story of my life.
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Not to yuck your yum, but every time I puree the vegetables to thicken stew/pot roast, I sorely regret it.
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When i did it for the restaurant, we had large batches and used a strong stock. And after the puree, we would gently reduce the liquids by 50% or more. The puree required more salt. I myself don’t enjoy the texture of the long cooked veggies.
But to each their own.
