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Once you try my Instant Pot Roast Beef, you will never fuss over making pot roast again! My recipe for pressure cooker pot roast is tender, juicy, and large enough to feed a hungry family, all in just over 1 hour using simple ingredients.
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What is Instant Pot Pot Roast?
Instant Pot Pot Roast is pot roast beef, such as chuck roast, cooked in an Instant Pot pressure cooker until it is tender enough to shred with a fork. The pot roast cooks on High pressure for just under 2 hours in order to create a roast as tender as if it had been slow roasted in the oven.
Instant Pot Roast Beef Recipe
Is there anything more comforting than a pot roast? Not only is it the ultimate trip down memory lane, but nothing else is as cozy and warm as a beautiful, shred-with-a-fork roast. My Instant Pot recipe uses simple, budget-friendly ingredients. It's perfect for serving your family or entertaining guests!
This easy pot roast recipe saves time and keeps you from having your oven on for half the day. Instead, you only need just over an hour to complete the dish, and I guarantee your meat will come out as juicy and tender as if it were in the oven all day!
I had no idea a roast beef recipe could be this quick and easy to make. The flavors in this recipe are amazing.
Alex on Pinterest
Instant Pot Chuck Roast Ingredients
- Boneless chuck roast
- Potatoes
- Carrots
- Vegetable oil
- Garlic
- Onion
- Red wine
- Beef broth
- Tomato sauce
- Sea salt
- Pepper
- Dried thyme
- Italian seasoning
- Corn starch
How to Cook a Roast in the Instant Pot
- Cut your boneless chuck roast in half. Season one side of each half generously with salt. Set your Instant Pot to saute mode and add vegetable oil. Once hot, add one-half of the roast to the pot salted side down. Sear for 4 minutes, then flip and sear the opposite side for another 4 minutes. Remove, set aside, and repeat with the other half of the roast.
- Add more vegetable oil to the pot along with minced garlic and onion. Saute for 3 to 4 minutes, stirring often, until soft and fragrant. Then, add red wine. Saute for another 5 minutes, stirring frequently, until the liquid of the wine reduces by half. Return both halves of the roast to the pot along with beef broth, tomato sauce, rosemary, thyme, and salt and pepper.
- Stir together and submerge the roast in the liquid. Add the lid back to the pot and set the timer for 60 minutes. Then, let it naturally release the pressure for 20 minutes. After 20 minutes, you can release the vent to get rid of any excess steam before removing the lid. Remove the meat from the pot and set aside.
- Skim the top of the liquid with a ladle to remove any excess fat, and discard. Then, add cornstarch to beef broth and stir until combined. Slowly add the cornstarch slurry to the Instant Pot and stir until the mixture thickens. Pour the sauce into a serving dish to use as gravy over your roast.
Typically, a chuck roast would take many hours of low and slow cooking for a perfectly cooked roast. With the Instant Pot, you're saving hours of time, and the result is tender and succulent meat finished with a rich liquid that's perfect for making gravy slather on top!
If you're worried your pot roast will lose flavor in a pressure cooker, trust me, it won't! The pressure from the Instant Pot intensifies the flavors and blends them together wonderfully. This roast beef recipe is only rivaled by my Mississippi Pot Roast - it is so hard for my family to choose between these two recipes!
Instant Pot Beef Roast Recipe Tips
- It's important to let the pressure release naturally. Leave it for another 20 minutes after cooking to allow it to release.
- After 20 minutes, feel free to release the vent to release any extra steam and allow you to open the lid.
- Don't skip searing the beef - this helps lock in the flavor!
- Halving the roast helps cut down on the cooking time and allows you to distribute the seasoning more evenly. This will give you a more flavorful dish.
- Try using my roast beef seasoning.
Instant Pot Beef Roast FAQs
You will need to cook for 20 minutes per pound. Depending on the size of your roast, you can adjust accordingly! For this recipe, I use a 3 pound roast and recommend cooking it for 60 minutes.
You can use a frozen chuck roast to make Instant Pot Pot Roast. Simply add about 20-30 minutes to your pressure cooking time if cooking a frozen roast. There is no need to sear it first; just rub the seasoning on the frozen roast and pressure cook as instructed. You can reverse sear the roast after it's done following the same instructions as our Instant Pot Prime Rib.
If you follow the recipe directions and use your Instant Pot correctly, you should have a tender roast each time. Make sure to cook for approximately 20 minutes per pound, and if you aren't certain whether your roast is done or not, check it with a meat thermometer before you take it out of the Instant Pot.
You can make the beef gravy right in the Instant Pot while the pot roast rests using a cornstarch slurry. This is one of the best ways to thicken a sauce. Simply mix equal parts water and cornstarch (start with 1 Tablespoon each) until it forms a paste, then add it to the drippings and mix together. This will thicken the drippings into a gravy.
Pot roast can last for up to 5 days in a sealed and airtight container in the refrigerator.
Cuts of Roast Beef
Choose a cut of beef with plenty of marbling and fat for a pot roast recipe like this one. Here are three of my favorite options:
- Chuck roast is the most common cut of beef used for pot roast. It becomes so tender after low and slow cooking (and in the Instant Pot, too!). It has plenty of marbling, which makes it juicy after cooking and adds flavor to the drippings. Cooked just right, a chuck roast is melt-in-your-mouth delicious!
- A bottom or top round cut of beef is what is used when making roast beef. This cut comes from the rear of the cow, which means it's leaner than both brisket and chuck roast. I like to add a little more fat to the Instant Pot when I use this cut to keep it moist (just use a little oil or butter).
- Brisket is a little pricier than chuck roast, but it has a lot of connective tissue that makes it tender after a long day of being cooked slowly (check out our Slow Cooker Brisket). It's also perfect for cooking in the Instant Pot.
- Check out my perfect cuts of beef guide.
Discover more ways to cook chuck roast with my best roast beef recipes!
Instant Pot Beef Recipes
- Instant Pot Goulash
- Instant Pot Mississippi Pot Roast
- Italian Wedding Soup
- Beef Stroganoff
- Instant Pot Short Ribs
- Instant Pot Lasagna
There is nothing better than Instant Pot Beef Recipes!
You can use the leftovers to make an amazing Roast Beef Sandwich or Pot Roast Sandwich!
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📋 Recipe
Instant Pot Roast Beef
Equipment
- 6 qt. Instant Pot
Ingredients
- 3 lb. boneless chuck roast
- 1 lb. potatoes potatoes of choice, we used baby gold potatoes
- 4 large carrots chopped
- 2 Tablespoons vegetable oil, split
- 6 cloves garlic minced
- 1 onion diced
- ⅓ cup red wine
- 1 ½ cups beef broth, split
- 15 oz tomato sauce
- 1 ½ teaspoons kosher or sea salt, split
- 1 ½ teaspoons pepper split
- 1 Tablespoon dried thyme
- 1 Tablespoon Italian seasoning
- 2 Tablespoons corn starch
Instructions
- Generously season all sides of your roast with salt and pepper. Set Instant Pot onto sauté mode. Once the Instant Pot is hot, add in half of your vegetable oil. Once the oil is hot, add your roast. Sear for 4 minutes on the first side, then flip and sear the opposite side for 4 minutes. Remove roast and set aside.3 lb. boneless chuck roast, 1 lb. potatoes, 1 ½ cups beef broth, split, 2 Tablespoons vegetable oil, split
- Add remaining vegetable oil to the pot, along with diced onions and minced garlic. Sauté for about 3-4 minutes, stirring frequently. When soft and fragrant, add in red wine and sauté for 5 minutes, stirring frequently, until the wine reduces to half. Add in half of your beef broth, tomato sauce, dried thyme, Italian seasoning, salt, and pepper, and give it a good mix. Carefully add your roast back into the pot along with carrots and potatoes.4 large carrots, 6 cloves garlic, 1 onion, 1 Tablespoon Italian seasoning, 2 Tablespoons corn starch, 2 Tablespoons vegetable oil, split
- Secure the Instant Pot lid and pressure cook on high for 70 minutes. Once 70 minutes is up, let your Instant Pot naturally release pressure for 20 minutes. After 20 minutes, you can release any excess steam. Remove the meat from the pot and set it aside.1 onion, ⅓ cup red wine, 1 ½ cups beef broth, split, 15 oz tomato sauce, 1 ½ teaspoons kosher or sea salt, split, 1 ½ teaspoons pepper
- In a small bowl combine cornstarch and beef broth. Slowly add the mixture into the Instant Pot with the drippings from the beef. Stir until the mixture thickens. Serve gravy over your pot roast, and enjoy!1 onion, 1 Tablespoon dried thyme
Video
Notes
- It's important to let the pressure release naturally. Leave it for another 20 minutes after cooking to allow it to release.
- After 20 minutes, feel free to release the vent to release any extra steam and allow you to open the lid.
- Don't skip searing the beef - this helps lock in the flavor!
- Halving the roast helps cut down on the cooking time and allows you to distribute the seasoning more evenly. This will give you a more flavorful dish.
Sara says
Husband loved it!
Em Beitel says
That's awesome, Sara! Thank you!
Holly says
Do you have any tips for adding carrots and potatoes to the pot too for a complete meal? What's the best way to layer, is additional cooking time or liquid needed?
Em Beitel says
Hi Holly! Simply add carrots and potatoes inside the pot, and make sure they are submerged in liquid. I would recommend adding another cup of beef broth if they are not submerged and going from there. You should not need to add any additional cooking time. Thank you!
Beth says
It seems we are meant to use the beef broth twice? There's beef broth in step 3 (create the sauce for the roast to cook in) and then again in step 4 (create the slurry). Is it 1.5 cups each time? The ingredients list only lists 1.5 cups total.
Em Beitel says
Hi Beth! Yes, you're adding beef broth earlier in the recipe (half of our 1.5 cups amount) and then using it again later to create the slurry (the remaining half). So it is only 1.5 cups total, and you are using half that amount each time. Thank you!
KT Kacer says
I'm not rating b/c I largely used this recipe to gauge times and settings. I added 3 mushrooms sliced, & 1.5 ribs of celery cut on the biasI Skipped the red wine, beef broth, & tomato sauce. Instead, I used a can of beef consume (Campbells) as well as a can of the golden mushroom (it has some tomato puree or similar in there for flavor- also Campbells.) I was concerned about that not being enough liquid, so I also put in a 12oz. jar of Heinz Au Jus gravy.) and skipped the Italian seasoning. So, rating it would be... not fair.
However, mine was great, so the time I cut down to about 40 mins, w/ a 10 min release, otherwise, pretty much the same, 2 lg/4 small carrots instead of 4 lg, etc. Tho I did use probably a pound of potatoes, since we like a lot of potatoes. But good ratios and good times even tho I didn't use the exact times due to the much less meat & most of the veg.
I'll get some ingredients I was missing and give this actual recipe a go (tho will probably still add the celery and mushrooms) so I can actually rate this, and fairly. I'm guessing it's really good.
KT Kacer says
Also, I might need the 8qt to fix the 3lb roast....I only have the 6... maybe if you've ever done a smaller roast closer to 1.5-2 lbs... you could suggest times, etc, to get the same result you do w/ the larger? Also I had cut the 1.5 lb roast down into 2 parts so.... that is part of the cutting the time as much as I did.
Em Beitel says
KT, that's awesome. We're glad you enjoyed it even if you did wind up modifying the recipe! If you do give it a shot as-is, please let us know what you think!