Instant Pot Pot Roast

This Instant Pot Pot Roast recipe is a fast and easy Pot Roast dinner, ready in only one hour! Tender beef, potatoes & vegetables, and a savoury beef gravy – a comfort food meal that’s perfect for a busy weeknight dinner!

 

Estimated reading time: 12 minutes

Everybody loves a good old dependable comfort food recipe, and this Instant Pot Pot Roast recipe is one of our tried and true, standby recipes that never disappoints. What could be better than tender, juicy beef, potatoes, and carrots all in a savoury gravy!?

And as if the flavour and comfort-factor isn’t enough, this recipe takes everybody’s favourite pot roast and turns it into a quick and easy family meal thats perfect for busy weeknights. Trust us, if you’re looking for a new recipe to switch up your family meal routine, THIS is the pot roast you need!

Pot roast is a timeless classic recipe that’s made its way onto tables across the world for ages. But it’s not just a simple dish – it’s a cooking method that transforms inexpensive, tough cuts of beef into tender, flavourful, fall apart meat that’s fit for a family meal any night of the week.

Traditionally, a pot roast is made using cuts of beef, such as chuck roast or beef round roast, that are best prepared by slow cooking at low temperatures or in the pressure cooker. This allows the dense connective tissues in the meat to break down, making it oh so tender and infusing the roast with moisture and rich flavour. Pot roasts usually involve browning the meat first to develop flavour and then slowly cooking it in a covered pot with a liquid along with hearty root vegetables like onions, carrots, and potatoes.

It’s hard to express just how much we LOVE this recipe, but here are just a few reasons it’s one of our favourite recipes ever!

1. It calls for REAL INGREDIENTS. By using real, fresh ingredients instead of processed seasoning packets and processed gravy mix, this pot roast recipe is much lower in sodium, sugars, and other additives and preservatives than some versions.
2. It’s a ONE AND DONE meal. No need to prep a bunch of sides, this pot roast recipe is a one pot meal with carrots, potatoes, beef, and a delicious gravy.
3. It’s great for MEAL PREP. We love making a big batch of this Instant Pot Pot Roast and serving it throughout the week or freezing it for later.
4. It’s SO FLAVOURFUL. Pressure cooking the beef creates and ton of flavour!
5. It’s CUSTOMIZABLE. Make Instant Pot pot roast, Slow Cooker pot roast, OR pot roast in the oven – it’s your choice!
6. It’s FAST. Using an Instant Pot makes this recipe accessible for busy weeknight dinners, not just for Sundays.

Pot Roast is a versatile dish that pairs well with so many side dishes. Here are a few dishes we LOVE serving with it:

• Olive Garden Salad
• Quick Dinner Rolls – Ready in one hour!
• Quick No Knead Bread
• Roasted Vegetables
• Homemade Biscuits
• Easy Homemade French Bread
• Best Mashed Potatoes

All that stands between you and the BEST pot roast of your life is a few simple pro tips and tricks!

Opt for a beef chuck roast or round roast for the best results due to their fat content and tenderness when slow-cooked.

Take your roast out of the refrigerator about 30 minutes before cooking. This will help the flavour rub absorb more deeply into the meat and will help it cook more evenly.

Fat does add flavour, but extra fat isn’t necessary and can add too much grease. Trim any large, thick pieces of fat before cooking.

Pat the meat dry with some paper towel. This will remove excess moisture and help the spice rub stick to the meat.

Adding the spices and mustard to the surface of the beef roast creates so much flavour. Don’t skip the step of rubbing it onto the meat instead of just adding them to the pot.

Searing the roast on all sides before cooking it in the liquid helps lock in moisture and creates so much flavour. Don’t skip this step!

Make sure there’s enough liquid to keep the meat moist and be sure to mix the liquid ingredients before adding them to the Instant Pot.

Here’s a few issues you might encounter when making this BEST Pot Roast recipe and what to do:

If the meat is tough, it likely needs more cooking time. Let it cook for an additional 20 minutes on high pressure.

If your gravy is too thin after adding the cornstarch and water, you can make another cornstarch slurry and add some more of it into the sauce, cooking it on sauté mode until the sauce thickens.

If you’d like your roast more flavourful, you could add a few drops more Worcestershire, a few teaspoons of onion powder, and some extra Dijon to the cooking liquid as you whisk together the sauce. Serving the meat in the sauce certainly adds a ton of flavour.

If you don’t have an Instant Pot yet and you’re navigating a busy life while trying to feed a hungry family 7 days a week, we would highly recommend investing in an Instant Pot. It took many months for us to have the courage to give it a try, but once we did we were hooked!

Our most used Instant Pot is the 8-Quart Instant Pot Duo (paid link) because we’re feeding a family (and we like having leftovers for the next day), but we test all our Instant Pot Recipes in the 6-Quart Instant Pot Duo (paid link) as well so you can be sure they’ll work for you too! If you’re looking for more delicious Instant Pot recipes, check out ALL my Instant Pot recipes HERE!

Other than an Instant Pot, you’ll also need this basic kitchen equipment to make this recipe (paid links):

• Butcher’s twine
• Tongs
• liquid measuring cups
• Whisk
• Cutting Board and a large knife

Here’s everything you’ll need to make this easy Instant Pot Pot Roast recipe (paid links):

• 2 tablespoons olive oil
• 3 to 3 1/2 pounds beef chuck roast or use a beef round roast
• 1 teaspoon kosher salt
• 1 teaspoon black pepper
• 1 teaspoon garlic powder
• 1/2 teaspoon smoked paprika
• 1 tablespoon Dijon mustard optional
• 1 tablespoon olive oil
• 3 medium onions
• 6 garlic cloves
• 1 cup red wine

FOR THE GRAVY:

• 1 tablespoon dried thyme
• 2 teaspoons dried rosemary
• 3 bay leaves
• 4 cups beef broth
• 3 tablespoons Worcestershire sauce
• 2 teaspoons Dijon mustard

VEGGIES:

• 1 to 1 1/2 pounds carrots
• 2 pounds baby potatoes
• 2 stalks celery optional

FOR THICKENING THE GRAVY:

• 4 tablespoons water
• 2 tablespoons cornstarch

Take your pot roast up a notch with one of these absolutely delicious variations!

• Veggies: Add more root vegetables like parsnips or sweet potatoes for added fibre and nutrition.
• Fresh Herbs and Garlic: Add 10 or more fresh cloves of garlic and a few sprigs of fresh rosemary and fresh thyme in with the potatoes and carrots for an extra herb and garlic flavour that’s infused throughout the meat and the veggies.
• Mushroom: Add whole mushrooms for a delicious flavour that compliments the beef perfectly!

Here’s why we love making pot roast in the Instant Pot instead of the oven or slow cooker:

• It’s SO Easy: Perhaps the biggest advantage of the Instant Pot is how easy it is to set-it-and-forget-it. It’s excellent for busy home cooks who don’t want to fuss over dinner every single night.
• It’s SO Fast: There’s no need to wait hours for an oven pot roast or all day for a slow cooker pot roast. Whip up your pot roast in about one hour after work or school and you’ll have a pot roast that’s just as tender as if you cooked it all day.
• The End Result is Extra Moist: Instant Pots use pressure cooking which keeps meat moist and tender as it cooks. Instant Pots cook evenly for a delicious flavour throughout the meat.
• Flavour Development: Cooking under pressure allows for deep flavour development and pot roast made in the Instant Pot is known for being extra flavourful.