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With this easy recipe, a traditional pot roast is cooked in a fraction of the time.
An economical piece of beef can be turned into melt-in-your-mouth tender roast in the pressure cooker. Creamy baby potatoes and carrots make this a complete meal!
Why We Love The Instant Pot
- Pot roast is a favorite, but it needs to cook for a long time. Pressure cook for a meal that needs less time than the oven and comes out just as tender and delicious!
- A whole meal is made in just one pot, in just one hour with vegetables, potatoes, gravy, and meat.
- Use an economical cut of beef to achieve tender and juicy chunks of fork-tender meat!
Ingredients for Pot Roast
Beef – Chuck roast is our first choice for flavor and becoming really tender. Other good choices include sirloin or even a shoulder round.
If you’d prefer, pork butt roast can be substituted (with either beef or chicken broth for the gravy).
Potatoes – Baby potatoes work the best in this recipe, they are creamy and their skins help them hold together. Red or yellow potatoes can be chopped as well.l Russet potatoes will work but tend to fall apart a bit (be sure to peel them first).
Gravy – A tasty gravy is made from the juices. Thicken with either cornstarch or flour and serve over the beef for an elegant presentation (and excellent flavor).
You can add additional seasonings like onion powder, garlic powder, a dash of Worcestershire sauce, or herbs like fresh thyme or bay leaf to the mixture before cooking.
How to Make Instant Pot Pot Roast
- Prepare and brown the beef using the “saute” function on the Instant Pot (as per recipe below).
- Remove beef, and saute onions. Deglaze the pan with red wine.
- Add the remaining ingredients including the browned beef.
- Seal the lid and cook on high pressure. Use a slotted spoon to remove beef and vegetables and place them on a plate to rest. Thicken the gravy.
How to Make Gravy
- Shake a bit of broth with cornstarch (per the recipe below) in a jar.
- Bring the liquid in the Instant Pot to a boil using the “sauté” function.
- Whisk in the corn starch mixture and cook until thickened. Taste and season.
Serve the hot gravy over the meat and vegetables.
Leftover Pot Roast?
- Leftover pot roast will keep in the refrigerator for 3-4 days.
- It can be frozen too. Remove and enjoy the leftover potatoes and carrots, since these will not freeze as well. Try shredding the beef in the gravy with two forks. Transfer the mixture to a freezer-safe container. For the best flavor, use it within 3 months.
- To reheat, defrost the meat, then heat on the stovetop or in the Instant Pot. Try serving shredded Instant Pot beef on homemade hamburger buns or garlic toast for a whole new meal!
Yes, if the beef has been frozen in large chunks, it can be cooked in the pressure cooker. Increase the cooking time, and skip the searing step. Check the appliance instructions and follow directions carefully for the correct pounds, time, and temperature.
This recipe uses a natural pressure release for 15 minutes. This means that the InstantPot will rest allowing the pressure in the pot to gradually release. At the end of 15 minutes, you can turn the valve to release any remaining pressure. Find more info about natural vs quick release here.
Instant Pot Recipes We Love
Did you love this Instant Pot Pot Roast? Be sure to leave a comment and a rating below!
Instant Pot Pot Roast
Equipment
Ingredients
- 3 pounds beef chuck roast or pot roast
- 2 tablespoons olive oil
- 1 yellow onion diced
- ½ cup red wine
- 1 pound baby potatoes
- 3 carrots sliced into 2″ pieces
- 1 rib celery chopped into 1″ pieces
- 2 sprigs fresh rosemary or 1 teaspoon dry
- 2 cloves garlic
- 2 cups beef broth
- 2 tablespoons tomato paste
- 1 bay leaf
Gravy
- ½ cup broth or water, or as needed
- 3 tablespoons cornstarch
Instructions
- Cut roast into large 3 to 4" chunks. Season generously with salt & pepper.
- Add olive oil to the Instant Pot and turn on to saute. Sear beef in batches to brown, about 4 minutes per side.
- Remove beef and add onions to the Instant Pot (you can add a bit more oil if needed). Cook 2-3 minutes to soften.
- Add red wine to the Instant Pot. Scrape the bottom to remove any brown bits (to avoid a burn notice).
- Add remaining ingredients and mix well. Add browned beef and stir.
- Cook on high pressure for 45 minutes. Natural release 15 minutes.
- Using a slotted spoon, remove beef and vegetables and set on a plate to rest. Discard bay leaf.
- Combine broth and cornstarch in a mason jar and shake very well until smooth. Turn the broth in the Instant Pot onto saute to bring to a boil. Whisk in cornstarch and cook until thickened and bubbly, add additional cornstarch as necessary. Season with salt and pepper.
- Serve gravy over pot roast.
Notes
Cornstarch can be used in place of flour if desired. Mix equal parts cornstarch and cold water. Whisk a little at a time into boiling broth until thickened. Baby potatoes are best in this recipe. I have found they hold their shape better while other potatoes tend to crumble or fall apart and become mushy. Scraping the brown bits is an important step that helps avoid getting burn notice. Don’t skip this step! Add in extra veggies from your fridge, almost anything goes!
Nutrition Information
Nutrition information provided is an estimate and will vary based on cooking methods and brands of ingredients used.
Course Beef, Main Course
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I’ve made many pot roast, but this will be my go to. So easy and the meat was so tender.
How would I modify the time for a 2 pound roast? Would it be OK if I did not use celery? When those little yellow potatoes be OK for this recipe too?
(I asked you something similar earlier this morning, but I looked at my grammar and it was atrocious so I am fixing it.)
I haven’t tried this with a 2lb roast so I can’t say for sure. You can skip the celery and yes, baby potatoes would be okay in this recipe.
Excellent flavor. Really nice.
Enjoyed over rice.
Comfort food for our stay-in New Year’s Eve
So happy you loved this recipe, Sue!
This was the first time I used the Instant Pot for pot roast. It was flavorful and I wouldn’t change any of the ingredients or seasonings. The one thing I would change would be the timing of the vegetables. They are a little on the far side of tender for my taste. I will add them to the pot about 15 minutes after the meat.
I will be trying more of your recipes for the Instant Pot.
So glad you enjoyed it, Eileen!
Quick, easy and very good.
Is the sodium information correct for this recipe, 3636mg per serving? If so, where does all of the sodium come from? I’m on a low sodium diet for health reasons, and I need to find a way to reduce the sodium in this recipe, because it sounds delicious!!
Thank you for your comment, Deanne. We use a program to calculate an estimate of the nutritional information. It does appear that there was an error in the sodium listing, I have updated the recipe.
Please keep in mind that this is an estimate and I would suggest running the recipe through a nutritional calculator with the actual brands you have used for the most accurate information. Enjoy the recipe!
Will this work for an arm roast?
I haven’t tried it so I can’t say for sure C, but it should work just fine. If you try it I would love to hear how it turns out!
This was not tasty. Too much tomato flavor.
hi, I’m going to bed making this tonight & my only concern is wondering if there veggies (potatoes, green beans & onion I’ll be using) will turn to mush by the time the roast is done.. I was thinking about putting the roast in for 15 mins ahead of the veggies, but wasn’t sure if this would work. Can you tell me if the veggies turn out right or if they become overly mushy after 45 mins in the IP?
I like to cook them all together and they do turn out quite tender. If you prefer you can roast them separately Eric.
Just made this for the second time. Awesome! I stick to your recipe but add a little more carrot, potato and celery since I have an XL cooker. Such a fantastic classic pot roast!
Just perused some of your other recipes that I will be trying out soon since we are in the cold season. Mainly looking at the soups and casseroles.
Thank you. As a single middle aged man who enjoys cooking and wants too eat relatively healthy meals these recipes are great.
Regards,
– DS
I am so glad you enjoyed the recipe and I can’t wait for you to try more David!
Yummy! I didn’t have rosemary, so I left it out. I used rump roast and it came out very tender and flavorful! I’ll make it again! Thanks for a great recipe. Your recipes never fail me!
So happy to hear that, Laurie! Thank you :)
What if you have no red wine?? Extra beef broth?
That will work well in this recipe, Samantha!
This makes the best pot roast recipe I have found for the instant pot. I make it at least once a month!!
So glad you love this pot roast recipe Sam!
I made this last night following the recipe exactly except I roasted the carrots and potatoes separately so they wouldn’t overcook. It was absolutely delicious, thanks for the great recipe.
Sounds perfect, you’re welcome Nancy!
I found 45 minutes to be way to long for the veggies. The meat was super tender and delicious.
I just purchased an 8qt instant pot and had no clue how to use it. I have made 2 of your instant pot recipes now and both were spot on. Your directions and tips are always through and we appreciate it. As for this recipe: The roast came out moist, flavorful and absolutely fork tender. I made the roast with onions and mushrooms. I made cheesy mashed potatoes, buttered carrots and rolls on the side while the roast was cooking. Currently looking on your site for an instant pot cheesecake recipe next :)
Ohhhh, cheesecake is one of our favorites!! Thank you so much for your kind words Carrie, Happy Cooking!
made it tonight and we all enjoyed it very much.
Thank you
So glad you enjoyed it Dale!
Hi. Are you sure that the potato and carrots are pressure cooked for 45.minutes?
I do them all at once but if you prefer, you can do them for a shorter time separately.