Instant Pot Pot Roast

Looking for an easy way to have a roast on your table? The Instant Pot pot roast recipe can be your answer! It is so easy to get this perfect, it is hard to mess up (seriously it is.) You make the gravy right in the pot when the roast is done – less dishes is always a good thing.

What is pot roast?

It is simply a roast that is cooked in liquid. You cook it in the liquid for a prolonged period of time to make sure it falls apart on your plate. If it doesn’t fall apart easily with a fork, it isn’t ready yet.

What is really great about this too is that you can use an inexpensive cut of meat that is on sale. Once they are cooked for so long, they become fall apart tender as the meat fibers break down.

Picking the right roast

The perfect roast for a pot roast is a chuck roast, but you can use any cheaper cut of meat for this as well. One that you might walk past in the store but decide to buy it because it is on sale for such a good price. Most cheaper cuts of meats need to be cooked for a prolonged period of time to become tender, that’s why a cheaper cut of meat works here. See this roast doesn’t have much fat in it so in the oven it would be kind of tough. Cooking it for prolonged periods breaks the fibers down and makes it pull apart easier.

Now as much as I love this amazing kitchen gadget, I would not do prime rib or New York strip roast in it. Learn more about how to cook prime rib. Rib roasts cook perfectly as they are, they have the fat to keep it tender. They should not be overcooked and never cooked as a pot roast.

Making the Instant pot pot roast

I always take the meat out and let it sit on the counter for 20-30 minutes. The reason for letting meats sit out for a bit is to bring it to an even temperature. It cooks evenly this way instead of having a cold inside that needs to warm up after the outside has cooked. It is good practice to do this with your roasts.

Just before cooking, rub salt all over the roast. I don’t do this too early as salt can pull the moisture out of beef.

Getting it started

You can pick different veggies if you choose. It is pretty flexible but remember that you are cooking it for an hour on high pressure so they will get a little mushy. We use mushrooms, celery, carrots, onion and potatoes. You can leave out the mushrooms and celery if you choose.

Turn your Instant Pot onto saute and allow it to heat up. Once it is hot, add your oil and the roast. Sear it on each side which takes about a minute or 2 on each side and end. Remove the meat and place it aside. Take the red wine and pour it into the pot, stirring to deglaze the pot. Hit cancel. The red wine can be drinking wine, I used moscato since that is what I drink.

Layer the onions, carrots, celery and mushrooms. Place the roast on top of the vegetables and add any seasonings. We used rosemary and pepper. You can also add a little more salt as well, but this depends on the broth you use. Pour the broth in now over the roast.

Place the potatoes on top of the roast. You don’t want them in the liquid or they will be mushy. They will be soft as it is, but if they are in the broth they will be mushy.

Notice how I kept them whole? They will be fall apart mushy if you cut them into pieces. I found a bag that had most of the potatoes close to the same size (not always easy) and I used gold potatoes with the skins on.

Cooking and serving

Place the lid on and make sure the vent is set to seal. Hit the manual/pressure cook button and adjust time to 75 minutes. It will take around 20 minutes to build up pressure. Once it is done cooking, allow the pressure to naturally release which will take about 30 minutes.

Once the pin drops. remove the roast and the vegetables. If you want to make gravy with the leftover juice/broth, mix together cornstarch and water. Turn the Intstant Pot on to saute and bring to a slight boil. Slowly pour in the cornstarch/water mix while stirring constantly. Pour into a gravy boat or even a measuring cup if you prefer and your Instant Pot pot roast is ready to serve!