Instant Pot Pot Roast
This post may contain affiliate links. Please see our privacy policy for details.
A complete pot roast Sunday dinner in just 60 min? Yes, please! With the most tender, melt-in-your-mouth tender beef!
Featured Comment
why i love this easy pot roast dinner recipe
- Faster cooking time. Hello, super speedy pot roast dinner! With the help of your pressure cooker, the Instant Pot® will create the most lovely, oh-so-cozy, tender pot roast in just 1 hr – and it tastes as if its been simmering and braising all day. This gives you more time to take a nap, do the laundry, drop off the kids at basketball practice, binge something quick like Parks and Recs – all of the things.
- Classic Sunday comfort food. This is just one of those dishes that brings you back to those cozy Sunday suppers. It’s simple, it’s wholesome, and the house just smells like home, a true family friendly meal, not to mention perfect for weekend company and holiday dinners.
- Fall apart beef. No more dry pot roast here. We’re talking moist, flavorful, fall part, melt-in-your-mouth shredded beef. Not to mention, a gravy you’ll want to pour on all your buttery mashed potatoes and crusty bread, of course.
- Leftovers taste even better. Similar to lasagna, pot roast tastes even better the very next day, allowing the flavors to meld and intensify even further overnight in the fridge.
- Freezes like a dream. Pot roast freezes beautifully, and can be kept in the freezer for up to 3 months, repurposing the leftovers into so many different dinners (think soups, ragu, quesadillas and shepherd’s pie to name a few).
how to make pot roast in the instant pot
- Season the beef with salt and pepper, seasoning generously
- Sear the beef until a dark crust forms, sealing all the flavors inside
- Add the onion, garlic and tomato paste
- Deglaze the bottom of the pot with red wine (those browned bits have all the flavor) – this is a crucial step to avoid that dreaded BURN warning
- Add beef stock, seasonings and herbs, cook for 45 minutes
- Add in the vegetables and cook for an additional 10 minutes
- Shred the beef using two forks
- Add in the cornstarch slurry for the most flavor-packed gravy
- Spoon the gravy over the shredded beef, potatoes and carrots
tips and tricks for success
- Look for marbling. When choosing a chuck roast, make sure it is well-marbled to ensure flavorful, tender pot roast. Look for visible fat streaks throughout the meat – the fat will melt throughout the cooking process, yielding rich, juicy, beefy goodness.
- Sear the meat. Searing the chuck roast first will add all the extra, deeper flavors here, sealing all the juices inside.
- Tomato paste adds so much flavor. Tomato paste adds body and richness in small amounts without adding too much liquid to the pot roast. Opt for tomato paste in a tube, using up only what you need at a time without having to open up a whole can.
- Choose a wine you will drink. A dry red wine (cabernet sauvignon, pinot noir or merlot) is great here – it does not have to be anything fancy or overpriced. Just something you don’t mind sipping on since you will have an open bottle.
- Fresh herbs are best. Although you can certainly substitute dried herbs, fresh herbs are ideal here, delivering the best kind of flavor.
- Cook the vegetables after. Add the potatoes and carrots to the Instant Pot and cook on high pressure for 6 minutes after the beef has cooked through. Cooking the vegetables with the meat will lead to overcooked, mushy veggies.
- Make a cornstarch slurry. Adding cornstarch directly into the Instant Pot can cause lumps. Always use a mixture of cornstarch and cold liquid (aka cornstarch slurry) to thicken the sauce, yielding a smoother, gravy-like consistency.
- Serve with crusty bread. Serve with all the homemade crusty bread for dipping, sopping and dunking in the pot roast drippings!
- Repurpose leftovers. The leftovers make for great nachos, sliders, enchiladas and breakfast hash for breakfast (or dinner!).
freezing and storage
Prep
Pot roast can be made 1 day in advance, storing the meat and vegetables separately in airtight containers in the fridge.
Storage
Leftovers can be stored in an airtight container in the fridge for 3-4 days.
Reheating
Pot roast can be reheated over low heat on the stovetop or in the oven at 300°F in a baking dish, covered in aluminum foil, until warmed through. Be sure to use some of the leftover juices and drippings to prevent the meat from drying out.
Freeze after cooking
Let the pot roast cool completely; portion into plastic freezer bags in individual servings, squeezing out any excess air before sealing. Lay the bags flat in a single layer in the freezer (this will help them freeze quickly). To reheat, thaw overnight in the fridge, reheating over low heat, stirring occasionally, or in the oven at 300°F in a baking dish, covered in aluminum foil, until warmed through.
what to serve with instant pot pot roast
Tools For This Recipe
6-qt Instant Pot®
Instant Pot Pot Roast: Frequently Asked Questions
We recommend using chuck roast for the best results possible. Brisket or rump roast (bottom round roast) can also be used.
Additional beef stock can be used for red wine as a non-alcoholic substitute. Stock will be less acidic and more mild in flavor than red wine.
Absolutely! But because dried herbs are often more potent/concentrated than fresh herbs, you need less when using dry. The correct ratio is 1 tablespoon fresh herbs to 1 teaspoon dried herbs.
A cornstarch slurry is a mixture of cornstarch and cold liquid (such as water or stock) used as a thickening agent. To avoid over thickening, always add the cornstarch slurry towards the end of cooking time.
Yes! Here is our favorite slow cooker pot roast recipe.
Leftovers can be stored in an airtight container in the fridge for 3-4 days.
Pot roast is very freezer-friendly! Freeze in individual servings, thawing overnight and reheating on the stovetop or low oven to avoid overcooking or drying out the meat.
Instant Pot Pot Roast
Ingredients
- 1 (3-pound) boneless chuck roast, excess fat trimmed
- Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper, to taste
- 1 ½ tablespoons canola oil
- 1 yellow onion, chopped
- 3 cloves garlic, minced
- 2 tablespoons tomato paste
- ¼ cup dry red wine
- 3 cups beef stock
- 2 teaspoons Worcestershire sauce
- 4 sprigs fresh thyme
- 1 sprig fresh rosemary
- 2 bay leaves
- 1 ½ pounds baby red potatoes, whole
- 4 large carrots, cut diagonally into 2-inch pieces
- 2 ½ tablespoons cornstarch
Equipment
Instructions
- Set a 6-qt Instant Pot® to the high saute setting.
- Season beef with 1 1/2 teaspoons salt and 1 teaspoon black pepper. Heat canola oil; add beef and cook until evenly browned, about 2-3 minutes per side; set aside.
- Add onion, and cook, stirring frequently, until translucent, about 2-3 minutes. Stir in garlic and tomato paste until fragrant, about 1 minute.
- Stir in red wine, scraping any browned bits from the bottom of the pot.
- Stir in beef stock, Worcestershire, thyme, rosemary and bay leaves. Top with beef. Select manual setting; adjust pressure to high, and set time for 45 minutes. When finished cooking, quick-release pressure according to manufacturer’s directions.
- Add potatoes and carrots; select manual setting; adjust pressure to high, and set time for 6 minutes. When finished cooking, quick-release pressure according to manufacturer’s directions.
- Remove beef, potatoes and carrots from the Instant Pot®; shred beef, using two forks.
- In a small bowl, whisk together cornstarch and 1/4 cup cold water; set aside.
- Select high sauté setting. Bring to a boil; stir in cornstarch mixture and cook, stirring frequently, until slightly thickened, about 2-3 minutes. If the mixture is too thick, add more beef stock as needed until desired consistency is reached.
- Serve beef, potatoes and carrots with juices immediately.
Video
Did you make this recipe?
Tag @damn_delicious on Instagram and hashtag it #damndelicious!
Perfection. Exactly how a peerfect pot roast should taste. Straightforward, easy to follow instructions, no hard to find ingredients – just like Mom would have mad if she had an Instant Pot. My husband kept saying,”Save this recipe!”. This is a keeper for sure. I’ll be following you to find more great recipes.
Good flavor but not a fan. The best way to have pot roast is slow-cooked, so the meat falls apart. The roast was too tough, so I had to cut it into pieces. I think I’ll slow cook my pot roast from now on.
I had the same issue so I cooked it longer and it totally fell apart. I ended up cooking for another 30 mins.
We used a chuck roast, trimmed of fat, right around 3 and 1/4 lbs and it fell apart as instructed on this recipe and the potatoes were almost like a solid mashed potato. I used to do the same slow roasting too and agreed, prior to this recipe.
Made this last night – I’ve tried other recipes and we are keeping this one. Easy instructions, great flavor and damn delicious! We had a little left over which I was saving for my lunch today – but my 16 year old son heated it up and ate it at midnight last night – that’s how good it is 🙂
Great flavor for the meat but the gravy tasted like tomato soup. Next time I’ll be omitting the tomato paste.
Great recipe except that I would chop the roast into large pieces before putting it into the pressure cooker or even before pan searing. I know this from using my instant pot for roasts often, but the meat tenderizes all the way to the center so much easier when cut into chunks rather than one large roast. I was grateful to find a recipe with a gravy made of more than just packets of seasonings and gravy.
The recipe itself is wonderful . I added two jalapeños slit in half to mine because we like it spicy here . But the flaw is in the timing of the cooking it requires an additional 45 minutes other than what’s stated in the recipe for it to fall apart . Tasty though!! Thanks for this .
So delicious! I used grass fed beef from Whole Foods and cut the 3 pounds into 3 pieces. Next time I’ll cut into 4. One of the pieces was not tender so threw it back in by itself for 25 minutes. Also I think next time I’ll cute potatoes snd throw in with the carrots. They were a little mushy after 45 minutes. I added extra minced cmgarlic and flavored meat with pepper and garlic salt before sautéing. Just personal preferences (we loveeee garlic). This is a great recipe! Will use again for sure. Thanks for sharing this one!
This came out very well, aside from the meat being impossibly chewy after following the recipe as written. After the 45+10 minutes I removed the vegetables and cooked the meat for another 40 minutes (manual high pressure). This yielded the desired fall-apart tenderness. Next time I would cook the meat by itself for 40 minutes prior to adding the potatoes; then I would proceed with the 45+10 minute cooking per the recipe. Thanks!
Wow! Had a 2.5 lb. pot roast. Didn’t have red wine, so used red wine vinegar like someone suggested. Took potatoes out, before adding carrots and kept them warm. After carrots done kept carrots and roast warm with potatoes, strained gravy into sauce pan with frozen peas on bottom (not a fan of onion, garlic bits, rosemary and thyme sprigs in gravy and I like peas). Thickened gravy as suggested with corn starch slurry. Cooking times and quick release remained same. BEST POT ROAST EVER!
This recipe is so delicious! I made it for our Anniversary and it was actually better than going out to eat!! The pot roast was so tender and the sauce / gravy was amazing! It’s a new favorite.
Very tasty! Perfect blend of spices and seasonings. (Had I used FRESH thyme and rosemary, am sure it would have been even better.) My only issue with the recipe was the length of time to pressure cook the meat. 45 min was not long enough to tenderize the chuck roast. For our left over meal, I pressure cooked the meat/gravy 18 more minutes in the IP. Perfect!
This was tender and delicious. Had a 2 lb. Grass fed bottom roast. My first time using my new instapot. I didn’t add the potatoes. Otherwise followed your recipe as written. Keeper!
This was very good. I followed the recipe as written. It’s different from my usual slow cooker pot roast recipe which doesn’t call for tomato paste.
This was excellent and I’m making it for the third time today. I’m a 12-stepper and don’t keep wine in the house, but I found that balsamic vinegar diluted with a little water works great. Also I used Jamaican Pickapeppa sauce instead of Worcestershire for a peppery zing. Thanks for this great recipe!
If you don’t mind me asking what was the ratio to the balsamic vinegar and water to equal the amount of the red wine that was called for in the recipe?
Delicious and hearty! I added 5 stalks of celery w/the leaves cut diagonally like the carrots and 1 cup of fresh English peas to this recipe. I added them both in the last 10 minutes w/the carrots. I served these w/your Red Lobster Cheddar Bay Biscuits copycat recipe and my family loved it! Such a great fall meal!
This was so good and so easy to make. We loved the rosemary and thyme flavors and adding the red wine takes it to another level. Thank you!
Thanks for the idea to add celery! I think the tomato paste made it a little more tangy than most beef gravies!! Loved it!
I substituted red wine vinegar for red wine . Flavor is amazing, vegetables are perfect but I bought the right size, cooked as directed and the roast was tough, chewy, undercooked. We ate it anyway because we were too hungry to wait and the flavor was wonderful. I’m sure it will be good after simmering a while but the next time I cook this I think I’ll add an extra few minutes onto the cook time or add a natural release to get it a little more tender.
This was the best pot roast recipe I have ever used! I made croissant rolls with it.
This is my favorite pot roast. With a slab of sweet cornbread, i am fat but happy
My favorite recipe in the whole world. It’s easy. I even impressed my Russian family the other day and my mom asked me to reach her (that’s a huge compliment when a Russian mom asks you for a recipe). Sometimes when I’m out of wine, I just add 2 Tb Sp of white vinegar and I can’t tell the difference. I’ve made this recipe over 20 times or so already. It’s my go to when I have no idea what I want to eat. Everyone loves it. Thank you
I do this.. Take your cut of meat whole 3-5lbs.. 8 qt instant pot here (or whatever weight/size in 6qt) toss dry rub on and sear ends on high and then to normal for the sides.. oil here usually.. Remove meat.. Toss in onion.. Garlic bits.. Rosemary/Bay leaves.. Deglaze with a bit of beef broth on high.. Now heres the trick want your kids to eat their veggies?? .. I cook all in sauce so beef back in on the bottom.. Surround with potatoes.. Veggies etc on top.. 40 mins-45 mins high pressure… You can always cut 10 minutes and toss in veggies late for people who want firm veggies etc.. Just adds time for pressurizations etc..
Your kids will only typically want potatoes and carrots if you get some on the sauce… YUM…