This Instant Pot Pot Roast recipe will walk you through the exact steps needed to make a tender, delicious, batch cook-friendly roast in just 2 hours.
Taken by the idea of a magical multi-cooker that could save me time in the kitchen, I bought an Instant Pot late last year. To be specific, this is the one I bought. It’s a 7-in-1 and holds 6 whole quarts. I love it now, but that wasn’t always the case.
I have successfully made some yummy red potatoes and this pot roast. I have unsuccessfully made green curry, the slow cooker barbacoa from my book, and a couple attempts at several kinds of soups. I have LEARNED that my less-than-successful recipes were due to a couple (sometimes creative) pesky user errors. Apparently it matters if the vent is open …it matters a lot.
Though I’ve never claimed to be a fast learner, I am a patient learner. I’m patient while I slowly figure all the what-not-to-do’s in an effort to create fail-proof Instant Pot-friendly recipes for you.
This pot roast was a major turning point for my sweet Instant Pot and myself. We’re starting to figure each other out! The Instant Pot has learned that I like to make BIG batches of food and I have learned that the Instant Pot manual should be read prior to using. Vents should be closed (and verified that they’re closed) and broccoli should not be cooked for longer than 10 minutes under pressure.
This pot roast is exactly what I wanted from my Instant Pot: a decadent, delicious, batch-cooked tender beef roast(made even better when I get it from ButcherBox) that tastes as if I spent all day caring for it. Opposed to the 4 hours it would normally take me to whip this up (the old-fashioned way) I was able to get this roast on the table in exactly half the time. WIN!
Keep your eyes peeled for a creative way to serve this roast up in the next day …it involves a goat cheese jalapeno cream sauce, roasted pearl onions, and PASTA. All in an effort to show you all my love this Valentines Day!
Enjoy!
Instant Pot Pot Roast
Ingredients
- 4 to 5 pound beef roast
- 2 teaspoons fine sea salt
- 2 teaspoons garlic powder
- cracked black pepper to taste
- 2 tablespoons ghee avocado oil, or your favorite cooking fat
- 1/2 cup water
Instructions
- Press the "saute" button on your Instant Pot. I like to give it about 2 minutes to heat up.
- While the Instant Pot gets up to temperature, season one side of the pot roast liberally with half of the sea salt, garlic powder, and black pepper.
- Add your cooking fat to the pot and then (careful not to touch the side of the insert with your hands) place the seasoned side of the roast face-down in the bottom of the pot. Depending on the size of your roast, you may have to press it down in some areas so that as much of the roast is touching the bottom as possible. Set a timer for 10 minutes and allow the roast to sear on one side.
- Season the upward facing side with the rest of the sea salt, garlic powder, and pepper. After 10 minutes, flip the roast over.
- Press the "keep warm/cancel" button, add 1/2 cup water to the pot, and secure the lid of the Instant Pot in place with the pressure release knob flipped to "sealing" (the one pointing away from the control panel).
- Press the "meat/stew" button and then press the "+" until the timer reads 85 minutes.
- Make sure that your Instant Pot seals once it comes up to pressure (the small metal valve next to the pressure knob will pop up) and seals (there will be no steam coming out). Once it reaches pressure and seals, the timer will start a countdown. At this point, you're off duty!
- Allow the Instant Pot to "naturally" release the steam (meaning, you do not manually move the pressure release knob). This should take approximately 30 minutes to 1 hour and the lid will automatically unlock once the pressure is released.
- Your roast is done! Scoop it out of the pot, leaving its liquids behind, and transfer it to a serving pot of your choice. Enjoy!
Recipe Notes
- To make in a crockpot: follow the instructions but add an additional cup of beef broth and cook on low for 8 hours or on high for 4.
Nutrition
So easy! I threw in a sprig of thyme and rosemary after searing.
Definitely will make again!
That’s awesome, Lisa! We’re so glad you loved this recipe! Thanks so much for sharing this with us!
I would want to put my carrots and potatoes in it to so when should I add the potatoes and carrots
If I wanted to use a smaller roast, would I still cook it the same amount of time?
Do you recommend a bone-in roast or does it matter?
We used boneless!
How would you go about using a frozen roast?
You can still cook it for 60 minutes, it will just take longer to come to pressure!
It was not discussed whether you add water to the pot or not I thought you always had to have water in the instant pot am I wrong?
This has been updated to add 1/2 cup water to the pot!
I have a 2 lb roast I need to use up and would love to make this recipe! Do I need to adjust the time at all since it is only 2 lbs? Thank you!
It should actually take the same amount of time. Keep me posted!
Delicious! Cassy is right: the searing of the meat makes enough liquid for the Instant Pot to come to pressure easily. I was surprised at how much liquid was actually in the pot when I was done (~2 cups worth). The meat was tender and flavorful! Will definitely be making again 🙂 Thanks!
I’m so glad you liked it, Michele!
Instapots require at least 1 cup of liquid if you’re using the pressure setting – otherwise there is nothing to generate steam to get up to pressure – have you missed an ingredient?
I actually made mine as listed. During the 10 minutes that the beef browns on one side, it releases a lot of liquid. If you’re unsure, feel free to add some liquid to the basin. It won’t have an impact on the flavor.