Pressure Cooker Pot Roast
- Total Time
- 1¾ hours
- Rating
- Notes
- Read community notes
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Ingredients
Yield:6 servings
- 4pounds beef chuck roast, cut in half
- Kosher salt and black pepper
- 2tablespoons vegetable oil
- 7ounces frozen pearl onions (or 1 yellow or red onion, peeled and cut into wedges)
- 8garlic cloves, smashed and peeled
- 1½cups dry red wine
- 1tablespoon red wine vinegar
- 5fresh woody herb sprigs, such as a mix of thyme, sage and rosemary (or 1 teaspoon dried thyme, rosemary or sage)
- 1to 1½ pounds root vegetables, such as a mix of peeled carrots and parsnips, cut into 2-inch chunks
- 2tablespoons unsalted butter, at room temperature (optional)
- 2tablespoons flour (optional)
- 1cup red wine vinegar
- 2tablespoons granulated sugar
- 7ounces frozen pearl onions (or 1 yellow or red onion, peeled and thinly sliced)
- Kosher salt
For the Pot Roast
For the Pickled Onions (optional)
Ingredient Substitution Guide
Nutritional analysis per serving (6 servings)
782 calories; 26 grams fat; 9 grams saturated fat; 1 gram trans fat; 13 grams monounsaturated fat; 2 grams polyunsaturated fat; 57 grams carbohydrates; 14 grams dietary fiber; 16 grams sugars; 71 grams protein; 1813 milligrams sodium
Note: The information shown is Edamam’s estimate based on available ingredients and preparation. It should not be considered a substitute for a professional nutritionist’s advice.
Powered byPreparation
- Step 1
Season the beef generously all over with about 1 tablespoon salt. Using the sauté setting, warm the oil in a 6- to 8-quart electric pressure cooker. Add one chunk of the beef and sear one side until deeply browned, about 5 minutes. Remove the first chunk and repeat with the remaining chunk, searing one side. (You can brown more than one side of each chunk, but one side is enough to build flavor without spending too much time on this step.) If the pressure cooker gives you a “hot” error, simply turn it off and use residual heat to cook. When it cools, turn the sauté setting back on.
- Step 2
Add the pearl onions and garlic; season with salt and pepper. Cook, stirring, until the garlic is softened, about 2 minutes. Pour in the wine, vinegar and ½ cup water; season generously with black pepper and lightly with salt. Using a metal or wooden spoon or spatula, scrape up all the browned bits on the bottom of the pot. Turn off the sauté setting. Add the herbs and nestle the beef into the liquid. Cook on high pressure for 1 hour.
- Step 3
Make the pickled onions, if desired: Bring the vinegar and sugar to a boil in a small saucepan. Add the pearl onions and a generous pinch of salt and cook, stirring, to dissolve the sugar and warm the onions through, about 1 minute. Remove the mixture from heat and set aside at room temperature to pickle for at least 1 hour. (You can make the pickled onions up to 5 days ahead; store them in a sealed container in the refrigerator.)
- Step 4
Allow the pressure to reduce naturally for 10 minutes, then release the remaining pressure manually. Add the vegetables to the pot, tucking them below the liquid. Cook on high pressure until the beef and vegetables are both tender, an additional 4 minutes. Quick-release the pressure by twisting the pressure knob to vent, then open the lid. Using tongs and a slotted spoon, remove the beef and vegetables to a serving platter. Break the beef into large chunks to serve. At this point, you can simply drizzle some cooking liquid over the top of the beef and vegetables, and top with the drained, pickled pearl onions to serve. Discard the remaining cooking liquid or strain it, refrigerate it, discard the layer of fat and freeze the remaining liquid as beef stock.
- Step 5
If you’d prefer a thicker gravy, strain the cooking liquid and return it to the pot. Using the sauté function, bring it to a boil. Meanwhile, combine the butter and flour in a small bowl and knead it together with your fingers until it is uniform, almost like a dough. Once the liquid is boiling, drop the butter-flour mixture into the pot, whisking well to combine. Let it bubble until it is lightly thickened, about 5 minutes, then drizzle some gravy over the pot roast and vegetables, and top with drained, pickled onions. Serve extra gravy on the side.
Private Notes
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Cooking Notes
Kirsten
In an Instant Pot brand pressure cooker on the Sauté setting "hot" is not an error, it's a notification that the surface is preheated and ready to be used. If you see "burn" that's an error, accompanied with a couple of beeps to alert you to that fact, and is typically seen while the machine is in pressure cooking mode, not Sauté mode.
Sarah
This sounds delish! Few questions: 1. In step 1 you say to sear one piece of beef then repeat with the other two but in the ingredient section the 4 pound piece of chuck is only halved? 2. In step 3 you say to add the pearl onions to the saucepan but aren't they in the Instant Pot with the beef? TIA for clarifying, Sarah
Margaret
Hi Sarah -- In response to your second question, I think that the recipe calls for 14 oz of pearl onions. The first 7 oz go into the pot, and the second 7 oz are optional, for pickling.
starry
This is basically the way I always make my pot roast in my pressure cooker, except I have never served it with pickled onion. Do yourself a favor and MAKE THE PICKLED ONION! I used half a red onion instead of the pearls. We put the pot roast and onions on some good bread spread with a little horseradish.
Michelle
If you want a quicker way to make the sauce, remove a few ladles before you add the carrots. Then create the roux, mix with the reserved stock, and add back to the pot once the carrots are done. No straining necessary :)
Damon
I made this with a few slight adjustments to cooking time. I cooked the meat for 70 minutes instead of 60 and cooked the vegetables for 6 minutes instead of 4 minutes (minor tweaks). One thing you MUST do is make the gravy. The meat came out tender but didn't have a lot of flavor. The cooking liquid was pretty watery after cooking. I seasoned the cooking liquid then added the butter/flour mixture and got a delicious gravy. The gravy pulls everything together. I served this over mashed potatos
jess
This is the best tasting pot roast I’ve ever made. Few changes out of necessity and preference- used a yellow onion instead of pearls, and skipped root vegetables (served on mashed potatoes). I did an extra 10 minutes on pressure cook because I like it to be really falling apart. Seriously delicious.
Jana
I had intended to oven braise a pot roast, but didn't get it started early enough in the day. I was worried that a pressure-cooked roast wouldn't be as flavorful. Wrong. I followed another suggestion and added fresh and dried mushrooms. Then reduced the sauce left behind after taking out meat and vegetables. Fast and delicious.
AJ
This was so yummy. Definitely make the pickled onions. Even better if you can make them the day before (which is what we did). Added some red potatoes, which I would do again. Also went heavy on the herbs. That turned out well.
Raphael
The onions in step 3 are for pickling and are separate from the onions in the pressure cooker. Presentation-wise I think using a red onion here will look nicer too.
emily
I added 2 T tomato paste when cooking down the pearl onions and garlic. I wanted a deeper flavor. This recipe was great!
Little Biotch
As others have said, use broth instead of water. Season with soy sauce and a bit of dijon mustard prior to the 70 min cook so that the meat has more flavor rather than just the gravy. Made the gravy, but felt that the cooking liquid had too much fat in it already to add additional butter. I recommend making the gravy using the fat skimmed from the cooking liquid, though this requires a little more work.
FH Cyclist
This was very good and the 1st time I really used my Instant Pot. Thanks so much for an easy recipe. I took a chance and made it for a group of friends - it was a big hit and it only took about 2 hours from prepping to finish. I’ll add to the chorus: make the pickled onions! Bonus, we had delays for work issues that came up but the keep warm feature kept everything hot & tasty. Heads up to those new to Instant Pot: there are great videos on how to use your pot on the web.
Chris and Andy
Love this recipe! Consider adding more red wine when you add the veggies. Also, added large pieces of mushrooms.....Mmmmm! Lastly, the leftovers are the perfect base ingredients for a killer Shepherd's Pie.
spiffypaws
Made this last night to honor the last piece of meat I will probably be able to buy for awhile given the rapidly dwindling supply in the supermarket. Used a healthy glug of herbe de Provence in place of fresh but otherwise followed the recipe. Excellent! Vegetables perfectly cooked as instructed.
Amy
Prepared as described but didn’t make the thick gravy. It was so delicious. I would suggest doubling the root veggies.
Eskirmish
Cut up an onion, a turnip and a rutabaga, sautéed them together then added the garlic and etc. After I pulled out the cooked pot roast, I puréed everything together and it made a nice substantive gravy without having to add any flour.
lorena
I followed the recipe perfectly except subbed potatoes for the parsnips since my local grocery store did not have any. It was divine. The pickled onions were a magnificent touch (I LOVE onions) and we made the gravy. We didn’t make the doughball, just threw in the butter and flour into the liquid and all was well. I used to be vegan/vegetarian for years and this was my first foray back into cooking with red meat. For next time: sub stock for water and add a bay leaf.
Courtney
My pearl onions added in the beginning cooked to nothingness by the end. I will add with the rest of the veg next time. Overall awesome and easy recipe.
BarbaraT
The family really liked this. I was rewarded by the great tip embedded in the instructions about using a little ball of dough to thicken the sauce. Thank you.
PlainsGal
A rainy day meal well received by a table of meat lovers! Used an arm roast which is more solid than chuck, so cooked about 10 minutes longer with about a cup more liquid (red wine and beef broth). Seasoned per recipe except used a Provence spice blend to get the same flavors. The gravy technique worked great, though I used potato flakes for the thickener instead of flour. Everyone raved about the gravy! I had only 1 sad carrot so skipped the root veggies and no one noticed.
Jill
Just made a half recipe of this, modified for what I had on hand. It's quite aromatic and delicious. I used 2 1 lb pieces of chuck roast, and half of all quantities except for full amount of red wine vinegar and twiggy aromatics. Pressure-cooked 40 minutes, forgot to natural release at ten, opened the pot at 29. Used salt and a coffee, peppercorn, bourbon, salt blend I had on hand. Really lovely (and easy) even before reducing liquid. Win.
Lisa vS
I cooked browned beef w onion, garlic, wine, tomato paste, a bit of gochujang, thyme and broth in instant pot, but then simmered with the rest of the vegetables on stove top until done (about 1/2 hour more). This didn't take too much longer, reduced the cooking liquid, and made it easy to cook vegetables to desired softness. I added sauteed mushrooms and slivered yellow bell, potato, and a few chunks of butternut squash along with the carrots. Pickled onions and sour cream are good with it.
Dr J
Made with 3 lb sirloin tip oven roast. 45 min only. Didn’t cut up and no tomato paste. Meat tender but not dry. Did the butter flour thickener but still needed a tbsp of cornstarch. Also pearl onions disintegrated. Not worth effort of peeling.
Amy
We enjoyed the speed and the flavor of this recipe! Used red onion, potatoes, carrots for veg; thyme, rosemary, sage sprigs. We didn't care for the pickled onions.
Chris
Made this and it was amazing!! I only used 2.5lbs of beef (cut into halves) and that was still soooo much meat. It really doesn't need 4lbs, major overkill IMO. I also added potatoes to the mix in addition to the carrots and parsnips. Didn't have pearl onions so I substituted the other half of a red onion that was also used for the pickled onions. This one's a keeper!
AC Barrington
Added a few dashes of fish sauce, took the suggestion of Michelle and added the roux with the veggies, and served it with a side of kimchi as well as pickled onions. Unbelievably good.
Delicious
It was my first using my out of the box instant pot. Came out delicious. I added potatoes and carrots and both came out perfect. Beef super tasty. Thanks for the easy delicious recipe.
Mike
Added an additional cup of wine instead of adding water, doubled the amount of garlic (used a garlic press), and seared the meat in a cast iron skillet, as well as root vegetables. Did not pickle onions. Came out as the best pot roast we’ve had in memory.
Marlette
I only have a stove top pressure cooker but was able to follow the recipe fairly closely. I also follow my grand’s and mom’s method of seasoning meat: S&P, cut meat into 2-3” pieces, put them in a paper or plastic bag with~ 1/2 of flour, Shake them gently to cover then brown meat on all sides. This gives more flavor IMHO. as well as thickening the pan juices. Potatoes a nice but only if you won’t be freezing leftovers since that makes them mushy.
Bobbi
Thanks!
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