Instant Pot Pot Roast-- A Sunday dinner-worthy meal made in about an hour thanks to the Instant Pot and just a handful of ingredients.
Instant Pot Pot Roast is one of my favorite things to make in my Instant Pot. I am admittedly unorganized when it comes to meal planning and traditional pot roast is something that just NEEDS planning.
With the Instant Pot, I can make an amazing fall-apart tender roast in just over an hour. Sure, I have to remember to pull it out of the freezer with ample time to thaw but it's a huge improvement over the 8 hours it takes to cook in the slow cooker!
I named this Instant Pot Pot Roast "Tavern Style" because this recipe calls for cooking the roast in beer. I personally don't drink, but I LOVE to cook with alcohol because of the amazing flavor it can give. In this case, the beer lends a deep, rich flavor to the beef that you just can't get with other ingredients.
And the gravy? It get's made with the cooking liquids right in the Instant Pot after the roast is done, thanks to a short-cut ingredient and is rich and so, so flavorful.
Tips for Instant Pot Pot Roast:
- About choosing a roast-- My two favorites for pot roast are the Chuck Roast (sometimes called Chuck Roll) and Bottom Round (sometimes called Rump Roast). Both have good marbling, making for a flavorful roast, and are reasonably priced.
- If you're short on time you can cut the roast into small chunks, making the overall cooking time shorter. Refer to your Pressure Cooker manual for exact cooking times.
- Alternative cooking liquids-- If you're on the fence about using beer I urge you to give it a try as it's just too good to pass up. But if you'd rather not or don't have any on hand, beef broth can be used in substitution as can red wine. Both broth and wine will give the finished recipe its own taste but will work well with the other ingredients.
More Tips For Making Instant Pot Pot Roast:
- Adding Vegetables-- I like to serve this over mashed potatoes so I don't typically add potatoes to this roast but if you'd like to, potatoes, parsnips, and celery all work well in this recipe. Just cut them into pieces and add to the pot with the carrots.
- Don't have an Instant Pot? No Problem! This recipe can easily be made in the slow cooker. Follow the recipe as written, except heat the oil in a large pan and brown the roast on the stovetop, adding the onions and flour to the pan as written. Transfer the browned roast and onions to the slow cooker, making sure to scrape the pan for all the flour and juices. Pour the beer, beef broth and carrots over the roast and cook on low until roast is tender. Continue to follow the recipe as written, using the slow cooker to make the gravy. If needed you can cover the slow cooker to bring it back up to a simmer before stirring in the cream and gravy mix.
Want More Instant Pot Recipes?
- BBQ Ribs made in the Instant Pot
- Instant Pot Chicken Fettuccini Alfredo
- Lentil Soup made in the Instant Pot
- Instant Pot Broccoli and Four Cheese Soup
Tools used for this Instant Pot Pot Roast:
- Instant Pot: This is the model that I have and LOVE. It’s been with me for over a year and I’ve definitely put it through the ringer, but still works like new! It’s changed the dinnertime routine at our house and helps me make meals in under an hour that used to take HOURS!
- Better Than Boullion: I use a lot of chicken/beef/vegetable broth in my recipes because it adds such nice flavor but I don’t love keeping cans or cartons of it in my pantry. For this reason (and more) I use this broth base anytime I call for broth in my recipes. It only takes 1 teaspoon of the base to make 1 cup of flavorful broth and can be stored for quite a while in the refrigerator.
- Creamy Mash: I'm all about quick and easy, and these mashed potatoes are our favorite when I don't have the time to make them homemade.
- OXO Mini Whisk: Sometimes you just need more than a fork to mix up small amounts! I love this whisk because it's the perfect size to mix in small bowls, cups or even saucepans. It's perfect for making gravy!
📖 Recipe
Instant Pot Pot Roast (Tavern Style)
A Sunday dinner-worthy meal made in about an hour thanks to the Instant Pot and just a handful of ingredients.
Print
Pin
Rate
Servings: 4 Servings
Ingredients
- 3 tablespoons oil canola or vegetable
- 3 pound beef roast chuck or rump are my favorites
- ½ cup all purpose flour
- 1 ½ teaspoons kosher salt
- ½ teaspoon ground black pepper
- 1 whole large onion thinly sliced
- 24 ounces beer your favorite
- 1 cup beef broth
- 4 carrots peeled and cut into chunks
- ¼ cup or 1 packet brown gravy mix I like McCormick brand
- ¼ cup cream
- french fried onions and parsley to serve
Instructions
- Set Instant Pot on "Saute" mode and allow to heat until the display reads "HOT".
- Meanwhile, combine flour salt and pepper in a large bowl and place beef into the seasoned flour, coating the entire roast. Reserve remaining flour.
- Add oil to the Instant Pot, heat until it shimmers, and add roast to the pan, cooking until it's browned on all sides. Add remaining flour to the pot, followed by the onions. Stir to combine and cook until onions start to become tender and flour starts to brown.
- Pour the beer and beef broth over the meat and onions, followed by the carrots. Stir to combine and place lid on the Instant Pot.
- Set the Instant Pot to cook for 65 minutes (for a 3 lb roast) more or less depending on how large your roast is. Follow the cooking time recommendations in your manual for best results. Allow the Instant Pot to release pressure naturally or wait at least 10 minutes before doing a manual release.
- Remove roast from the post and place on a cutting board. Set aside.
- Combine gravy mix with cream and whisk until combined. Slowly whisk gravy mixture into the juices in the pot and bring to a simmer to thicken.
- Cut meat into smaller portions and place back into the gravy. Serve over mashed potatoes, pasta or rice and top with french fried onions and chopped fresh parsley.
Nutrition Facts
Serving: 1 serving | Calories: 922 kcal | Carbohydrates: 25 g | Protein: 69 g | Fat: 55 g | Saturated Fat: 21 g | Cholesterol: 255 mg | Sodium: 1508 mg | Potassium: 1430 mg | Fiber: 2 g | Sugar: 3 g | Vitamin A: 10455 IU | Vitamin C: 3.6 mg | Calcium: 98 mg | Iron: 8.1 mg
ARE WE FRIENDS ON INSTAGRAM?Tag me @heatherlikesfood and use #heatherlikesfood so I can see what you're making and enjoying!
Alex says
High
Alex says
Hubs and I loved it. I have a newer Instant Pot from 2022 and they have made changes to it minimize the "burn notices". I always used to get a burn notice if I sauteed garlic and didn't deglaze it fully. I understand that what we are doing with the flour this time is creating a roux with the onions. The trick is to get the onions fully coated with the flour and stir them, almost constantly, until they soften. Once they soften, then deglaze with the beer and broth! Scrape up any sticky bits on the bottom of your pot. Put your meat in, and please also use a ladle to pour some of that broth right onto the top of the meat. Overall the meat had a very nice beery flavor. I also had only 2 pounds of meat so I cut the recipe ingredients by 1/3, and I set the pressure cooker for 45 minutes. It came out perfect. Carrots were actually very good, soft but intact and not too soft.
Michelle says
This recipe came out perfect. Roast was melt in your mouth and the gravy plentiful. I used IPA that i had in the frig which made it a bit bitter although when i added salt it was fine. Next think I'll use a porter.
Robyn says
What kind of “cream” is used in this recipe? Heavy cream or sour cream? Thanks
Misty says
I was wondering what type of beer I should be looking for? I typically have Belgium white beer.