Instant Pot Pot Roast Recipe

By: Olivia Ribas Updated: 1/9/24

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A classic comfort dish, this Instant Pot Pot Roast Recipe is so tender and easy thanks to the pressure cooker! With the carrots and potatoes made alongside the roast, this one pot dinner is super flavourful and is a crowdpleaser.

This Instant Pot pot roast recipe has all the classic ingredients that goes into a pot roast and with a minor modification for the gravy, this is a gluten free recipe that’s also Whole30 and paleo friendly!

Want more comfort recipes? Try my Instant Pot Sirloin Steak Strips Recipe, Instant Pot Taco Soup Recipe, Instant Pot Short Ribs Recipe, Instant Pot Chicken Stew, or my Instant Pot Beef Stew Recipe.

White serving plate containing Instant Pot pot roast and potatoes and carrots.

Is there a specific meal that comes to mind when you think comfort food? For us, it’s a pot roast. There is nothing better than a melt in your mouth roast for dinner and with the Instant Pot, you’ll love how the roast just falls apart in less time.

With the magic of pressure cooking, the roast gets super tender in a shorter amount of time, making it perfect for those weekends where you have errands to run and can’t babysit a pot on the stove for hours, just like my Instant Pot Meat Sauce Recipe and Instant Pot Sweet Potato Kale Beef Soup.

What’s The Best Cut of Beef for Instant Pot Pot Roast Recipe?

Boneless chuck roast is the most commonly used cut of beef to make a pot roast with. It’s the one I’m using today! There’s a couple “versions” of chuck roasts so you want to make sure you get a frontal version. For example, these frontal chuck cuts might be labeled chuck shoulder pot roast, beef chuck arm, top blade, etc. Any of these will work. Alternatively, you can use a brisket or a bottom round cut if you cannot find a chuck roast.

How to Make this Instant Pot Pot Roast Recipe

Ingredients

Boneless chuck roast
Salt and black pepper
Olive oil
Onions — chopped
Celery — chopped
Garlic — minced
Tomato paste
Dry red wine — if you do not have red wine on hand for this Instant Pot pot roast recipe, you can substitute it with more beef broth instead.
Beef broth
Better than Bouillon
Fresh rosemary
Fresh thyme
Carrots — peeled and chopped
Potatoes — peeled and chopped
Fresh parsley for garnish — chopped

For the Gravy

Butter
Tapioca flour
Cooking liquid — from the cooked pot roast.

Instructions

Prepare and Sear the Beef

Set your Instant Pot to SAUTE mode.
Pat your pot roast completely dry and season with a good amount of salt and pepper.
Add in the olive oil and sear your pot roast on all sides until browned. Set aside.

Chuck roast seared in a pressure cooker.

Prepare for the First Pressure Cook

Add more olive oil if necessary and then add onions and celery. Sauté for 3 minutes. Stir in garlic and tomato paste until fragrant, about 1 minute.
Stir in red wine, scraping any browned bits on the bottom of the pot.
In a measuring cup, combine the beef broth and Better than Bouillon. Stir well to combine.
Pour in the beef broth to the Instant Pot before adding in the chuck roast from earlier, rosemary and thyme. Stir well.
Close the Instant Pot with the lid, and seal the vent. Hit cancel, then cook on HIGH PRESSURE for 60 minutes.

Add the Vegetables and Pressure Cook Again

When the time is up, do a QUICK RELEASE by moving the valve to venting to release all the pressure (steam). When the float valve drops, you can safely open the Instant Pot.
To the instant pot, add in the carrots and potatoes on top of the pot roast. Close it again with the lid, and cook on HIGH PRESSURE for 3 more minutes. Then, do a QUICK RELEASE.
Transfer the vegetables to a serving platter. Using tongs, remove the pot roast to the same serving platter and shred it with 2 forks into large chunks. Save 2 cups of the cooking to make gravy.

Vegetables being added to the Instant Pot.

Make the Gravy

In a sauce pan over medium heat, melt the butter. Add in the tapioca flour and whisk well to combine. Cook for 30 seconds and then slowly pour in the cooking liquid. Keep stirring to avoid any lumps and then season it with salt.
Serve with your Instant Pot pot roast recipe when ready.

Close up of a pot roast recipe in a serving platter.

Tips and Notes

Do not add your vegetables into the Instant Pot during the first round of pressure cooking. We cook this Instant Pot pot roast recipe in two rounds to prevent the vegetables from getting overcooked and turning mushy.
This Instant Pot pot roast recipe was not testing on a frozen roast. I highly suggest you thaw your roast if you plan on making this. You can always do a cold water thaw method in the morning if you’ve forgotten to thaw it. Cooking from frozen will affect the cook time as well as the flavour for this pot roast.
If you do not have an Instant Pot, see my Whole30 Pot Roast recipe for a stove option.
If you want a firmer crunch to your carrots, you can cut them larger.
Feel free to use any variety of baby potatoes. You can also cut russet potatoes into smaller chunks if you’d prefer.
If you’re really tight on time, you can skip searing the beef. However, your final dish will be not as flavourful.
This Easy Roasted Vegetables Recipe would go well with the pot roast if you’d like more vegetables for dinner.

Instant Pot Pot Roast Make Ahead Tips

You can make this pot roast ahead of time and reheat on the day of.
Leftover pot roast can be store in an airtight container in the fridge for up to 4 days.
Leftover Instant Pot pot roast can also be frozen, but not the vegetables. Shred the roast and store the meat in a freezer safe bag for up to 3 months in the freezer.