by Texas Homesteader ~ 

I use my 6-quart electric pressure cooker to easily make the ultimate comfort food. Moist, tender pot roast. 

This savory roast and plentiful brown gravy is the perfect comfort food. And it’s made simple using the Instant Pot pressure cooker. Fast, delicious, perfect!

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(Note: Some links in this post will take you to other related articles for further information. But links preceded with * are affiliate links. If you click and buy something I could receive a tiny commission.)

Finding The Perfect Pressure Cooker

Electric programmable pressure cookers are all the rage. We always research quality & customer satisfaction before price.

So RancherMan researched and found that *Instant Pot brand had the highest customer ratings.

So we decided to buy the 6-quart size Instant Pot. I love it!

Recently we invited my parents to dinner and I decided this would be a good time to break in my new Instant Pot. I decided I’d serve the epitome of comfort food – a pot roast.

Pot Roast Is A Simple Instant Pot Meal

Most pot roast recipes I find include additional steps for adding potatoes and carrots. That often involves starting & stopping the cooking process to add the vegetables.

But that’s not what I wanted. My plan was to make a pot roast with gravy in the Instant Pot and serve green beans and cheesy mashed potatoes as sides.

Here’s how I cooked my pot roast:

Pressure Cooking Pot Roast – Beef Or Pork?

Chuck roast is typically the most popular pot roast choice. We used a 3-lb arm roast for our pot roast meal. But any marbled roast will work. 

But to be honest, I often use wild-pork roasts instead of beef. It’s all good! And we almost always have wild pork roasts in the freezer.

Just make sure whatever cut you end up using that it’s well marbled for the most tender, flavorful result.

How Do You Season The Pot Roast?

Seasoning the pot roast is easy. The savory herbs & spices I like to use are:

• • • Minced fresh rosemary (you can use dried if desired)

    • Minced fresh thyme (you can use dried instead)

    • Salt & black pepper

    • Onion Powder

    • Garlic powder

Really, that’s it! I combine everything and I seasoned the meat by rubbing the mixture onto all surfaces of the meat.

How Do You Sear A Roast?

It’s recommended to sear the meat to help seal in the juices. That’s where you use a bit of oil and heat to brown each surface of the meat.

So I added a couple of tablespoons of bacon grease into the Instant Pot and hit ‘sauté’ on high heat. After the fat melted I placed the roast inside.

Using heavy tongs I held each surface of the meat to the hot grease. I turned the roast after about 2-3 minutes on each side until all surfaces were seared.

Then I removed the roast and placed it on a plate. Time to deglaze the pan & sauté those onions.

Deglazing the Pressure Cooker Pan & Sautéing Onions

The seared roast left some bits of seasoning stuck to the bottom of the pot. But that’s going to add some flavor too, so I’ll be deglazing the pot now.

I already had the onion chopped into large chunks and ready to go. So I added another tablespoon of bacon grease to the pot. When the grease melted I added my onion.

As I sautéed the onions they released moisture. I got to work deglazing the pot with a wooden spatula. It was easy to remove all the stuck-on bits. And that will keep them from burning but also add additional flavor to my pot roast.

After a couple of minutes I added minced garlic & Worcestershire sauce and continued deglazing. With the Worcestershire addition the deglazing was even easier to finish.

After a couple of minutes I turned off the Instant Pot & was ready to cook the roast.

Cooking Roast In A Pressure Cooker

I placed the seared roast on the wire rack that came with my Instant Pot and lowered it into the pot on top of the onions. Then I poured broth and red wine over the meat. Now it’s show time!

I placed the lid securely on top of the pressure cooker & flipped the lever to ‘sealing’.

Then I pressed ‘Pressure Cook’ on high pressure for 60 minutes for my 3-lb roast. You’ll want to cook for 70 minutes for a 4-lb roast, or 80 minutes for a 5-lb roast.

The USDA Recommends an internal temperature of at least 145 degrees F. (Medium pink center) for a roast. I prefer to cook it to 160 (well done, no pink) for my roast. The USDA reference link at the bottom of this post.

The Instant Pot will automatically come up to the proper pressure, then begin countdown while it’s cooking. SO EASY!

When the timer went off I let it sit undisturbed for 15 minutes. Then I did a quick release by carefully turning the valve to finish dropping the pressure.

Careful now, the steam is hot! For safety’s sake I’ll toss a kitchen towel over the valve while it’s releasing that steam.

When all the pressure had been released, the lid was removed carefully. I tilt the lid up in the back so the hot steam will rise toward the back of the pot and away from me!

The roast was moved to a cutting board and allowed to rest. (The USDA suggests a 3 minute rest time) Now it’s time for that gravy!

Can You Thicken Pot Roast Juice To Make Gravy?

Of course – it’s easy! I combined equal parts of cornstarch and water to thicken that flavorful juice.

With the roast removed I poured the cornstarch mixture into the onion & juices and press sauté on high heat. It took no time for it to start bubbling away!

Then I added a small packet of brown gravy mix and gave it all a stir. It was thickening up nicely!

I turned off the Instant Pot and turned my attention to the roast that’s been resting.

Carving The Pressure-Cooked Roast

Time to carve the roast, it was fall-apart tender. RancherMan tried to carve in 1″- 2″ chunks. But most of the roast actually ended up being shredded from the sheer tenderness of it!

When the roast was carved he added the meat back into that thickened gravy. Be sure to scrape all the small bits from the cutting board into the gravy – it’s all good!

Serving A Pot Roast Meal

Now it’s time to serve the meal. I’d already sautéed chopped onions & simmered them with my garden-fresh green beans.

I’d also made mashed potatoes and gently stirred in grated cheddar at the end for the cheesy mashed potatoes my dad loves.

Using the tongs I plated a serving of roast, the green beans and the potatoes. A small ladle of that flavorful gravy topped the roast and potatoes and dinner was served!

I think I’ll be making this often. My new Instant Pot makes comfort food in a flash!

Did you make this Instant Pot Roast? Please rate the recipe in your comment below!

5 from 1 vote

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Instant Pot Roast With Onion Gravy

This recipe uses a 6-quart Instant Pot & 3-5 lb roast. Make sure the cut of meat is adequately marbled to assure a juicy, tender result. Depending upon the size of the roast, it may take almost 2 hours start to finish when you factor in the instant pot coming to pressure, the cook time and the cool down time & finish, but only a fraction of that is hand-on time. #TexasHomesteader

Course Main Course

Cuisine American

Keyword gravy, instant pot, onions, pot roast, pressure cooker

Prep Time 15 minutes

Cook Time 1 hour

Natural Release Time 15 minutes

Servings 5 people

Author TexasHomesteader.com

Ingredients

Ingredients:

• 3-5 lb Roast, either Beef Chuck or Arm Roast (I often use pork roast instead)
• 1 tsp salt
• 2 tsp black pepper
• 1 tsp dried thyme
• 1 tsp dried rosemary
• 1 tsp onion powder
• 1 tsp garlic powder
• 3 tbsp bacon grease, divided
• 1 large yellow onion, cut into thick cubes (about 2 cups)
• 2 cloves garlic, minced
• 2 tbsp Worcestershire sauce
• 1 cup Unsalted broth
• ½ cup dry red wine I had Merlot so that's what I used
• ¼ cup cornstarch + 1/4 cup water mixed into a slurry
• 1 1-oz pkt beef gravy mix

Instructions

Instructions:

1. Rub all surfaces of the roast with a mixture of 2 teaspoons black pepper, 1 teaspoon each salt, thyme, rosemary, onion powder and garlic powder

2. Add 2 Tablespoons bacon grease to 6-qt Instant Pot and hit “Sauté” on high heat. Allow the grease to melt, then sear the seasoned roast in the grease for about 3-4 mins on each side. Remove the roast when seared and set aside.

3. To deglaze the bottom of the pot, add 1 tablespoon bacon grease & scrape the bottom of the pot with a wooden utensil. Add 2 cups chopped onions, continuing to deglaze the pot as they sauté. Cook for 2 minutes, then add 2 minced garlic cloves and 2 Tablespoons Worcestershire sauce. Cook and stir for another 2-3 minutes while deglazing.

4. Place the roast fat-side up on a handled trivet and lower it into the pot on top of the onions with the handles facing up. Pour ½ cup red wine and 1 cup of broth over the meat.

5. Secure the lid and then press “Pressure Cook” on high pressure for 60 minutes for 3 lb roast, or 70 minutes minutes for a 4 lb roast, or 80 minutes for a 5 lb roast. When the time is up, allow the roast to sit undisturbed for 15 minutes. Then finish reducing pressure using the quick release method.

6. Remove the lid carefully and check temperature of meat. Internal temperature should be between 145 degrees F. (medium, warm pink center) to 160 degrees F. (well done, little or no pink)

   Remove the roast, placing it on a cutting board and allowing it to rest while you make the gravy

7. Press “Sauté” on high heat and allow the juice to a bubble. Add the cornstarch slurry while stirring. Finally add the packet of gravy mix and stir. Allow to simmer for one minute and then turn the pot off.

8. Slice the pot roast against the grain in chunks of about 1" - 2". Add the meat to the gravy and allow it rest for a few moments to soak it in.

Recipe Notes

Note: This makes lots of gravy. So plan the meal around using every delicious drop! I like to make garlic/cheesy mashed potatoes so we can add gravy liberally and enjoy that gravy fully.

~TxH~

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