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posted by Crissy Pageon Feb 25, 2018 (updated Jan 19, 2024) 70 comments »
This Instant Pot pot roast recipe is fall-apart-tender and totally delicious. Whole baby potatoes, carrots, and fresh herbs come together to make the perfect pressure cooker chuck roast!
This is actually the recipe that made me fall in love with my Instant Pot. Now that I know I can make an Instant Pot chuck roast that’s so delicious in such a short time, there’s really no going back. In fact, my beloved slow cooker may be collecting a little dust lately as I tend to reach for my Instant Pot more often these days!
With easy family meals like my Instant Pot taco soup or this easy Instant Pot white bean soup, it just makes sense.
Instant Pot Pot Roast
Pot roast is a meal that my whole family loves, so I whip-up this easy pressure cooker beef roast about once a week. It’s a great dinner for my family of four, and I usually have plenty leftover to send with my husband to work the next day.
Isn’t it funny how some meals almost taste even better the next day? I know that my husband always appreciates his day-two pot roast leftovers.
Instant Pot Chuck Roast
Ever find yourself at the meat counter wondering what cut of beef to buy to make a pot roast?
For me, it’s all about the chuck roast. An Instant Pot chuck roast turns out so incredibly tender and scrumptious that this is the beef roast I choose again and again.
I like to make my Instant Pot chuck roast with potatoes, carrots, and celery. However, you can certainly get creative and try other vegetables. Green beans would be delicious, and I’ve also used turnips successfully. Do you have any favorite veggies to throw in the Instant Pot with a roast that I haven’t mentioned? I’d love to hear how you make yours at home!
How To Cook A Frozen Roast In An Instant Pot
Wondering if you can cook a frozen chuck roast in your Instant Pot?
Well, the short answer is yes! The long answer is a bit more complicated. Please note that your results will be much better if you used a thawed piece of meat, but, I know that sometimes you really want to make a pot roast and the only meat you have on hand is frozen. Been there, done that!
If you do decide to cook a frozen chuck roast, you’ll want to add about 5 extra minutes per pound of cook time and skip the searing step. Since you’re adding so much cooking time, I would suggest doing a quick release after the first 70 minutes, then adding the vegetables, and cooking on high pressure for an additional 15-20 minutes.
I make frozen chicken breast in an Instant Pot all the time, but with a beef roast, you will find that the outside cooks much faster. This can mean result in the outer layers being overdone by the end of the cooking time.
If you do decide to cook a frozen chuck roast in the Instant Pot, let me know how it turned out in the comment section below. I’m sure that your experience will be really useful for our other home cooks.
Instant Pot Pot Roast Tips For Success
- Choose the chuck roast, trust me!
- Don’t skip searing. It’s where you’re going to create loads of flavor for your Instant Pot pot roast recipe
- Leave your potatoes whole! They turn out just right using this method.
- Larger chunks of carrots will yield better results. You can use baby carrots, but they may be a bit too soft at the end of cooking.
- BONUS GRAVY: You can remove the meat and vegetables to a serving dish and create an optional gravy with the liquid in the pot. Just whisk together 1/3 cup of cold water with 3 tablespoons cornstarch. Set the pot to sauté, high and let the mixture bubble, then whisk this mixture into the liquid in your pot. Start off with a small amount mixed in then add more if necessary based on the amount of thickening you desire.
I hope you LOVE my simple Instant Pot pot roast recipe. Be sure to leave a comment letting me know how it turned out for you, and if you made any tweaks to the recipe. We’re all learning together!
More Instant Pot Recipes for Beginners
- Instant Pot Potato Soup
- Instant Pot Goulash
- Instant Pot Corned Beef and Cabbage
- Instant Pot Taco Soup
- Instant Pot White Bean Soup
- Instant Pot Spaghetti
- Instant Pot Beef Stew (AMAZING!)
Yield: 6 servings
Additional Time: 1 hour 40 minutes
Total Time: 1 hour 40 minutes
This Instant Pot pot roast recipe will give you a fall-apart tender chuck roast and flavorful vegetables. It's a lovely Sunday dinner recipe!
Ingredients
- 2.5 to 3 lbs. chuck roast
- Salt and pepper
- 1 tablespoon olive oil
- 2 cups beef broth
- 3 sprigs fresh thyme
- 2 sprigs fresh rosemary
- 1 large onion, quartered
- 1 lb. whole baby red potatoes (about 10-12)
- 6 to 8 large carrots, cut in 2 inch pieces
Instructions
- Generously salt and pepper both side of the roast, set aside.
- Turn on the instant pot sauté function to more, and add the tablespoon of olive oil. When hot, put in the roast and brown on each side for 3-5 minutes.
- Pour in the 2 cups of beef broth. Add fresh thyme, fresh rosemary and the onion.
- Evenly distribute the potatoes and the carrots in the pot.
- Cancel sauté function. Put the lid on the pot and close the valve.
- Pressure cook on high pressure for 70 minutes. At the end of cooking allow to natural release for 10 minutes before carefully quick releasing the remaining pressure. The fresh herbs will have mostly fallen off the stems, but, you can shake them gently to help them along before discarding them at the end of cooking time.
- OPTIONAL GRAVY: You can remove the meat and vegetables to a serving dish and create an optional gravy. Just whisk together 1/2 cup of cold water with 3 tablespoons of flour until smooth. Set the pot to sauté, high, and let the mixture bubble. Then whisk this mixture into the liquid in your pot.
Notes
- I used a 6-quart Instant Pot.
Dinner Instant Pot
originally published on Feb 25, 2018 (last updated Jan 19, 2024)
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70 comments on “Instant Pot Pot Roast”
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Julie — Reply
Horseradish while searing sounds REALLY GOOD! I’m going to try it tonight.
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Anita — Reply
I have made this recipe several times and always turns out great! I have used both Chuck roast and shoulder roast. My family loves it!
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Sherrie Lee McKenzie — Reply
can I use a top round roast?
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Doug — Reply
Also used horseradish on both sides when searing and a little bit of red wine and onion soup mix to flavor.
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TammyLynn — Reply
I added whole Baby Bella mushrooms cut in two, just after seering the roast; seered them a couple minutes then added the broth, fresh herbs, a bay leaf, TBSp of chopped garlic, and a few glugs of balsamic vinegar. I used whole small creamer potatoes, 2” pieces of celery, parsnips, & carrots so they don’t get mushy. The savory mushrooms & vinegar gave it more flavor.
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Barbara — Reply
I’d like to add veggies at the end, but am confused about how to do it. Do you do a pressure release, and for how long? Then you’d add the vegetables and build the pressure up again. Is that when you start the count of 10 to 15 minutes for cooking the vegetables? Seems like the whole process would take an additional 30-45 minutes, right?
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Mark — Reply
When the pot and contents are already hot, it takes just a few minutes for it to pressurize again. Like maybe 5.
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Judy Sanders — Reply
How many servings does this make? I want to do it for Easter lunch and will have 10 people.
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Tzinorah — Reply
I used parsnips as well as carrots because I like the added sweetness to the meal, and I also used dried herbs, since I don’t keep fresh ones. ;-)
See AlsoThe BEST 5-Star Rated Prime Rib Recipe Since 2013!Traditional Polish Meat Pierogi Recipe [+ Tips What Meat To Choose]Oriental Ramen Noodle Cabbage Salad Recipe - Mom Makes Joy66 Best Instant Pot Recipes, From Soups To Mains To Dessert (Yes, Really!)Thanks for this recipe!! Makes enjoying this in so short a time a real pleasure!!!
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Sharon — Reply
I’m new with this. I’m trying to fix a pot roast that says to cook for 70 minutes. How do I do that? Mine goes from 59 to an hour. There’s no 70 minutes in between. Thank you
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Malissa — Reply
70 minutes would be the 1:10 time setting.
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Bonnie Deetz — Reply
One hour is 60 minutes. That shows on your pot as 1:00 (one hour = 60 minutes). Keep on hitting the plus sign, and you’ll come to 1:05 (65 minutes). Next comes 1:10 = 70 minutes.
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Kelly — Reply
I am still an Instant Pot novice but when l saw your mouth-watering photo l knew l was going to make this recipe. Turns out my butcher doesn’t cut many chuck roasts from the shoulderas it usually all goes for hamburger.I could have waited a week but chose to go with his usual cut for pot roasts. (Somewhere further back on the cow.) Next time l will order a chuck roast a week ahead.
I only had dried herbs so went with a guess of 3 pinches of thyme and 2 of rosemary..
This was so good! Even though we had to carve some into slices it literally just fell apart in your mouth. Next time l will change my beef broth from Bovril powdered to Knorr Homestyle Beef Stock which is more like a gelled stock to see which one wins out.
Thank you very much from Canada. -
Malibu Cunningham — Reply
What length of time should i pressure cook this for only 1.93lbs?
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Kim Vangsgard — Reply
I followed the directions with the pressure cooking selected, the time of 70 mins. The vent was not open. For some reason, all of the 2c of broth boiled dry and burn came on. I’ve never had this happen. What do you think caused this? My roast was 2 lbs.
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Marita — Reply
I am new to pressure cooking but I forgot to put the gasket back in after cleaning the top. All of the moisture evaporated out of the top while pressure cooking chicken. I just learned a lesson that day
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Debbie — Reply
Check your seal. I have had a similar problem because I did not realize that the seal was seated in the lid completely.
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Susanne J Mogdans — Reply
Delicious recipe! Thank you. One question, If I put my carrots and potatoes in at the same time as the roast, they will be complete mush. How long into the cooking process to you wait to turn it off and add the vegetables? Thank you.
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Annette — Reply
Should i adjust liquid or cooking time if i am using an 8-quart Insta Pot?
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Jon — Reply
Trying our new instant pot For the first time with a venison neck roast. Smells great and can’t wait to see if the instant pot lives up to the hype.
Rating: 5
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Phyllis — Reply
Can this be just as successful with pork loin roast?
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Elle — Reply
Absolutely!
We did pork tenderloin steaks recently, they were tender and flavorful
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Tess — Reply
From frozen in pressure cooker, cooked exactly as Krissy recommended. Absolutely delicious! Will use this recipe often!
Rating: 5
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Melanie — Reply
Frozen 2.5# roast for 83 min. Onion soup mix with broth. Larger red potatoes stabbed and placed on top. Natural release about 30 min. EXCELLENT!Amazing! New favorite way to cook this meal!
Rating: 5
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Lori — Reply
I’m using 6lb pot roast. What adjustments should be made? Time? Add more liquid??
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Katie — Reply
Lori, what adjustments did you end up making? I have a 5 pound chuck roast I am wanting to cook but unsure of time..
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Mike Mayo — Reply
Using a 6 pound roast you’ll need to add 15-20 mins to the cook time as well as another 2 cups of broth. You should also cut the roast in 3rds before searing, this will ensure an even cook and a nice tender roast in the end.
Rating: 5
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Marlee921 — Reply
My carrots were a lil over cooked but overall everything was delicious
Rating: 5
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Robert C Lambing — Reply
Going to use yours Monday but will be doing a 4 1/2lb chuck. Add some garlic cloves. Probably add 10 minutes time.
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Steven Fullenwider — Reply
We loved this pot roast, it literally fell apart as I was removing it from the pot. My wife and I had some concerns about putting in the veggies at the beginning but they were perfect. After reading some of the comments I think that I will try this recipe with the onion soup option next time. We do love our Instant Pot.
Rating: 5
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Shelly — Reply
Can I add celery? Will it hold up in the cooking time?
Rating: 5
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Stacy Brown — Reply
I prepared this dish for my family. This was my first time using an Instant Pot. It was a great success! My husband loved the pot roast. This is a great recipe! I did make some minor changes. I added a Onion Lipton soup mix to my beef broth. I didn’t add my potatoes and carrots until the last 10 mins of the cook time. I don’t like mushy vegetables. Putting them in last helped gave them the right consistency for our taste. Thank you for sharing this recipe.?
Rating: 5
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laura oggero — Reply
this i totally agree with. ive looked at so many recipes and cooked this alot. this amount of time will result in mushy veggies. last 8 to 10 minutes for veggies turned out perfect!
Rating: 5
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Bill Woods — Reply
Assuming you had to do manual release to add the veggies, didn’t it take and extra 10 minutes to get the cooler up to pressure again?
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Brianna Wood —
I have this question too. Does anyone know how you add time or adjust if you add the carrots in later?
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Cheryl — Reply
PS to comment just made. The small round potatoes from Costco were perfect in this. Being that small they are cooked maybe more than some would like but I love them like that! :) Best roast I’ve ever made!
Rating: 5
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Cheryl — Reply
Yummy! I did according to recipe and just added an envelope of Lipton Onion soup like my Mom always did. :) Thanks for sharing this delicious recipe!
Rating: 5
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Brittany — Reply
I LOVE pot roast, and I’m so glad there’s an instant pot recipe! These were the modifications I made:Crisco instead of olive oilBeef consumme instead of beef brothI added a package of Lipton onion soup mixI initially made this for my in laws but it’s so good that I’m keep it for myself and making them something else.❤️
Rating: 5
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Michelle Parrinello — Reply
can you just do a nautral release
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Crissy — Reply
Yes, this will work also! :)
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Natalia — Reply
Absolutely delicious meal. Super easy too. I have always been afraid to make pot roast because I never really knew what meat to use and it looked intimidating. This meal was perfect! Followed it exactly. So much left over. Oh and the meat was sooo tender. Thanks for this amazing recipe!
Rating: 5
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Andrew — Reply
Left out the rosemary and thyme and it was delicious! The pot roast was very tender.
Rating: 5
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Phyllis — Reply
I have made this twice. My family LOVES it and is their top request!!
Rating: 5
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Patricia Carnley — Reply
I’m making this today—-as soon as I go to Walmart and invest in some beef broth. If it’s as good as this one looks, I’ll be a happy, albeit lazy, cook!
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Mary Gendorn — Reply
My mom used to make pot roast with both beef and pork. Of course it was the old fashioned way, sear it cook it in a pot then throw it in the oven in a roasting pan with juices, water and gravy master. She’d throw in her whole potatoes, and large pieces of carrot and a whole onion or two.
I had aunts from Connecticut who’d come up and hope that’s what she’d have for dinner after their long drive up to New Hampshire.
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Brittany — Reply
Wow! I made this tonight and didn’t even use the fresh thyme and rosemary because we didn’t have any on hand and I didn’t feel like running out…it was AMAZING!!! We will absolutely be making this again and I may even try some other veggies in there. Great recipe and super easy!
Rating: 4
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Lizzie — Reply
This was delicious! I didn’t use Thyme or Rosemary, I did sprinkle onion & garlic powder into the broth. Made it with sweet potatoes and carrots. My second IP meal, huge hit, great recipe.
Rating: 5
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Charles — Reply
Crissy,
I’ll be making this for my wife. We have a 3-lb eye round roast. Only because that’s what we have on hand. LOL….
Your recipe looks fabulous and sounds delicious. Will be making the gravy to go along with it.Gods Abundant Blessings to you and yours.
Charles & Laura
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Elissa D Molnar — Reply
Hi! Do you do the meat/stew button or the manual button?
Ty!-
Crissy — Reply
Elissa, I would do manual / high pressure, though, I’m sure the meat/stew is probably the same setting as manual high pressure. :)
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Toni — Reply
Will the potatoes be over cooked with such a long cook time for the meat?
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Dawn — Reply
My roast was too wide to fit in the IP so I browned it (frozen) in a separate pan and deglazed it with a little red wine. It all went in the IP with the meat, onions, thyme, rosemary. I used chicken broth because it was all I had on hand. Threw in a few cloves of garlic also. cooked for 60 min. on high, added the potatoes and carrots and cooked for another 30 min. Perfectly delicious!
Rating: 5
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Angie — Reply
This turned out to be perfect. I did make some changes – My kids and husband do NOT like the taste of carrots cooked with the meat, so I put a bag of baby petite carrots (drained) on a square piece of foil (big enough to fold over on itself) added some coarse salt, shallots and tossed a lil bit – folded foil down to a lil square and the once I followed your instructions for the meat – I just added the foil to the top of it, with the folded side up so juices did not run out. When done – removed – served in a separate bowl. They were so good and they were ALL mine. So easy and clean up was super easy! Thanks for sharing! (I appreciate your stating what size Instant pot you use) Many blessings Angie in Bama!
Rating: 5
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Billie — Reply
Hi Crissy, is it possible to make this in the Crock Pot Express and if so, what adjustments do you think would need to be made?
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Shannon — Reply
Would recipe change if no potatoes?
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Courtney — Reply
This was my first IP recipe and my husband and kids said they have never enjoyed a pot roast so much. I cannot believe how tender the roast was (I used a beef chuck roast as well, 2.5lbs). I tweaked the times a bit and added onions and used a bunch of different seasonings. I have an 8qt IP so I also added a half cup more beef stock. 60 minutes high pressure (roast only), natural release for 10 minutes, added whole potatoes, halved onions and whole baby carrots and cooked an additional 15 minutes high pressure with another 10 minute natural release. Everything was PERFECT! I cannot wait to explore more recipes with my new favorite machine!
Rating: 5
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Debbie — Reply
Haven’t made it yet .. tomorrow is the big day
Crissy my question is my roast will be thaw out so do I follow the recipe above. I can’t mess this up.. special dinner -
Treslyn — Reply
I did a 3lb frozen chuck roast for 84 min and it melted in your mouth when I ate it. Worked very well. Have not tried it without using a frozen one since.
Rating: 5
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Saebbe Reidhead — Reply
The instant pot is a total life saver. I couldn’t live without it.
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Kim F — Reply
I made this tonight and you are sooo right about using chuck roast! I made a similar recipe with a different type of roast last time (I think it was round, if I remember correctly) and the chuck turned out so much more tender. It literally fell apart as I was lifting it out of the Instant Pot! I used dried thyme and rosemary, but everything else followed your recipe to a T.
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Shelley — Reply
In the InstaPot, have you ever stacked two smaller roasts and had success? The store had buy one get one, but were very small. I was thinking about cooking it tonight, but after pressure washing the double driveway and sidewalk along the street, I don’t care anymore. But there is tomorrow and I think I will have muscle strains and pains, but must cook and your recipe still seems easiest in the InstaPot.
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Gina — Reply
Would you reduce the time for a smaller roast? I have one that is probably about a pound only, maybe a little more
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ellen beck — Reply
That looks god Crissy! I was wondering if I would see an onion in there and there it was. I wa going to say add an onion (or several) I add more onions when vidalias are in season and will also add fresh mushrooms to a pot roast. You know, I got an IP and have yet to use it- but this may have inspired me. I have stuck with the old slow cooker for fear it wouldnt fall apart enough.
Rating: 5
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Teri — Reply
This looks delicious! I’m definitely gong to try it! Question: do you put the whole sprig of the fresh herbs in or do you pull them off the sprigs? Another question (off topic) are you still clean eating like you did when you lost 34 pounds? What was the outcome on your weight loss? Have you kept the weight off and do you still follow that eating lifestyle? Thanks!
Rating: 5
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Crissy — Reply
Hi Teri, because of the long cook time the herbs will get so tender that they basically fall off the stems on their own. You can shake them gently after cooking to help the process along before discarding. That was a great question and I added the info to the recipe! :)
To your second question, unfortunately, I sort of fell off the wagon. The struggle is real! I still try to make cleaner choices, but, health and weight loss are still an ongoing struggle for me.
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Tiffany — Reply
I’m making this right now and it sounds like it’s boiling and it’s realesing air. Is this normal ?
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Marion D — Reply
When I use a frozen roast, I process it for the time suggested for a thawed piece of roast. I let the steam off, and add the vegetables. I process approximately 12-15 minutes. That way the roast iscooked a little longer, and the vegetables don’t cook too long getting mushy. The roast is always soo tender!
Rating: 5
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Crissy — Reply
Hi Marion, that’s a great point about holding the vegetables until then end. I added a note to mention that in the instructions above!
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Anita Perron — Reply
thank you for stating the size of the Instant Pot you used. I think you are the only one so far who has done so. I was speaking to some people and they were like me. It is like making a serving of potatoes but not knowing the size of the dish the was used. Thank you so much
Rating: 5
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Crissy — Reply
I love my 6-quart pot, and I will be sure to continue to note the size pot I used (in case I get the 8-quart I’ve been eyeing) since it seems to be helpful. Thank you for commenting! :)
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