Instant Pot Roast

January 21, 2019  •  Meat & Poultry

I couldn’t figure out how to title this post. Instant Pot Roast, Pot Roast in an Instant Pot, or Instant Pot Pot Roast. But you get it, right? This post is for all of you who got an Instant Pot for Christmas this year, or last year like I did and just haven’t done much with it yet, or for that matter, for anyone who owns a pressure cooker but doesn’t know really how to use it.As I’ve written about many times here, I buy meat directly from Colorado farmers and ranchers, which generally means buying either a whole animal or a large portion of one. When you do that, about 50% of the meat comes in ground form, and 50% in steaks and chops and roasts. I find it easy to work my way through the steaks, chops, and ground meat, but living alone now, the roasts challenge me. Not only are they large, but they are generally tough cuts of meat requiring a low and slow braise in the oven, something I just never seem to be ready for when I think of it.Enter the pressure cooker, or in this case, the pressure cooker setting of the Instant Pot which seems even easier and less intimidating than the old school pressure cooker my mother used. I simply seasoned a bison chuck roast liberally with salt and pepper, used the sauté setting of the Instant Pot to sear it in a tiny bit of oil on both sides, then threw a sliced onion over the top, sealed the Instant Pot (move the small knob on the black top to the sealing setting), selected the pressure cooker setting, and set the time for 70 minutes. You’ll see some steam escaping from the small silver round valve on top of the Instant Pot until the pressure builds and it seals. (If you see steam coming out of the sides of the lid, you haven’t sealed the top properly so let the steam out according to the directions and start again.)There’s no noise, it’s fast, and the results were unbelievable, even for me, an experienced cook and cooking teacher. The best part of this, hands down, was the incredible beefy oniony jus that was produced during cooking. Not quite sure what to do with the meat once you cook it? Here are five great options:

1. Simply serve the roast for dinner with the jus on the side.
2. Shred the meat, add a bit more broth to the jus, add cooked barley, and you’ll have incredible beef (bison) barley soup.
3. Shred the meat and serve on a toasted hoagie roll with the jus on the side for the perfect French Dip sandwich.
4. Strain the jus and then thicken it with a cornstarch slurry on the stove. Combine the shredded meat with the thickened jus and layer a cooked vegetable (corn or spinach are my favorites) on the bottom of a casserole, then the meat, then mashed potatoes, and then a sprinkling of cheese. Bake until bubbly, about 15 minutes, for a satisfying shepherd’s pie.
5. Shred the meat and use with pink pickled onions and avocado along with some chipotle mayo for tacos. Save the jus to use as the base for French Onion Soup.

Instant Pot Roast
 
Prep time
Cook time
Total time
 
Author:
Recipe type: Entree
Serves: 4
Ingredients
  • 1 chuck roast (bison or beef is fine)
  • Salt and pepper
  • 2 tablespoons oil
  • 1 onion, roughly chopped or sliced
Instructions
  1. Season the chuck roast liberally with salt and pepper, then using the sauté setting of the Instant Pot, sear it in a tiny bit of oil on both sides. Throw the sliced onion over the top, seal the Instant Pot (move the small knob on the black top to the sealing setting), select the pressure cooker setting, and set the time for 70 minutes.
  2. You'll see some steam escaping from the small silver round valve on top of the Instant Pot until the pressure builds and it seals. If you see steam coming out of the sides of the lid, you haven't sealed the top properly so let the steam out according to the directions and start again.
  3. Release steam according to the Instant Pot directions, then remove the roast and serve

 

Comments

2 Comments  •  Comments Feed

  1. Laura Lunde says:

    Hi Michele, I got an Instant Pot too! I love it!

    I am not seeing the Instant Pot Roast recipe and nothing appears when I hit “print recipe”. Advise?

    Also, I have been freezing portions of other Instant Pot dishes. Can I freeze this?

    Thinking of you often,
    Laura

    • Michele says:

      Hi Laura! I didn’t write the recipe as a recipe in this post – the instructions are embedded in the text of the post, but I’ll repost them here:

      Seasoned a bison chuck roast liberally with salt and pepper
      Use the sauté setting of the Instant Pot to sear it in a tiny bit of oil on both sides
      Throw a sliced onion over the top
      Seal the Instant Pot (move the small knob on the black top to the sealing setting)
      Select the pressure cooker setting and set the time for 70 minutes

      You’ll see some steam escaping from the small silver round valve on top of the Instant Pot until the pressure builds and it seals. (If you see steam coming out of the sides of the lid, you haven’t sealed the top properly so let the steam out according to the directions and start again.) Good luck!

Add a Comment

Rate this recipe: