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I’ve recently been experimenting with my new favorite kitchen appliance: the Instant Pot. What is it? An electric, programable, pressure-cooker. Think pressure cooker meets slow cooker.
Why Instant Pot/Pressure Cooker?
I must confess, while I’ve known about the Instant Pot for a really long time and even had one for several months before trying it out. I put off using it because I had my tried-and-true cooking methods and pressure cookers seemed kind of old-fashioned.
Now that I’ve been using this thing often (aka: daily) for several weeks, I’m kicking myself for not trying it much sooner, as it drastically shortens the cooking time of almost any food and creates better (and faster) results than a slow cooker.
Don’t Have One?
No worries… I didn’t for a long time and this recipe can work perfectly well without one (though check this link if you want to try one, because they are often on sale for up to 50% off!).
If you don’t have an Instant Pot, you can adapt this pot roast recipe by following the instructions for a beef roast on your regular pressure cooker or cook in a slow-cooker on low for 6-8 hours.
Garlic Herb Pot Roast Recipe
One of my favorite go-to recipes for the Instant Pot is this garlic herb pot roast. It is a variation of the basic slow-cooker pot roast recipe I’ve made for years, but in a pressure cooker/Instant Pot it cooks in about 45 minutes instead of 8 hours. I’ve found that the flavors also intensify in a pressure cooker and the meat gets more tender, so less seasoning is needed.

Garlic Herb Pot Roast Recipe
Servings
Ingredients
- 3-4 lb chuck roast
- 1 tsp salt
- 1 tsp black pepper
- 3 cloves garlic
- 1 TBSP Italian seasoning
- 2 TBSP coconut oil (or butter)
- 1 medium onion
- ¼ cup red wine (optional)
- 2 cups beef broth
- 6 large carrots (peeled)
Instructions
- Cut beef into 2-inch cubes.
- Place the meat on a plate, sprinkle evenly with spices, and set aside.
- Turn the Instant Pot on "Saute" setting and melt the butter or coconut oil in the pot.
- Thinly slice the onions and add to the melted butter.
- Saute for 4-5 minutes until tender and slightly browned.
- Deglaze the pan with the red wine, if using.
- Add the roast pieces in a single layer on top of the onions.
- Pour the broth over the roast.
- Put the lid on the Instant pot, lock, and seal.
- Press cancel to stop the Saute setting and then press the "Manual" button and set the time to 40 minutes, making sure the valve is set to seal.
- While the roast is cooking, chop the carrots into 1-inch pieces.
- When the roast is finished, release the pressure by pushing the "cancel" button and then carefully turning the valve to "venting" until the pressure is released.
- When pressure releases, remove lid and quickly add the chopped carrots. Quickly replace lid and use the manual setting to program a 10-minute additional cook time.
- When cooking has finished. Press cancel and either quick release the pressure or allow it to release naturally.
Optional Gravy:
- To create a gravy for this roast, remove the meat and vegetables from the pressure cooker and set aside in a covered container.
- Turn on the "Saute" setting, add the chopped mushrooms, extra wine, butter and thyme and let the liquid reduce for about ten minutes while meat rests.
- When cooking is finished, you can also whisk in ½ cup sour cream if desired for a creamy gravy.
- Serve immediately.
Nutrition
Notes
- You can also add 1 pound of chopped potatoes or sweet potatoes at the same cooking stage as the carrots, if desired. We prefer to serve this over white rice.
- Nutrition info does not include optional gravy
Do you use a pressure cooker or Instant Pot? What is your favorite pot roast recipe to make in it?
Delicious! Made this dish tonight and my two picky eaters loved it! Thanks for all your great recipes, several of them have become staples in our family!
I have to try this. My mom made her pot roast in a stove top waterless cooker. She started by browning onions in butter. You’re the only one I’ve seen do it this way in the IP. She always sliced hers after cooking 3/4 of the way then put the slices back in for a while until amazingly tender. Shredding it is new to me.
I just made this tonight and add sweet potatoes since I had them already. The food turned out so good! I just added a little bit more salt because I like stuff a little bit more salty. Look forward to try your other recipes!
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Thanks for your feedback. It’s a tough balance of creating tons of content for free, and paying for it with ads. I wish it was economically feasible to not have them, but they pay the bills…
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Got mine for Christmas made ribs they weren’t done, used as crock pot, had to finish in the oven cooked three more dinners , not done, cooked onions for 10 hours for French onion soup they were not done. I was so excited to get it but took it back thought it was a dud, now I don’t know if I want to try another one
Sandra, sorry to hear you’re having problems. If you’ve followed the step-by-step instructions carefully, had the silicone seal in place, and made sure the knob on top of the lid was set to “sealing” before starting your pressure-cook program, you might need to contact the manufacturer. First, take a look online: there are many helpful blogs like hippressurecooking.com.
Got mine for Christmas made ribs they weren’t done, used as crock pot, had to finish in the oven cooked three more dinners , not done, cooked onions for 10 hours for French onion soup they were not done. I was so excited to get it but took it back thought it was a dud, now I don’t know if I want to try another one
Thank you for sharing this recipe! We receive an instant pot for Christmas, and this was the first thing we made. It was tasty! The only thing I’d like to perfect is the consistency of the carrots–I’d prefer if they were a little more crisp. We served ours on top of a pile of creamy whipped mashed potatoes. Perfect comfort food for Sunday dinner.
This is the first recipe that I’ve made in my new Instant pot. I cut the meat in cubes and sautéed it in the pot. After searing, it cooked 40 min. I then added carrots and sweet potatoes and cooked them 10 min. 5 min. Would have been enough. I loved the recipe and will definitively make it against n. ( I used a bottom round roast).