Instant Pot · Autumn and winter
Instant Pot Pot Roast
A chuck roast, onion, and carrots, cooked under pressure until a fork goes through without arguing.
About 2 hours, mostly hands-off · Serves 6 · 6 plates, with broth for the next day
“You prepare a table before me.”
Ingredients
- 3 lb beef chuck roast
- 1 tsp fine salt
- ½ tsp black pepper
- 1 tbsp avocado oil or beef tallow
- 1 onion, sliced
- 4 carrots, cut into large pieces
- 4 garlic cloves, smashed
- 1 tbsp tomato paste
- 1 ½ cups beef broth
- 2 sprigs of thyme
- 1 bay leaf
Method
- 1
Pat the roast dry and salt and pepper it. Set the pot to sauté. Heat the avocado oil or tallow and brown the roast on both sides, about 4 minutes a side. Move it to a plate. Do not skip the browning if you want a roast that tastes like Sunday and not like boiled beef.
- 2
Add the onion and cook 3 minutes. Stir in the tomato paste for 30 seconds. Pour in the broth and scrape the browned bits off the bottom. A stuck bit is what makes a pot burn later.
- 3
Return the roast. Tuck the carrots, garlic, thyme, and bay around it. The pot should not be more than two-thirds full.
- 4
Lock the lid. High pressure for 65 minutes. Let the pressure come down on its own for 15 minutes, then release the rest. A quick release on a full pot of hot roast sprays.
- 5
The beef should fall apart under a fork. If it still resists, lock the lid and give it 10 minutes more at high pressure, then release. Discard the bay and thyme. Rest the meat 10 minutes before you pull it apart.
- 6
If you want a thicker gravy, whisk 1 tablespoon of cornstarch with 1 tablespoon of cold water and stir it into the simmering juices on sauté for about 2 minutes.
From the kitchen
- Chuck, not a lean round roast. Lean beef under pressure gets tight instead of tender.
- The broth is worth saving. Skim the fat when it is cold and use it for the beef stew or for barley the next day.
My note
Kept on this device, beside the recipe, for the next time you cook it.
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