Pressure Cooker Beef Arm Roast Recipe

This beef arm roast recipe is amazing! With balsamic vinegar and onions it’s packed with flavor and super tender in a pressure cooker, as a quick Instant Pot recipe or cooked to fork tender in a Ninja Foodi.

Pressure Cooker Beef Arm Roast

I’ve told you before that we buy half a cow at the beginning of each year from local farmers. If you’re new to The Typical Mom blog welcome, and you can buy bulk meat online too. It’s been a game changer for us.

Similar to a chuck roast, an arm roast has a wonderfully beefy flavor and can get nice and tender if cooked just right. You can make this as an easy Ninja Foodi recipe too if that is the pot you have.

Arm Roast Recipe

Have you seen one of these at your local grocery store with a little price tag on it but you thought “whaaaaat am I supposed to do with that?” I kinda’ did too when I got 2 packages in our cow delivery.

It wasn’t anything I had ever bought, cooked, or even eaten as far as I can remember. BUT I am always up for a challenge so I started experimenting.

I looked back at my Instant Pot carnitas recipe as far as the cook time was concerned. Like that one I decided to remove the bone, trim a bit, and cut into large chunks.

• You could saute and brown on all sides at first with a bit of olive oil, but I literally just threw it in.
• Sometimes I am just in the mood for an EASY throw together one pot meal.

How to Cook Arm Roast

You can see here about how large the chunks were. I wanted it to shred easily and this is key. Smaller pieces means fork tender and delicious if you ask me. Don’t ask me about specifics, just “chunk it” alrighty. 😉 Cooked under high pressure is key, and the best way to cook beef arm roast. Here are a few questions you might have about this cut of beef;

What is the difference between an arm roast and a chuck roast?

The arm is less expensive and leaner than chuck, go figure right? Some people braise it but we used it as an easy Ninja Foodi recipe in pressure cooker mode this time. Any pressure cooker will do and my preferred method of cooking this.

What is arm roast good for?

I think it’s great to make shredded beef served over Ninja foodi rice or to make sliders. If cut into smaller pieces and cooked under pressure it falls apart nicely and has a rich beefy flavor.

Is arm roast tough?

It is less tough than a shoulder roast actually. It can become quite tender if cooked low and slow in a Crockpot or using high pressure in an Instant Pot. I compare it to our Instant Pot tri tip kinda’. Let me show you what we added to our meat to make it ultra delicious.

Balsamic vinegar, I mean really this stuff is pretty darn amazing. There are tons of different flavors, brands and price points out there you can get. This one I bought at a local fair in Idaho and is amazing.

Not sponsored at all, just like to support local when I find something amazing, and this is one of those things. 😉 Used as is as a dipping sauce for steaks, or a sort of marinade as we did here it takes meat from good to out of this world.

Can you cook a frozen arm roast?

You can, a few different ways. If you use an electric pressure cooker the timing really isn’t any different actually. the biggest issue is getting it to fit. If it does then you’d use this same sauce but the timing for our Instant Pot frozen roast timing. Believe me, it comes out just as tender, you will be amazed.

How do you cook beef arm roast in the oven?

Whether you needed a fresh, defrosted or Frozen arm roast recipe <—– you would follow these directions here. In a dish with wonderful drippings you can make in to a gravy at the end it is a wonderful way to break down the connective tissues for perfectly tender shredded beef.

Arm Roast Recipe Ingredients

Thinned out with a bit of beef broth it mad a great “sauce” or beef marinade of sorts for sure. This is what you’re going to need to make this:

1. Our arm roast was about 3.5 lbs. before trimming and removing the bone
2. Balsamic vinegar
3. Beef broth
4. Onion
5. Salt
6. Garlic
7. Worcestershire sauce
8. Soy sauce
9. A bit of honey
10. Red pepper flakes – just a bit but not to make it spicy
11. If you feel like you must put bay leaves in with any large piece of meat, go ahead. Just remember to remove it once cook time is up.

I used a bit of cornstarch at the end to thicken the “gravy” at the end.

What is the best way to cook an arm roast?

A roux isn’t necessarily I guess but boy is it nice to pour that thick sauce on the top when you serve it. Just takes a few minutes on saute after the initial cook time to get to this perfect pressure cooker gravy consistency. Here’s what we did:

Shred meat with forks in bowl. Pour this on top so it is coated well and serve over white or brown rice! Thicken sauce over medium high heat on the stovetop alternatively…..but why would you dirty another pot?

Why is my arm roast tough?

I doubt you would have this issue cooking under high pressure but if you made it on the stove and it isn’t as tender as you would like, cook it longer in that wonderful sauce. The longer it cooks the more the connective tissues will break down in order for you to shred it with 2 forks.

I haven’t used my slow cooker or tried this in a dutch oven yet but I imagine it would be just as amazing. It would just take quite a bit longer.

You can see how fall apart tender this turns out, just like our Instant Pot Barbacoa . Use some red wine instead of beef stock if you preferred. I add a sprinkle of salt and pepper once this is done but it doesn’t need much.

Yes you could use this same recipe with other cuts of meat if you wanted too. Of course a chuck roast would work the same way. It would be a good pot roast recipe too if cut into smaller chunks at the beginning.

What sides go good with roast?

Air fryer vegetables are soft with a bit of crispness on the edges and perfect with this as a side dish. You could make slow cooked mashed potatoes and corn on the cob with it too which are low in saturated fat. More easy pressure cooker recipes you should try too are:

• We share several beef stew meat recipes here.
• If you want to cook a dutch oven roast we have instructions for that method here too.

Instant Pot beef tips are always a winner. If you want a large cut of meat with a crispy outside, give our air fryer roast beef a whirl too.