French onion roast with blade roast is best cooked in an Instant Pot or Ninja foodi. It makes the best fork tender shredded beef tacos for dinner, even your kids will rave about. Use a fresh or frozen roast in Instant Pot to make this.
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Yes we’re back with more meals to add to our long list of easy Instant Pot recipes! Today we’re here with what we’re calling pressure cooker blade roast. We shredded it this time and made some crazy good tacos topped with avocado that didn’t last long between the 5 of us. Let us know what you think!
So we live in Idaho now where there are lots of farms. In this new world of ours people tend to stock up for the winter and buy half a cow, a pig, etc… Then we can store it in a deep freezer in the garage so we’re set and have to go to the store less often.
I don’t know about you but I have been using these little packets for years and years, and never to make the dip they are for. It is a nice already mixed together with bold flavors blend that gives meatloaf, chicken and now beef a lot of flavor easily.
Ninja Foodi French Onion Roast
You can make this as an easy Ninja Foodi recipe too if that is the brand you have on hand. With that machine you are going to use the lid that is not attached with the pressure cook button. High pressure is what will be used to break down the connective tissues in the meat and make it as tender as possible.
This was a bit odd when we first got here but low and behold we did it and now we have LOTS of beef to use! I decided to add to our Instant Pot beef recipes and make a sort of shredded beef using one of the roasts we got. It turned out great!
Can you make this with frozen roast?
Yes!! Believe it or not it doesn’t take much longer either. You can’t cut it into fourths like we did here so that is the biggest difference but not by much. 2 lbs = 80 minutes, 3 lbs. = 90 min. or 4 lbs = 100 minutes to get to fall-apart tender status.
Instant Pot Blade Roast
As far as the type of roast you choose you do want one that has some fat because that makes it more tender than a leaner cut. In this case we used a 2.75 lb. blade roast but chuck roast works well in this case too.
As always this pressure cooker roast came out super tender in no time at all as I just throw everything that sounds good together, toss, and wait until the beeper goes off to let me know it’s done. Then I shred/slice the meat, put it back into the incredible juices to soak up more flavor, and get the toppings ready.
Can you add vegetables?
You can add veggies but realize that in 1 hour pressure cooking time they will get quite soft. Choose those that are firmer like chunks of potatoes and carrots, and onions work well too.
How to serve shredded beef
We made Instant Pot tacos out of them, sliced roast thin, added into small flour tortillas or served with sliced avocado on top
You can make into a low carb meal like; Served inside lettuce, as lettuce wraps, Eaten as is with a slice of avocado on top or Served inside a bell pepper sliced in half
How else would you serve this style of pressure cooker shredded beef? I mean the list is endless really so let us know if you try another that becomes your go to with your family.
I personally like to have some sort of idea or meal schedule so I am prepared for dinner. We like to eat around 5 p.m. so I like to start early and using a pressure cooker gives me the ability to cook a large cut of meat like this one without having to spend a lot of time in the kitchen which I love.
To get a roast as tender as this one was I typically had to cook it in my slow cooker all day and I didn’t always think about dinner at 9 in the morning to get it going in time. My Instant Pot, Crockpot Express and new Ninja Foodi pressure cookers make it possible to achieve the same fall-apart tenderness in about 1 hour!
I cook a lot more homemade meals now with this fancy thing…. You can get the same tender juiciness in just a fraction of the time vs. using your oven. Especially when it comes to large thick pieces of meat it is the way to go. You really need a lot of pressure to break down the connective tissues so it can shred easily when done.
There are many ways of how to cook a roast, this is our favorite by far. There are many different cuts out there too on a cow that work well. A bit of fat on it is good, even if you are going to trim that off when it is done. Reason being is that fat=flavor. I want easy so I do not sear the beef roast at the beginning. You can but use a wooden spoon to deglaze if you do.
How Long to Cook Blade Roast in Instant Pot
If you cut your roast into 4 equal pieces your pot roast with onions will become most tender and timing is more accurate. Then you just close your lid and steam valve and set to high pressure for 60 minutes. (timing good for a 2.5-3.5 lb. roast, may need to adjust if using a smaller or larger piece of meat). Allow to natural pressure release for 10 minutes, then release rest of steam. Quick release isn’t recommended for meat as it will dry it out.
How to Thicken the Gravy
If you want to make the sauce thicker for pressure cooker gravy you would just want to ideally remove the meat, turn pot to saute and wait until it bubbles. In a small dish add a bit of that liquid with 2 tbsp cornstarch, whisk until smooth and pour that in. Allow to bubble and thicken. Toppings for soft shredded beef tacos as well if you’re serving it like that, fresh avocado slices are our favorite.
Instant Pot French Onion Roast Recipe
Equipment
Ingredients
- 2.5-3 lb roast, beef, ours was a blade roast
- 1 large onion, sliced in thick pieces
- 2 packets french onion soup mix
- 1 can chiles, diced, optional
- 1.5 cup beef stock, broth or canned french onion soup
Instructions
- Cut your roast into 4 equal pcs. if you’re making shredded beef, or in 2 equal pieces if you want to slice it when it’s done. (I recommend making shredded roast as it will want to fall apart)
- Put meat into your Instant Pot followed by your sliced onion, can of chiles, sprinkled in packets of french onion soup mix, and then pour your broth/stock on top of everything.
- Close your lid and steam valve and set to high pressure for 60 minutes. (timing good for a 2.5-3.5 lb. roast, may need to adjust if using a smaller or larger piece of meat)
- Allow to naturally release for 10 minutes, then release rest of steam.
- Remove meat and cut into small slices or shred if you’re making tacos/serving over rice, or slice and serve as is followed by a pour of the juices on top of your meat.
Notes
How to Thicken Gravy
If you want the drippings in the pot to be thicker like gravy remove meat, set aside. Set pot to saute and in a small dish whisk some of the liquid with 2 tbsp cornstarch to smooth. Pour in when liquid is bubbling and stir for a few minutes until thick. Then add shredded meat to coat and serve.Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
Other easy pressure cooker beef recipes you’ll love
Our beef pot pie soup is great for another beef win. Again this one has small bite size pieces used so it doesn’t take long to cook at all and gets really tender to melt in your mouth. Making a Ninja Foodi roast? You will follow these directions
