Ninja Foodi Pot Roast with Gravy

This is how to cook fresh or frozen Ninja Foodi pot roast with gravy. Easy one pot meal in a pressure cooker! Shredded for sliders or sliced it is a hearty meal full of flavor. If yours is out of the freezer, our Ninja Foodi frozen roast instructions work too. Believe it or not your family will never know the difference!

How to Cook Pot Roast in the Ninja Foodi

I love making this when beef is on sale. There is really no other way to make it fork tender fall apart like in a pressure cooker. Something like this needs to be fork tender and nothing less. With some thick gravy poured over the top with a side of potatoes and carrots, it will remind you of your childhood for sure.

You don’t need the air crisp function for this either, you just pressure cook with the lid that is not attached to your multi cooker. You want it soft, not crispy at all. If you are new to this type of cooking we will walk you thru all the steps so you can feel like a pro.

Is it better to pressure cook or slow cook a pot roast?

You do not want to use the slow cook function with this machine, doesn’t work well. In a Crockpot it does work well but Shredded beef that way takes all day to get done. You can get the same great results pressure cooked on high in just 1 hour! Use the drippings below for gravy and serve.

This meat is great for sliders or just along side air fryer vegetables. I recommend cooking veggies separately as they will get too soft together. We are using a hunk of defrosted or fresh meat for these instructions. If you are a bit forgetful we have help for you too (with the link above) though. 😉

Pot Roast in Ninja Foodi Ingredients

• Roast
• Onion
• Garlic powder
• Onion powder
• Beef broth
• Olive oil
• Salt and pepper

We are going to start to brown meat on saute function first. You want to do this on all sides but it is important when done to deglaze it. I would follow directions below as is and then at the end add a packet of dry gravy mix with the broth down below with your thickener or roux.

Ninja Foodi Pot Roast with Gravy

How do I thicken my pot roast gravy? You can use Cornstarch to thicken drippings in the bottom for a nice simple Ninja Foodi gravy at the end. That is totally up to you of course. If you need a gluten free option there is a product called arrowroot flour that is a great alternative as well. Don’t throw it away is what I am saying, this is liquid gold

How to cook a roast dinner in a Ninja Foodi

1. Add olive oil, set pot to saute and add meat (sprinkled with salt and pepper) when hot. Brown on all sides until lightly browned.
2. Remove meat and deglaze pot with a bit of your broth so pot doesn’t display burn notice on screen later.
3. Put browned meat back into pot with remaining seasonings sprinkled on top. Add onions and beef broth.
4. Close lid and steam valve and set to high pressure for 60 minute cook time. Allow to naturally release the pressure for 10 – 15 minutes when done, then quick release. (if more than 3 lbs. you may want to increase time)
5. Shred and serve, or allow to rest and slice. If you want gravy, remove meat and set pot to saute. Add water/cornstarch slurry to thicken broth into a gravy.

Let’s start with a few step by step photos to get you going on this one. We love to just shred ours at the end to make pressure cooker tacos or serve over rice.

Ninja Foodi Pot Roast Time

How long to cook beef in Ninja Foodi? The answer varies a lot. If you have a steak that obviously will cook quick since you want a bit of pink inside. A large thick roast tends to need 60 minutes with a natural release of 15 minutes to stay moist in the center but so tender you can shred it with 2 forks.

Why does my Ninja air fryer keep saying add water?

If you make this and do receive the ADD WATER notice on the screen you didn’t scrape all the cooked on bits off the bottom. The pot (some are more sensitive than others) does this because it thinks contents are burning.

Many times it is not, but if you ensure that the inside of the pot is free from particles on the bottom you can avoid this issue. That is why we explain how to deglaze pressure cooker in the directions, it is an important step to follow.

• You may ask if you can cook vegetables at the same time as your meat. The answer is I wouldn’t.
• The firmest veggie would be whole potatoes but even those cooked for over an hour are going to become basically mush.

Best suggestion is to cook them separately on the stovetop or in another machine. I usually make a quick batch of broccoli or pressure cooker carrots myself.

How to Cook Ninja Foodi Chuck Roast

I personally use whatever I have in the freezer since we buy meat in bulk, so we have a lot of beef going on here. 😉 Here are a few questions you might have before you start on this:

What is the best cut of roast?

Pressure cooker Chuck roast is a popular cut of meat because of it’s low cost, but personally I love sirloin or short loin. If you want a really cheap meal. You do want something with fat if you want it to become extremely tender. You can use more unusual cuts like our beef arm roast recipe with balsamic vinegar sauce that is amazing.

Can you cook vegetables and pot roast in Ninja Foodi?

The only thing I would say would work okay, but will be quite soft when done, would be large chunks of carrots and potatoes. They are better cooked in under 30 minutes but if you really want everything together I would only choose these due to their firm nature and long cook time. I use a separate pressure cooker or air fryer for easy side dishes for the best results.

Air fryer cauliflower is a low carb choice that has tons of flavor that I make a lot of the time with this. Another great choice is some pressure cooker fried cabbage. Let me tell you, this is out of control great. Everyone goes crazy over it.

This pot roast recipe is amazingly tender when it is done. No real need to tenderize the meat before cooking, the high pressure does that work for you. It will fall apart just as if you made it in a slow cooker. For a low slow Crockpot roast version we have 2 to choose from, our Mississippi roast slow cooker recipe is great too!

Want to try another idea after you go crazy over this one? We have made pressure cooker Mississippi roast before and the sauce is incredible.

There are so many possibilities you can make with a large cut of meat like this I tell you. Some take just 30 minutes while others are worth the wait at closer to an hour. AND if you’re forgetful you can use our recipe for pressure cooker frozen roast, that still comes out perfect.

How to Save Leftover Beef

You want to keep it nice and moist. Only slice what you are going to eat then and there, leave the rest whole, this will help not to dry it out. Once it has cooled move it to a container with a lid and cover the protein with your sauce from the pot. Keep the rest in a covered jar to serve with it. Reheat in a pan with a lid to steam until warmed with gravy on top.

Below is a printable recipe card you can keep on hand. We do love to “see” you though so if you love this creation come back! I add new easy Ninja Foodi recipe ideas each week so be sure to subscribe below.