Our recipe for pressure cooker roast beef with gravy makes the tenderest shredded beef in an Instant Pot or Ninja Foodi. It is like our Slow Cooker Roast Beef and Gravy but cooked a lot faster!
Do you love roast beef but wish you could make it quicker?? Now you can just like this! Get out a chuck roast, vegetables and red wine and we will show you step by step like all of our other Instant Pot recipes how it’s made.
You can make this as a Ninja Foodi recipe with the lid that is not attached. We’ve also made an air fryer roast beef with this pot so it gets crispy on the outside. If you like a bit of a crust on the outside with your dry rub you could try that one as well and see which you like best, both are delicious. Let us know what you think.
I find it is a great meal that is packed with protein and pretty quick compared to baking it in the oven. You don’t have to heat up your house either to get that melt in your mouth tenderness this way.
Frozen Pressure Cooker Roast Beef
Did you know that cooking frozen roast in Instant Pot or fresh really isn’t much different? That is right, with a bit of liquid to make gravy at the bottom, under high pressure, the timing really doesn’t change which has been a game changer for eating together more often for our family.
How Long to Cook 3 lb. Roast in Pressure Cooker
The timing below will vary a bit depending on how pink you want it to remain inside. Most of the time you want to keep some and not leave it until it is well done, typically. We are adding vegetables at the end too so others may say 1 hour but we do 10 minutes less to account for that extra time for the veggies.
Does pressure cooking make meat fall apart?
Yes, there’s nothing like pressure cooking beef. This melt in the mouth roast beef comes out fall apart tender where you don’t need a knife to even cut it on your plate. The side of your fork will work just fine. Of course there will be a variation depending on how well done you want it to be. Here are the first steps……and they’re pretty darn easy I tell you.
Ingredient Notes
The best cut I have used in my several experimentations of this recipe is beef chuck roast that is about 3 lbs. That size fits nicely inside and feeds the 5 of us typically with a bit left over for lunch the next day.
Beef broth is better than water for liquid, same goes for pressure cooker beef ribs all the way. I use some red wine too to boost the flavor when it steams but that is optional.
As for vegetables I like to add a sliced white or yellow onion, peeled and cut up carrots, chunks of potatoes and halved mushrooms are a great add (especially if making gravy from the drippings at the end).
Cornstarch is needed if you want to thicken the sauce to make Instant Pot gravy. You could bake our easy roll recipe if you want to make roast beef sliders at the end.
When do you add vegetables?
Just like our Ninja Foodi Roast Beef, everything is not added at the same time rather the veggies go in after the meat has done most of it’s cooking or they would become mushy. SO if you do want to add them it is for the last 10 minutes.
All large cuts of meat should be cooked under high pressure I say. It is the best way to get them all fork tender in about an hour. This and our Instant Pot rump roast are high on the list of favorites.
How to Thicken the Gravy
If you want to make gravy out of the drippings I highly suggest that you do. There is no reason to move it to another pot, rather just remove everything but the liquid. Set to saute and in a small dish whisk 1 tbsp cornstarch or arrow root flour (gluten free substitute) with some liquid and whisk in, stirring, until thicker.
Pressure Cooker Roast Beef Recipe
Equipment
Ingredients
- 3 lb beef chuck roast
- 3 tbsp olive oil
- 2 cup beef broth
- 1/2 small onion, sliced
- 2 whole bay leaves
- 1 tsp rosemary
- 1 tbsp Worcestershire sauce
- 1 cup red wine
- 1.5 lbs potatoes, baby, red
- 3 large carrots, cut into large chunks
- 1/2 tsp white pepper
- 1 pkg. mushrooms, whole
Instructions
- Turn pressure cooker to saute mode and add olive oil. Add roast when hot.
- Brown each side, turn pot OFF, remove meat from pot and deglaze the pot (add 1/2 c. of your beef broth and scrape the bottom well to remove all stuck on meat).
- Return meat to pot, add onions, seasonings, wine and rest of broth.
- Close lid and steam valve. Set to high pressure for 50 minutes. (timing is average but varies slightly depending on size and thickness of meat piece you have) * if not adding veggies later set to 60 min.
- Do a natural release for 25 minutes, then let out rest of steam.
- Add potatoes, carrots and mushrooms. Put lid back on and close steam valve.
- Set to high pressure for 6 minutes, quick release when done.
- Remove vegetables and meat. If you want to make gravy leave liquid in pot, set to saute and whisk together in a small bowl 2 tbsp. cornstarch with 3 tbsp cold water until smooth and add in. (or a gravy packet works) Stir until it thickens, turn pot off.
Video
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
Why is my roast still tough?
If you open the pot up and feel like you cannot slice or shred it easily then it was larger than ours and needs more time. It will not hurt to put the lid back on and add another 15 minutes. Another reason may be that you a natural release of the steam after it was done. This step is important to make it tender.
You might have a few questions in mind before you dive right into this one, here are a few we have been asked. Now we have answered them for you ahead of time.
FAQ
Roast beef is a piece of beef which is usually roasted in an oven BUT can now be made in a pressure cooker. Usually prepared as a main meal, roast beef leftovers are often used in sandwiches.
Although it is high in fat, roast beef is very high in protein as well.
Roast beef is quite high in potassium. There are 0 carbs and 0 grams of sugar in roast beef itself.
Roast beef is made out of beef chuck roast. If you want to make this but don’t see it in the meat section of your grocery store, ask the butcher. It might be labeled a bit differently or they may have some behind the meat counter itself.
Other ways of how to cook beef chuck roast into a few other pot roast recipes are; Smoked roast beef will take just as long as the one above plus or minus 40 minutes or so We have made a dutch oven roast too. And try our Instant Pot beef tips next!
Hi! What non-alcoholic alternative could I use instead of the red wine and would the amount be same? 🙂
Thank you!
When does the wine go in?
with the broth
What if I have a tiny roast, 1.5 pounds or so?
You list red wine and ONE cup of beef broth but instructions only say “Add 1/2 cup of your beef broth” and nowhere says when or if to add the wine or rest of the broth
maybe the wine is for drinking?
or it’s considered one of the spices. I would make two 3/4 cups, one as a spice and one for yourself. Just to be sure.
Is literally mentioned in the next step (3). It says to add the rest of the broth
In the one picture it looks like there is garlic on the roast. There is no garlic mentioned in the recipe. Is there supposed to be garlic?
Sometimes I add garlic, other times I don’t
I’m making this now in my new Foodi, but I hope you meant to pressure cook for 1:00 (one hour), not 100 (minutes), since it doesn’t make sense to me that it would need a full 40 minus longer than the Instant Pot. :-} It smells divine so far!
Did she mean an hour or 100 minutes? I’m assuming she actually meant 100 minutes.