The Instant Pot makes this weekend indulgence weeknight quickish; a secret Asian ingredient makes it irresistibly savory. Recipe below.
![Instant Pot Pot Roast](https://i0.wp.com/blue-kitchen.com///wp-content/uploads/2021/03/instant-pot_pot-roast.jpg?resize=750%2C581&ssl=1)
WE’LL START WITH THE DOWNSIZING. When you’re trying to eat less red meat, pot roast can be a challenge. First, it is one of the most delicious forms of red meat there is, meaty, robust, fatty—and yes, a little chewy. Second, most chuck roasts weigh in at three to four pounds or more, not exactly a dainty cut.
We are eating less red meat these days, cooking it less often and having smaller portions when we do. But we do love pot roast. Which led to the recent impulse purchase of a 3+ pound chuck roast. In the old days, we would have happily powered through it in multiple meals, sandwiches and late night snacks.
Not this time. Before cooking, we sliced the roast in half. The half you don’t see cooked above is now carefully wrapped and stowed in the freezer for some future meaty adventure. The half we cooked (again, see above) made one dinner for two and a lunch for two.
Let’s talk speed now. Our usual approach to cooking pot roast is low, slow roasting in the oven. It fills the kitchen with the most wonderful aromas as it cooks for three to four hours. The down side is that it cooks for three or four hours. To us, this is where the Instant Pot comes into its own. Not in cooking hard boiled eggs in five minutes (plus the time to pressurize and depressurize—in other words longer than it takes to boil eggs on the stove), but in greatly reducing the time it takes to turn delicious but tough cuts of meat into delicious, tender meals. For pot roast, the Instant Pot rule of thumb is about 20 minutes per pound.
Which leads to another advantage of downsizing your pot roast. For a 1-1/2- to 2-pound roast, the cook time is about 40 minutes, which means you can put your carrots and potatoes in at the beginning and cook them the whole time. They will come out wonderfully tender, but not turned to mush. For a 3- to 4-pound roast, you need to partially cook the roast, depressurize the Instant Pot, add the vegetables, then re-pressurize, cook and depressurize. That makes the whole operation a lot less instant.
And finally, a secret for upping the umami. Healthy-ish lifestyle website Greatist says, “Umami is that unforgettable savory sensation that makes so many foods—like meat, tomatoes, cheese, and yes, even Doritos—so irresistible.” This fifth sense of taste, beyond salty, sweet, bitter and sour, was isolated and named by a Japanese chemist in 1908. The Japanese word umami roughly translates into deliciousness. For more on umami, check out Greatist’s Crash Course: A Beginner’s Guide to Umami.
Meat is a savory food in its own right, but there are various ways to boost that savoriness that merely adding more salt won’t do. Many pot roast recipes call for Worcestershire sauce. This flavorful, fermented condiment was first made in Worcester, England, in the early 19th century. According to Food52, it gets its “unique flavor from a combination of vinegar, molasses, anchovies, garlic, tamarind extract, chili pepper extract, sugar, and salt, along with other undisclosed ‘natural ingredients.'” Did you note anchovies in that list?
That’s why we like fish sauce. Anchovies—and other small fish and krill—are the main ingredient in fish sauce, a fermented condiment that is a staple in East and Southeast Asian cuisine. Fish sauce is often added to dishes to up the umami without imparting a fish flavor. So when we saw Worcestershire sauce—which we don’t routinely have on hand—popping up in many recipes, we reached for fish sauce. It delivered a savory, non-fishy umami to our pot roast brilliantly.
Instant Pot Pot Roast
Ingredients
For the dry rub
- 1 teaspoon onion powder (not onion salt—see Kitchen Notes)
- 1 teaspoon garlic powder (not garlic salt—see Kitchen Notes)
- 1/2 teaspoon smoked paprika
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
For the roast
- 1-1/ 2– 2 pound chuck roast 2 inches thick (or more)
- 2 tablespoons olive oil plus more if needed
- 1 onion, chopped
- 2 cloves garlic, minced
- 2/3 cup dry red wine
- 1-1/3 cups reduced-sodium beef broth
- 1 tablespoon fish sauce (or Worcestershire sauce—see Kitchen Notes)
- 3 medium carrots, peeled and sliced into big pieces
- 3 potatoes, about 1-1/2 pounds or so, peeled and cut into big pieces
- salt
- 2 bay leaves
Instructions
- Make the dry rub. Mix ingredients together in a small bowl. This will make more dry rub than you need. That is a good thing. You can use it on chicken, on pork chops… or on that other half of chuck roast in your freezer.
- Season the chuck roast generously on both sides with the dry rub, rubbing it into the meat with your fingers.
- Set your Instant Pot to sauté and let it heat for about a minute. Add the oil and let it heat for a moment. Brown the chuck roast on both sides until nicely browned, 4 to 5 minutes per side. Transfer to a plate.
- Drizzle in more oil, if needed. Add onion and cook, stirring frequently, until it is slightly softened, 2 or 3 minutes. Add garlic and cook, stirring constantly, for about 45 seconds.
- Turn off sauté function and add wine, broth and fish sauce to the pot. Using a wooden spoon, stir and scrape up browned bits—this will probably take some doing, but stick with it.
- Return chuck roast to the pot, along with any accumulated juices. Add carrots and potatoes to the pot around the sides of the roast. Season lightly with salt and tuck the bay leaves into the liquid.
- Seal the Instant Pot and set to pressure cook on high for 40 minutes. When it has cooked for the 40 minutes, let it do a natural release on its own for 10 minutes, then carefully turn vent to the venting release position. Allow all of the steam to vent and the float valve to drop down before removing the lid.
- Transfer the pot roast to a serving platter and slice it across the grain. Discard the bay leaves and, using a slotted spoon, arrange the vegetables around the sliced roast.
- At this point, you can quickly thicken the sauce using cornstarch and water, if you like (see Kitchen Notes). Or you can plate servings of roast and vegetables, and spoon the unthickened broth over them, which we did. Serve.
Kitchen Notes
![](https://i0.wp.com/blue-kitchen.com///wp-content/uploads/2021/03/antique-bird-platter.jpg?resize=486%2C383&ssl=1)
This is a brilliant recipe! We’re eating less meat too. What we’ve been doing is cooking normal quantities, portioning it, and freezing it. But this makes excellent use of the Instant Pot — one of those devices I haven’t gotten around to using yet (I definitely see its utility, just don’t know if I want another kitchen appliance). Pot roast is so good — terrific recipe. Love the use of fish sauce, too. I usually do have Worcestershire sauce on hand (on of those things I buy once a decade whether I need it or not) but you’re right that fish sauce provides much the same foundational flavoring enhancing. Good stuff — thanks.
I am a huge fan of red meat..the more, the merrier 🙂 Your pot roast looks tender and literally melt-in-mouth. I have never used fish sauce in my roast…definitely something I am going to try. That platter is so beautiful.
Thanks, John! To be honest, I improvised with fish sauce after realizing our ancient bottle of Worcestershire sauce (which we had used once, I think) was two years past its “best by” date. And also to be honest, this roast was just meant to be dinner, not a post. But then when it turned out to be so good…
Angie, it really was tender, something we are loving with our Instant Pot. Thanks for stopping by!
I got an Instant Pot when I broke the crock in my crockpot. I love that you can brown the meat, saute the onions and garlic and pressure cook all in the same pot!
It seems that many of us are eating less meat. I try to go meatless at lunch every day and at least three or four nights a week and eat fish twice a week. My doctor wants me to become vegetarian but that’s not happening.
This sounds wonderful, Terry! I’ll try the fish sauce.
I grew up with pot roast almost every Sunday (usually alternated with roast chicken) roasted with extra carrots, onions and potatoes. Monday night my mother sauteed chopped green bell pepper and minced garlic, rough chopping the leftover roast and veggies, added the leftover sauce and made the best roast beef hash EVER. One of my favorite dishes.
I love the history you provide on the crockery, Marion.
I’m going to start calling you two the dynamic duo ~ your recipes are always delicious and all the extra information is food and crockery storytelling at its best. I always enjoy my visits.
Aw, thanks, Dani! I love your childhood memories of pot roast—and that hash sounds truly amazing.
I made this, and we loved it. I even wrote a blog post about it!
https://heatcagekitchen.com/2021/05/06/pot-roast-instant-pot-style/
Thanks for one more recipe *he* will eat!