Italian Pressure Cooker Pot Roast

Tender, falling apart roast beef with potatoes and carrots and a rich wine gravy. All in about 90 minutes! You’ll love this recipe for pressure cooker pot roast. It’s a perfect weeknight or weekend dinner with minimal effort.

Hello!

How is it going? Ready for another instant pot recipe? I hope so, since I have one for you today!

I wasn’t sure what to do with my Instant Pot back when I first got it last year, but it has really come into its own once the weather got chilly and it was time to make comfort food again. Soups and stews and braises are all so simple to make with it. Press a few buttons and walk away!

After I made braised beef short ribs and potato leek soup in the pressure cooker, I thought about what to do next. And what came to my mind was pot roast! Not just ANY pot roast though, but one with Italian flavors, red wine, and plenty of vegetables!

I marinate the beef, to give it plenty of flavor, use all red wine for the liquid, which makes the gravy intense, and add baby potatoes cut in half, since they are the perfect size to cook with the carrots. And I use my favorite secret umami bomb! Anchovy paste. It makes everything meatier. 😮

This is a simple, but flavorful recipe which builds in a few layers. You can skip a layer or two and still have a good pot roast, but add them all in and you will have GREAT pot roast.

How do I make pressure cooker pot roast?

To make pressure cooker pot roast brown the meat all over, then add the onions, red wine, and herbs. Cook on high pressure until tender then add the potatoes and carrots and cook them until tender as well. Slice the meat and serve with the vegetables and gravy.

Marinate the Chuck Roast

To flavor the meat, make a rub of minced garlic, salt, pepper, and dried herbs. Rub this marinade all over the pieces of beef and let it rest for at least a few hours and up to a day.

Tip: Want to get things prepped ahead of time? Rub the beef with the marinade then put it in a freezer bag and freeze until you are ready to make pot roast. Transfer the meat to the fridge the day before and it will be all thawed, marinated, and ready for you.

Sear and Saute

First scrape off the marinade.

Why do this? So you don’t burn the garlic! It makes it all bitter and unpleasant. I don’t get too fussy, but I remove most of it and set it aside.

Now get your pressure cooker hot, add some oil and give the beef a good sear on all sides. For three pounds of meat, do the searing in two batches to keep from overcrowding the pot. Once it’s seared, move it to a bowl.

Then add the onions, soften, add the marinade and some flour, stir, and add the wine and anchovies. I like to get the wine boiling before I pressure cook since it’s going to take time to heat up anyway and this way the wine gets reduced a bit too.

Tip: For a gluten-free pot roast, either skip the thickener entirely or whisk 1 tsp of cornstarch into the wine.

Pressure cook the pot roast

After you’ve done all the prep, now you get to seal it up and walk away!

It takes 40 minutes at pressure and 10 minutes of release to do this bit. Spend a few minutes slicing up the potatoes and carrots and go relax.

Then add in the potatoes and carrots and give it another 4 minutes. (Plus, about 10-15 minutes of warm up time!) Set the table, pour the wine, chop up some parsley, hit the quick release, and then EAT!

Tip: When releasing the pressure, put a kitchen towel over the vent to keep the steam from sputtering out everywhere. Also, if you’re worried out the hot steam, use the handle of a long spoon to the press the button.

Do I need to sear the meat for pot roast?

As I said above, you can skip these flavor steps like searing the meat. However, to make the best and tastiest pot roast you will want to brown the meat and have it undergo the Maillard reaction.

The Maillard reaction is somewhat similar to caramelization, only it’s in relation to proteins. Basically, by browning the meat you are going to add a ton of new and complex flavors to the dish all of which are going to make for a much better dinner.

In other words, YES, sear the meat.

What is the best roast for pot roast?

A boneless chuck roast is the best roast for pot roast.

Chuck roasts are inexpensive, tough roasts with plenty of connective tissue. This makes them perfect for braises since the collagen will break down, creating tender meat and a rich sauce from gelatin.

If you try my recipe for Pressure Cooker Pot Roast, I would love to hear from you in the comments with your experience and rating! And I’m happy to answer any questions you might have.

You can connect with me by subscribing to my emails (see the form in the sidebar or below the recipe card), liking my FACEBOOK page, or by following me on PINTEREST.

– Happy pressure cooking, Annemarie

5 from 7 votes

Print

Italian Pressure Cooker Pot Roast

Prep Time

15 mins

Cook Time

1 hr 20 mins

Marinating Time

8 hrs

Total Time

1 hr 35 mins

 

My Italian-style pressure cooker pot roast is braised in red wine until the meat just falls apart and the potatoes and carrots are tender. Easy instant pot comfort food dinner!

Course: Main Course

Cuisine: Italian

Keyword: instant pot roast, pot roast

Servings: 8 servings

Calories: 400 kcal

Author: justalittlebitofbacon

Ingredients

Marinade/Rub

• 3 cloves garlic, finely minced
• 1 tbsp kosher salt
• 1/2 tsp black pepper
• 1 tsp dried thyme
• 1 tsp dried rosemary
• 1 tbsp olive oil

Pot Roast

• 3 lbs boneless chuck roast, cut into 3-4 pieces
• 1 tbsp olive oil
• 1 large yellow onion, thinly sliced
• 1 tbsp flour
• 2 cups red wine
• 2 tsp anchovy paste
• 1 bay leaf
• 1 1/2 lbs baby potatoes, halved
• 3 medium carrots, peeled and cut into 1-2 inch lengths
• 1/4 cup chopped fresh parsley

Instructions

1. Mix together all of the marinade ingredients and rub them over the chuck roast then refrigerate the roast for 8-24 hours.
   

2. Scrape off the rub (and reserve). Set the pressure cooker to saute hot and heat one tablespoon of olive oil until shimmery. Add the roast in two batches and saute until browned on all sides, about 10 minutes per batch. Transfer the browned meat to a bowl.
   

3. Reduce the saute temperature to low. Add the onion to the pressure cooker and saute for 3-4 minutes. Add the reserved rub along with the flour and saute 1 minute.
   

4. Increase the saute temperature to high. Add the wine and anchovy paste. Bring to a simmer and cook for 5 minutes.
   

5. Return the meat to the pot and add the bay leaf.
   

6. Cover the pressure cooker and seal. Set the cooker to high pressure, 40 minutes.
   

7. Let it natural release for 10 minutes then press the quick release button.
   

8. Once the pressure has released, uncover and add the potatoes and carrots. Then cover the pressure cooker and seal again. Set the cooker to high pressure, 4 minutes.

9. Press the quick release as soon as the cooker is done. Stir in the fresh parsley.
   

10. Remove the beef from the pot and slice. Serve with the vegetables and sauce.