OK. My new Bucket O’ Gravy Instant Pot Roast is seriously the best roast you will ever make. Don’t be sad if you don’t have an Instant Pot, you can also do this in the crockpot. The beauty of an Instant Pot roast however is that it can be done in 2 hours.
How to Cook an Instant Pot Roast
This whole high-pressure cooking with the Instant Pot has saved my butt more than a few times.
We actually had this for lunch on Easter Monday and the four of us fell upon this like a pack of wolves. This roast makes a bucket of gravy, just like it says. Perfect for beef on a bun or beef dips, you name it, that bucket of gravy that cooks up at the same time as the roast comes in handy!
I put it in the Instant Pot in the morning and it was ready BY NOON!
You guys, the magic of Instant Pot Roast high pressure cooking is something that you simply MUST EXPERIENCE! If you don’t have one, you can buy it here:
I am actually part of a few Instant Pot groups on Facebook and the one thing that I have learned is that almost every recipe out there UNDER COOKS the roast.
I’ve been talking with fellow Instant Pot lovers and they are bemoaning that their chuck and blade roasts are always tough and terrible.
THIS IS BECAUSE OF CRAPPY RECIPES!
Listen. I get worked up about this. It’s our responsibility as food writers and recipe developers to ensure that we are teaching people properly.
Chuck and blade roasts need to be cooked until the fat melts and the fibers break down properly. This takes hours upon hours in a crock pot or low oven OR high pressure cooking for a few hours.
I was SO SAD to hear that people in my Facebook groups had $20 roasts ruined! I knew that I had to write up this post right away to help everyone out with cooking a roast in their Instant Pot!
Peeps, I take my roasts seriously. If you SEE A RECIPE THAT HAS UNDER 120 MINUTES HIGH PRESSURE for a 3 or 4 lb roast, that is a crappy, terrible recipe.
I am sorry, the internet is full of hacks. And when those hacks cost YOU money, I get mad.
You need to cook the life out of a blade or chuck roast in order to break it down to a delicious pile of meat that melts in your mouth.
120 minutes for high pressure ensures that no matter the quality of roast, it will break down those 3 or 4 lbs properly, even if it’s very fibrous.
Add on another 20 minutes of high pressure cooking PER POUND when you cook something larger.
Don’t rush to ruin a $20 or $40 roast. Add on the time.High pressure doesn’t always mean super fast!
Happy cooking! If you have any questions, let me know in the comments below!
Love,
Karlynn
Bucket O’Gravy Instant Pot Roast
Ingredients
- one 3-4 lb chuck or blade roast, boned or boneless, string removed!
- 1-2 tablespoons olive oil
- two 25 grams packets of your favourite powdered gravy mix use low sodium if you want less salt, this is salty!
- 25 grams ‘1 package of your favourite powdered au jus mix
- 1 package of onion soup mix dry
- 3 cups of water
Instructions
- For the Instant Pot, set your pot to saute and sear the roast on both sides in olive oil.
- Add in all of the packages followed by the water.
- Close the lid and seal, and make sure that the value is set on SEALING.
- Use the manual button and then set for 120 minutes.
- Let it release naturally ( about 24-26 minutes)
- Remove and serve in the bucket of gravy!
- For a crockpot, follow instructions 1 and 2 and then cook on low for 8-10 hours.
Video
Notes
- Add on another 20 minutes of high pressure cooking AT LEAST per pound. The biggest mistake people make with blade and chuck roasts is that they under cook them, and then have a tough roast.
- This used to be my go-to in the crockpot.
Nutrition
Pin this to your dinners or Instant Pot boards and remember to Follow Me on Pinterest!
Sandy says
I am not a fan of onion soup mix, how would it change the recipe if I omitted it? Do you stir all the mixes and water before cooking?
Many thanks in advance!
Lori Brown says
Best recipe I’ve made in my pressure cooker xl. The meat just fell apart and was so flavorful. I encourage people to try this because it’s amazing. Please share any other recipes if you have them!
Deana Reynolds says
Tried this for company and it was FAB!! All gone, will definitely do it again.
Lori says
This has been the best thing that I have ever cooked in my pressure cooker! My family loves it so much I buy a larger roast so we can have leftovers. Thanks for sharing on how to make it roast that does fall apart.
Barbara says
I have a IP mini 3 qt. Your recipe sounds great, but how do I adjust it to work in my IP?
Shannon says
I have the 4qt size and i also would like to know. I want to make this for my husband. Im vegetarian but he is not.
Terri says
Most recipes are for the 6-quart cooker. I have both the 6- and 3-quart cooker. If you cut the recipe in half, you’ll be fine. Temperature and cooking time remain the same.
Drea says
I am gluten free due to allergies any suggestions for substitute for the gravy packs?
Bonnie says
McCormick makes good GF gravy mixes. There are also GF Onion soup mixes and aujus mixes (they are just harder to find, and I do not have any in my cabinet to tell you the brands).
Cody says
How long would I cook a 1.63 pound bottom round rump roast it’s just for one person I’m a college student and your recipe looks amazing!
Diana says
Karlynn, I read your blog with this recipe and decided to try the 120 minutes you suggest. I’ve tried roasts twice before but they were pretty tough. The 120 minutes worked!!! Thank you, thank you, thank you!!!
Kimberly Benfield says
I put mine 6 qt instant pot on 120 minutes and it said burn. 120 minutes is 2 hours right?
Terri says
Try using a trivet.
Allie says
Could you please let me know the size of the gravy packets, the Au jus packets? I think you said above 3 tbsp of the dry pinion soup mix but there is no size of the packets in the recipe? And how come you don’t show the brand of the powder mixes? Can you show so o don’t have look through so many brands and guess which one is the best. No I don’t cook much and that’s why the dumb questions. Please help. The recipe looks really easy but missing some key info.
Karlynn Johnston says
Hi Allie, no such thing as a dumb question when it comes to cooking! I don’t show the brand types because I’m Canadian and sometimes the brands aren’t available in the USA or vice versa. I use Club House for gravy like this one : https://amzn.to/2CjAeOf . That size and they make an au jus as well. Most gravy mixes are good, you can even get low sodium or organic etc.
Theresa says
My husband told me last night that this was “seriously out of this world…” and “can I please always make this…” and “that was magical.” Thanks for the rockin recipe!
Becky says
Great recipe. Nice flavour but as stated very very salty. I couldn’t find low sodium ingredients so used regular. Next time will definitely hunt for the low sodium packages.
Keith Evans says
I clicked your recipe because I wanted to see how you achieved the gravy. The rest is similar to what I’ve already worked out via trial and error. Being an old butcher, I know how to pick the best chuck roasts, so I stuck with my time setting of 90 min. (there is only a saw blade thickness between a $4 chuck roast and a $10 rib roast, but the other end is mostly neck meat which should be ground IMHO). If you don’t know the difference by appearance, or your butcher isn’t willing to show you the rib end cut of the chuck, the 120 min setting is good advice. I also sear meat in my cast iron pan turned up much hotter than the pot will get. I deglaze the pan with the water before I add it to the pot to get the good stuff that would be washed away otherwise, but that’s another pan to wash.
This is a good all purpose recipe for pot roasts, especially the tougher cuts. Love the gravy this makes also. Thanks for sharing your experience with us.
Karlynn Johnston says
Thanks for the awesome tips and feedback! Yes, the 120 is good for everyone that really can’t tell what their roast is like quality-wise. That’s why so many people were ending up with tough roasts. If you have the PERFECT cut, you can get away with 90 minutes. Most people grab them from the grocery store and that means 120 with those kinds of cuts.
SukeySky says
Your thinking is the same as mine. IP recipes just don’t leave enough time under pressure to break down connective tissue to make the roasts (or stews) tender. My rule of thumb is if IP cooks 50% faster then I need to halve the timing on my regular pot roast recipe. Which would be about two hours! Thanks for the reality check!
Risa says
Just started cooking the roast. It’s on sauté and I’ve put all ingredients in. It will not let me choose the manual button or set the timer. ??
Terri says
When you’re finished sautéing, hit the cancel button before choosing the pressure setting and time.
Shannon says
Hi! How long does it take your instant pot to get to pressure for something like this?
Tina says
Probably about 10 minutes
Bob Maurer says
On this bucket of gravy pot roast do you cook it in the gravy or use a trivit to place the roast on? I wondered if you got grease in the gravy?
Candace DiGiacomo says
I’m super ezcited to try this@! I have a 4.3 lb frozen roast. How long should I cook?
Diana says
We love this recipe. We use it for beef dip, so I leave some of the gravy with the roast and separate some for au jus. This is a great and quick weekday recipe!
Dianne says
Hi Karlynn! I have a 3-pound chuck roast in the freezer. I saw somewhere that cooking a roast in the IP from frozen is not a good idea. Is that your experience? If so, I’ll thaw it out and try tomorrow.
Belle Burnthorn says
I always cook for 80 minutes and never have an issue, mine always fall apart. Perhaps because my roasts are under 3 pounds? Would that be the difference? Thanks for the recipe … maybe I’ll try a larger roast.
Karlynn Johnston says
A smaller roast would cook faster. You could also be getting a great cut of meat. Usually with grocery store cuts they have tough parts and aren’t the cream of the crop.
Traci says
I was planning to cook a roast from frozen in instant pot, how can I sear it and how much extra time from frozen?
Karlynn Johnston says
Not much, I would add on maybe 20 minutes to the entire process.
Laura says
Hi! I absolutely LOVED this recipe and previously made a 2.5 pound roast. Now I want to repeat the recipe for a big crowd coming over and I have two roasts equaling 5.3 pounds…. I was thinking maybe a good three hours? Would that kill it? Also do I need to double the liquid mix that goes with it? Thank you your time and this amazing recipe!
Karlynn Johnston says
With two roasts I would leave it the same because they aren’t one huge thick roast, they are in two pieces so the pressure will cook them properly, does that make sense?
D C says
The family rated this roast BEST EVER and they are quite particular about their roasts. Absolutely perfect recipe. I did add fresh garlic but it’s a requirement in our household. Thanks for a timeless roast recipe and your invaluable info about time required in the instant pot. Much appreciated!!!
Butch Dahl says
Fantastic flavor! I will be doing all my roasts this way from now on.
Robert Maurer says
In the bucket o gravy roast could you put red potatoes and baby carrots in with it?
Angie says
My roast is 2.63 lbs. Should I decrease the cooking time?
Karlynn Johnston says
You can try 90 minutes for that small of a roast for sure!
April says
Ok. You have saved my sanity! I thought I was ruining roasts by cooking them too long and now it turns out that I haven’t been cooking them long enough! We had this for late Sunday lunch today and my mind is blown.
FIVE OUT OF FIVE thumbs up from my family!!!!!
Thank you for posting a Instant Pot roast recipe that ACTUALLY WORKS! Ugh, the money I have wasted!
Karlynn says
You are exactly why I wrote up this recipe and made the video! There is so much bad cooking advice out there. So many people on my Instant Pot group were ruining $25, $40 roasts! That should NOT happen!
I am so happy you had a great lunch! <3 <3
Kristyn says
Just wondering what size of onion soup mix you use? I bought the single package and it’s 55grams. Is that too much?
Thanks! Looking forward to supper! ?
Karlynn says
Use 3 tbsp of the onion mix if it’s the large package!
Kristyn says
Thanks!!
Kristyn says
Also, should I remove the strings from the meat before cooking?
Karlynn says
YES!! I should put that in the recipe for those roasts that have strings!
Kristyn says
Thanks for the quick replies! Cooking now!! ❤️
Dottie says
Hi Karlynn,
Do you know what the total cook time in the instant pot would be if I cooked the roast, removed it, added potatoes and carrots to the gravy and cooked those? Can I assume it would be around 3 1/2 hours total (with release time included: 2 1/2 hrs for the roast plus 1 hr for the veggies?). I have a hubby that loves his veggies cooked with the roast (in a regular crock pot anyway). Speaking from prior experience, he would walk away with a wounded puppy dog look if I don’t cook them in the gravy. lol
I’m picking up my instant pot today, got it reserved at BB! I love my pressure canners so I’m sure I’ll love the electric cooker even more 😀
Karlynn Johnston says
I would add in the veggies after 90 minutes and use the manual release and then cook for 45 minutes high pressure. They shouldn’t add that much more time! I am going to experiment myself and see!
Dottie says
thanks 🙂 I’m going to give it a try this weekend. I’ll let you know how adding the veggies go.
Dottie says
I added veggies (baby potatoes and baby carrots) at 1.5 hours using the quick release, put it back on for 30 minutes and it turned out perfectly.
Jackie says
What brand of pressure canner do you use?
julie says
One question for you…..which way do you prefer the roast to be cooked? I have both the crock pot and instant pot and I’m cooking it on a Sunday, so time isn’t an issue!
I can’t wait to try this!
Karlynn Johnston says
With the crockpot you can add veggies in easier, but as for taste they are both fantastic!