Pot roast is a classic everybody loves —but when you don’t want to spend all day in the kitchen, it can be an intimidating ordeal. This recipe is an Instant Pot Pot Roast: The same traditional flavors but without so much of the work. Plus a special twist to keep the vegetables from overcooking!

I love using my instant pot to make easy dinners! This pot roast is one of my favorites. And best of all: Everything cooks hands-off in ONE SINGLE pot for extra easy prep and clean up!

This Instant Pot Pot Roast

comes together quickly and easily and turns out incredibly flavorful!
is made with all healthy ingredients for a balanced family dinner
is a great Whole 30 friendly (with some modifications), or a THM XO (Crossover) meal

Ingredients you’ll need

This is just an overview of the ingredients, for quantities skip to the recipe!

collage of ingredients to make instant pot pot roast — Ingredients to make pot roast in the pressure cooker: Chuck roast, herbs and spices, oil, tomato paste, beef broth, Worcestershire sauce (OR an alternative; see below), vegetables and arrowroot OR cornstarch.

Ingredient notes

use green beans in place of the celery stalks if you prefer!
for the oil, just use your favorite oil suitable for hot cooking temperatures. Avocado oil or coconut oil are great choices for Whole30 diets.
if you don’t have any Worcestershire sauce (or don’t want to use it because of dietary restrictions – it’s incredibly hard to find a Whole 30 compliant Worcestershire sauce! I’m usually not too worried about such a small amount, but totally fine if you want to skip it): Either use Balsamic vinegar or Coconut Aminos. Soy sauce works as well if you’re not concerned about the soy.
for a delicious flavor twist, use Italian seasoning in place of the herbs and spices called for in the recipe

Step by step photos

Instead of cooking everything at once from the start, the meat cooks by itself for the largest portion of the cooking time.

Then the pressure is released and the vegetables are added for only the final 5 minutes of cooking: No overcooked vegetables here!

collage of steps to make instant pot pot roast — 1) Cut up the roast and 2) rub with the seasoning. 3) Brown the meat in a little oil, then 4) remove from the pressure cooker and start the gravy. 5) Pressure cook the meat in the gravy base. 6) Release the pressure, add the vegetables on top and finish cooking. 7) Release the pressure, remove vegetables and meat. 8) Thicken the gravy, then serve over teared meat and vegetables.

Recipe tips

Patting the beef dry with paper towels before browning helps the beef caramelize better, which makes the whole dish more flavorful.
Use leftovers in a sandwich – we love ours with pickles and tartar sauce.
For a leaner sauce, trim any visible fat from the beef before cooking.
We buy our potatoes at the farm down the road and they come covered in soil, so I usually peel them. If you’re using small/new/clean potatoes, cut down on prep time by leaving the skin on.
Don’t skip the natural pressure releases, or your meat may turn out tough.

plate with instant pot pot roast in front of a pressure cooker

Serving suggestions

We love this pot roast pretty much by itself! It’s a great crossover meal if you’re on the Trim Healthy Mama plan.

To make the recipe THM S-friendly, thicken the gravy with glucomannan instead of arrowroot and skip the potatoes/carrots on your plate. I like to serve green beans and mashed cauliflower on the side if I want to stick to an S meal when I cook this dinner for my family.

More healthy instant pot recipes

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