Please help me make Pot Roast in InstantPot without all the ingredients

October 10, 2020 9:39 AM

I have never made a pot roast, and never used an InstantPot. I was gifted one and decided to make pot roast, only to find that the recipes all have more ingredients than what is available to me. I'm sure it can be made with what I have but I don't know how to adjust the liquid ingredients and how to increase the salt and pepper for lack of other spices. I have a 3 pound chuck roast, russett potatoes, whole fresh carrotts, chicken bone broth, kosher salt, black pepper (whole, in a pepper mill), crushed garlic and olive oil.

The various recipes I've found call for tomato paste, red wine, rosemary, thyme, pistachios, worcestershire, bay leaves, etc. I don't have that. Are you a savvy cook? Can you give me a recipe to make this in an InstantPot with the ingredients I have, in the right amounts? Thanks!

posted by racersix6 to Food & Drink (18 answers total)

Honestly, what you have sounds perfectly sufficient to me. My ingredient list would be exactly what you have there (though I'd be using slow cooker, I don't have an instant pot).

All the things you say you don't have are just things that add extra flavor (and some are nonsense to me - pistachios? really?), and except for the wine they would not really change the amount of liquid required.

Look at a few recipes to figure out the right cook time and length, and then just use the stuff you have and you're good. Don't add extra salt, do add a little extra garlic.
posted by showbiz_liz at 9:51 AM on October 10, 2020 [5 favorites]

All these things barely matter. None of them are structural to the cooking of the protein, as long as you have a liquid and a working heat source. If it's bland when it's cooked, you can season it more.

Here is a simple recipe that includes carrots and potatoes. Use chicken stock instead of beef. Skip any called-for seasonings you don't have.

I would chunk up an onion (it's going to melt into mostly liquid, precision does not matter here) instead of onion powder, if you have an onion, but if you have neither an onion nor onion powder it is a minor issue, move on.

This recipe doesn't mention it, but I strongly recommend cutting your roast into about 2" chunks/cube-ish pieces before searing/cooking. Pressure cooking a single dense lump of meat means the very center doesn't get cooked until the outer inch or two of meat is obliterated into vaguely beef-flavored dental floss.
posted by Lyn Never at 9:53 AM on October 10, 2020 [3 favorites]

As to enough liquid, just cover the ingredients in your Instant Pot. In a pressure cooker, there is no evaporation so the liquid won't disappear. Your ingredients seem good-to-go to me.
posted by tmdonahue at 10:11 AM on October 10, 2020 [1 favorite]

agree with above. what you have is plenty.

here's a secret: almost all braised beef tastes basically the same, as long as there's sufficient salt and onions. The starchy vegetables (carrots, potatoes) are there to add inexpensive bulk to the meal to make it less cost per serving. Vegetal notes like bay and celery are nice but damn near undetectable alongside the punch of beef.

Tomato is there for acidity. It isn't necessary but it's good. You have tomatoes. You're fine. You'd be ok without them too.

Salt & pepper your beef. Sear it in olive oil in the IP on saute mode for a bit to get some fond on the bottom if you like; otherwise don't, it doesn't make that much of a difference tbh. Remove it so you can put a bunch of chopped onion on the bottom of the pot so your meat can't burn. Put the meat back in on top of the onions. Add a cup or so* of chicken broth, garlic, your carrots and potatoes and tomatoes. Seal it and hit the "meat" or "stew" button. It should default to 30 minutes which is fine.

Let it go until the pin falls. Remove the meat and veg. Assess your sauce. A lot of water will have come out of the vegetables and meat, so if the liquid is too watery for your taste, you can boil it down on saute' mode. Don't add more salt until you've boiled it as far down as you're going to.

Super easy.

*You do NOT need to cover the meat with liquid and I wouldn't recommend it; it will be very watery if you do. For any IP meat recipe, you need only a cup of liquid to start out; more will exude from the ingredients and be trapped in the IP in any case.
posted by fingersandtoes at 10:11 AM on October 10, 2020 [14 favorites]

There's a reason pot roast is a standard American home-cooked meal. It's simple. There are a million recipes but basically the idea is you throw a roast into a pot with a few roughly chopped vegetables (carrots/potatoes/onion/mushrooms/etc.) with a little liquid and let it cook on low heat until the meat is tender. Add salt and pepper and whatever spices you like and have on hand. If you don't have any particular seasoning you can leave it out or add something else. I don't have an instant pot but my understanding is they have a slow-cooker setting. Pressure cooking is great in some instances but anything roast-like is better served by a low heat to where it falls apart as you cut into it.
posted by downtohisturtles at 10:14 AM on October 10, 2020 [1 favorite]

I think of pot roast as wanting: Beef, potatoes, carrots, onions, maybe celery, salt, pepper, and water. Everything else is bonus frills. (We make it with bonus frills: chicken stock, Spike seasoning, various dried green herbal things that I don't remember because I don't actually do the cooking.)

And that's "full normal proper pot roast." It could be done with just beef, potatoes, salt, and water.
posted by ErisLordFreedom at 10:41 AM on October 10, 2020

Personally, I think you need to add something acidic. Do you have ketchup? That would suffice. A quarter cup would do.
posted by briank at 11:15 AM on October 10, 2020

Yeah, as a guideline, the name-brand Instant Pot only requires about 1/2 cup of liquid to reach pressure; I'll go a splash more for something I want to end up fairly saucy, but the meat and vegetables are going to put off additional water. If you cover the meat with liquid you are boiling it, which is not a recommended cooking method.
posted by Lyn Never at 11:19 AM on October 10, 2020

I love pot roast. If you can get onions, they add flavor and they will fall apart, giving the broth a nicer feel and taste. I would not bother with the chicken bone broth; it isn't necessary and I'd save it for another dish. Use the recipe that most closely matches your 3 lbs of beef. I'd use the slow cooker setting to allow any bits of gristle or cartilage to dissolve and add flavor, but maybe pressure does that. I add red wine (white wine, sherry, port) for extra flavor, and a little rosemary.
posted by theora55 at 12:02 PM on October 10, 2020

sorry didn't notice you don't have onions. It is ok. Put the carrots in below the beef instead of the onions. They will sweeten and moisten everything the way onions would. Garlic will make up for the lack of onions.

I also misread about having tomatoes, but again, it is fine. If you have vinegar or any sort of sour condiment in the house, add a tbsp or so. If not, it will still be fine.
posted by fingersandtoes at 12:22 PM on October 10, 2020 [1 favorite]

The tomato paste and Worcestershire sauce are also there to boost the umami. Again, not necessary.

If you've got a packet of onion soup mix, you could toss it on top of the roast before cooking, and that also makes a delicious flavor. (The standard chuck roast recipe in my family was to toss a packet of onion soup mix on it, wrap it in foil, then shove the thing in a low oven until it was falling apart--no extra liquid necessary.) But what you have sounds like a delicious roast also.
posted by telophase at 12:44 PM on October 10, 2020

I've made at least 50 pot roasts in my instant pot, and my husband and I joke that nothing we do to the pot roast or add to the pot changes the taste at all-it tastes the same no matter what we do. You don't need any ingredients beyond what you have, you don't need to pre-sear the meat (but you can if you want to!), you don't need any extra herbs...it all tastes the same.

Here's what I have settled on-Add salt and pepper to the meat, put it on the bottom, add the vegetables, salt and pepper those too, add a half a cup of chicken broth, pressure cook for 80 minutes, let it release for 10-15 minutes before manually releasing the pressure. It will be great.
posted by mjcon at 1:00 PM on October 10, 2020 [2 favorites]

I agree that your ingredients are fine and pot roast is a very forgiving food. I've been subbing strong black tea + a splash of vinegar for red wine since I read about it in (I think) cook's illustrated. The idea is the black tea has the tannins and the vinegar the acid, so for long- cooking things the flavor works out the same. Worked great on the brisket I made, which was basically meat + wine/ tea + onions/ carrots/ celery + salt and pepper.
posted by carrioncomfort at 1:12 PM on October 10, 2020 [2 favorites]

Response by poster: Thanks everyone, this is all great information and I'm getting ready to start cooking now!
posted by racersix6 at 1:59 PM on October 10, 2020

One note that I don't see here (and it's probably too late!) -- on my more recent-model Instant Pot, the "burn notice" is REALLY active, so if you brown something first, you pretty much have to take it out, deglaze the pan and be sure there's nothing stuck to the bottom, cut the heat, then put everything in to pressure cook. Otherwise, you will become very frustrated that the Instant Pot refuses to cook your food, and there's nothing you can do about it except take EVERYTHING out.

Also, I agree that covering a roast in liquid is a bad idea. A cup of liquid will do it, as someone above mentioned.
posted by nosila at 3:44 PM on October 10, 2020 [1 favorite]

I have a 3 pound chuck roast, russett potatoes, whole fresh carrotts, chicken bone broth, kosher salt, black pepper (whole, in a pepper mill), crushed garlic and olive oil.

I make roast in the IP all the time (I'm a big IP enthusiast). Here's what I'd do with your constraints:

I'd cut the roast in half so I had two 1.5 lb peices. I find that unless meat is long and skinny (EG: tenderloin) results are too variable with anything over about 1.5 pounds of solid meat.

Coat the roast with olive oil and rub in salt and pepper (about a tsp each, I just sort of wing it). you just need enough oil to have the spices stick (I actually use spray cooking oil for this if you have it and didn't list it in you assets)

Set IP to saute
Pour in some (say 2 tbsp) olive oil.
Sear the meat all around.

Remove meat from pot

Pour in 1 cup chicken broth. Using wood or plastic utensil scrape the meat/oil/spice residue left on bottom of pot.
Turn off IP

Cut 3 medium size potatoes in 1.25" chunks and place in pot. I don't peel the potatoes because I'm lazy but that leaves pieces of peel floating around so peel first if you don't like that.

Cut 4 medium carrots into 1.5" lengths. If carrots are more than an inch thick halve or quarter lengthwise first. Add to pot.

Add 2-3 TBSP crushed garlic.

The IP guideline for beef roast is 20 minutes per pound. I like stuff on the rare side and would use 45mins quick release. If you have a meat thermometer you can quickly check the internal temp after release otherwise best to err on the side of caution and go with 60 minutes.

Remove beef vegetables from pot.

The juices left in the pot will run like water. I like a thick gravy. To that end if you can get a hold of either corn starch or flour you can add 2 tbsp of either to a 1/2 cup of water and mix till smooth. Set IP to saute and and add thickener. Stir regularly until thickened (a couple minutes usually).

Slice beef and serve with vegetables and gravy/juices.

If you have it substitute a 1/4 cup of the broth with soya sauce.
posted by Mitheral at 9:48 PM on October 10, 2020 [1 favorite]

Don't add salt until the pot roast is cooked. As my father always said, "You can add salt but you can't take it out."

I disagree about ketchup. Yes, a little vinegar and some tomato is good but ketchup has all those sweet spices. Tomato paste? If you have it but don't fret if you don't.

When the cooking is done and you correct the salt, if the gravy is still tasting bland, add a few drops of wine vinegar or rice wine vinegar. Just drops! At most, 1/2 teaspoon. You want the acid to make the dish taste fresher, more vibrantly of all the other ingredients. What you don't want is so much acid your tasters can taste the vinegar, so the stew tastes like a salad.
posted by tmdonahue at 5:39 AM on October 11, 2020

Response by poster: In case this is helpful for future readers - I cut my 3 pound roast into 6 pieces. I sliced two onions and put them in the bottom, poured a splash of olive oil, put the meat in, salt, pepper and garlic, put some potatoes and carrots, not measured and cut large. Added 1 cup bone broth, but meant to add 1/2 cup. Used the Meat/Stew button on the InstantPot and 35 minutes later, plus however long to naturally de-pressurize, I had a lovely meal! It has given me the confidence to experiment. Thanks for all the great information and tips!
posted by racersix6 at 11:17 AM on October 12, 2020 [3 favorites]