Instant Pot Pot Roast Recipe - The Cookie Rookie® (2024)

FAQs

Why is my pot roast still tough in the Instant Pot? ›

Pot roast still tough? Cook it longer! The pressure cooking process breaks down tough meat, making it tender. If it needs more time, simply put the lid back on, seal the pressure cooker, and cook at high pressure for another 10 to 20 minutes.

However, you can overcook beef in the Instant Pot, so keep an eye on it if you add extra time. Can I Use Frozen Beef? If your beef is frozen, you can still use it for this pot roast but you will need to thaw it first.

Typically roast beef would be made in the oven without liquid. However, in order for the Instant Pot to come to pressure, there must be enough liquid. For this recipe, you'll need 1 cup of water or broth.

The Verdict: While the pressure cooker prepared a superior tasting dish, it all comes down to how you want to spend your time. The slow cooker is great for hands off cooking. The pressure cooker is fast and provides a better result, but you need to be in the kitchen the entire time it's on the stove.

Unfortunately, once you overcook a piece of meat in the pressure cooker, there's no going back. You'll be left with a pile of dry, crunchy, tasteless fibers and no amount of additional pressure cooking is going to put that moisture back into the meat. Earlier, I explained how ingredient size affects the cooking time.

While you may cover meat almost completely for a conventional braise, use just enough liquid for the cooker to reach pressure – during pressure cooking the meat will release it's own juice and braise in that flavorful liquid, instead.

No, because there is little to no evaporation of the cooking liquid when cooking in the instant pot, a roast does not need to be completely submerged. This recipe contains a bit of red wine, Worcestershire sauce, and olive oil, which is plenty of liquid.

Yes, you can leave an Instant Pot on overnight if you set it to slow cooking without sealing the lid for high pressure.

Cooking brisket is pretty simple. All that it really needs is a long and slow cooking time. That's why I love to make it in my slow cooker. However, if you are short on time, you can also use your Instant Pot to make it, with pretty similar results.

Both appliances produce deep flavors.

Slow cookers utilize long cooking times to develop these richer flavors, while pressure cookers use high heat and pressure to impart as much flavor as possible in a shorter time.

Is corned beef better in slow cooker or pressure cooker? ›

If you want your corned beef in a fraction of the time it normally takes, I highly recommend cooking it in the Instant Pot or pressure cooker. A 3 1/2 – 4 1/2 corned beef will be perfectly tender in just 60 – 90 minutes as opposed to several hours in the slow cooker or on the stove top.

Let's clear up this myth. While 2 cups of liquid is certainly way too much for cooking most foods, even the new 1 cup recommendation may be too much as well. It really does depend on the type of food being cooked.

Yes, pot roast absolutely becomes more tender the longer it cooks. Roasts are generally made from tougher cuts of meat, such as chuck or brisket, which contain a lot of collagen, connective tissue, and fat. These tougher tissues require a long cooking time to break down and for the collagen to converts into gelatin.

There are several reasons why this could have happened even after so much cooking. First, your choice of a rump roast could be a factor since cuts from the hind quarter are very muscular and, since muscles are the most resistant to breaking, this cut is quite stubborn when it comes to becoming tender.

Cook it low and slow with some liquid.

Simmering helps break down the connective tissue. Connective tissue breaks down to collagen. Collagen tenderizes, and adds flavor and juiciness to the roast.

You may need some sweetness and acidity to bring up the tough meat. Simmer in liquid. Just like for burnt meat, if your meat gets tough and dry then you can simmer it in a little bit of broth for a couple minutes. Don't allow it to overcook again but just allow the liquid to penetrate the meat.