Description
Instant Pot Frozen Pot Roast. Pressure cooking a pot roast from frozen works surprisingly well. Two hours under pressure cooks a beef chuck roast to tender, juicy, shreddable meat.
Ingredients
Scale
- 1 tablespoon vegetable oil
- 2½ to 3½ pound beef chuck roast, about 3 inches thick
- 1 large onion, diced
- 8 ounces sliced mushrooms
- ½ teaspoon fine sea salt
- ½ cup dry red wine
- 1 teaspoon fine sea salt
- 2 cups beef broth (preferably homemade beef broth)
- ½ teaspoon salt (if using store-bought broth)
- 4-6 sprigs fresh thyme (or ½ teaspoon dried thyme)
- 15-ounce can of crushed tomatoes
- 1 tablespoon Worcestershire sauce
- 1 pound Yukon Gold potatoes, cut into 1-inch chunks
- 3 carrots, peeled and cut into 1-inch chunks
- 2 celery ribs, sliced into ½-inch rounds
- Minced parsley for garnish
Instructions
- Brown the frozen chuck roast: Heat a tablespoon of oil in a wide Instant Pot (8 quart or 7 quart wide) set to Sauté mode - high until the oil starts to shimmer, about 5 minutes. (Use medium-high heat in any other wide pressure cooker.) Carefully add the frozen chuck roast to the pot. It's going to splatter when it hits the oil in the pot, so I put a lid on the pot or use my splatter screen over the top. Cook the roast until it is browned on the bottom, about 4 minutes. Flip the roast (again, carefully, due to splattering oil) and brown on the second side for about 4 more minutes. Move the roast to a plate, and pour out all but 1 tablespoon of the oil in the pot. (I also wipe down the outside of my Instant Pot and the counter to clean up any oil droplets.)
- Sauté the aromatics and simmer the wine: Put the onions and mushrooms in the pot, sprinkle with ½ teaspoon fine sea salt, and sauté until the onions soften, about 5 minutes, stirring and scraping the bottom of the pot with a flat-edged wooden spoon to loosen any browned bits of beef. Pour in the wine, bring it to a boil, and boil it for 1 minute. (This will cook off some of the alcohol in the wine.)
- Roast, broth, tomatoes, and Worcestershire into the pot: Put the browned pot roast into the pot (along with any juices on the plate). Sprinkle the roast on both sides with the salt. Pour in the beef broth (and ½ teaspoon of salt if using homemade broth), sprinkle the thyme sprigs over the roast, drizzle the Worcestershire sauce over the roast, and then pour the can of crushed tomatoes over the top of everything.
- Pressure cook the pot roast for 2 hours with a Quick Release: Lock the lid and pressure cook at high pressure for 2 hours in an Instant Pot or other electric pressure cooker, or for 90 minutes in a stovetop pressure cooker. (Use Manual, Pressure Cook, or Pressure Cook - Custom mode in an Instant Pot.) When the pressure cooking time is done, quick release the pressure in the pot.
- Pressure cook the root vegetables for 8 minutes with a Quick Release: Unlock the lid of the pressure cooker—tilt it away from you as you open it to avoid the scalding steam. Add the potatoes, carrots, and celery to the pot. Lock the lid and pressure cook at high pressure for another 8 minutes to cook the root vegetables (the same cooking time in an Instant Pot or stovetop PC). When the pressure cooking time is done, quick release the pressure in the pot.
- Slice and serve: Unlock the lid of the pressure cooker. Again, tilt it away from you as you open it to avoid the scalding steam. Fish out the thyme stems and discard. Remove the roast from the pot with a spatula and a slotted spoon, and move it to a carving board for slicing. (Be gentle; the roast is fall-apart tender, and let it rest while you get the rest of the vegetables out to firm up for slicing). Scoop the root vegetables out with a slotted spoon and move them to a serving bowl. Pour the pot liquid into a fat separator. Slice the roast into ½-inch thick slices. (Don't worry if some of them shred apart while you're trying to cut - serve them as shredded pot roast.) Transfer the sliced pot roast to a serving platter, surround it with some root vegetables, and drizzle with a healthy amount of the defatted pot liquid. Serve with the rest of the root vegetables on the side, and pass the defatted pot liquid at the table. Enjoy!
- Prep Time: 15 minutes
- Cook Time: 2 hours 30 minutes
- Category: Sunday Dinner
- Method: Pressure Cooker
- Cuisine: American