Amazingly Delicious Chuck Roast Instant Pot or Slow Cooker

A short time ago I got a new toy!  Did I really need another kitchen gadget!?!! Yes and no.  Truthfully, my slow cooker is on it’s last leg.  It took me 2 days to make a pot of beans the last time I used it.  I saw the Instant Pot on sale a short time ago and realized it had a slow cooker setting.  I didn’t have much extra room in my budget, BUT I did have a little left over from Christmas in one of my rebate accounts… Just enough.

So I decided to treat myself to an early Christmas present, Christmas in July.  ; )  I’ve tried multiple recipes with the new machine and love it… Especially hard boiled eggs!!!

Yesterday, I pulled it out and decided to cook a chuck roast.  I’m not known to make a “great” roast, but last night was a game changer!  They loved it!  Let me tell you how I did it.

I love how you can saute’ in the Instant Pot!  This saves so much time!  I set it to Saute and added a couple of tablespoons of olive oil; then I seasoned the roast with the basics.  I added it to the pot and browned it on both sides.  Next I removed it from the pot.

Add the remaining oil and vegetables.  Cook till softened a little a starting to turn golden.   This is when I add the liquid ingredients.  I scraped up all of the bits on the bottom of the pan and added the roast back to the Instant Pot.

Put the lid on and follow the instructions on slow cooking.  Cook for about 8 hours.  If you run short on time I bet you could pressure cook it too.  (I’ll experiment later.)

I cheated and used bouillon since that is what I had on hand.

When I opened it up, it smelled amazing!  And there was a lot of juices in the pot.  I couldn’t let all of that got to waste. So I put about half of it in a saucepan, and used my emulsion blender to puree the bits of veggie.  (You could strain them out or leave it chunky too.)  Bring it to a boil.  In a small bowl mix cornstarch with a little water to make a sluree.  Slowly whisk into saucepan.  This will start to thicken.  You can choose how thin or thick you want it by add more or less of the sluree.  It will thicken as it cools.

Chuck Roast – Instant Pot

Amazingly tender chuck roast with gravy cooked in the Instant Pot but can be cooked in the slow cooker and stove as well.

 

Servings: 6

 

Cost: $12

Ingredients

• 1 3-4 lb chuck roast, fat trimmed
• 1 onion, diced
• 3-4 carrots, sliced
• 3-4 garlic cloves, roughly chopped
• 2 tbsp Worcestershire
• 2 tbsp coconut aminos, liquid aminos or gluten-free soy sauce If not gluten-free, can use standard soy sauce
• 1 cup beef broth
• salt, pepper, garlic powder, onion powder, & paprika to taste
• 4 tbsp olive oil, divided
• 2-3 tbsp cornstarch, for gravy

Instructions

• Set Instant Pot to “Saute”. While it warms up season chuck roast as desired. Add a couple of tablespoons of oil to pot and brown both sides of roast. Remove from pan and set aside.

  Add remaining oil and veggies. Saute until slightly softened and golden. Add liquids to pan to deglaze the pot; scraping up any bits stuck to the bottom.

  Add roast back to pan. Cancel cooking sequence and set to slow cook for 10 hours or until desired tenderness is achieved. Let rest while preparing gravy.

  Optional Gravy:

  Remove about 2-3 cups of juices (or more if you want a lot of gravy) from roast into a sauce pan – I had a lot of juices render from the cooking process. (I kept the veggies in and used my emulsion blender to puree and make smooth.. could also use a blender).

  Mix cornstarch with a little cold water to make a slurree. Whisk this into sauce pan. Bring to a boil; reduce heat. This will thicken as it cools If you like a thicker gravy add more cornstarch slurree. If you prefer it thinner add less of the mixture.

  Serve over top roast and mashed potatoes if desired.

Notes

If you do not have an Instant Pot you can brown meat in a skillet then transfer to a slow cooker.  Add another couple of tablespoons in pan and saute veggies on medium-high heat or until softened and slightly golden; then add to slow cooker.  Deglaze skillet with broth, Worcestershire, and liquid amino.  Scrape the yummy bits of the bottom of the pan and add this to slow cooker.  On low cook about 8-10 hours or high about 6 hours or until cooked through and desired tenderness achieved.