Instant pot chuck roast comes together quickly with ingredients you may very likely already have on hand. Weeknights just got easier.
If you’ve been using your Instant Pot for a while now, you probably already know how ingenious they are. If you’re new to the pressure cooker game, trust us when we tell you that, for time saving alone, they’re worth the counter space. But just wait until you taste this tender, warmly-spiced pot roast. Dinner just hit the fast lane.–Meg Dow
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Instant Pot Chuck Roast FAQs
What’s the difference between a pot roast and a chuck roast?
A chuck roast is a cut of meat and a pot roast is a style of preparation. Any cut of meat that comes from the chuck, or the shoulder part, is a chuck roast.
A pot roast doesn’t have to be chuck, it can be any cut of meat that’s prepared by slowly braising it (in a pot, get it?) with a little liquid until it’s juicy and tender. Although quite frankly, some of us believe that a well-marbled chuck roast does, indeed, make the most magnificent pot roast.
How do I remove the silver skin from my chuck roast?
If left on, the silver skin can make your roast tough and prevent the seasoning from penetrating, so you want to take the time to properly remove it. To do that, use a sharp knife and slip it under the skin to create a tab or flap that you can grab. Using that tab, pull gently on it while using your knife to cut away the silver skin.
In this recipe
Instant Pot Chuck Roast
Equipment
- Instant Pot or pressure cooker
Ingredients
- 4 pounds boneless chuck roast silver skin removed and cut into 3-inch (8-cm) cubes
- 1 tablespoon avocado or olive oil
- 1/2 cup white onion diced
- 1 tablespoon minced garlic (about 3 cloves)
- 1 teaspoon kosher salt
- 1/8 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
- 1 teaspoon garlic salt
- 1/4 teaspoon ground cumin
- 1 teaspoon onion powder
- 1 to 2 tablespoons chipotle chili in adobo roughly chopped
- 1/2 cup store-bought or homemade beef broth
Directions
- Pat the chuck roast dry with paper towels to remove any excess moisture.
- Set the Instant Pot or pressure cooker to sauté mode. Working in 3 or 4 batches, add the oil and some of the meat to the Instant Pot. Sear until browned, 3 to 5 minutes per side. Use a slotted spoon to transfer the meat to a bowl and finish browning the remaining meat.
- Return all of the browned meat to the Instant Pot or pressure cooker insert. Stir in the onion, garlic, salt, pepper, garlic salt, cumin, onion powder, chipotle, and broth.
- Secure the lid and turn the valve to the sealing position. Cook over high pressure for 60 minutes. Release the pressure manually by carefully moving the valve to venting.
☞TESTER TIP: If there is more liquid in the pot after cooking than you’d like in your meal, turn the sauté or simmer function on and let the liquid reduce until you achieve your desired consistency.
- Transfer the meat to a serving bowl and use two forks to shred the meat before serving.
Show Nutrition
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Recipe Testers’ Reviews
This is a weeknight hit. I was skeptical of the short ingredient list, the small amounts of seasonings called for, and only 1/2 cup of liquid, but this made a perfect batch of juicy meat that needed no adjustments.
All the meat shredded easily, and the fat was easy to separate. I tasted the mixture while hot and liked it. I did, however refrigerate overnight as a meal prep for the following day. We used the shredded chuck roast to make barbacoa rice bowls along with black beans, avocado, and a quick pickled slaw made from red cabbage, onion and jalapeno. One family member used to make soft shell tacos.
Everyone agreed this was a keeper. The chipotle added the right amount of heat. I think the light-handed approach to seasoning allowed a great beefy taste to shine through but still be well seasoned. No one added extra salt or even hot sauce. I’ll definitely make again.
This is a good, solid, flavorful recipe for pressure cooker chuck roast. I often make a similar dish on the stove and in the oven that takes hours. I was drawn to this because it cuts the cooking time significantly by using the Instant Pot. The sautéing was the most time and labor intensive—that process took about 15-20 minutes (so less than expected) and I did it in three batches.
The Instant Pot chuck roast recipe is great as written. I might substitute a slightly leaner cut of beef next time. That’s just my personal preference but I prefer leaner meat, my husband and kids were perfectly happy with the results with the chuck roast.
The meat was seasoned very well. My favorite part of it might be the juices. After I skimmed the fat off, the juices were still very good. Nice and warming for a cold day too!
We had it as tacos on the first day and chimichangas (grilled) the next. The meat is very versatile. It would also be good in a soup (caldo) or burritos.
What I really liked about this Instant Pot chuck roast was that the beefy flavor was deep, front, and center, with the aromatics in the background. It’s just perfect for marrying it with other unique flavors like lime wedges, cilantro, and salsa verde. There was definitely a hint of chipotle in adobo in the juices, and I think another tablespoon would have been spot-on for my liking.
My Instant Pot and I are still getting acquainted, and this recipe gave me a chance to try the sauté function for the first time. Large chunks of beef browned beautifully (it took two batches), forming even crusts on the surfaces. Add the rest of the ingredients, close the lid, and leave it alone—a breeze.
This kept very well in the fridge, and it was enjoyed two ways—served with Spanish rice with pimento-filled olives one day, and in warm corn tortillas with avocado slices on another night.
True confession time—I have only eaten a barbacoa inspired chuck roast in a burrito bowl at the Chipotle Mexican Grill chain of restaurants. I hate to compare this recipe to a chain restaurant’s version, which to be fair—Chipotle’s is always tender and delicious. This recipe really impressed me, the flavor was perfect (good depth of flavor with minimal seasoning and not too spicy to please most palates) and the meat was absolutely tender and moist, as if it had been marinated and slow roasted all day long.
I recommend this for your burritos, burrito bowls, tacos, served on its own over rice or couscous – it really is one of my favorite meats I have ever cooked in the Instant Pot.
I wouldn’t call this a knock-your-socks off chuck roast, but it’s delicious, quite flavorful and the recipe couldn’t be easier. Being an Instant Pot novice, I wasn’t sure how the searing of the meat would go and it was fine. By the end, there was quite the crust on the bottom of the pan, which I figured would come off in the pressure cooking and kick the flavor up a notch. I think it did although there were still some good brown bits on the bottom when all was said and done. In any case, the beef turned out very tender and shreddable…in an hour.
I shredded the meat right in the pot and that was challenging because it’s deeper than, say, my Dutch oven, and there was a lot of steam coming off. But no big deal. While the flavors were good as I said, I did feel like it could have been more intense and it seems like this is a recipe that allows for some personalization. We served this Instant Pot chuck roast in corn tortillas with avocado. My wife suggested that some pickled red onions would go well and I think that is a great idea.
I think this Instant Pot chuck roast is a good jumping off point but it needs a big boost in flavor. I loved the Instant Pot directions that yielded tender, succulent shredded beef, but the flavors stayed more in the range of “mildly interesting beef stew”.
Two teaspoons of hot smoked paprika, an additional 1 and 3/4 teaspoons of ground cumin (rather than just the 1/4 teaspoon called for in the recipe), 2 teaspoons of lime juice and 2 teaspoons more of the liquid from the canned chipotles in adobo did wonders for the flavor. We served this in bowls with yellow rice, black beans, cilantro, sliced avocado and radishes.
This is a solid pressure cooker chuck roast recipe that is pretty easy to make. Flavor is good but I’d personally make it a touch spicier (no real heat in the recipe) and add a pinch of sugar to balance it out a bit. The recipe as written produces nice and tender meat that’s easy to shred without being totally disintegrated into fine threads of meat. It has a little more liquid than I’d like for tacos but if serving over rice then it’s great.
I made tacos with it so after removing the lid I turned it back on to low sauté and let it cook down gently for 10 more minutes, stirring occasionally. This thickened it up nicely, helped intensify the flavors, and made the salt level just right. Tasty and makes a good amount.
I tried it first as tacos, then over rice, and finally in a breakfast quesadilla. I liked it all ways but the tacos were my favorite. It freezes well which is good because this makes a fair amount.
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If you make this recipe, snap a photo and hashtag it #LeitesCulinaria. We'd love to see your creations on Instagram, Facebook, and Twitter.
Instead of shredding can this roast be sliced? Thank you.
Diane, this recipe calls for the beef to be cut into cubes and seared before pressure cooking, which means you wouldn’t be able to slice it after cooking.