In 2012, I wrote a post called Bottom Round Roast and My First Gravy. To this date, this continues to be my most viewed post. I wrote it after making the dish successfully for the first time and I have made it so many times since. It only seemed reasonable to revisit this recipe to adjust it to my new trusty friend, the Instant Pot.
The beautiful thing about this roast recipe is that it is so simple, you can easily adapt it to your taste. It is a hearty dish that would make anyone cozy and a cold winter evening. While it is all based on using a bottom round roast, everything else can be modified. Want to switch things up? Add some soy sauce, ginger paste and sesame oil for an Asian twist. Root vegetables are perfect for this recipe so try different ones! Potatoes (baby, sweet, Yukon…), parsnips, carrots, turnips…so many options! This dish can be made as simply or as complex as you’d like.
Instant Pot Bottom Round Roast and Homemade Gravy
Ingredients
- 1 tablespoon of olive oil
- 2-3 lbs Bottom Round Roast (you can place it full or cut into large cubes)
- 1 yellow onion, chopped into 1-inch pieces
- 2 garlic cloves, finely chopped
- 2 large carrots, peeled and chopped into large chunks
- 1 large turnip, peeled and chopped into large chunks
- 1 lb of baby potatoes, washed
- 8 oz of Baby Bella mushrooms, washed and chopped in half
- Fresh or dried herbs (I used fresh sprigs of thyme and rosemary)
- 4 cups of liquid (I used 2 cups of beef broth and 2 cups of water)
- Salt & Pepper
- 1-2 tablespoons of cornstarch or flour
Directions
- 1.
Turn the Instant Pot on “Sauté” mode. Add the oil. When hot, add the garlic, and onion to brown slightly. Then, add the beef to quickly sear on all sides.
- Hit “cancel” to turn off the “sauté” mode. Add the potatoes, carrots, turnips, liquid and herbs to the pot.
- Set to “Pressure Cook” mode on High for 20 minutes(if cut into chunks) or 60 minutes (if left as a whole roast). Press “Start”.
- Learn from my mistakes and let the pressure release naturally. (I made the mistake of pushing for quick release and ended up with a starchy mess all over my kitchen).
- When the pressure has been released, add in the mushrooms. At this point, your meat should be completely cooked. This is also a good time for a taste test to see if you need any more seasoning.
- Set to “Pressure Cook” mode on Medium for 5 minutes. Press “Start”. When it is done, let the pressure release naturally.
- To make the gravy, remove all the meat and vegetables with a slotted spoon, then strain the remaining liquid through a mesh strainer.
- Return the liquid to the Instant Pot and set to “Sauté” mode on Medium heat. Whisk in the cornstarch, 1 tablespoon at a time. The liquid will start boiling and thickening. Whisk constantly for 2 minutes or until you reach a gravy consistency. Note that the liquid will also thicken as it cools down.
- Serve the meat and vegetables with the gravy.
The Hungry Quebbie 
Cooked this as my first Insta Pot meal. Followed the directions completely and it turned out very tasty! I trimmed the fat off the meat and cut into 2″ chunks. The carrots were fine but next time I will leave the potatoes, onion and turnip a bit larger, since they were a bit over cooked. We added a little parsey and garlic to the other herbs. From start to finish it took 4 hours. I will definitely use this recipe again! Thank you 🙂
Hi Sarah, I’m glad you liked the recipe! Thanks for the input and the tweaking suggestions too. 😊
Very good! Next time I’ll leave veggies a bit larger they were a bit mushy, but the meat we chopped into 2″ chunks after trimming the fat. Followed the recipe exactly except added some parsley and garlic. Start to finish 3 hours and first time using an IbstavPot!
I’m wanting to try this recipe but I’m only seeing 15 minutes to cook the meat after browning. See step 1, 2 and 3. Yet, I am seeing 3-4 hours cooking time in the comments. There seems to be a huge discrepancy on what is typed in the directions and what people are doing in the comments. Help!
Hi Melissa! It’s 15 minutes if you use an Instant Pot, 3-4 hours if you use a slow cooker. I hope this helps!
That does help. Thank you!
Mine is currently in the instant pot natural release phase after pressure cooking the meat for 15 mins. I’m 28 minutes in so far and it still has not natural released. How long will this step take before I can add the mushrooms? And then will need to wait for another natural release after the mushrooms. No clue when dinner will be ready? 🙂 Thank you.
Wow, I don’t think natural release has ever taken so long for me. At this point, it’s probably okay to push the quick release to get whatever pressure left out. Also, if you don’t have anything starchy (like potatoes), quick release is fine. The other options once the mushrooms are in would be to close the lid without doing another pressure cook. It might be warm enough to cook them in a few minutes. Not ideal, but might save you some time to avoid eating to late! I hope this helps! 😊
I cooked it for 15 minutes and it wasn’t done. I had to put it back in and cook longer. Hmm .
Oh no! I’m sorry that happened! Hopefully adding a little bit more time will help. Keep me posted!
I put the onions, celery leaves, garlic, bay leaf, after I dry rub the meat, brown the meat; then let it cook for 30 minutes. Then I add the vegetables for 10 minutes. They don’t come out mushy. I let it sit till I can turn the lid. I then add my flour and water mixture to make the gravy; I set the pot at saute let it thicken for 2 minutes; then take out the meat; let it sit for a bit; then serve. If you don’t have room for the meat; take it out; and put foil on it.
Great recipe, but the print function did not work. Copied and pasted. I’ll let ya know how the roast works out. Thanks again.
Hi Iain,
Thanks for your feedback. I will try to figure out why the printing function didn’t work!
Ok, I’m confused about cook time. I have read various recipes using the instapot calling for 15 minutes, 20 minutes per pound, 30 minutes and 60 minutes for a 2-3lb roast. On high.
My first attempt using 50 minutes had it way over cooked.
I have a 2.85lb roast I’m going to instapot again.
Should I do it on low or high?
How long?
Hi Chris, I cut mine into pieces and I think that’s why it didn’t take as long. It may also depend on the specific type of roast? I know I’ve done the same recipe with (mistakenly) the wrong cut and it was over-cooked and chewy. I honestly haven’t made a roast in a while now so I’d be worried to send you in the wrong direction. Sorry I can’t be more helpful!
Jobovo,
Thanks for the reply. Yeah, I’m keeping mine whole, as I’m using my meat slicer afterwards to make roast beef sandwiches. So I’m using top round roasts.
I played around and got down to 12-13 minutes pressure cooking on high, with a 2.85lb roast in my instapot. I let it depressurize naturally before taking it out. Let it reach room temp, then wrap in foil and put in the fridge. I’ve gotten it pretty perfect, with a slight amount of pink, and minimal juice loss this way.
Thanks for your feedback! I’m glad to hear it worked out in the end! 🙂