Instant Pot 4-Ingredient Pot Roast and Brown Gravy with Mashed Potatoes—make a tender pot roast, brown gravy and mashed potatoes together in the Instant Pot or slow cooker! An easy pot roast recipe.
SLOW COOKER instructions are listed in the recipe card below.
Instant Pot 4-Ingredient Pot Roast and Brown Gravy
If you’re a meat and potatoes type of person this recipe is for you! Greg, of course, loved this dinner and Skyler and Reagan was happily eating it too. I loved the potatoes and gravy the most because I love all the carbs and I commented that I needed a bit of corn on the cob to go with the meal.
I decided to cut the roast into thick 2-3 inch slices across the grain before cooking. This served 2 purposes. It cut down on the amount of cooking time needed. Remember pressure cooking time is determined by the size and not the quantity of food. In other words, the pressure cooking time is the amount of time the food requires to be cooked all the way to the center. And, two, because I cut thick slices of the beef across the grain it came out incredibly tender and easy to shred.
Can I make the ranch dressing mix and brown gravy mix from scratch?
Yes you can! If you follow the recipes below you can use that in place of the packets. You won’t need ALL of the recipe below just 3 Tbsp of the ranch dressing mix and about 4 Tbsp of the gravy mix.
Ranch Dressing Mix Recipe
- 1/3 cup dry buttermilk powder
- 3 Tbsp parsley flakes
- 2 1/2 tsp garlic powder
- 2 1/2 tsp onion powder
- 2 tsp dried minced onion
- 2 tsp dried dill weed
- 1 1/2 tsp kosher salt
- 1 tsp black pepper
Run all the ingredients through a blender or food processor. Pulse about 10 times until all the granules are the same consistency. Store in an airtight container.
Gravy Mix Recipe
- 3 Tbsp beef bouillon granules
- 1 tsp onion powder
- 1 tsp garlic powder
- 1/2 tsp thyme
- 1/2 tsp pepper
- 1/2 cup flour
Run all the ingredients through a blender or food processor. Pulse about 10 times until all the granules are the same consistency. Store in an airtight container.
What if I don’t want the potatoes?
You don’t have to make the potatoes. Pressure cook the roast for 60 minutes with a full natural pressure release.
What Equipment Do I Need?
Ideally for this recipe you’ll have an Instant Pot* of course but a steamer basket* comes in handy too. This will keep the potatoes and the roast separate. But if you don’t have a steamer basket you can set the potatoes on a trivet or just add them straight into the pot and use a slotted spoon to fish them out.
More Instant Pot Roast Recipes…
Instant Pot Grandma’s Sunday Roast
Instant Pot 5-Ingredient Pot Roast Dinner (From Frozen)
Instant Pot Mississippi Roast (No Packets)
4 Ingredient Roast with Mashed Potatoes
- Prep Time: 15 minutes
- Cook Time: 60 minutes (plus full natural pressure release)
- Total Time: 1 hour 15 minutes
- Yield: 6 servings 1x
Description
Make a tender pot roast, brown gravy and mashed potatoes together in the Instant Pot or slow cooker! An easy pot roast recipe.
Ingredients
For the roast:
- 2–3 pound rump roast or chuck roast
- 3 Tbsp dry ranch dressing mix
- 2 cups beef broth
- 1 (.87 oz) brown gravy packet
For the potatoes (optional):
- 2 pounds Russet potatoes, peeled and cut into cubes
- Salt and pepper
- 1/4 – 1/2 cup milk or cream
- 1/4 cup butter
Instructions
For the Instant Pot Version:
- Cut excess fat off of roast. Then slice the roast into 2 inch slices across the grain. Coat the slices in the ranch dressing mix. Place the roast into the Instant Pot and pour in the beef broth.
- Cover Instant Pot and secure the lid. Make sure valve is set to sealing. Set the manual/pressure cook button to 50 minutes if making potatoes with the roast. At the end of 50 minutes perform a quick release and add in a steamer basket full of cubed potatoes on top of the roast. Cover the pot and set the manual/pressure cook button to 10 more minutes. At the end of the 10 minutes let the pot sit for a full natural pressure release up to 20-30 minutes. Then move the valve to venting and remove the lid.
- Carefully remove the steamer basket and pour the potatoes into a large bowl. Mash the potatoes and add in butter and cream and salt and pepper to taste.
- Turn Instant Pot to the saute setting. Remove the pieces of meat and shred. Make the gravy by slowly whisking the gravy mix into the Instant Pot. If needed, add in a cornstarch slurry to thicken the gravy. Serve gravy over mashed potatoes and roast.
For the Slow Cooker Version:
- Cut excess fat off of roast. Then slice the roast into 2 inch slices across the grain. Coat the slices in the ranch dressing mix and brown gravy mix. Place the roast into the slow cooker and pour in the beef broth.
- Cover and cook on low for 4 hours then add in the potatoes and cook for another 2-3 hours, or until potatoes are tender. (Alternately you can add whole or halved potatoes in at the beginning of the cooking time).
- Remove the potatoes with a slotted spoon and place in a bowl. Mash the potatoes and add in butter and cream and salt and pepper to taste.
- Remove the pieces of meat and shred. If needed, add in a cornstarch slurry to thicken the gravy. Serve gravy over mashed potatoes and roast.
Notes
If you are not making potatoes with the roast then pressure cook for 60 minutes with a full natural pressure release.
I used my 6 quart Instant Pot Duo 60 7 in 1*. Use the 8 quart with no changes. For 3 quart pot leave out potatoes.
- Category: Beef
- Method: Instant Pot
*Karen Petersen is a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for sites to earn advertising fees by advertising and linking to amazon.com.
I’ve never tried pot roast in the IP before but forgot to put it in the slow cooker this morning. I think I prefer it this way! Great flavor and perfectly done!
★★★★★
yay!! glad you tried it. It is fast and easy!
This roast and potatoes recipe for the instant
pot was great! It’s simple and easy! I’m so glad I got this recipe! Definitely will make again.
★★★★★
Thanks Sandra! I appreciate the 5 stars.
Hi Karen, thanks for the ecook book offer but I already have it. But I really did want a hard copy. Sorry I missed out on that one. I love your IP recipes.
Made this today. I love gravy so I used an entire box of bone broth and whisked in some flour at the end before adding in the gravy packet. I used the baby potatoes so I didn’t have to chop up russet potatoes. I always share with my neighbor, what comes out of my IP!
★★★★★
What a nice neighbor! I’m sure they appreciated it! Thanks for the 5 stars.
Did you use Betterthan Boullion to make your broth or regular beef broth?
Better than Bouillon!
I was shopping for a nice pot roast yesterday… $4.99 a lb for chuck… thought no, that’s too much… then I noticed “country style boneless beef ribs $2.27 a lb… they looked so nice, some fat, but not too much, pieces about 1 1/2 inches wide, 1 inch thick… thought to myself, these look like they could certainly be substituted for chuck… I’ll try it. Pot roast is one of my favorite meals… hey I’m an old-fashioned, raised in Minnesota, type guy… what can I say. My pot roast is so very, very simple half a sweet onion, sliced, 5 cloves of minced garlic, about 2 tbs of Kitchen Bouquet and 2 tbls of Knorr beef bullion powder. I normally use Idahoan instant mashed as a side and cook whatever veggie appeals at the moment (and is in season) on the side as opposed to in the pot.
Saute the onions and garlic in the pot on saute for 3 to 5 mins, pour in about a pint of water, add the KB and the bullion powder and about a tbls of Johnny’s seasoning salt. Cook for about 65 mins, then do a quick release. A little trick I use for the gravy… place a spatter guard screen over a medium bowl, pour the cooking liquid thru the guard, all the onion and garlic flavor is in the liquid, but all the pieces remain on the guard, so easy to discard., then simply thicken as usual, for the smoothest, silkiest gravy ever.
The “roast” was as good as any I’ve ever made, not the pretty, center of the table appearance, but very tender and fall apart done. Wife said it was the best she’s ever had.
Your wife is lucky! Sounds amazing!
This was sooo good! I also put a package of baby carrots on top of the potatoes and kept the times the same. Picked out the carrots and put them in a bowl, then mashed the potatoes. A one pot meal. Loved it! Thank you!
★★★★★
Great idea! 🥕
what do you do if your roast is frozen??
You can throw it in frozen but it will take a while longer to get done. I would add 30 extra minutes.
Are the nutritional values given for just the meat, alone, or does it include the potatoes – like, is it for the whole meal?
Thank you.
It’s also for the potatoes and gravy