Instant Pot Magic Beef–The easiest pot roast recipe ever! Dump and go. You will be amazed at the gravy magically created without any water at all!
Note: the SLOW COOKER instructions are listed in the recipe card below.
Instant Pot Magic Beef
You will be amazed at how delicious this pot roast is with about zero effort. Throw everything into the pot and push a few buttons and before you know it you’ll be enjoying a delicious dinner! It’s magic because the onions and mushrooms create a gravy without any water added.
Ingredients Needed
- Beef broth–or water and Better than Bouillon
- Mushrooms–they put off the liquid to make the gravy
- Onion–they put off the liquid to make the gravy
- Chuck roast–or rump roast
- Onion soup mix–or make your own
- Ranch dressing mix–I buy the big container from Costco and use it for other recipes like ranch cauliflower mash.
- Cornstarch–to thicken the gravy. You can also use flour or arrowroot.
How to make magic roast
- Add ingredients into Instant Pot: Pour broth into Instant Pot. Add in mushrooms and onions. Place the roast on top. Sprinkle with the onion soup mix and ranch dressing mix.
- Pressure cook: Cover Instant Pot and secure the lid. Make sure valve is set to sealing. Set the manual/pressure cook button to 75 minutes for fresh roast or 90 minutes for frozen roast. When time is up let pot sit until pressure releases naturally (about 20 minutes). Remove the lid.
- Move roast to a cutting board.
- Make gravy: Turn Instant Pot to sauté setting. In a small bowl stir together cornstarch and water until smooth. Stir the mixture into the pot to thicken the gravy. Salt and pepper to taste.
- Serve: Slice or shred roast. Serve roast with gravy.
Notes/Tips
- I used my 6 quart Instant Pot . You can also make this in an 8 quart pot or halve the recipe in the 3 quart pot.
- To amp up the flavor brown the roast in a little olive oil for 5 minutes on each side before pressure cooking.
- Serve roast and gravy alongside mashed potatoes or other root vegetables like carrots and parsnips and a side of sweet corn.
- Store leftovers in an airtight container* in the refrigerator for up to 1 week or in the freezer for up to 3 months.
More Beef Recipes…
- Instant Pot Swiss Steak
- Instant Pot 3-Ingredient Rump Roast
- Instant Pot Roast Beef Commercial
- 20 Different Ways to Use a Chuck Roast
Did you know you can filter the recipes on my website to search by meat type, IP or Crockpot, low carb, gluten free, etc.? Use the filter to find exactly what you are looking for.
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Instant Pot Magic Beef
- Prep Time: 15 minutes
- Cook Time: 75 minutes
- Total Time: 1 hour 30 minutes
- Yield: 6 servings 1x
Description
The easiest pot roast recipe ever! Dump and go. You will be amazed at the gravy magically created without any water at all!
Ingredients
- 1/2 cup beef broth
- 8 ounces chopped mushrooms
- 1 medium onion, sliced
- 1 (3 pound) chuck roast, trimmed of excess fat
- 1 (1 oz) packet onion soup mix
- 1 (1 oz) packet ranch dressing mix (3 Tbsp)
- 2–3 Tbsp cornstarch + 3 Tbsp water
Instructions
Instant Pot Instructions:
- Pour broth into Instant Pot. Add in mushrooms and onions. Place the roast on top. Sprinkle with the onion soup mix and ranch dressing mix.
- Cover Instant Pot and secure the lid. Make sure valve is set to sealing. Set the manual/pressure cook button to 75 minutes for fresh roast or 90 minutes for frozen roast. When time is up let pot sit until pressure releases naturally (about 20 minutes). Remove the lid.
- Move roast to a cutting board.
- Turn Instant Pot to sauté setting. In a small bowl stir together cornstarch and water until smooth. Stir the mixture into the pot to thicken the gravy. Salt and pepper to taste.
- Slice or shred roast. Serve roast with gravy.
Slow Cooker Instructions:
- Add broth, mushrooms, onions and roast into slow cooker. Sprinkle with the onion soup mix and ranch dressing mix.
- Cover slow cooker and cook on low for 8-12 hours, or until roast is tender.
- Move roast to a cutting board.
- In a small bowl stir together cornstarch and water until smooth. Stir the mixture into the slow cooker to thicken the gravy. Salt and pepper to taste. Turn slow cooker to high and let cook without the lid until gravy has thickened.
- Slice or shred roast. Serve roast with gravy.
- 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 know this will be wonderful. I just realized my roast is a little under 2 pounds. what cook time should I use?
★★★★★
Hi Karen, 60 minutes with a natural pressure release should be sufficient.
thanks!
★★★★★
If I use the 1/2 recipe, I would make it pot in pot – my IP needs 1.5 cups water. Would this be ok?
yes I think it would be good. You may want to increase cooking time by 10% or so since the food won’t be directly in the pot
Hi Karen,
I have two questions…honestly, I can’t remember if I made this before. Everything I’ve prepared from your site has been extraordinary!
First question is and this is kind of generic as for some reason this popped into my mind …if you put the cornstarch slurry in at the beginning of the cooking, what would happen to the gravy? Gravy be too thick, not thick enough? Virtually every recipe says to do this at the end, so I was curious what happens if you put a cornstarch slurry in first.
Second question is how timing of the pressure cooking changes based on the size of the roast. Let’s say I pick up a 5lb pot roast at Costco. How would someone adjust the cook time for pressure cooking?
Thanks!
The cornstarch is a thickener and would likely cause the burn error message to come on. I bet it would work in a slow cooker though.
For a 5 pound roast if it’s really thick I would bump up the time to 90 minutes. If it’s more of a flat piece of meat I would only do 75 minutes.
Made this for dinner tonight. Hubby couldn’t stop eating it! We loved it!! Only change I made was using a rump roast instead of Chuck. Came out perfect!
★★★★★
Wahoo! thanks for the 5 stars 🙂
Do the mushrooms basically dissolve?
They aren’t dissolved but not really that distinguishable either.
My parents absolutely loved how tender & tasty the roast was. They said it would have been even better if I added potatoes & carrots. I’m new to instant pot. Wouldn’t the potatoes break down?
★★★★★
Remove meat when done. Then add in potatoes and cook for 6 minutes
So good
★★★★★
yes if you add them at the beginning they would be broken down. You could add them after the beef has cooked. Add them into the pot with the juices (remove teh roast) and pressure cook for 5 minutes for quartered potatoes, 4 for cubes or 20 for whole potatoes.
This looks yummy, however, I have a mushroom hater. Could I just double the onions to achieve the liquid required?
Sure you could try that!
This is the best roast I’ve ever made in my instant pot!! I followed the recipe exactly as written.
I did however tie my roast around the middle so to hold together better and placed it on the trivet so it would make it easier to lift out and Tender, juicy, and the gravy…..mmmmmmm
I’m printing this out so I don’t lose it.
★★★★★
Thank you so much Cris for your review! I’m so glad you loved it! It really is tasty!
Can I use cut up beef cubes for this?
Yes but I would use a 20 minute pressure cook time with full natural pressure release.
My husband isn’t supposed to eat a lot of red meat, so do you think chicken breasts would work with this? All the ingredients sound so good.
★★★★★
Sure you could do that! I would only cook for 10 minutes with a 10 minute natural pressure release.
Can I use a frozen roast?
★★★★★
Yes use a 90 minute pressure cook time with a natural pressure release.
My instant pot needs 2 cups of water. With only one half cup in this recipe, do you think I might get the dreaded BURN sign?
A 6qt only needs 1 cup of liquids and most of that comes from the vegetables and the roast will pull a little bit off too. If you can double the vegetables plus add an extra 1/2 cup of broth than you probably will be fine. She has an article in the website on how to figure out how much liquids. If you have a bigger IP than bump up the liquids with either more broth or items that give off moisture.
Ginny, the magic is that the mushrooms and onions put off enough liquid for the pot to come to pressure. If you’re nervous then bump up the broth to 1 cup instead of half a cup. Should be fine!