I grew up eating pot roast. Who didn't? It's got to be the most ubiquitous family meal in the world. From boef a la mode, to sauerbraten, to the traditional English Sunday roast, just about every culture has some version of a braised beef recipe, most with vegetables.
My grandmother and my mother both made great roasts, and Kathy loved it. Many Sunday dinners consisted of roast, potatoes, candied carrots and pickled onions, with lots of gravy to cover it all and biscuits to sop up every last bit.
So, when I was getting ready for life on the road, pot roast had to be a part of it. But I'm limited on space and let's face it, roast uses a lot of pots! I mean it's in the name.
Enter the Instant Pot. This reinvention of the pressure cooker has a huge following in the RV world. Ask any full timer what's in their kitchen and you're likely to hear Instant Pot included in the list. Braising, slow cooking, rice making, even yogurt are done in this little gem. And talk about tender! I've not found any method that produces better results.
And there are hundreds of recipes on line and in books on IP pot roast. I've adjusted my traditional recipe to make good use of the cooker's advantages. Like most of my recipes, the servings are for a close to one as I can get. With this one you can add more carrots, potatoes and onions without needing to up the liquids. Fill the pot to the max line if you want.
Side note (OK, they've made it into here. Are you surprised?) I use the 6 quart IP. If you use the larger one, add more liquid and load up on the veggies!)
Good on a Sunday, but at only about an hour start to finish a weekday possibility.
Instant Pot Roast
Ingredients
3-4 pound roast. Eye of round works best, but just about any cut will work.
3 T Canola oil
2 t salt
1 t black pepper
1/2 cup all purpose flour
1 can beef broth
1/2 cup red wine
1 package onion soup mix
1/2 package baby carrots
5 small red potatoes - quartered
8 small golden potatoes
1 large onion halved and sliced thin.
1 package brown gravy mix
1/4 cup corn starch (optional)
Brown the roast. Set the pot to saute, more (or high). Sprinkle the entire roast with salt and pepper, then flour generously. Heat the canola oil in the pot and brown the roast on all sides until dark golden brown. Remove and set aside.
Deglaze the pot with the broth and wine. This step is important. The bottom of the pot has to be clean to pressure cook properly. Add the soup mix and stir until well blended.
Return the roast to the pot and put the cover on. Make sure the vent lever is set to "Sealed." Set the pot to "Stew/Meat/More" or "Manual/High" and set the cooking time to 25 minutes.
When the timer goes off, quick vent by moving the lever to "Venting." Careful here! Lots of steam comes out. I put a towel over the vent before turning the lever.
When the pot is fully vented, remove the cover and put the veggies in the pot. Re-cover and set the pot to the same settings as before and the cooking time to 20 minutes. When done, let the pot slow release for 15 minutes and then quick vent to finish.
Remove the roast and cut into 2 inch cubes, then return to the pot. If you want thicker gravy, make a slurry using the corn starch and 1/4 cup of water and stir into the veggie/broth mixture before putting the roast back in.
At this point it's ready to eat. Just dish it up and enjoy. Or you can leave it in the pot on "Keep Warm" until everybody's ready.
Split the leftovers into veggies, meat and gravy for storage and...
Bonus
Remember I said I usually try to cook for one? Obviously, a pot roast dinner is going to have leftovers. The meal is just as good reheated, but here's a twist - French Dips. The recipe is my take on McCalister's Big Nasty sandwich, a long time favorite of mine.
Ingredients
Left over pot roast and gravy
1 package au jus mix
Sliced Swiss cheese
Sandwich rolls
Potato chips
Dice the leftover roast. Whisk the au jus mix into the gravy and heat over medium low heat to a simmer in a saucepan. Split in two and add the diced meat to one half and simmer for a 5 minutes more stirring frequently while keeping the other half warm. The meat mixture should have the consistency of chili.
Preheat the broiler. Slice the rolls most of the way through lengthwise. Spoon the meat mixture over the rolls and cover with the cheese. Place under the broiler until the cheese is melted.
Serve with a cup of gravy and chips. I like to cut the sandwich into bite sized pieces and dip in the gravy, then crumble the chips into leftover gravy.
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