Instant Pot Pot Roast with Potatoes and Barley
Melt-in-your-mouth tender Instant Pot pot roast with potatoes, barley AND rich gravy, all cooked in ONE pot in less than 90 minutes!
Ingredients
- 2.5-3 lbs chuck roast thawed (Note 1)
- 2 teaspoons coarse kosher salt
- 2 tablespoons bacon fat Note 2
- 1 cup beef broth or stock
- 1 lb baby potatoes well scrubbed (Note 3)
For barley:
- 1 cup hulled barley
- 2 cups chicken broth or beef broth, or water
- 1 teaspoon coarse kosher salt
Instructions
- To sear the beef, place inner pot in your Instant Pot and hit “sauté” button to thoroughly heat the pot.
- Meanwhile, cut the roast into 4-5 pieces, dry with paper towel and generously salt on all sides.
- Once the display reads “HOT”, add oil and heat it well.
- When oil is nice and hot, add prepared beef chunks and sear on all sides, 2-3 minutes per side. Then remove onto a plate.
- Hit “cancel” button and add broth. Deglaze the pan, scraping the bottom with a wooden spoon. (TIP: Make sure nothing is stuck to the bottom to prevent “burn” notice.)
- Put the beef back in along with potatoes.
- While beef is searing, rinse the barley in a sieve under cold water. Drain well and put it in a small pan that fits in your Instant Pot. (I used this 7.5-inch round insert pan.) Pour in broth, or water and salt.
- Place a tall trivet over the meat and potatoes, and put the pan with barley on it.
- Cover the lid and make sure the valve is set to “sealing”.
- To pressure cook, set the Instant Pot to Manual/Pressure Cook for 35 minutes on High. (Note: It took about 16min for my IP to come to pressure.)
- Once the time is up, allow the pressure to release naturally for at least 20 minutes, and then carefully turn the valve to venting. Once the pin drops, carefully open the lid.
- Carefully remove the pan with barley. (These silicone mitts are convenient, as it’s super thin.) Fluff the barley with a wooden spoon, or fork.
- Transfer the meat onto a platter, shred the meat with forks, or slice against the grain, as pictured below. Run the cooking liquid through a fat separator, and pour the juice over the meat, potatoes and barley. And serve!
- If you tried this recipe, I’d love to read your feedback. Please leave your comment and rating below, or share on Instagram with #busycooks and tag us @busy_cooks. Thank you!!
Notes
Note 1: The following beef cuts work best for this pot roast recipe: chuck eye roast, beef arm roast.
Note 2: Bacon fat is super flavorful, and I use it often in place of regular oil. If you don't have bacon fat on hand, avocado oil, olive oil, or even vegetable oil are great alternatives.
Note 3: Baby potatoes require very little prep, that's why we love using them in our recipes. But you can substitute any kind of potatoes, just cut them into smaller chunks.
This recipe has been tested in my favorite Instant Pot DUO 6qt.
Nutrition
Calories: 556kcalCarbohydrates: 36gProtein: 42gFat: 27gSaturated Fat: 12gCholesterol: 135mgSodium: 1767mgPotassium: 1169mgFiber: 7gSugar: 1gVitamin A: 25IUVitamin C: 20mgCalcium: 58mgIron: 6mg
* Disclaimer: All nutrition information are estimates only.