Instant Pot Italian Beef Roast Recipe (2024)

FAQs

Why is my roast beef tough in Instant Pot? ›

If you find that it's still tough after cooking, you'll need to cook it for another 10 to 20 minutes at high pressure – it just needs a bit longer to continue to brine and break down the connective tissue.

While many different meat cuts make for a great roast beef sandwich, the leaner cuts, like top loin or round roast are the most common. On the other hand, Italian beef is typically made with chuck roast, the classic pot roast cut full of rich marbling fats.

Some people prefer a roast that has more substance, so if you do, the Instant Pot is the winner. I have tried cooking a roast for up to 120 minutes in the Instant Pot and the texture still didn't match a slow cooker, but every 10 minutes of added pressure cooking will definitely make the meat more tender.

The pressure cooking process breaks down tough meat, making it tender. Put the lid back on, seal the pressure cooker, and cook at high pressure for another 10 to 20 minutes.

If your roast is tough in the Instant Pot, it likely needs to be cooked longer. Chuck roast will become more tender the longer it cooks, so extra time may be needed. However, you can overcook beef in the Instant Pot, so keep an eye on it if you add extra time.

In a few words, yes! You can also undercook it, too. Overcooking the meat would result in a very dry tasting pot roast.

Italian Roast coffee is ideal for espresso lovers because the heavy body and intense flavor complement the creaminess of dairy-topped espresso beverages. On the other hand, French Roast coffee is ideal for many different brewing methods, including drip, French press, or Moka pot.

Italian Beef is chuck roast (the cut of meat used for pot roast) that is slowly cooked with savory Italian spices until it is soft and tender and easily shredded with a fork. To create the iconic sandwich, soft hoagie rolls are filled with this shredded meat, and then topped with sliced provolone and pickled peppers.

The bottom round roast, taken from the round primal, is one of the tougher cuts of roast that's known for being very lean. Like the rump roast, this beef cut is best prepared by braising or slow-cooking.

You can still pressure cook leaner pieces – like eye of round and top sirloin – but these work best if they've been stuffed, shredded or rolled (with other ingredients). Best cuts of beef to use: Chuck steak, Round Roast, Shoulder, Pot roast, Ribs, Brisket, Oxtail.

Which makes meat more tender, a pressure cooker or a slow cooker? ›

Traditionally cheaper cuts of meat always slow cook better. Slow cooking breaks down the connective collagen in meat, which turns into unctuous gelatine. This creates that soft and tender mouth feel we all crave.

Unfortunately, once you overcook a piece of meat in the pressure cooker, there's no going back. You'll be left with a pile of dry, crunchy, tasteless fibers and no amount of additional pressure cooking is going to put that moisture back into the meat.

Place the frozen beef roast, salt, pepper, garlic, and onion powder inside the pressure cooker. Pour in beef stock around the roast, then top the roast with horseradish. Cook on high pressure for 30 minutes per pound.

You can cook any cut in a multi-cooker, but we recommend those from the chuck and round.

Brown it

Pressure cooked food doesn't brown so it's worth doing this at the start of cooking before adding liquid and putting the lid on. Meat looks and tastes more appetising with a little browning. Onions, garlic and spices also benefit in the flavour stakes from pre-cooking.

You may need some sweetness and acidity to bring up the tough meat. Simmer in liquid. Just like for burnt meat, if your meat gets tough and dry then you can simmer it in a little bit of broth for a couple minutes. Don't allow it to overcook again but just allow the liquid to penetrate the meat.

With lots of connective tissue (also known as collagen), these cuts can be tough if undercooked or hurried along in the cooking process. However, with slow-cooker pot roast, pressure cooker pot roast, or low-and-slow braised pot roast, the collagen breaks up for tender, succulent meat.

Cook it low and slow with some liquid.

Simmering helps break down the connective tissue. Connective tissue breaks down to collagen. Collagen tenderizes, and adds flavor and juiciness to the roast. The size and cut of your roast will determine how long it will need to simmer.

Instant Pot: If you have an Instant Pot, you can use it to soften beef very quickly and easily. Simply add some beef broth or water to the pot with the beef, and put the cooker on high pressure for 30 minutes.