I love to spend hours in the kitchen preparing a loving, homemade meal. Purchasing that perfect cut of meat shows my true love of family as I dislike the grocery store but for a special meal I’m willing to run the grocery gauntlet!
Instant Pot: a crazy pressure cooker hybrid that does multi-duty cooking tasks above and beyond basic pressure canning. A kitchen gadget that I am obsessed with!
I love when all this effort results in a dry, horrible mess… said no one ever.
Instant Pot to the rescue! Mind you, I do NOT always suffer from pot roast failure but who wants to risk it? Not me!
Instant Pot is new to me. I didn’t even know about it until a fateful trip to a big box store found me wandering the kitchen aisle and happening upon a similar brand. Intrigued by all the things this other cooker could do (and being pressed for time) I grabbed this unit and dashed out of the store.
Once home I shared the new acquisition with Mr. Bluejeans who, after reading the box said “Why did you buy this one? It has a teflon pot and an aluminum lid”!
Why indeed.
Simple. I didn’t read the box. SO there. Captivated by all the buttons and abilities of this other cooker I merely grabbed and ran. Oh the shame. So I returned it but not without learning about my hero, the Instant Pot. Mr. Bluejeans acquired one for me on Amazon and the die was cast. Whatever that means.

Pot Roast Fixin’s
It arrived the day before I was leaving to dog sit for a dear friend of mine. Gigi and I decided to bring the Instant Pot along and use my friends house as our test kitchen! So off we went to our own 5 Dog Farm Test Kitchen of sorts. We thought it would be a good idea to create a video to show how easy it is to use an Instant Pot right out of the box. Literally! We had a blast!

Gigi cracked me up!
The first thing I made was Kitchen Sink Pot Roast. Oh boy, was it delicious! Here is the cookbook I used for the basic recipe. As usual, there’s no way I can leave a recipe alone so I added a few embellishments. Moist, flavorful and EASY are only a few of the adjectives Gigi and I exclaimed!
Here’s my first Instant Pot experience!
I’m including the recipe with the changes I made as options you can do… or not do. We like our food flavor packed on the farm. So as my favorite chef said… “Bon appetite”!
A few flavor additions to please our palette were made but you can follow the original recipe and add your own flourishes.
- 3-4 pound boneless beef rump roast
- 1 tsp salt
- 1 tsp dried thyme I used italian seasoning instead
- 1/2 tsp black pepper
- 1 each bay leaf
- 2 tbsp olive oil
- 1 1/2 cups beef broth
- 1 cup red wine (or substitue 1/4 cup balsamic vinegar & 3/4 cups broth)
- 4 medium Yukon Gold potatoes, unpeeled (I used russets)
- 1 medium onion quartered
- 4 large carrots peeled & cut into 2" lengths
- 4 stalks celery cut into 2" lengths
- 4 cloves garlic chopped (I added this)
- 4 cups baby kale (The original recipe calls for this. I skipped it)
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Season the roast with the salt and pepper as well as thyme or Italian seasonings. Select Saute on your Instant Pot and adjust to Normal. When hot add oil to the pot. Add the roast to the pot and brown on all sides. I added the onions and garlic towards the end of the browning being sure to stir a bit as they browned. When done, press Cancel. Add the broth, herbs and wine to the pot. Close the pressure release valve.
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Select Manual and cook at high pressure for 50 minutes. When the cooking time is complete, use quick release to depressurize. Add the potatoes, carrots and celery. Secure the lid on the pot. Close the pressure release valve. Select Manual and cook at high pressure for 10 minutes. When cooking time is complete, use quick release to depressurize.
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Remove vegetables and meat to a serving platter. *Optional: If you are using the baby kale this is the time you would want to stir into the hot juices for 1 to 2 minutes to allow it to wilt. Remove kale with a slotted spoon and place on platter. Spoon juices over meat and vegetables. Serve.
Have you tried an Instant Pot yet?
**edited 10/18 to include Pinterest graphic. Feel free to share!
Omg, I’m in stitches!! What a great video….I’m absolutely loving it! Can’t wait for more recipes! Neither can the dogs!
It appears Edgar is now an honorary member of the 5 Dog Farm pack!
I have no words to express how AMAZING this recipe was!! I realized after I got home that the butcher took my 3.5 to 4lbs as 4.5lbs! I had to flip the meat after 55 minutes and cook for another 15 before adding the veggies before 10. Naturally the veggies look like a train wreck…. but everything tastes INCREDIBLE!! This will be frequent in my rotation!! Thanks, Niki…you warm my heart and my belly! 😘
Perhaps the butcher knew you were making this amazing recipe and secretly wished he was invited!