Serves 4
This is a weeknight friendly dish with not a lot of crazy ingredients! The goal is to get a healthy, nutrient dense meal on the table as quickly as possible so that you can get back to spending quality time with your family. You can add all the ingredients to the Instantpot if you’re in a hurry, or roast the potatoes and carrots separately as listed in the “method of prep” below. Cooking the carrots and potatoes separately yields a crispier finish, as the Instantpot tends to annihilate potatoes if cooked too long!
Ingredients:
Chuck roast 3-4 pounds
Baby Carrots 16 oz bag
Onion, diced 1 large
Celery, diced 5 or 6 ribs
Small Dutch potatoes 24 oz bag
Beef stock 3 cups
Flour ¼ cup
Butter or vegetable oil ¼ cup
Garlic, minced 2 cloves
Fresh thyme (optional) 1 sprig whole
Salt 3 teaspoon
Pepper 1 ½ teaspoon
White pepper ¼ teaspoon
For carrots and potatoes 1 tsp salt, ½ teaspoon pepper, 2 tbspn vegetable oil, 1 tbspn granulated garlic
Method of prep:
Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Rinse potatoes and dry potatoes and carrots with a clean towel or paper towel. Too much moisture prevents the “Maillard reaction” from happening. The Maillard reaction is characterized by the caramelization of food. It is the crispy crust that sets a skilled cook apart from a novice.
Once the potatoes and carrots are dry, add to sheet tray. I coat my sheet trays with aluminum foil and then parchment paper to avoid scrubbing the pan. Coat carrots and potatoes with oil, salt, pepper, and granulated garlic. Roast in the oven at 400 degrees for about 30 minutes. If you pop them into the oven before you start the roast, it saves time!
Set Instantpot on sauté setting, adjust setting to “more”. Allow the Instantpot to preheat. Add butter or oil to the bottom of the pot. Dry meat with a paper towel. Mix together salt, pepper and white pepper and coat the meat thoroughly with the seasonings. Sear in Instantpot to achieve a golden brown crust. Remove meat from pot and set aside. Add onions and celery to the pot. Sprinkle flour over the top of the vegetables and stir to form a paste. Whisk in beef stock and add thyme sprig. Place roast in the middle of the pot. Cancel the sauté setting on your Instantpot. Close the lid and make sure the vent is sealed. Set pot to “manual 45 minutes”. When the Instantpot is done cooking, push the “cancel” setting and release the steam via the vent. When all of the steam has escaped, open lid carefully to avoid injury from burn (always consult your manual if you are unsure of how to vent the pot properly). Remove thyme sprig before serving. Serve with roasted carrots and potatoes!