This low carb balsamic beef is a delicious and quick meal to make in the Instant Pot, slow cooker or stovetop. Easy, healthy, tasty and only 2.5g net carbs.
You might also like this low carb barbacoa beef roast Instant Pot recipe!
I love to make pot roast in the winter because it’s warm and comforting and because I love to use my slow cooker to make the meat tender. Today I wanted to try it in the Instant Pot because it has a great saute feature and eliminates the need for a skillet to brown the meat. It also takes less time than the slow cooker. It was a big success! My son asked for seconds, my husband took the leftovers to work and even my father in law gave me the thumbs up (big praise from him). So this low carb balsamic beef recipe is a keeper!
Roasts in the Instant Pot Update
As I’ve been cooking more and more in the Instant Pot, I find that your basic 2-3lb chuck roast will take up to 70 minutes in the Instant Pot. I’ve taken out roasts and put them back in again because they meat was too tough. Recently I made this roast and had that problem so I’m now using 70 minutes for roasts. If the meat isn’t tender it’s not work making right? Here is the officially cooking time chart from Instant Pot.
The rough guide for large chunks of beef (roasts) is 20-25 minutes per lb of meat.
The low carb balsamic beef Recipe
I love to stud my roasts with garlic. It reminds me of how my grandma would make roasts and I love, love garlic. So first you cut slits into your roast and stuff it with the garlic slices. Next you want to rub your roast with the spices. Use the saute function of the Instant Pot to brown the roast on both sides. Then take it out and deglaze the pan with vinegar, broth and butter. Put the lid back on and pressure cook for 70 minutes.
Stovetop and Slow Cooker Recipe
To make it on the stovetop you follow the same instructions except you are browning in a large pot on the stove. You then deglaze it and pour the sauce over the meat. Cover and cook until the meat is tender. For the slow cooker, brown and deglaze in a large skillet and then put everything in the slow cooker for 8 hours on low.
This recipe is very similar to my slow cooker pork roast . As I mentioned my family loved this and it’s great if you have a roast in the freezer you can make this in about 2 hours. And most of that it’s cooking on it’s own. I was inspired to make this when I saw IBreatheImHungry.com’s recipe for balsamic beef. By the way, she has lots of delicious low carb recipes if you are interested. I hope you like this as much as we did. The nutrition for 1 serving is:
539 cals / 34.1g fat / 2.6g carbs / 0.1g fat / 60.1g protein = 2.5g net carbs
Low Carb Balsamic Beef (Instant Pot)
Ingredients
- 3 lbs chuck roast
- 3 cloves garlic thinly sliced
- 1 tablespoon oil
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 1/2 teaspoon pepper
- 1/2 teaspoon rosemary
- 1 tablespoon butter
- 1/2 teaspoon thyme
- 1/4 cup balsamic vinegar
- 1 cup beef broth
Instructions
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Cut little slits in the roast and stuff the garlic slices in all over the roast.
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Mix the salt, pepper, rosemary and thyme in a small bowl and then rub all over the roast.
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Press the saute button on the Instant Pot and adjust to increase the heat.
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When hot, add the oil and the roast. Brown on both sides about 5 minutes each.
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Take out the roast and add the butter, balsamic vinegar and broth. Deglaze the pot by scraping up the browned bits and mixing with the liquid.
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Place the roast back in the pot, secure the lid, push the vent back to seal and cook for 70 minutes at high pressure.
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When done, either do a quick release by turning the pressure know to vent or let it naturally depressurize.
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Take off the lid and serve.
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NOTE: You can make this on the stove. Follow the same instructions but when you cover to cook, it will take longer. Cook until the roast is tender.
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To make in the slow cooker, follow the same instructions but brown the meat in the skillet and place in the slow cooker. Then deglaze the skillet with the balsamic vinegar, butter and broth. Pour over the roast and cook on low for 6-8 hours.
Regina
March 13, 2019 at 9:47 pmI love this recipe. How much is a serving?
Denise
March 14, 2019 at 8:35 amHi Regina, it’s roughly 8 oz if you are making a 3lb roast. Hope that helps!
Carol Fuchs
March 11, 2019 at 1:07 amMost delicious pot roast I’ve ever made. However, 70 minutes in the Instant Pot has to be an error. I checked some other recipes just to be sure, and I then cooked my roast for only 25 minutes. It was perfect. Thank you!
Denise
March 11, 2019 at 8:45 amHi Carol,
I have been having a hard time with the Instant Pot timing. Originally I had it for less but a reader said it didn’t work so I made it again and it did seem to make more time. Thanks for coming back and commenting. I think I’ll make this again this week and check the timing again.
Jean
September 6, 2018 at 5:24 pmThank you for sharing this recipe. It was my first ever I tried in my new IP. Turned out fantastic using tri-tip beef I bought at Costco. Making it again soon!
Denise
September 7, 2018 at 10:42 amHi Jean, so glad you liked it! I’m going to Costco today and I will have to try this recipe again. I haven’t had it in quite some time. Enjoy your new Instant Pot….I’m trying to make coconut yogurt in mine today.
Katerina Ulmer
July 17, 2018 at 11:58 amThis is now a “keeper” for my family. I used a pork shoulder roast instead of beef and added diced onions and more rosemary to the pressure cooker just before closing it up to cook. I let it do a natural release, removed the meat and tented foil over it. I then turned on the saute feature (without the lid on) to have it cook down the juice to less than half the consistency. I added a little bit of ground flax meal to help thicken it into a sauce that we drizzled over the meat. It was heavenly!! Thanks for posting this.
Denise
July 17, 2018 at 6:48 pmWow Katerina, that sounds awesome! I was just going to make this again this week. I’m intrigued with the ground flax meal. I never heard of anyone using that to thicken a sauce. Good too know! Thanks for taking the time to comment and share your tips!
Tori Ryon
May 31, 2018 at 8:01 amAre these instructions for a frozen or thawed roast? If thawed, do you reduce the cooking time? New instant potter here! Thanks!
Denise
May 31, 2018 at 10:19 amHi Tori,
I was using thawed meat and I would keep the time the same. It’s for a 3 lb beef roast not chunks so you will need plenty of time to get it cooked.
Also I would prefer my meat as tender as possible. Hope that helps! Here’s a link for Instant Pot meat cooking times.
http://instantpot.us/cooking-time/meat-poultry-beef-pork-and-lamb/
shea
February 12, 2018 at 8:11 pmdo you use the rack when you pressure cook the roast for 40 minutes? at what pressure? low, med or high?
Denise
February 12, 2018 at 8:23 pmI cooked the meat at high pressure and did not use the rack. Please let me know if you have
any other questions. I’ll go add this information to the recipe.
Take care,
shea
February 12, 2018 at 9:09 pmthank you.
Denise
February 13, 2018 at 6:08 amYou are welcome! good luck.
Reagan
January 16, 2018 at 5:28 pmWhat do you generally serve with it?
Denise
January 17, 2018 at 9:04 amIf you are going low carb I would eat it as is and maybe have some type of vegetable side dish. Or you can eat it over cauliflower rice or zucchini noodles. Other wise I would eat it with rice or noodles. Hope that helps!
Tiffany
January 14, 2018 at 9:36 pmDo you know if this freezes well?
Denise
January 15, 2018 at 10:44 amHi Tiffany, I have never frozen this but I don’t see why it would be a problem.
Valentina | The Baking Fairy
January 9, 2017 at 8:29 pmThis looks absolutely delicious! My collection of Instant Pot recipes keeps piling up and I think I’ll have to invest in one soon 😉 but I love that you included crockpot instructions so I can make it anyway! This totally fits into my January diet.
Denise
January 15, 2017 at 8:01 amThanks Valentina! I was very please how it came out. I hope you like it!