Instant Pot Mississippi Pot Roast

A comforting dish with nostalgic charm, Mississippi Pot Roast is an ideal choice for cold winter nights, thanks to its stick-to-your-ribs heartiness.

At its essence, pot roast is a cut of beef and an assortment of vegetables slow-cooked in liquid (usually beef stock or wine) until they become fork-tender and ready to serve with potatoes, hoagie buns, egg noodles, or your carb of choice. This recipe for Instant Pot Mississippi Pot Roast simplifies and speeds up the cooking process, giving you an ideal cold-weather meal that can be fully prepped in your Instant Pot. 

What Is Mississippi Pot Roast?

Mississippi Pot Roast first came into being in the 1990s, when Mississippi-based home cook Robin Chapman wanted to modernize a vintage pot roast recipe given to her by her aunt. In addition to updating some of the flavors, she created a pot roast recipe that was easier get on the table for busy families and that included vibrant flavors that would nevertheless be palatable to young kids. 

The result is a beef chuck roast cooked in beef stock, seasoned with pre-made ranch seasoning, and accented with tangy pepperoncini. With the addition of butter for richness and salt and pepper to taste, Chapman’s Mississippi Pot Roast offers a beautifully-balanced entree for peak coziness without a lengthy (or costly) ingredient list.

Is the Instant Pot a Good Tool for Pot Roast? 

Mississippi Pot Roast is a slow-braised beef dish, which—under most circumstances—requires a cook time of several hours. (In fact, some recipes call for overnight cooking to really tenderize the meat and meld the flavors.)

But if you’d like to achieve the classic taste and texture profile of this pot roast in a fraction of the time, then the Instant Pot can make that happen.

One of the biggest advantages of the Instant Pot for this recipe involves this appliance’s ability to both sauté and pressure cook. Sautéing the beef prior to braising makes a huge difference to the finished dish. Browning is going to deepen and intensify the flavors of the pot roast.

How To Make Mississippi Pot Roast in the Instant Pot

1. Sauté roast: This step allows for a darker, fuller sear and a deeper beef flavor. Season the roast with salt and freshly-ground black pepper. When it's browned, take the roast out of the Instant Pot for a bit to cook the vegetables.
2. Soften vegetables: Add chopped onion and garlic to the Instant Pot, and cook for 2 minutes. Use a wooden or rubber kitchen spoon to stir regularly and to pull the browned bits from the bottom of the pot. There's so much flavor in that browning.
3. Cook the roast: Put the roast back in the Instant Pot, and add pepperoncini peppers, beef broth, ranch seasoning, and butter. Put the lid on, set to Pressure Cook, and let the roast braise.
4. Release pressure: Skip the quick release. Instead, let the Instant Pot release pressure naturally; the pot lid will remain locked until this process ends, and it can take 10-12 minutes. Remove the lid when you’re able to do so.
5. Serve: Remove the roast itself from the Instant Pot, and put it in a deep ceramic serving platter. Add the liquid from the pepperoncini to the liquid in the Instant Pot, and stir to fully combine. Use your tongs to pull the cooked veggies out of the broth, and layer them on top of the meat. Ladle the broth on the meat and veggies. 

How To Serve Instant Pot Mississippi Pot Roast

Like many other braised beef dishes, Mississippi Pot Roast particularly shines when served with a carb option that can absorb the juices and provide some appealing textural contrast.

Mashed potatoes are the standard pot roast side dish for good reason; they’re affordable, they’re easy to prepare, and they’re extremely satisfying. But mashed potatoes certainly aren’t the only option for a Mississippi pot roast partner. Consider these:

• Roasted potatoes
• Egg noodles
• Grits
• White rice
• Polenta
• Hoagie buns or French bread

Tips for Making a Great Mississippi Pot Roast in the Instant Pot

Once you've made this recipe, you might want to experiment with some variations. We have ideas to share:

Try different beef cuts. 

While this recipe calls for chuck roast, there's no reason to limit yourself to one specific cut of beef. Any type of beef that's suitable for slow cooking would work in this context. Consider tri-tip roast, whole beef brisket, beef brisket flat, and sirloin cap roast.

You can ditch the beef entirely and try chicken, too.

Bring beef to room temperature before searing. 

Letting the beef warm slightly before cooking it allows for more even cooking than you’d get from placing a cold, right-out-of-the-fridge roast in the Instant Pot.

Tomato paste can add an additional level of flavor. 

While sauteeing the onions and garlic, add a tablespoon or two of tomato paste. This ingredient adds both acidity and a hint of sweetness, which can yield a more complex pot roast. 

If the pot roast "sauce" is too thin for your liking, reach for some cornstarch. 

Along with the broth, the juices from the meat and the pepperoncini can result in a more liquidy "sauce" than you may want for your roast. The solution: Stir some cornstarch into the liquid after you remove the roast. Let it thicken for a few minutes before spooning it into the serving dish.

Other Mississippi Favorites:

• Mississippi Chicken
• Julie Yoste's Mississippi Roast
• Mississippi Mudslides
• Mississippi Slugburgers
• Mississippi Mud Pie

Editorial contributions by Taylor Tobin.