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Pot roasts are one of my favorite foods. They are easy to make, juicy, and tender. And, thanks to the Ninja Foodi (or your favorite pressure cooker), the juicy tender meat does not need to take all day.
This Keto Pot Roast recipe includes just 5 ingredients and is perfect for a keto meal prep, when making meals to store in the freezer, or when feeding a group.
In this post, I describe what the Ninja Foodi is and why it’s perfect for making a pot roast. I share the best cuts of meat to make a roast so that you might just pick up whatever roast is on sale.
I also give tips for keto-friendly side dishes and give other low-carb Ninja Foodi recipes.
What is a Ninja Foodi & why use it to make a Pot Roast?
The Ninja Foodi is an amazing hybrid of a pressure cooker, slow cooker, steamer and air fryer. The pressure/slow cooker component gives the food the same tenderness that is famous in similar products like the InstantPot.
However, the Foodi has an air fryer component that crisps the food’s exterior while keeping it tender and moist on the inside.
As I mentioned in my Ninja Foodi review, the Foodi is one of my favorite tools because it:
- Tenderizes any meat you cook in it
- Dramatically shortens the cooking time
- Makes one-pot cooking easier as you can switch between settings to make side dishes or even gravy
How to Make a Pot Roast in the Ninja Foodi:
Add all ingredients to the pot and go
One of the reasons that I love pot roast is that you can simply add all of the ingredients to the pan and go. As someone who is generally very busy, this gives me the chance to prepare a healthy meal, but also complete my other daily goals.
Pot roast is best when it is fall off the bone tender. With the Ninja Foodi, you can achieve those delicious results using either the pressure cooker feature (described below in the recipe) or the slow cooker feature.
For speed, use the pressure cooker function
The pressure cooker feature has one major advantage: speed. My pot roast recipe gets nice and tender in less than 2 hours of cook time.
To achieve melt in your mouth pot roast like this in a fraction of the time, you just need to put the pressure cooker seal on, close the venting valve, and set it to high with an hour and a half cook time.
If you have the time, use the slow cooker function
But if your timing is going to be off due to your busy schedule or you love the way a cooking roast makes your house smell or you don’t have a Ninja Foodi (or Instant Pot), you can use the slow cooker feature or a traditional slow cooker.
This allows you to start the roast earlier in the day and let it slow cook all day. You would just select the slow cooker option “low”.
On low, it will cook all day, for 6-8 hours and be ready in the evening when you get home from your busy day.
Cuts of Meat for Pot Roast
One of the nice things about my pot roast recipe is it doesn’t require a specific cut of meat. In fact, I almost always buy the meat for my recipe based on what’s on sale.
But there are some cuts and things I look for. I always buy meat with no bones in it. I also typically use:
- Beef Chuck
- Bottom Round
- Blade Roast
How to season a pot roast? Substitutions for Seasoning
When cooking a pot roast, the seasonings are simple. I use a beef bouillon cube, butter, and my Ranch Seasoning. But, if I don’t have the Ranch seasoning ready to go, I choose other options that I have around my pantry. Some spice packets I often have on hand are:
You will need two tablespoons of the spice mix.
How long do you cook a roast in an Instant Pot or Ninja Foodi pressure cooker pot roast?
A pressure cooker cuts cook time by more than half while producing the same results as slow cooking the meat. The cook time below is based on a fresh, not frozen, cut of beef.
When you use the Ninja Foodi or another pressure cooker, the cooking time is only an hour and a half. Keeping in mind that pot roast in a slow cooker can take as long as 8 hours, that’s pretty fast!
With the lightning-fast prep time of less than 10 minutes and the time it takes for the pressure cooker to pressurize, your total cook time is still under 2 hours.
Difference between regular and quick release on a pressure cooker
You’ll often see pressure cooker recipes talk about the release valve. Some are very specific, telling you to wait ten minutes before using the quick release. Others might tell you to vent right away.
And others may tell you to let the pressure completely release on its own (which takes the longest). So what does this all mean?
Using a Pressure Cooker creates lots of steam in the pot
Since the food is cooked under high pressure, a lot of steam builds up in the pot. With some foods and recipes, you can release pressure immediately using the quick venting.
If you do this, just be careful! It will shoot up a jet of pressurized steam so you want to make sure your hand is not directly over the vent.
Sometimes, quick venting is necessary to prevent overcooking
For some recipes, quick venting is needed to stop the cook time. For example, if you pressure cooked cauliflower or other vegetables, you want to quick release the steam to avoid additional cooking.
Other times, slow-release is helpful for extending the cook-time
In other cases, you may want to keep the steam and pressure for a longer period of time. In this case, you let the pressure cooker sit and the pressure and steam will slowly release. In doing this method, you extend the cook time of the food.
Slow venting, then quick venting can reduce the forceful steam
Finally, some recipes might have you quick release the steam after a few minutes. This helps prevent the forceful venting of the steam that can, in some cases, spray out some of the ingredients with it.
In this recipe, quick or slow venting is up to you
For my pressure cooker pot roast, you can either let it sit and release slowly or you can quick release the steam. Either method will produce amazingly tender meat. It really just depends on how big of a hurry you are in to eat the delicious meal.
Keto-Friendly Pot Roast Sides
Traditionally, pot roast is served with carrots, onions, and potatoes. This mix of vegetables isn’t keto-friendly. But, you’ll never miss those old standards when you serve this melt in your mouth pot roast with keto risotto or cauliflower mash. I also love to use the sauce as part of keto gravy.
I love having this roast as part of a meal prep. To add variety to the dish and the week, you can add any of these keto side dishes. Feeling a bit more inspired? Use the pot roast as barbacoa style beef and pair it with my Keto Spanish Cauliflower Rice or cilantro lime cauliflower rice to make a burrito bowl!
Other Ninja Foodi Pressure Cooker Recipes
If you love this recipe, you should check out some of my other easy Ninja Foodi recipes. They include reader favorites like my pressure cooker pulled pork and instant pot keto BBQ ribs.
Ninja Foodi Pressure Cooker Pot Roast Recipe
Ingredients
- 3.5 lb Beef Bottom Round Roast
- 2 tbsp Homemade Ranch Seasoning Mix
- 1/2 cup warm water, I microwaved mine in a mug for 1 minute
- 2 tsp Beef Bouillon
- 8 tbsp Salted Butter
- 7 Greek Pepperoncini Peppers
Key Tool I Used
Instructions
- Add the roast to the Ninja Foodi pot
- Warm your water in the microwave for 1 minute. Then, stir in the beef bouillon
- Sprinkle the roast with the spice mixture and pour on the bouillon broth. Top with a stick of butter and the peppers.
- Sit the cooking pot in the Foodi base and twist & lock the pressure cooker lid. Double check that your vent on the lid is turned to "seal"
- Plug in your Ninja Foodi, select "Pressure Cooker", and cook on “High” for 1.5 hours.
- Once the clock reaches zero, you can allow the pressure to release normally (~15 minutes). If you’re in a rush, you can release the pressure quickly by turning your vent on the lid from "seal" to "vent".
Video
Nutrition Details
The nutrition facts come from entering the recipe ingredients into Spoonacular API, a database of food ingredients. They may vary for any recipe based on the exact product used. The keto sweeteners I use have 0g net carbs & are not included because sugar alcohols do not impact most people. This is provided as a courtesy, but you can do your own calculations if you wish!
