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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.
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.
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: One of the reasons that I love pot roast is that you can simply add all of the ingredients to the cooking 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.
- For all day cooking, use the slow cooker function: 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. On low, this roast takes 6-8 hours to finish.
- For speed, use the pressure cooker function: To achieve melt in your mouth pot roast in under 2 hours, you can cook it on high pressure.
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 that are better for pot roasts:
- 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 to Cook a Pot Roast in Your Ninja Foodi
After making this dish several times, I realize that you need about 20-30 minutes of pressure cooking time per pound of roast. Most cuts of meat for pot roasts get more tender the longer, they cook so you generally don’t need to worry that you’ll overdo it.
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. 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 prevents 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. But, if it’s not listed in your recipe, feel free to do the natural release, it just extends the cook time.
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
Use DRDAVINAHS at checkout to save on some equipment & ingredients!
Equipment
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 Butter
- 7 Greek Pepperoncini Peppers, you can also swap this out for 1 cup of yellow onions
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"
- 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".
- Optional: For a crispier finish, add the air fryer lid and crisp the outside of the roast for 10 minutes on 400 degrees.
Recipe Notes
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!
