Mississippi Pot Roast is one of the best comfort foods ever. It's also usually very unhealthy and full of preservatives and other un-natural ingredients in the aus jus packet and the ranch packet. You can feel good about feeding this to your whole family since this recipe uses whole foods and does not use any processed ingredients.
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Equipment
All you need is a pressure cooker! If you're wondering what to hear this pot roast with I would recommend my Instant Pot Baked Potatoes. You get start the potatoes while you prep the carrots and onions then switch them over to the oven to crisp up!
Ingredients and Swaps
This recipe is a little different because it is a bunch of swaps in and of itself! So I'm going to tell you what is typically in a Mississippi Pot Roast and what changes I made to make it guilt free (and Whole30, and Paleo, and Keto).
- Chuck Roast- This I didn't switch out! But what you could try is a pork shoulder or a whole chicken. Honestly, this combo of ingredients would be good on any meat you want to try. If you can't find chuck roast and want to stick with beef, The Kitchn did a great write up about the best meats for pot roast.
- Aus Jus Packet- If you check the back of the packet you'll see a ton of ingredients you won't recognize. Really all we wanted was beef flavor! Get a really high quality beef bone broth. Kettle and Fire Bone Broth is full of nutrients and flavor with none of the identifiable ingredients.
- Ranch Dressing Mix- I know we all love Hidden Valley Ranch, but it too is full of preservatives and weird ingredients. Ranch seasonings are probably already in your kitchen and they're so easy to throw together! You need garlic powder, onion powder, dill, and chives to really get the flavor right.
- Pepperoncini Peppers- Don't skip out on these. I personally hate them in their jarred form, but they add a really amazing brightness and hit of acid to the dish. I recommend cutting off the stems so it's easy to eat them with the roast. If you're doing a Whole30 make sure that they don't have unapproved preservatives such as Sodium Bisulfite or Metabisulfite.
- Butter- An entire stick of butter is in the original recipe, but I am really not sold on it's requirement. If you are wanting to cut calories or fat, leave this out.
- Carrots and Onions- The first time I made Mississippi Pot Roast I wanted more to it than meat and potatoes. So I added classic pot roast vegetables. Feels free to skip them altogether or add peas too!
Top Tips and Alternative Cooking Methods
My number one tip for the best Mississippi pot roast recipe which will make it better than all of your friends is to pre-salt the meat. The night before you're going to make this, or even a few hours before, take it out and generously salt over all sides. The salt will get taken in and will season it from within. Game changer, I promise.
My second top tip is to sear the roast. Is this required? No. But a really amazing reaction between the sugars and protein with heat. It gives you golden brown crusts and is why roasted chicken tastes better than boiled. If you're interested, read up about it over at Serious Eats.
Check out these other Instant Pot recipes!
If you don't have a pressure cooker, or you just want to spice up your life then there are two other ways you can make this dish.
First, you can make this in your slow cooker. If you don't want your roast to be too watery, you don't want to add liquid to the Crock Pot. Instead place 1 cup of beef broth over high heat and simmer until reduced to a syrup. Meanwhile, sear the meat in the stove, then place it in the slow cooker. Top with the remaining ingredients (butter on top) and slow cook on low for 8 hours.
Or you can use you Dutch oven for Mississippi Pot Roast. This method is perfect for cold winter nights since your oven will be on most of the day. Preheat your oven to 200 degrees. You may want to follow the above directions if you don't want too much liquid too reduce the beef broth. Sear the chuck roast and place in large Dutch oven then top with remaining ingredients. Roast for 8 hours or until meat falls apart.
FAQ
If you like to make your leftovers different from the original meal, then it's time to turn these into a sandwich or sliders! Super easy to heat up and throw on a bun.
To fix it this time, you can put the lid back on and do an additional 10 or so minutes under high pressure (depending on how tough it is). For next time if you are doing a very large roast, cut it up into large hunks of equal size to expedite the tenderization process.
Yes! Just make sure that you adjust the cooking time. Start with 90 minutes and see how tender the meat is. You can always put the lid back on to pressure cook it a bit longer.
If you're looking for more of a gravy consistency, then after pressure cooking set the Instant Pot to simmer. Add a tablespoon or two of Arrowroot powder and mix it will into the liquid. Simmer until thickened.
Mississippi Pot Roast is one of the most shared recipes of the last 10 years for good reason! Give it a try and let me know what you think! I have a feeling you'll like it even better than regular pot roast. If you have any issues, please shoot me an email or comment below. I'm here to help you get these right! Happy eating!
Recipe
Mississippi Pot Roast in the Instant Pot
Equipment
- Pressure Cooker or Instant Pot
Ingredients
- 3 lb beef chuck roast
- 1 tbsp olive oil
- 1 cup beef broth
- 3 tbsp pepperoncini juice
- 1 onion, cut into chunks
- 2 lbs carrots, each cut into 4 large pieces
- 1 tbsp dried chives
- 1 tsp garlic powder
- 1 tsp onion powder
- ½ tsp dried dill
- 1 tsp salt
- 8 pepperoncini peppers, whole
- 4 tbsp butter
Instructions
- Pat dry chuck roast and salt liberally on both sides. Let rest for at least 10 minutes, up to 24 hours.
- Set pressure cooker to "sauté" over high. When ready (it will say HOT), add olive oil and heat until shimmering. Add chuck roast and sear both sides for 5 minutes each.
- Add beef broth, pepperoncini, onion, carrots, all seasonings and pepperoncini peppers. Mix the best you can. Place butter on top. Seal lid and set to seal.
- Pressure cook on high for 60 minutes. Manually release pressure, or allow to naturally release for more tender meat.
- Serve immediately while hot. Will keep up to three days in a sealed container in the fridge. Enjoy!
NOTES
Nutrition
If you make this recipe, be sure to tag @thatzestlife in your photo! I would love to see what you made!
Shanna
Making this in the Instant pot is my new favorite way to make roast. It was so tender and juicy.
Megan
And SO much faster!
Carol J Welch
Much easier and faster than crock pot!! ♥️👍
Rachna
This is such a lovely one-pot meal. I also like your efforts to use whole foods in the dish. Thank you.
Megan
That's what I'm all about at That Zest Life! Real foods 🙂
Priya Srinivasan
Instant pot, pot roast looks very inviting! Love how you have explained it in detail. I bet anyone following your tips is going to make an amazing pot roast!!!
rebecca
Mississippi pot roast is THE BEST! it's so good in the IP too. thanks
Sara Welch
This is my kind of comfort food! Making this for dinner tonight; looks too good to pass up, indeed!
Pam Oberst
Best recipe for Mississippi Pot Roast! Salting and searing the meat really makes a huge difference!