This flavorful recipe for Instant Pot Bottom Round Roast is cooks up fast and easy in a pressure cooker and includes a delicious brown gravy with mushrooms and onions.

Beef bottom round roast made in an instant pot served on a bed of rice with mushrooms and onions.

Bottom Round Roast in the Instant Pot Recipe

Fall-apart-tender instant pot bottom round roast (aka rump roast) is made in a standard 6-quart Instant Pot or any brand of electric pressure cooker. My guys love this savory beef served with a side of rice, all slathered with seasoned gravy.

Since there are no bones in this cut of beef, your family can eat the entire roast, making it very economical. And what Mom doesn’t love budget-friendly beef with grocery prices the way they are?

Once I began making roast in my Instant Pot, I never looked back. You can have fork-tender beef in way less time than conventional oven cooking.

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Beef roast made in the instant pot with rice on a serving platter.

Cooking Tips

Subsitute top round or eye of round roast if you can’t find a bottom round in the meat case – they will cook in the same manner.

Cooking roast in the Instant Pot not only makes it super tender and juicy, but the pressure used intensifies all the flavors.

You can also make this roast from frozen. See below for the cook-from-frozen directions.

Ingredients Needed to Make Bottom Round Roast in the Instant Pot

Olive oil: This is for searing the roast. You can substitute vegetable, canola, coconut, or avocado oil for browning a roast. This adds tons of flavor to the roast and helps to seal in juices.
Bottom round roast: A three pound roast will fit nicely into a standard 6-quart Instant Pot electric pressure cooker. For roasts bigger in size, you’ll need the 8-quart Instant Pot.
Baby Bella mushrooms (aka cremini mushrooms): You can substitute button mushrooms if preferred, but I find Baby Bellas have a richer flavor because they are more mature mushrooms.
Red onion
Fresh garlic cloves: thinly sliced.
Spices: dried rosemary, dried thyme, bay leaves
Dry red wine
Balsamic vinegar: If you don’t have balsamic vinegar on hand, use red wine vinegar or even cider vinegar.
Beef broth
Water
Cornstarch

All the ingredients needed to make Instant Pot Bottom Round Roast.

How to Cook Bottom Round Roast in Instant Pot

To Make the Roast

Using paper towels, pat the roast dry on all sides. Season well with kosher salt and pepper. Let the roast rest, uncovered, at room temperature on the counter for 30 minutes to remove some of the chill from the meat.

Using the sauté setting on the Instant Pot, add the olive oil. When the oil is nicely hot, carefully add the rested roast to the pot.

Sear the roast on both sides until nicely browned, 3-5 minutes per side; remove to a platter.

A seared bottom round roast in the pressure cooker.

Remove all but 1 tablespoon of oil from the Instant Pot. Add the sliced onions to the Instant Pot. Sauté for 3 minutes, or until starting to soften.

Baby vella mushrooms added to the onions in the pressure cooker.

Add the mushrooms to the onions in the Instant Pot.

Once the mushrooms and onions have softened, add the garlic, rosemary, and thyme; sauté for 1 minute.

Add the red wine, balsamic vinegar, beef broth and bay leaves, stirring to combine. Bring to a boil and simmer for 5 minutes.

Balsamic vinegar added to the aromatics in the gravy.

Bay leaves added to the mushroom and onion mixture in the gravy.

Return the seared roast to the Instant Pot, along with any drippings and juices on the platter.

Beef roast ready to be cooked under pressure in the gravy.

Lock the Instant Pot lid into place, making sure the release valve is set to the closed position. Choose the high pressure setting for 60 minutes of cooking time, bringing the Instant Pot to full pressure.

If your bottom round roast is frozen, you will need to cook it for 75 minutes under pressure.

Once the cooking time has elapsed and the timer sounds, allow the Instant Pot to naturally release pressure for 30 minutes. If any pressure remains in the Instant Pot at this point, perform a quick release to remove it.

A fork-tender Bottom Round Roast in the Instant Pot.

Carefully remove the Instant Pot lid and test the roast with a fork to be sure the meat is tender. Upon inserting a fork into the beef, give it a twist.

If the meat doesn’t easily render to the movement of the fork, lock the Instant Pot lid back into place and cook the roast for an additional 10 minutes, followed by another natural pressure release.

Testing an Instant Pot Bottom Round Roast with a meat fork.

Make the Gravy

To make the gravy, carefully remove the roast to a platter and cover with foil.

Place the liquids in the pot into a gravy separator (also called a fat separator) to remove the fats; return the de-fatted liquids to the Instant Pot.

In a small bowl, combine the cornstarch with the water to make a slurry, whisking until smooth; stir the prepared slurry into the liquids in the Instant Pot.

Using the sauté setting on the Instant Pot, bring the liquid to a boil, constantly whisking until the liquid thickens into a gravy.

Brown gravy for the Instant Pot Bottom Round.

Serve the roast with warm rice on the side, smothering both the meat and the rice with lots of gravy, as desired.

Use the leftover roast for adding to pasta such as mac and cheese or pasta salad. We also use it to make wraps and sliders.

Is Bottom Round Roast Tender?

It sure can be as long as it’s cooked properly. In this Instant Pot beef recipe, the roast is essentially braised in liquid under pressure. Testing the roast with a fork to see if it’s tender is always advised when braising roast. If it’s not fork-tender, the roast needs a little more time cooking under pressure in the Instant Pot.

Bottom round roast can also be cooked at a high temperature until just medium-rare. When using this method, the roast especially needs REST at room temperature before and after cooking to allow the protein fibers to relax.

How to Cut a Bottom Round Roast

Bottom round roast cooked as directed in this recipe will literally fall apart into chunks once it is fully tender. If you want to slice the roast, cool it completely, then chill thoroughly before slicing. Slicing this roast while still warm will only encourage it to fall apart.

Bottom round roast cooked at a high temperature until medium rare should be sliced across the grain into thin slices.

Can I Cook the Roast From Frozen?

Yes, you can, as long as the roast will fit down into the Instant Pot, leaving room all round for the liquid to circulate and create steam to make pressure.

You will also need to increase the cooking time as directed in the recipe card.

Should I Marinate a Bottom Round Roast?

I have found that there’s no need to marinate roast that you are cooking in the Instant Pot. This is because cooking ingredients under pressure amplies all the flavor, including anything spicy.

What to Serve with Roast

Layered with fresh summer ingredients like tomatoes, pinto beans, bacon, corn, cheese, and Jiffy cornbread mix, this Old Fashioned Cornbread Salad is a beautiful side dish for any roast.

Mashed potatoes, leftover or not, simply seasoned with salt, pepper and garlic, formed into potato pancakes and fried hot and fast on a griddle or in a skillet.

Crispy roasted Air Fryer Broccoli Parmesan will become your staple side dish that’s easy, takes about 10 minutes, and is tasty for the entire family.

More Favorite Roast Recipes

Instant Pot Chuck Roast made in just minutes with potatoes and baby carrots in the Instant Pot is another family fav at my house.

Juicy and tender Air Fryer Chuck Roast with potatoes and carrots cooks in a fraction of the time and has a crispy exterior crust that adds divine flavor.

Eye of round is a simple boneless beef roast, and is what’s called a “whole muscle” cut of beef. It’s one of the best roasts sliced thin and served with gravy.