For a great tasting, super easy recipe that is perfect for feeding a crowd, meal planning, or Game Day, try Instant Pot Barbecue Beef. Use the meat for barbecue beef sandwiches, or over rice or on potatoes. This is essentially a 2-ingredient pressure cooker barbecue beef (if you use premade bbq sauce), and it is delicious!
Instant Pot Barbecue Beef
When it comes to cooking a beef roast in your electric pressure cooker, the Chuck roast is probably the most tender, a fall-apart cut you can make (trim the visible fat first, for this recipe).
What if you happen to have a Rump roast, or Bottom Round, as it is also called? This cut of beef is leaner than the chuck, so it comes out a little less fall apart, but it shreds very well.
You can use it for almost anything from French Dip sandwiches or tacos, to shredded beef, which is where I’m going with this recipe.
This BBQ Beef is easy to make. You just brown all sides of the roast chunks, then sauté the onions. After that you just add the roast back in with the broth/water, and cook it!
Pile the shredded beef high on a kaiser bun, or your favorite slider rolls. It’s so good on mashed potatoes, too! Lots of uses for this Instant Pot Barbecue Beef recipe!
I’ve included one of my barbecue sauce recipes to use with this Instant Pot Shredded Beef. If you have your own favorite recipe, go ahead and use that. You can also use your favorite bottled sauce, which I sometimes do! It’s so easy!
Instant Pot Mississippi Pot Roast
Instant Pot Simple Pot Roast
Instant Pot Pulled Pork
Instant Pot Bone-In Ham
Instant Pot Barbecue Beef is an easy shredded beef recipe to make, & versatile. Make bbq beef sandwiches, serve over rice or potatoes. Pressure cooker bbq beef is tasty!
- 3 - 4 lbs Bottom Round or Chuck Roast* (cut in thirds)
- Salt
- Pepper
- 2 Tablespoons Vegetable Oil
- 1 Onion, cut in half, sliced into ¼" thick half-rings
- 1½ cups Water or Beef Broth
- 1 - 2 cups Barbecue Sauce**
- 1½ cups Ketchup
- ¼ cup Apple Cider Vinegar
- ½ cup Brown Sugar
- 2 Tablespoons Worcestershire Sauce
- 1 Tablespoon Paprika (or smoked paprika)
- 1 teaspoon Liquid Smoke
- 1 teaspoon Chili Powder
- ½ teaspoon Salt
- 1 teaspoon Garlic Powder
- 1/8 teaspoon Cayenne Powder (more for spicy)
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Season the beef chunks with salt and pepper. Set aside.
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Turn on the pot's Sauté function. When it is hot, add the oil and then the roast chunks. Brown a few minutes on each side.
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Take out the meat and set on a plate and add the onion to the pot with a splash or two of the water/broth. Cook for a couple of minutes, scraping the bottom of the pot, to get the browned bits up (deglaze).
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Add the remaining water/broth, and the meat back in. Close the lid and lock in place. Set the steam release knob to the Sealing position.
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Cancel the Sauté function.
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Set to Pressure Cook/Manual, High Pressure, and use the +/- buttons (or dial) to select 60 minutes. When the cook cycle is finished, let the pot sit undisturbed for 10-15 minutes (10-15 minutes Natural Release). A smaller roast, like 2 pounds) means smaller chunks, so might only need 45 minutes cook time.
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Turn the steam release knob to the Venting position (or push button if you have one) and release the remaining pressure. When the pin in the lid drops down, open and remove the meat to a large bowl to shred.
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If the meat isn't shreddable, put it back in and cook it another 10 to 15 minutes.
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Use two forks to shred the meat.
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Use a slotted spoon to remove the onion from the pot and add to the shredded beef.
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Mix in some of the barbecue sauce. How much is up to you. If you want to use the meat for tacos, or something not bbq, divide it and just put the sauce on the portion you want to be bbq.
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Serve on buns, or over mashed potatoes, rice, in tortillas, pita bread, etc.
*Chuck roast is more tender, and a bit fattier
**You can use any barbecue sauce, so if you have a favorite brand of pre-made sauce, or your own recipe, go ahead and use that. Very flexible. Calorie count will vary.
Resources to Make Instant Pot Barbecue Beef Recipe and More
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Victoria Gey
Is this recipe for thawed roasts, or can you do frozen as you can with chicken breasts? Interesting in doing this for the weekend.
Sandy
It is for thawed roasts, but you can cook it from frozen, and may just need to add some time.
Cathy Reiss
Hi. I’m doubling the recipe and using about 7 lbs of meat. Do I also double the liquid? Any suggestion for how long it should cook?
Sandy
I wouldn’t double the liquid, but you will want extra sauce for serving. If you cut the meat into chunks you can keep the cook time the same.
Josephene
I am going to try this today.
Is it important to release the rest of the steam? Can I let it release its pressure naturally, completely?
My IP sounds a warning if I try to put the lid on while it’s in Sauté mode!
Sandy
Yes, you can do a natural release.
J Stowe
The chuck roast I got is 2 lbs. Do I need to make any adjustments to the recipe?
Sandy
No, you should be fine. You may end up with a little extra sauce, but that can be easily used.
Amy
This was very easy and came out delicious. I liked how you gave the suggestion of less time if you use less meat. I am somewhat new to Instant Pot and not all recipes tell you how to modify things if you change the amount. I needed to make extra – 4.5 pounds, and I tried 65 minutes cooking time and then the natural release. It was perfect and my family loved it. Thank you!
Michael
Loved the sauce. Thanks for the recipe.
Maureen Bruno
Making this with a pork roast tonight, it has a lot of fat on it will I be able to get the fat out after it cooks, I know you need fat for cooking.
Sandy
I trim the fat off before I shred it after pressure cooking.
Randy
Will this bbq beef allow me to pass into the next dimension?
Sandy
That depends on which dimension you consider the next. You see, I’m in the 9th, and this recipe will not allow me passage to the 10th. I believe if you are in dimensions 2-5 it will allow you passage. It may also depend on wether or not you make homemade bbq sauce. The Instant Pots are bigger on the inside.
Jamie
I have the beef in my instant pot now and I made the bbq sauce. Do I need to cook the sauce before I add it to the meat?
Sandy
No you don’t.