Whether you’re new to the kitchen at the Ninja Foodi or a seasoned veteran, this healthy pressure cooker roast is the perfect recipe for next week’s menu. Turn lean cuts of beef into a melted roast in your mouth with super tasty vegetables. And each serving is filled with 35 grams of protein with just 12 grams of carbs, 9 grams of fat, and 270 calories.
Best cuts for a healthy pot roast The choice of meat for pot roasting is typically lamb roasted, but we’re looking for a leaner cut of beef
to make a healthy pot roast
. And when it comes to lean roast beef, two options stand out.
Round roast eye: 115 calories, 23 g protein and 2 g fat
- Bottom round roast: 140 calories, 22
- baboon roast
g protein and 5 g fat Compare these to the
,
which has 175 calories, 19 g of protein and 11 g of fat in the same 100g (raw) serving. Nutrition facts extracted from the USDA Food Database.
Update: I used another great option in chuck tender roast for my Traeger smoked pot roast with 24g protein and 6g fat
.
I tried both roasts and found that the bottom round worked better. The small amount of extra fat goes a long way in terms of taste and tenderness. That said, the eye of the round was not that far away.
Does the pot roast become more tender the longer it is cooked
?
Roasting pot is interesting because we are cooking beef to a point where collagen (a protein) melts or dissolves, transforming into gelatin. This turns a piece of hard meat into a tender roast that crumbles. The fat content obviously helps, but this style of cooking is perfect for lean cuts like eye round or bottom round roasts.
in the pressure cooking section.
Pot Roast Seasoning Rub
As you will see in the next section, I left the onion and garlic out of the vegetable summary and put them in the seasoning mixture through the garlic and onion powder. Besides salt and pepper, that’s all the roast really needs. The recipe calls for adding sprigs of fresh rosemary during pressure cooking, but you can add dried herbs to the seasoning mix if desired.
Seasoning note: Dry the roast with paper towels before seasoning it and be sure to add the seasoning to your roast first thing before starting anything else. This will give you time to “melt” at the roast.
Low-carb vegetables for
pot roasting
I’m sure you’re familiar with the classic pot-roasted carrot-potato combo. With this recipe, however, I wanted to incorporate other low-carb vegetable options. The recipe calls for a daikon radish (pictured above), but I tried batches with quartered scallions and halved garlic cloves, turnips and parsnips. You could use smaller red radishes like those in my air fryer or keto cheeseburger pan.
Or you can go with the classic potatoes and carrots. You really can’t go wrong here.
Whatever you choose, you’ll want to cut them into fairly large pieces, about 2″ or so. Since the vegetables will be pressure cooked along with your Ninja Foodi pot roast all the time, the smaller pieces may get a little soft.
Oil in the pot or
in the meat?
I like to add oil directly to meat before burning it, especially in Ninja Foodi. Because the pot is slightly raised in the center, oil tends to accumulate around the edges. Covering the roast with a little oil before adding it to the pot ensures an even distribution of the oil on the surface and helps the seasoning adhere to the roast. This also saves the amount of oil needed, saving calories.
If you’ve made my Ninja Foodi Mexican chicken thighs or Instant Pot BBQ chicken, you may be wondering why the seasoning continues before the oil instead of adding the oil and seasoning simultaneously. Either method works, but I like to give the salt time to dissolve and work its magic on the surface of the roast without any interference from the oil. With the smaller, quick-cooking boneless chicken thighs, that’s not much of a concern.
Browning the roast at
the Ninja Foodi
You want to get a golden crust at your roast. Two tips to achieve the Maillard reaction:
- Hot is good. The Ninja Foodi pot should be completely heated before adding the meat. Allowing the roast to rest at room temperature while preparing means it won’t cool the pot as much.
- Press down when adding the meat to create touch points, then leave it alone. Do not readjust the roast once one side is down. Let it brown.
If you notice that any fans in the pot are getting too dark or smell the burnt pieces, use a spatula to scrape it before browning the remaining sides of the roast. You’ll add another tablespoon of vegetable oil in the next step, so if you need to add something to help with browning, go ahead.
Add
the vegetables
Once the roast is golden all over, set it aside and add your vegetables. Be sure to scrape all the affectionate, crunchy pieces from the bottom of the pot. You will add tomato paste to the vegetables and stir everything until the vegetables are completely covered. This will only take a few minutes.
With the typical pot roast, you can add something like red wine at this stage. You could go that route with about half a cup of wine, but I used a combination of red wine vinegar cabernet sauvignon and Worcestershire sauce.
The pressure cooker
roast
Once all the red wine vinegar and sauces form a thick red layer on the vegetables, turn off the Foodi. It’s time to add the roast back to the pot along with some beef broth or a stew liquid, and cook under pressure. You don’t want the meat to be completely submerged, only partially in the liquid.
I used the 6.5-quarter Ninja Foodi. If you are using a larger Foodi or pressure cooker, you may need more or less braised liquid. Adjust as needed until the bottom of the roast is just below the liquid.
The recipe calls for sprigs of rosemary and bay leaf, but you can swap it for thyme or any other herb you prefer.
> how long to pressure cook the pot roast?
In my testing, I’ve found that 90 minutes for a 2.5-pound roast and 80 minutes for a 2-pound roast are right in the money on both the Ninja Foodi and the Instant Pot. You may need to extend the cooking time for larger roasts. Or you might consider cutting them into smaller pieces. That would also facilitate the browning of roasts.
As a troubleshooting tip, if your roast is hard and doesn’t fall apart under pressure from a fork, you should probably seal your pressure cooker and extend the cooking time. I’ve seen many pressure cooker roast recipes with cooking times in the 30-minute range, and my roasts were barely at temperature at the time.
What about overcooking? You run the risk of your pot roast being a little dry when overcooked, but I didn’t experience a dry pot roast on any of my test batches with long cooking times.
Optional: Thicken
the pot roast sauce
I
think the most traditional method of serving roast pot is with sauce, but I quite like serving it with the fine broth and a little crusty bread to absorb everything. An early inspiration for this recipe was a video by Inga’s About to Eat where she made a chuck roast and root vegetable roast, serving it with the fine broth.
However, if you prefer to eat a sauce, the Ninja Foodi makes your life easier. You can activate the sauté function and add a suspension of cornstarch (two tablespoons of cornstarch and water). Within 6-8 minutes you should have a sauce covering the back of a spoon.
Want to use something else? Here are cornstarch substitutes for cooking and baking.
<img src="https://masonfit.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/10/browning-the-roast-in-the-Ninja-Foodi-910×1024.jpg" alt="Ninja Foodi pot roast with a
What to serve with your
Ninja Foodi pot roast
One of the best things about pot roasting is that all the components are there in a pot. You have your meat and vegetables. What else do you need?
I would keep it simple with some kind of bread. To keep it low carb, you could make something like these keto bagels. Or if you have carbs to spare, you could make healthy whole wheat rolls. There are also plenty of healthy bread options in stores these days, if you want to take a shortcut.
Since I made my roasted tomato sauce and whipped feta cheese, I’ve been on a kick of roasting fresh bread brushed with olive oil. If you have a frying pan, you can’t go wrong there.
If you go the radish and low-carb veggies route for your pot roast and have some extra carbs to play with, you could make a healthy mashed potato or smoked potatoes twice
.
However, you end up serving your Ninja Foodi pot roast, I’d love to know. Come back and let me know in a recipe review or review. And if you have any questions about recipes I missed, you can leave them in the comments below.
