I’m actually writing this on Saturday morning to post on Monday, and I’m wishing I’d done it last week because this easy keto balsamic beef pot roast recipe would be the perfect thing to be making today while winter storm Jonas is raging outside. ? ❄️ ⛄️
That being said, since it’s only January I’m sure you’ll have lots of other opportunities to make this Keto Balsamic Pot Roast recipe during snowstorms or otherwise. I have a feeling that once you’ve tried it you’ll be making this low carb pot roast recipe all the time like I do!
It’s a favorite with the Hungry Dudes (though I serve theirs with regular potatoes and mine with cheesy cauliflower puree) because it’s so tasty – it’s a favorite with me because it’s so easy and reheats well all week.
Everybody wins, and I love it when that happens. ?
Speaking of winning, guess who’s going to Belize for three weeks??
WE ARE! Woot! ✈️ ☀️ ? ? ?? ?
(Note to would be robbers – don’t waste your time. First of all we’re broke, because: Belize for three weeks. Also we’ll have a housesitter and my cats have violence issues. You’ve been warned.)
We leave on Saturday and are super excited for the trip! We’ll be on the island of Ambergris Caye in the town of San Pedro for most of the trip, with some side trips along the way. I’m bringing my laptop so I can post a weekly update with photos on Friday’s for anyone who is interested – assuming I can drag myself off the beach and reef long enough to spend even 10 minutes on the computer.
I’m not making any promises…
No worries though, I’m scheduling out some recipes to post while I’m gone – but even if I didn’t this easy beef pot roast is so easy and fantastic that you could just make this over and over all month and never miss me at all!
While I’m gone I’ll also be checking in once and awhile on social media – specifically Instagram where I’ll likely post lots of annoyingly sunny tropical photos of beautiful beaches and videos of us snorkeling.
Look away.
I should probably start packing soon, buuuut I’m the world’s best procrastinator so there’s that.
My to-do list is about 10 miles long, yet all I can think about is ☀️ ? ? ? ?? ? ?
I really do need to start chipping away at it though so I’m off to do that….
Soon….
Maybe one more coffee and you tube snorkeling video first….
Meanwhile you should totally make this easy balsamic beef pot roast! It’s my hand’s down favorite keto pot roast recipe EVAH.
As a side point, I first made this before I purchased my trusty Instant Pot, but now that I have it I make this pot roast in it all the time and it’s so easy and fast! I’ve included instructions on how to make pot roast in the Instant Pot below the regular instructions in the recipe section.
Keto Instant Pot Beef Pot Roast Recipe Video ??
Keto Balsamic Beef Pot Roast Notes:
I’ve updated the recipe to make it 40 minutes instead of 35 minutes as shown in the video, because some people have reported that their meat was not quite tender enough with the 35 minutes. I suspect this is because they used a larger roast or different cut of beef and failed to adjust the cooking time.
You need to pay attention to the weight of your roast. If it is larger than 3 pounds, it’s going to take a lot longer to cook and get tender. With a 2.5 – 3 pound boneless chuck roast, 35 – 40 minutes on high pressure is absolutely long enough to get tender chunks of pot roast. If you are looking for the meat to completely fall apart and shred, you should put it in for 50 minutes and allow for natural release of the steam, rather than quick release.
If you don’t have xanthan gum, arrowroot powder or konjac powder will work to thicken the gravy just as well.
For a creamy gravy, stir in 1/4 cup of sour cream after cooking.
Easy Keto Balsamic Beef Pot Roast
- Yield: 10 4 oz servings 1x
- Category: Low Carb Beef Recipe
- Cuisine: American
Description
This super easy and delicious low carb beef pot roast recipe can be made on the stove, in the slow cooker, or even in your Instant Pot! Keto, Atkins and Paleo friendly!
Ingredients
- One boneless chuck roast, approximately 3 lbs.
- 1 Tbsp kosher salt
- 1 tsp black ground pepper
- 1 tsp garlic powder
- 1/4 cup of balsamic vinegar
- 2 cups water
- 1/2 cup onion, chopped
- 1/4 tsp xanthan gum
- Fresh parsley, chopped to garnish
Instructions
- Season the Chuck roast with salt, pepper, and garlic powder on both sides.
- In a large heavy bottomed pan sear both sides of the roast until browned. Deglaze the pan with the balsamic vinegar and cook for one minute.
- Add the water and onion to the pan. Bring to a boil.
- Cover and simmer on low for 3 to 4 hours.
- Carefully remove the meat from the pan to a large bowl. Break carefully into chunks and remove any large pieces of fat or other refuse.
- Whisk the xanthan gum into the broth and add the meat back to the pan.
- Serve over “Better Than Potatoes” Cheesy Cauliflower Purée, garnished with lots of fresh chopped parsley.
To make in the Instant Pot:
- Cut your chuck roast in half so you have two pieces. Season the roast with the salt, pepper, and garlic powder on all sides. Using the saute feature on the instant pot, brown the roast pieces on both sides.
- Add 1/4 cup of balsamic vinegar, 1 cup water, and 1/2 cup onion to the meat. Cover and seal, then using the manual button set the timer for 40 minutes. When the timer runs out, release the pressure by moving the lever to the “venting” setting. Once all the pressure is released, uncover the pot.
- Carefully remove the meat from the pan to a large bowl. Break carefully into chunks and remove any large pieces of fat or other refuse.
- Use the saute function to bring the remaining liquid to a boil in the pot, and simmer for 10 minutes to reduce.
- Whisk in the xanthan gum, then add the meat back to the pan and stir gently.
- Turn off the heat and serve hot over cauliflower puree, garnished with lots of fresh chopped parsley.
Nutrition
- Serving Size: 3/4 cup meat with sauce
- Calories: 393
- Fat: 28g
- Carbohydrates: 3g net
- Protein: 30g
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Hi,
How long does this take in a slow cooker?
Also, do you still sear the meat in a pan and then add to the slow cooker?
Looking forward to trying this :)
Thanks
Definitely sear it first for the best flavor Jodie, and depending on the size of your roast, 6 hours on low or 4 hours on high should do it!
Thanks Melissa, trying this today :)
Damn auto correct!
I did type ‘Mellissa’ :)
Does this freeze well?
How about the crockpot? Or do you think it would somehow not be as flavorful?
Can I use a regular (non electronic) pressure cooker? I don’t have an electronic. Same time?
By the way – Mellissa, love you! So many great recipes and entertaining introductions! My gut is happier with your advice!!!
Enjoy Belize!! Super vacation!!!☀️☀️☀️
Bacon & butter friendly culture, gotta love it!!!
Christine, This isn’t my blog but you can use the old style pressure cooker and depending on what the weight of the pressure element is, 10 or 15 pounds, the heavier it is, the less time it will take. My cooker has a low and high pressure function. I always use the high except to hard cook eggs when I use the low pressure. I would suggest you try the same time, 35 minutes, and if the meat seems to still be a little tough, either build up the pressure and add 15 minutes OR the next time you try the recipe, increase the time if it was a little tough with 35 minutes.
It is SO much nicer to have the electric pressure cookers like Instant Pot!! I grew up with the old ones and one time, when we entered the house and the door banged a bit hard, dinner ended up on the ceiling!! Very scary time for the dog who ran out of the house and didn’t stop until he hit the sidewalk! Those were the days. But we survived. I cook almost everything in my cooker of a different brand name.
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Yeah! I’m so excited that you got an Instant Pot! I love love love mine and I love when other people make amazing recipes for it! Happy Vacation!
I 2nd that, Cristina! So happy to see the low-carb recipe with Instant Pot directions. I LOVE my Instant Pot so much that I bought a 2nd one! I use it for as many recipes as possible. Thank you, Melissa and have a great trip!
So sorry, Mellissa that I spelled your name wrong!
No problem Toria, I don’t know what my mother was thinking with the 2 ll’s – most have just one so it gets misspelled all the time and I’m used to it! :)
This looks yummy even though I’m not looking for low carb. I don’t have xanthan gum. How much cornstarch or flour would do the trick?
Thanks so much!
Also, I’ve started following you on Pinterest because all your recipes look so good! I watch my carbs, even though I can’t say I’m really DOING low carb!
1 Tbsp of cornstarch mixed into some of the liquid and then poured back in should do it Karen!
Thank you so much! I’ll be trying this soon. The first of many of your recipes I will be making.
Hopefully you’ll enjoy it and it won’t be the last! ;)
This looks excellent. I’m going to add this to next week’s menu !
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Hope you enjoy the trip and thanks for sharing this recipe, the beef looks tender!
Love your site and getting your emails. Can I use a dutch oven and then bake? If yes, how long? Thanks!
Yes! Sear the meat, then add the liquids and bring to a boil, then cover and bake at 350 for about 4 hours or until the meat is tender!
I do my pot roasts in the oven (in a dutch oven tightly covered) at 350*F, for 2.5 to 3 hours, depending on how thick it is. That’s for a 3 lb. chuck roast. It always comes out perfecto!
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Great recipe, but this heat recommendation for the oven is very excessive, in my experience. I made this today (using 2 3 lb roasts halved) and set the oven to 340º for the first half hour, then checked the liquid temperature and it was starting to boil. I turned the heat down to 250 for the remaining 45 minutes but this cooked the roast way too fast and it was overdone. I’m going to try setting the oven at 200º next time and then I think it might be a true low, slow cook for 2.5-3 hours.
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This roast is meant to be cooked until it falls apart and is very tender – if you want a roast that is sliceable then I suppose doing it your way would get those results.
Have a fantastic trip :) I love Belize.
Thanks Jeanette! It will be our first time there and we are really excited about it!
How long would you think to cook this in the crockpot ? Sounds so yummy , I can’t wait to try it!
4 hours on high should do it!
I don’t think robbers eat low carb or gluten free. You should be fine.
You know, I didn’t think of that but you’re probably right! I guess I don’t need to booby trap the front door now…
Can I ask a question about the xanthan gum? I’ve not used it to thicken sauces before, the first time I tried I just dropped a teaspoon in my soup and whisked, after a minute of vigorous whisking I found a teaspoon size white blob in my soup which was the xanthan gum still in its teaspoon shape, so I plucked it out and threw it away. The second time I tried to mix it with a bit of tepid water first, then whisked the goo into my soup. This worked a little better, but not great. Both times I was making Jalapeno Popper Soup, if that makes a difference.
Maybe arrowroot would work better for me, I’ve historically used sweet rice flour or cornstarch for thickening graves and sauces.
Any advice is greatly appreciated!
Gayle
Maybe because the popper soup was so thick and it had nothing to dissolve into – not sure Gayle, whisking usually does the trick for me! It might have been the brand you are using though I don’t know if it matters. Arrowroot is another good option if you have it.
Thanks Melissa, the brand I’m using is Bob’s Red Mill. I’ll have to try hardworking next time.
Try dissolving it first into a bit of olive oil! :-)
Vivian is correct. Xanthan gum will immediately bind to any moisture and start to expand. You end up with a glob of glue with no way for the inside powder to spread out and the water seeps in and turns the whole amount to a ball of gum. By dissolving the powder into an oil first, you can more easily distribute it among your liquid and it will slowly take up liquid and be more even. sprinkling it over the liquid as a fine mist while you whisk the liquid works as well but is more intensive and easier to accidentally drop a load in. When I use Xanthan gums for soups, I sprinkle it over the oil sauteed meats and veggies and stir it in BEFORE adding the broth. It always works.
The trick with xanthan is to use just a tiny bit (more like 1/8 or 1/4 of a teaspoon – a whole teaspoon would be make it uber thick), and it mixes best with a bit of fat. The liquid from the meat will have fat, so should whisk in nicely. You could also take like a quarter cup of the liquid out, mix that with the xanthan until incorporated, then mix it back in with the rest of the liquid and simmer a bit. But mostly – don’t plop a clump in. sprinkling works better than plopping. :)
Mary Ann, I tried your suggested sprinkling technique and it worked a treat, thank you for suggesting it!
yay! glad to hear. :)
You could always add some butter!! This sounds awesome!
Can you sub something for xantham gum? I’m allergic. Or skip it?
You can use arrowroot or another thickener – or skip it and it will be thinner, but just as good!
I also always set my electric pressure cooker on high whenever I’m doing a beef roast such as this. I am old fashioned of German heritage so I use contained-in-a-tea-mesh pickling spice for a sauerbraten taste. Just a preferen But I agree — low carb is not about adding a lot of other veggies. Muddies up the carb calculation waters. Great idea — hadn’t thought sauerbrautaten in a while.
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Sauerbraten is a great idea Judith, might make one myself soon too!!!
Do you change your Instant Pot setting from Saute to Low or High Pressure for the 35 minutes? This looks so good. Can’t wait to try it. Thanks! Have fun on vacation!
Yes – sorry if that wasn’t clear! My instant pot I set to Manual and then plug in the 35 minutes. If you have the option to set the pressure I’d go with high!
I’m making this right now (my first IP dish ever). I followed the steps but after 35 minutes on high pressure it’s tough and still mostly pink in the middle. Based on your pictures I was expecting it to be really tender and cooked through. I can’t figure out what I did wrong. Any ideas? Since I’m in the midst of it I recovered and went for another 15 minutes on high pressure. This will be interesting. :)
haha.. re-covered.. it’s yet to be determined if I actually recovered. ;)
It’s still tough :( . I’m going for another 15 minutes. Anyone?
I did mine for 90 minutes, and it’s absolutely delicious! I did 90 minutes because every other pot roast I’ve ever cooked in the instant pot said 90 minutes! Give it another try! I was glad I cooked mine on the trivet because the meat would’ve completely fallen apart had I tried to remove it with tongs!
Same thing happened to me :(
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I just made thus today and after 35 minutes mine was tough too. I put it back in for 15 minutes and it was perfect
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I did the same… After 35 minutes it was still tough so I put it back in for another 25. I have a question the recipe calls for 2 cups of h2o but the directions only use 1 cup????
Are you sure you were on high pressure and not low pressure? I can’t imagine needing another 25 on top of the original 35 if it was set to high pressure?
I had the same issue with a tough roast tonight. I suspect it has to do with the recipe calling for a quick release at the end. I suspect a full natural release would result in it coming out more tender. I really enjoyed the flavor of the recipe though, so I’ll probably give it another try with natural release.
I lways put veggies in my pot roast pan and bake it in the oven. That way they get all the flavorings too. Garlic, celery, carrots, turnips, celery, whole shrooms, brussel sprouts; maybe rutabaga, acorn squash or sweet potato for the carb-eaters. I want that meat to flavor as much veggie as I can get out of it! Gravy over the top just isnt the same as vegs roasted/braised in with meat, then with pan juices or gravy over them Y.U.M.
I don’t disagree Helene but I do like the pure, rich flavor of this version and without the extra veggies in the mix it’s easier to count the carbs for the gravy as well! But yes to all of the veggies you mentioned as well!
I had a 4.5 lb chuck roast so I cut it into 3 equal pieces. It turned out superb, this will be my go-to pot roast recipe from now on! My husband who dislikes most pot roasts because they are “too” done, raved over it.
I am an experienced IP user so I knew that I needed to deglaze the pot after browning the beef to keep from getting a “burn” notice. After deglazing with 1 cup beef broth (I subbed that for the water), I added the balsamic vinegar, the chopped up onion and then placed the 3 pieces of beef on top of that. I allowed for a 10 minute natural release.
My family doesn’t think a pot roast is a pot roast without veggies so after releasing the pressure, I removed the beef to a large pan and tented it with aluminum foil. I then added baby carrots and red potatoes cut in half to the pot and cooked on high for 3 minutes followed by a QR. I then removed the veggies and added them to the dish with the beef. I then followed your instructions again, cooking down the liquid and then thickening it. I then poured the yummy gravy over the roast and the veggies. I have a gorgeous photo of it but I don’t know how to share it here.
Also, I hope you don’t mind, I added this recipe to Carb Manager for my own use.
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this looks yummy!
And, don’t you have a big beastie family member who packs a gun and know karate stay at your house when you go out of town? *wink* *wink*
;)