Instant Pot Venison Roast with Potatoes is a perfect recipe for your Sunday roast or holiday dinner. Loaded with richness and flavor, it is an effortless dinner for meat lovers.
If you’ve got a venison roast from a hunting trip, this is a perfect way to enjoy it. You can also buy a venison roast or if you don’t want to use venison, you can use a pork or beef roast as well. Learn more about venison here.
Why You’ll Love It
- Thanks to the Instant Pot, you can make this dish in no more than 90 minutes, and most of that time is completely hands off, so you can walk away and get something else done while you wait for the roast to cook.
- With the Instant Pot’s pressure cooking function, your venison roast will turn out incredibly tender and flavorful in a fraction of the time it would take using traditional methods.
- Whether you prefer a classic roast with potatoes and carrots or you want to experiment with different seasonings and ingredients, the Instant Pot can accommodate various ingredients.
» Also try this Instant Pot Pork Roast or Instant Pot Corned Beef.
Ingredients You Need
As with any roast recipe, you don’t need a lot of ingredients, beyond a high-quality roast and some flavoring elements. I like to use red wine and beef broth, with a little bit of balsamic. You can also add onions and baby potatoes to the Instant Pot to make a complete meal.
- Venison roast: The large chunk of meat from deer is usually termed venison roast. It is tender and very flavorful. The meat has a very rich and earthy flavor to it. You can choose any cut for this recipe, just make sure it is boneless.
- Red wine: Red wine adds tons of flavor to the meat. It doesn’t only help in tenderizing the meat but also adds richness to it. If you don’t want to add wine, you can substitute it with additional broth.
- Beef broth: Beef broth will help in cooking the meat. Moreover, it will also add flavor.
- Balsamic vinegar: It not just adds acidity but also adds a complexity of flavor.
- Herbs: Add Dried rosemary and thyme for aroma and flavor.
- Onions & Baby potatoes: Onions and baby potatoes are a good side with a venison roast. You can also add other root vegetables, like carrots or parsnips.
- Salt & pepper
- Cooking oil
Tools Used in This Recipe
The nice thing about this recipe is that you can cook your whole meal in one pot. Because of this you won’t need many kitchen tools.
- Instant Pot
- Whisk
- Slotted spoon
Helpful Tips
- Overcooking can lead to a dry and tough venison.
- The size of your roast will also change the cook time. Mine was a 2 pound roast.
How to Make Instant Pot Venison Roast
Step 1: Prep & sauté
Wash the venison roast and pat it dry using a kitchen towel.
Select the sauté mode on the Instant Pot and add vegetable oil. Once the oil heats up, place the venison roast in it and sear it on all sides until it gets a bit browned. Once done, take the roast out of the Instant Pot and cancel sauté mode.
Step 2: Deglaze the pot
Now pour beef broth, balsamic vinegar, and red wine into the inner pot of the Instant Pot. Whisk to deglaze the pot by removing the brown bits at the bottom of the pan and let the liquid sit in the Instant Pot for about 3 minutes. This will help cook off the alcohol in the wine.
Step 3: Pressure cook
Place the venison roast in the Instant Pot and seal the lid. Select high pressure and set the timer to 40 minutes.
Once the timer is up, allow a 10-minute natural release, then release any remaining pressure. Take off the lid and add onions, potatoes, and herbs to the Instant Pot. We wait until this point to add the vegetables because they’ll become incredibly soggy and fall apart if you add them any sooner.
Step 4: Add the vegetables
Seal the lid again and set the timer to 8 minutes on high pressure. Once the time is up, allow a 10 minute natural release then quickly release the remaining pressure. Take off the lid.
Remove the vegetables from the pot and place them on the serving plate. Take the venison roast out of the instant pot and let it rest for about 5-10 minutes.
Step 5: Thicken the sauce
Select sauté mode and reduce the broth until it thickens up a bit. You can add a cornstarch and water slurry to the pot if the sauce is too thin for you. Slice the roast and serve it with vegetables and reduced au jus sauce.
Where to Get Venison
Likely, if you’re wanting to make this recipe, you already have a source of venison and are looking for a way to cook it.
You won’t find venison at the regular grocery store, so it might be difficult to source it if you or someone you know doesn’t hunt. I often get mine from a friend, or I’ve also gotten it through an online store.
Serving Ideas
Although venison goes very well with baby potatoes and onions, you can serve it with a variety of sides as well. For instance, serve it with mashed potatoes, roasted vegetables like carrots, fresh garden salad, creamy potato salad, or macaroni salad.
You can serve this dish with any side dish you like. That’s the best part – they go with everything.
Try serving them with these sides that you can also make in the Instant Pot:
Questions About the Recipe
Can you overcook venison in a pressure cooker?
Yes. Like any way of cooking, once meat is overcooked you are left with a dry mess that is beyond repair. Make sure to follow a recipe and be aware of the size of the roast in the recipe. This recipe is for a 2 pound roast. If yours is bigger or smaller then the cooking time will need to be adjusted.
You want to cook your venison to an internal temperature of at least 160°F(70°C)
on your meat thermometer. It can go higher than that, but you don’t want to exceed 190°F(85°C) or the meat might be dry and tough.
Do you cover the meat with liquid in a pressure cooker?
No, you only add enough liquid for the pressure cooker to come up to pressure. While the meat is cooking it will release juices to aid in cooking and add flavor.
Do you have to brown the roast before cooking it in the Instant Pot?
You don’t have to but you will want to. It adds so much flavor to the meat and the au jus sauce. It really is the secret to building amazing flavor.
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Instant Pot Venison Roast With Potatoes
Note: Made in a 6-qt Instant Pot
Equipment
- Whisk
- Slotted spoon
Ingredients
- 2 pound (907 g) venison roast
- 1 tablespoon (15 ml) cooking oil
- 1/2 cup (118 ml) red wine
- 1/2 cup (118 ml) beef broth
- 1 tablespoons (15 ml) balsamic vinegar
- 1 tablespoon (2 g) dried rosemary
- 1/2 tablespoon (2 g) dried thyme
- 1 pound (454 g) baby potatoes
- 1/2 onion roughly chopped
- Salt & pepper to season
Instructions
- Rinse and pat dry the roast.
- Heat the Instant Pot on saute mode for 3-5 minutes. Add oil to the inner pot. Sear the roast on both sides, then remove it from the pot and turn off saute mode.
- Pour in the red wine, beef broth, and balsamic vinegar. Whisk the browned bits off the bottom of the pot. Let sit for 3 minutes for the alcohol to evaporate. Return the roast to the pot.
- Lock the lid. Press the Pressure Cook button and set the time to 40 minutes. It will take 5-10 minutes for the pot to come up to pressure.
- When the time is up, allow a 10 minute natural release. Add the potatoes and onions to the pot. Close the lid and set the time to 8 minutes. When the time is up, again allow a 10-minute natural release.
- Remove the vegetables and roast from the pot. Allow the roast to rest for 5 minutes before slicing. During this time, turn on saute mode and cook down the broth until slightly thickened.
- Serve the roast with the potatoes and onions, with sauce poured over the top.
Notes
- Overcooking can lead to a dry and tough venison.
- The size of your roast will also change the cook time. Mine was a 2 pound roast.
Nutrition
Laura is a passionate home cook and the owner of A Pressure Cooker Kitchen. She is dedicated to helping people create delicious Instant Pot meals with ease. Laura is an expert at developing recipes that can be prepared quickly and easily using a pressure cooker.
Not sure what I did wrong. I followed the recipe exactly. The meat was very dry. We used the juices in the pot to pour over the meat. I usually do not make venison so I am not used to the meat being so dry.
Usually the reason for a dry venison is overcooking. It’s a very lean meat with no fat marbling, so it doesn’t turn out like beef pretty much no matter what you do to it, but if you add too much salt before cooking and overcook it, it will become quite dry. It’s likely that your Instant Pot cooks hotter than mine or your roast was smaller. It might have gone over 200 degrees internal temp.
How long would I cook a 4 lb venison roast? Would I double the time on this recipe?
Hi Jennifer, the rule of thumb is 20 minutes per pound. We cooked our 2 pound roast for 40 minutes. So, following that logic, your 4 pound roast should cook for an hour and 20 minutes. We haven’t cooked one that size to test the timing. Hope it comes out great for you!
A friend gave me a venison roast. This recipe helped me cook it and it came out great.
So happy we could help Levi!
I was worried that the roast would be dry. It came out fine.
We are happy to hear it Lucie!
Perfect