Instant Pot Venison Roast is hearty and fall apart tender. The venison is cooked under pressure in a rich, savory sauce that is full of aromatics and vegetables. This easy to put together venison recipe is perfect for seasoned deer meat cooks and newbies alike.
Pearl onions, mini potatoes, and fall apart tender venison cooked in a seasoned brown gravy, that's what you'll find in this venison roast instant pot recipe.
If you are new to cooking venison, welcome! I have lots of recipes to share with you. Some favorites are slow cooker venison sandwiches and dutch oven venison stew. This Instant Pot venison roast recipe is a great place to start, as it comes out extremely tender and is largely hands off.
Venison doesn't have to be complicated. Different cuts are going to require different cooking styles, but once you get the hang of it, venison can be as simple to prepare as chicken or beef. Venison roasts are best cooked either low and slow or by pressure cooking. They are also great for making Homemade Venison Jerky.
I make this in my Instant Pot, but if you have a Ninja Foodi Deluxe (it's an air fryer, pressure cooker, etc.) that works great as well. Any pressure cooker will do.
Ingredients
- venison roast
- cremini mushrooms
- pearl onions (or yellow onion)
- carrots
- mini potatoes
- garlic
- venison stock or beef stock
- balsamic vinegar
- olive oil
- italian seasoning
- salt
- fresh ground black pepper
How to Make a Venison Roast in the Instant Pot
Pat the roast dry with paper towels and season it generously with salt and pepper.
Turn on the Instant Pot and select the "Sauté" mode. Add olive oil to the pot. Once the oil is hot, sear the venison roast on all sides until it gets a nice brown crust.
Pour in the beef broth or venison broth and balsamic vinegar. Use a wooden spoon to scrape up any browned bits from the bottom of the pot.
Place roast back into the Instant Pot and add italian seasoning. Lock the lid in place. Set the Instant Pot to "Pressure Cook" mode on high and set to 45 minutes cook time.
When the 45 minutes are up, carefully quick release.
Add in carrots, peeled pearl onions (see note on best way to peel), minced garlic, potatoes, and mushrooms. Set to 7 minutes of cooking time at high pressure.
When the cook time is up, allow to natural release fully.
Remove the lid and slice or shred meat and serve.
How to Serve Instant Pot Venison
This recipe is a great dinner option because it's an all in one pot meal. The sides are cooked right along the venison roast.
This can also be served alongside additional sides like homemade cheese biscuits, salad, mashed potatoes or mashed sweet potatoes, or roasted veggies.
Variations and Substitutions
- Red wine can be added in place of balsamic vinegar. You can use up to ½ cup of red wine, compared to the ¼ cup of balsamic vinegar.
- This recipe can be made with beef instead of venison, if preferred. A chuck roast or a rump roast would both work well.
- In this recipe I used pearl onions. They are sweet and look lovely as part of a rich roast. They are however a pain to peel. If you want, you can substitute in a diced yellow onion. This will still give you the savory onion flavor, but way less work.
Best way to peel pearl onions
Pearl onions are sweet and delicious. They are also adorable and add a nice look to stews and roasts. They can be tedious to peel, here is the best way I have found.
Trim off the root ends of the pearl onions and make a shallow "X" cut on the opposite end. Place them in a pot of boiling water for about 1-2 minutes.
After blanching, immediately transfer the onions to a bowl of ice water. This shocking process will stop the cooking and make it easier to handle the onions.
Once the onions are cooled, simply squeeze the onion near the root end, and the skin should easily slip off. The "X" cut you made earlier will help with this process.
More venison recipes
Recipe FAQs
Venison is extremely lean, which can result in a tough or dry final product if not prepared correctly. It is key to cook venison correctly for the specific cut you are using and to make sure you are using fat to add flavor and moisture. Roasts will benefit from slow cooking or pressure cooking in liquid. Venison backstraps will benefit from quick cooking and keeping them medium rare at most.
If you or your family members aren't hunters, you can find venison for purchase. It is available at some well stocked grocery stores, butcher shops, or online retailers like Force of Nature or Wild Fork Foods.
Instant Pot Venison Roast
Ingredients
- 2 lb. venison roast
- 8 oz. cremini mushrooms quartered
- 1 cup pearl onions peeled (or yellow onion)
- 4 carrots peeled and cut in thirds
- 1 ½ lbs. mini potatoes
- 4 garlic cloves minced
- 1 cup venison stock or beef stock
- ¼ cup balsamic vinegar
- 2 tbsp. olive oil
- 1 tbsp. italian seasoning
- 1 tsp. salt
- 1 tsp. fresh ground black pepper
Instructions
- Pat the roast dry with paper towels and season it generously with salt and pepper.
- Turn on the Instant Pot and select the "Sauté" mode. Add olive oil to the pot. Once the oil is hot, sear the venison roast on all sides until it gets a nice brown crust.
- Pour in the beef broth or venison broth and balsamic vinegar. Use a wooden spoon to scrape up any browned bits from the bottom of the pot.
- Place roast back into the Instant Pot and add italian seasoning. Lock the lid in place. Set the Instant Pot to "Pressure Cook" mode on high and set to 45 minutes cook time.
- When the 45 minutes are up, carefully quick release.
- Add in carrots, peeled pearl onions (see note on best way to peel), minced garlic, potatoes, and mushrooms. Set to 7 minutes of cooking time at high pressure.
- When the cook time is up, allow to natural release fully.
- Remove the lid and slice or shred meat and serve.
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