This Instant Pot Cola Pulled Beef is tender, flavorful, and made with just 7 ingredients. It’s a super simple recipe that delivers big flavor with almost no prep.
This Instant Pot Cola Pulled Beef is your new go-to when you need something easy, hearty, and hands-off. With just 7 ingredients and almost no prep work, the Instant Pot does all the heavy lifting by transforming a simple cut of beef into tender, juicy, pull-apart perfection.
The cola adds a hint of sweetness and depth to the sauce. The beef is perfect for piling onto buns, bowls, or baked potatoes. It’s a great meal-prep or freezer-friendly dinner that tastes like comfort food without the fuss.
Ingredient notes and substitutions
- Onions: I like to use white onions or sweet yellow onions in this recipe.
- Cola: You can use your favorite type of cola, like Coke, Pepsi, or Dr Pepper, in this recipe.
- Barbecue seasoning: Feel free to use your favorite seasoning blend. I use a brown sugar hickory seasoning for a little bit of smoky flavor.
- Chuck roast: It’s important to use chuck roast and not a lean cut of beef in this recipe as leaner beef can dry out.
How to make Instant Pot cola pulled beef
Here you’ll find instructions and step-by-step photos showing how to make this recipe. The full recipe, including ingredients, is given below.
Step 1: Place the onions and garlic into the bottom of the Instant Pot inner pot.
Step 2: Add the cola, Worcestershire sauce, and vinegar.
Step 3: Place the chuck roast into the pot. Cutting the roast into large chunks will allow it to cook through easier and will give you tender beef in less time.
Step 4: Sprinkle the seasoning blend over the chuck roast pieces.
Step 5: Close and lock the lid. Press manual high pressure and adjust the cooking time to 60 minutes. It should take about 10-15 minutes to come to pressure. Be sure that the pressure release valve is set to sealing.
Step 6: Once the cooking time has finished, let the pressure release naturally for 20 minutes. Then turn the pressure release valve to venting to release any remaining pressure.
Step 7: Unlock and open the lid. Shred the beef in the sauce in the pot.
Step 8: Serve the beef topped with barbecue sauce.
Tips
- Cutting the roast: It’s tempting to just put the whole roast into the pot. I recommend cutting it into large chunks because the chunks will cook down better than a single piece of beef.
- Smoked flavor: If you’d like to add more smoky flavor to the pulled beef, add 1 teaspoon liquid smoke with the cola.
- Freezing: To freeze before cooking, add the beef chunks, seasoning, Worcestershire sauce, vinegar, onions, and garlic to a freezer safe container and freeze. About 24 hours before you’re ready to cook, place in the fridge to thaw. Add the cola to the Instant Pot inner pot, and then add the contents of the freezer container. Cook as directed.
If you prefer to freeze after cooking, you can also freeze the cooked and shredded meat in a bit of the sauce.
Serving suggestions
I like to serve cola pulled beef on buns with sides like corn on the cob, potato salad, baked beans, or fruit salad.
Storage
Store any leftover beef in an airtight container in the refrigerator. It will keep for up to 4 days when properly stored in the fridge.
Instant Pot Cola Pulled Beef
Equipment
Ingredients
- 2 small yellow onions halved and thinly sliced into half-moons
- 2 cloves garlic cloves peeled
- 1 cup plain cola I don’t recommend using diet cola
- 2 tablespoons Worcestershire sauce
- 2 tablespoons apple cider vinegar
- 3 pound boneless beef chuck roast cut into large chunks
- 2 tablespoons bbq seasoning blend
- Barbecue sauce
Instructions
- Place the onions and garlic into the bottom of the Instant Pot inner pot.2 small yellow onions, 2 cloves garlic cloves
- Add the cola, Worcestershire sauce, and vinegar.1 cup plain cola, 2 tablespoons Worcestershire sauce, 2 tablespoons apple cider vinegar
- Place the chuck roast into the pot.3 pound boneless beef chuck roast
- Sprinkle the seasoning blend over the chuck roast pieces.2 tablespoons bbq seasoning blend
- Close and lock the lid. Press manual high pressure and adjust the cooking time to 60 minutes. It should take about 10-15 minutes to come to pressure. Be sure that the pressure release valve is set to sealing.
- Once the cooking time has finished, let the pressure release naturally for 20 minutes. Then turn the pressure release valve to venting to release any remaining pressure.
- Unlock and open the lid.
- Shred the beef in the sauce in the pot.
- Serve the beef topped with barbecue sauce.
Notes
- Onions: I like to use white onions or sweet yellow onions in this recipe.
- Cola: You can use your favorite type of cola, like Coke, Pepsi, or Dr Pepper, in this recipe.
- Barbecue seasoning: Feel free to use your favorite seasoning blend. I use a brown sugar hickory seasoning for a little bit of smoky flavor.
- Chuck roast: It’s important to use chuck roast and not a lean cut of beef in this recipe as leaner beef can dry out.
- Nutrition values are estimates.
Nutrition
Disclaimer: Nutritional values were calculated using a third-party tool and are provided as an estimation only.
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