This Vegetarian Portobello Pot Roast recipe can be made easily in the slow cooker or Instant Pot (pressure cooker). And it’s SO hearty and comforting and delicious!
As a Midwestern girl through and through, I’ve gotta admit, I will always love me a good pot roast. But hey, whoever said that had to include roast beef?
A few weeks ago, when I found myself with two leftover cartons of baby bella mushrooms in the fridge that needed to be used up stat, I decided to try swapping them in as the main ingredient in my traditional pot roast recipe. And lo and behold, they turned out to be a plant-based swap made in heaven. This vegetarian pot roast recipe was a total winner!
It’s still full of those classic savory flavors (and garlicky gravy) that we all love. It’s quick and easy to prep, and easy to make either on the stovetop or in the slow cooker or Instant Pot. It’s naturally vegetarian and vegan. And it’s totally, wonderfully delicious.
My kind of comfort food.
To make the recipe, start by gathering lots of your starring ingredient — portobello mushrooms. You’re welcome to use full-size portobellos if you’d like. Or, you can be like me and just use a few cartons of baby bellas. Chop them up into bite-sized pieces…
…then combine them in a slow cooker or pressure cooker, along with some potatoes, carrots, pearl onions, garlic, and all of the ingredients for that classic savory gravy. Cook until the potatoes are nice and tender. Then for a final step, thicken that gravy up a notch…
…and voila! This delicious veggie-filled mushroom pot roast will be yours to serve and enjoy!
I went old-school and served mine over some egg noodles, but some grains or rice would also work well here. I served mine up with this simple salad and some red wine, and the meal was perfection.
Vegetarian twist for the win!
Vegetarian Portobello Pot Roast
- Prep Time: 10 minutes
- Cook Time: 240 minutes
- Total Time: 250 minutes
- Yield: 6 -8 servings 1x
Description
This vegetarian Portobello Pot Roast recipe is quick and simple to prep, easy to cook in the Instant Pot or slow cooker, and it’s full of the classic savory flavors we all love!
Ingredients
- 1.25 pounds Yukon gold potatoes, cut into bite-sized pieces
- 1 pound baby bella mushrooms (if they are large, cut them in half)
- 2 large carrots, peeled and cut into bite-sized pieces
- 2 cups frozen pearl onions*
- 4 cloves garlic, peeled and minced
- 3 sprigs fresh thyme
- 3 cups vegetable stock, divided
- 1/2 cup dry red or white wine
- 3 tablespoons tomato paste
- 2 tablespoons vegetarian Worcestershire sauce*
- 2 tablespoons cornstarch
- Kosher salt and freshly-cracked black pepper
- optional garnish: finely-chopped fresh parsley
Instructions
Slow Cooker Method:
- Add potatoes, mushrooms, carrots, onions, garlic, thyme, 2.5 cups vegetable stock, wine, tomato paste and worcestershire together in the bowl of a crock pot, and gently toss to combine. Cook on low for 6-8 hours, or on high for 3-4 hours, until the potatoes and carrots are tender.
- In a separate bowl, whisk together the remaining 1/2 cup vegetable stock and cornstarch until combined. Add to the roast mixture, and gently toss to combine. Continue to cook for 1-3 minutes, until the sauce thickens up a bit.
- Serve immediately, garnished with fresh parsley if desired.
Instant Pot Method:
- Add potatoes, mushrooms, carrots, onions, garlic, thyme, 2.5 cups vegetable stock, wine, tomato paste and worcestershire together in the bowl of a pressure cooker, and gently toss to combine. Close lid securely and set vent to “Sealing”.
- Press “Manual”, then press “Pressure” until the light on “High Pressure” lights up, then adjust the up/down arrows until time reads 20 minutes. Cook. Then let the pressure release naturally, about 15 minutes. Carefully turn the vent to “Venting”, just to release any extra pressure that might still be in there. Remove the lid.
- In a separate bowl, whisk together the remaining 1/2 cup vegetable stock and cornstarch until combined. Add to the roast mixture, and gently toss to combine. Continue to cook for 1-3 minutes, until the sauce thickens up a bit.
- Serve immediately, garnished with fresh parsley if desired.
Notes
Onions: Feel free to sub in sliced white onions, if pearl onions are not available.
Worcestershire: If making this recipe vegetarian, be sure to use vegan Worcestershire sauce.
***Cook time listed above is for a slow cooker set on “high”.
WAYYYY too much liquid! When do you add the salt and pepper – not in directions? Very bland. Sorry, won’t be making this again.
Very bland. Would not make again.
Ok I read the comments and thought the liquidity was just from the instapot. It’s not, it’s from the liquid the mushrooms produce. This will be soup, not stew. I tried all of the tricks the author suggests to make a roux and thicken it up. Just know that this recipe gives a false hope of consistency via pictures. And I wish I could say the flavor was there but it wasn’t. Double up on everything and prepare to need extra acid on top of the wine.
Extremely bland and runny in the slow cooker. Followed the recipe to a T (I shouldn’t have). All the good reviews changed portions, cooking times and added new ingredients. Won’t be making this again and I’d say to avoid unless you want a bland veggie stew.
My brother-in-law made this recipe for me. Although his method, for some reason, came out more like a vegetarian “beef like” portobello stew. I LOVED IT!!!!
Only 4stars for now for its stew like form. I will attempt this soon with my instapot.
I made this recipe but I didn’t have some of the ingredients so I substitute it apple cider vinegar for white wine and soy sauce for Worcestershire sauce and pureed tomatoes for tomato paste but I thought it was delicious and I cooked it in a regular pot my crock pot was too small and looking at some of the other comments added more cornstarch.
This was delicious. After reading the comments I adjusted cook time in IP to 12 minutes and decreased broth to 2 cups. Next time I’ll prob decrease to 1.5 cups. I did not add more broth at the end, I took liquid out of the pot and added 4 tbs cornstarch. It was perfect with some extra time on warm and these adjustments
I made this recipe as written with the exception of substituting a yellow onion for the green onions. I cooked it in the crock pot, and it was a little runny, as some other Reviewers have mentioned. I took some of the broth from the dish, added about 2-3 T of corn starch (in addition to the amount listed in the recipe). Whisked it, added back to the pot and cooked it a bit longer. It turned out perfect, looked like the photo, and most importantly, was delicious!
I can’t find one single vegan portabello mushroom pot roast that does not include wine. I don’t like/want wine in my recipe. Any help?
Grape juice or broth are fine substitutes.
Holy COW!!! No pun intended. This is awesome!!! Made it with no wine and only 2 1/2 cups broth. Just like the picture. Wish I could post mine. It is wonderfully rich in flavor.