Ahhhh… the perfect pot roast recipe. It’s slow cooker easy with meat that falls apart as soon as the fork comes close to it and each savory bite melts like butter on your tongue. It’s the kind of comfort food that we grew up on – a budget friendly dinner that you can stretch with extra potatoes and carrots and no one will ever know. A little red wine, a spoonful of herbs, and about eight hours in your crockpot turns a hunk of beef into a meal that will have you salivating as soon as you walk in the door. This recipe has been updated from the original February 2010 version to make it even better for you!
For this recipe you’ll need: beef, carrots (I used multicolored ones), celery, onions, oil, salt, herbes de provence, pepper, garlic, bay leaves, thyme, red wine (shiraz – zinfandel – something hearty and fruity), beef stock, Yukon Gold potatoes or other thin skinned potatoes
Pot roast has to be one of those comfort foods that everyone loves. It isn’t exactly luxurious or gourmet but it is very, very good…if it is done right.
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Tips for Perfect Pot Roast
Use these tips to ensure that your glorious pot roast is as amazing as you remember.
- Get the meat out of the fridge.
- Rub it on all sides with olive oil then pat your salt, pepper, and herb mixture over it all.
- Allow it to stand at room temperature for half an hour – this helps it cook more evenly and the flavors of the seasonings will be absorbed by the meat.
- Always sear the roast on all sides in a super hot pan before adding to the slow cooker. It makes a HUGE difference.
- Don’t put too much liquid in the slow cooker.
- Give it a good 8 to 10 hours on low for the best results.
Pot Roast FAQs
Have a question? If you don’t find the answer here then comment below and I’ll try my best to answer it.
What is the Best Roast for Pot Roast?
- Chuck roast
- Shoulder steak
- Boneless chuck roast
- Chuck shoulder roast
- Chuck seven bone roast
- Beef chuck arm
- Brisket
- Rump roast
- Round roast
How Many Servings per Pound?
You can plan on about two very generous servings per pound of meat, or three servings per pound if you are feeding two adults and a child or two. Saying that, if you have unexpected company or a scanty grocery budget you can easily add more potatoes and carrots to make the meal go much further – just like grandma did. A typical pot roast averages 2.5 to 3 pounds.
How Do You Make Gravy from Pot Roast Juices?
You can either serve the pot roast in the thin juices that are created from cooking or you can thicken those rich juices to make a delicious gravy.
To make gravy you’ll need someone to help you pour the juices out of the slow cooker into another container.
- Skim as much fat as possible off the top of the meat juices.
- Add 4 tablespoons of butter, bacon fat, or fat that’s been skimmed from the meat juices to a heavy pan.
- Melt the fats and whisk in 4 tablespoons flour.
- Cook, stirring, over medium low heat for a minute or two.
- Slowly whisk in 3 cups of the reserved juices, whisking and simmering until thickened.
What to Do with Pot Roast Leftovers?
There are so many things that you can make with the leftovers you may want to make extra pot roast to have enough on hand for later in the week. Here are a few ways I love leftover pot roast.
- Shepherd’s Pie
- Diner style open faced beef sandwiches with leftover roast and gravy
- Au Jus sandwiches on onion rolls
- Make a ragu sauce for pasta
- Serve over cheese grits
- Serve over rice
- Serve over noodles
- Chop up into hash
- Use in an omelet
- Make into enchiladas
Step by Step Images for Creating the Perfect Pot Roast
First, choose high quality ingredients. Make sure your beef has good marbling of fat without being overly fatty. I like to use purple, red, orange, and white carrots just because they’re fun but baby carrots or regular carrots work find.
Step 1:The ingredients for this pot roast recipe are really quite simple!
Pot Roast Ingredients
Step 2: Seasoning the pot roast and allowing it to stand at room temperature for 30 minutes allows the meat to absorb more flavor AND, since it comes close to room temperature for a short time, the meat cooks more evenly.
Season the pot roast and let it stand at room temperature.
Step 3: Next you’ll want to dice the carrots, onions, and celery. This is called a mirepoix.
Diced onion, carrots, and celery form the mirepoix – which gives flavor to the meat.
Step 4: Saute the Vegetables and Sear the Meat
Sauteeing the vegetables and putting a nice, caramelized sear on the meat gives the dish a rich meaty flavor that’s hard to get if you skip this important step.
Searing the meat and sauteeing the vegetables coaxes out ALL of the flavor!
Easy Pot Roast Video
Here’s a video that shows all the steps for putting this yummy pot roast together! Let’s watch!
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The herbes de Provence are a big part of the amazing flavor of this roast! Without them it’s just an ordinary, run of the mill roast -you’ve got to try them! They’re great on chicken, vegetables… SO many things!
Perfect Pot Roast Recipe
This is truly the recipe for a perfect pot roast! The meat is unbelievably tender and juicy with just the right amount of seasonings. If you prefer not to use red wine use extra beef broth in its place. If you love this recipe please give it 5 stars – and hey, tag me in your instagram story with a picture of your perfect pot roast!
This easy, slow cooker pot roast is full of flavor. Tender beef, onion, carrots, celery, potatoes, and herbs simmer in a beef stock and red wine sauce until you can't stand the wait any longer!
- 3 pounds beef for pot roast , see suggestions in post
- 4 tablespoons olive oil , divided use
- 3 teaspoons kosher salt , less if using table salt
- 2 tablespoons herbes de provence
- 1 1/2 teaspoons pepper ,coarsely ground
- 4 cloves garlic , peeled
- 2 bay leaves
- 1 sprig fresh thyme
- 1 cup celery ,diced
- 1 cup carrots ,diced
- 1 1/2 cups onions ,diced
- 2 cups red wine , a hearty fruity red like Shiraz or Zinfandel is excellent
- 2 cups beef stock
- 3 pounds potatoes ,Yukon Gold or other thin skinned variety
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Wash and quarter the potatoes - no need to peel.
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Mix the salt, herbs, and pepper together in a small bowl.
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Rub the meat on all sides with a little of the olive oil.
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Rub the salt mixture into the meat on all sides.
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Let stand at room temperature for 30 minutes.
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Heat the remaining oil in a large cast iron skillet.
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Saute the celery, carrots, and onions until softened.
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Remove from pan and place in the bottom of the slow cooker.
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add a little more oil if needed to the pan.
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heat until starting to shimmer.
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Sear the beef on all sides, getting a good, gold-brown crust. This will take a minute or two per side.
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Remove the beef from the pan and place on top of the vegetables in the slow cooker.
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Add the red wine and beef stock to the hot pan and bring to a simmer, scraping the bottom with a flat spatula to get all of the bits and pieces of meat that might be left.
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Simmer for about 3 minutes.
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Pour the liquid in the pan over the meat in the slow cooker.
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Add the garlic cloves, bay leaf, and fresh thyme.
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Add the potatoes to the top.
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Cover and cook on low for 8 to 10 hours.
If you liked this easy pot roast recipe you may also like…
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Shelly says
This sounds so delicious and easy! Glad you posted this, will be on our menu this week.
Marye Audet says
🙂 thanks Shelly! It’s one of our favorites!