If you’re looking for a pot roast recipe, you have found the only one you’ll ever need! Pair it with mashed potatoes and your family will never stop singing your praises. Seasoned chuck roast gets browned and cooked low and slow in a crockpot in a savory oniony beef stock and red wine sauce. The meat becomes extremely tender and is separated from the fat then added back to the slow cooker once the sauce has been thickened to gravy consistency. The tender meat is ladled along with the brown gravy over mashed potatoes and it’s a symphony of flavor.
This recipe does utilize a slow cooker, but it’s not without a little work. That being, separating the meat from the fat once the cooking is done. It’s a necessary part of the process which is a little time consuming. I use two forks to do this and kick everyone out of the kitchen. No one wants to see the hunks of fat getting pulled from the meat. You also need to skim the fat from the surface of the sauce before thickening. Again, not a pretty job. If you’re making this for a get together, avoid having the crowd in the kitchen or make the chuck roast in advance. You can easily reheat the shredded meat and gravy in the crockpot on low heat while you enjoy yourself along with everyone else.
Don’t be tempted to put potatoes and carrots in the slow cooker. The vegetables become mushy and brown. Pot roast can actually be a beautiful dish if you just take the time to make the potatoes and carrots as sides rather than a one pot meal. It’s also good to have multiple textures and flavors. I know it’s more work, but it’s worth it. This pot roast recipe truly needs to be paired with my mashed potatoes and roasted glazed carrots. Be sure to check both recipes out while you’re here!
Tips for the best Pot Roast
- Preheat the slow cooker on low while you brown the meat.
- Add the onions last to the slow cooker. If you add them before the meat, they’ll keep the roast from being flat against the bottom of the slow cooker and the sauce won’t fully cover the meat.
- Don’t rush the cooking, you can always turn the slow cooker on high for a couple hours but don’t cook for less than 8 hours total, even if you turn to high for some of the time. The meat gets more tender the longer it’s in there.
- You MUST skim the fat off the surface of the sauce once the meat comes out. You can skim off up to 1/2 cup of fat.
- Remove as much fat as you can when you take the roast out of the crockpot.
Pot Roast
Ingredients
- 3 lb chuck roast
- salt and pepper
- vegetable oil
- 1 onion roughly chopped
- 10.5 oz cream of mushroom soup (1 can)
- 1 c red blend wine
- 10.5 oz beef broth (1 can)
- 2 packs dry onion soup mix
- 2 tsp garlic powder
- 1 tbsp better than beef bouillon beef base heaping
- 2 tbsp cornstarch
Instructions
- Preheat a pan over high heat. Turn on the vent.
- Pat chuck roast dry and season on all sides with salt and pepper then cover in the oil on all sides rubbing it in so the whole surface is covered but not dripping.
- Set a crockpot to low and add cream of mushroom soup, beef broth, red wine, dry onion soup mix, garlic powder and beef base. Mix well.
- Sear the chuck roast on all sides for 2 minutes per side including the sides. You will have to use tongs to hold the chuck roast in place to get the sides browned.
- Place browned chuck roast in the crockpot. Push the roast to the bottom of the crockpot so it's almost fully submerged in the sauce. Put the onion in the crockpot. Cover and cook for 8 hours.
- Remove the chuck roast from the crockpot. It will come off in hunks most likely.
- Shred the beef and separate the fat from the meat with two forks. This can take a little bit of time. Discard the fat.
- Skim the fat off the top of the sauce in the crockpot.
- Add 2 tbsp of the liquid to cornstarch. Mix until fully combined and add to the crockpot. Mix well and allow to thicken for 5 minutes with the lid on.
- Add shredded meat back to the crockpot stir and serve.