Pot Roast
intro
Fall-apart tender beef slow-braised with root vegetables in savory broth, a cozy nostalgic one-pot meal made for gathering loved ones around the table.
Ingredients
Steps
Prep and season beef
Pat the 1.5kg beef chuck roast completely dry with paper towels, then rub all surfaces evenly with 1 teaspoon kosher salt and ½ teaspoon ground black pepper. Let it rest at room temperature for 30 minutes to ensure even searing and seasoning penetration.
Sear the roast evenly
Heat 2 tablespoons olive oil in a heavy-bottomed 5.5L Dutch oven over medium-high heat (190°C/375°F stovetop). Once the oil shimmers and sends up a faint wisp of smoke, add the seasoned roast and sear for 4-5 minutes per side (including all upright edges) until a deep, mahogany golden-brown crust forms on every surface. Transfer the seared roast to a clean plate and set aside.
Sauté aromatic base
Reduce the stovetop heat to medium (160°C/320°F). Add the 300g of onion wedges to the remaining oil in the Dutch oven, cooking for 5 minutes until soft and lightly caramelized at the edges. Stir in 2 tablespoons tomato paste, crushed garlic, 1 teaspoon dried thyme, 1 teaspoon dried rosemary, and 2 bay leaves, cooking for 1 minute until the mixture smells rich and fragrant. Stir in 2 tablespoons all-purpose flour and cook for 2 full minutes to remove the raw flour taste.
Deglaze and assemble braise
Pour 750ml beef broth and 2 tablespoons Worcestershire sauce into the pot, scraping up all browned sticky bits (called fond) from the bottom of the pot with a wooden spoon to incorporate into the liquid. Bring the liquid to a gentle, low simmer, then return the seared roast to the Dutch oven. The braising liquid should cover the bottom two-thirds of the roast, not fully submerge it.
Slow braise in oven
Cover the Dutch oven with its tight-fitting lid, transfer it to a preheated oven set to 160°C (325°F), and cook for 1 hour 45 minutes. Avoid lifting the lid during this cooking time, as escaping heat will drop the pot temperature and extend total cooking time.
Add root vegetables
Carefully pull the oven rack out to access the Dutch oven, lift the lid, and add the 350g carrot chunks, 200g celery chunks, and 600g halved Yukon gold potatoes around the roast, tucking them slightly into the braising liquid. Sprinkle the vegetables with the remaining ½ teaspoon kosher salt and ½ teaspoon ground black pepper. Replace the lid, slide the rack back in, and cook for another 45 minutes, until the beef pulls apart easily with a fork and vegetables are fork-tender.
Rest and serve
Remove the Dutch oven from the oven, use tongs and a slotted spoon to transfer the roast and vegetables to a large serving platter, and fish out and discard the 2 bay leaves. Let the roast rest for 15 minutes at room temperature before slicing against the grain or pulling into large chunks, then spoon the thickened braising liquid over the top to serve.
Tips
2.Choose well-marbled beef chuck roast over lean cuts like sirloin; the connective tissue and fat break down during slow braising to create the signature fall-apart tenderness, while lean cuts will turn tough and dry.
3.If the braising liquid is too thin after cooking, transfer the roast and vegetables to a platter, then simmer the liquid on the stovetop over medium heat for 5-7 minutes to reduce it to a smooth, gravy-like consistency before serving.
OMG this pot roast was a total game changer for our Sunday family dinner! The meat was so fall-apart tender I didn’t even need a knife to cut it, and the carrots and potatoes soaked up all that savory broth perfectly. My kids went back for seconds AND thirds, no complaints about veggies for once! 10/10 will be making this at least once a month from now on.
SO good, I made a big batch of this on Sunday for my weekly meal prep and it held up perfectly all week in the fridge! The flavor actually got better each day, which I was not expecting. Only note is I added a little extra Worcestershire sauce because I’m obsessed with that umami kick, highly recommend that tweak if you’re a fan too.
Made this for my small group potluck at church last week and people were asking me for the recipe before we even finished dessert! I was a little nervous because I’ve never made a pot roast that didn’t come out tough before, but following the cook time exactly worked like a charm. Even my picky 7 year old niece ate all of hers, no ketchup required! Will be my go-to pot roast recipe forever now.
Full transparency, I’m a total newbie in the kitchen and was convinced I’d mess this up, but it came out incredible! The instructions were so straightforward even I couldn’t screw it up, and my roommate said it tasted like something his grandma used to make. Only thing I messed up was I forgot to add the onion at the start, so I tossed it in an hour in and it still turned out great. Knocked one star off because searing the roast made a huge mess on my stovetop that took forever to clean, but otherwise 10/10 for beginner cooks!
This was exactly the cozy comfort food we needed for our rainy Seattle weekend! I served it with buttery egg noodles on the side to soak up all the extra jus, and my husband said it’s the best thing I’ve cooked all year. Only tiny gripe is I wish the recipe noted how much salt to add to taste – I undersalted at first and it was a little bland, but once I fixed that it was perfect.
Made this for the guys over to watch the football game last Sunday and it was a hit! Set it up in the slow cooker before pre-game started and it was ready right by halftime, no fuss no muss. We piled it on crusty rolls with a little horseradish sauce for sliders and everyone was raving. Way better than ordering pizza for the group, will be on rotation for game days all fall.
So happy to find a pot roast recipe that’s naturally gluten free without any weird modifications! I swapped the regular beef broth for low-sodium gluten free broth and it turned out exactly as described, no texture or flavor issues at all. My whole family (none of whom are gluten free) didn’t even notice a difference, which is always the biggest win for me.
This recipe is such a win for feeding my family of 4 on a tight grocery budget! Chuck roast was on sale at my local grocery store last week, and the veggies are all cheap staples I usually have on hand anyway. We got two full dinners out of it plus leftover sandwiches for lunch the next day, total cost was under $15 which is unbeatable right now. Flavor was 10/10 too, can’t beat that!
I added a diced jalapeño and a teaspoon of smoked paprika to the seasoning mix to give this a little kick, and wow – game changer! It still had that classic cozy pot roast flavor but had a nice warm heat that built with every bite. If you like a little spice in your comfort food, definitely give that tweak a try, you won’t regret it.
I’ve been making pot roast for 30+ years and I have to say, this recipe is right up there with my old standby! The balance of herbs, garlic, and broth is perfect, no weird fancy ingredients that you have to run to a specialty store for. Made it for my husband and I last weekend and we had the coziest date night in, paired with a glass of red wine and it was perfect. Sometimes simple really is best.
Okay I have to be honest, I followed this exactly except I used my crockpot on low for 8 hours instead of the oven method, and the meat was still a little tough? Did I do something wrong? I thought slow cooking on low would make it tender but it was chewy, I’m so sad because the flavor was amazing, I just couldn’t get the texture right.
Made this for our early Thanksgiving family get together since a few people don’t love turkey, and it was the star of the table! I garnished it with fresh thyme and a little chopped parsley for color, and it looked just as good as it tasted. My cousin who is a professional chef even asked me for the recipe, which is the highest compliment I think I’ve ever gotten for my cooking!
Between work and chasing two toddlers around I barely have time to cook during the week, so I prepped all the veggies and seared the roast the night before, tossed everything in the Dutch oven after work, and it was ready by the time we got the kids to bed. It was so nice to have a hot, homemade meal without all the last minute rush. The kids even ate the carrots which is a miracle in our house right now. SO good, will be a weeknight staple for us.
Made this for dinner last night and it was SO good, giving it 4 stars only because I stressed the whole time that skipping the optional mushrooms (my husband absolutely hates them) would ruin the whole thing! Will leaving them out actually impact the overall flavor at all, or is it totally fine? I want to make this for his birthday dinner next week and don’t want to mess it up by leaving out an ingredient that’s secretly key.
The leftover pot roast sliders I made with this were insane! Chopped up the leftover meat, mixed it with a little of the jus and some provolone cheese, piled it on hoagie rolls and toasted them in the oven for 10 minutes, and it was better than any takeout cheesesteak I’ve had in months. Don’t sleep on the leftovers, y’all, they’re even better than the first night’s dinner.
I have a kid with a soy allergy so I skipped the Worcestershire sauce (since most of it has soy) and used coconut aminos instead, and it turned out so flavorful! I was worried it would taste coconutty but you couldn’t tell at all, it just had that same deep savoriness. If you have soy allergies in your house that swap works perfectly, just wanted to share for other parents navigating food allergies!