Easy Slow Cooker Pot Roast
Deliciously Tender: a simple recipe for a luxurious Slow Cooker Beef Pot Roast
Let’s make dinner simple but delicious:
With a slow cooker, your kitchen becomes a place where little miracles can happen. My recipe for Slow Cooker Pot Roast takes a 4-5 pound rump roast and transforms it into something to warm your insides as well as nourish your body when the weather is frightful. Pop everything in the slow cooker in the morning and by the time the work day is over, dinner is served!
Humble root vegetables become just barley tender and when the incredible gravy is poured all over- ahhh- sheer luxurious food.
Busy days do not have to mean take out pizza or the same old pasta and sauce from a jar.
Pro-tips for a tender pot roast:
- For decades, a packet of instant onion soup in the crock pot with a roast and veggies was dinner. The result was a big soupy, salty pile of mess. Don’t rely on those fast, salty short cuts- there is a better way.
- Take the time to trim the fat and brown the roast. Browning the beef takes a few minutes, but the flavors that develop are worth the extra bit of effort
- Create a velvety sauce in only a few minutes with beef broth, garlic, onions and seasonings. This makes the pot roast next level good.
- Cook this roast on low for 7-8 hours. I cooked it on high recently and it really toughened up the beef.
- Wait to add the remaining veggies to the slow cooker until 1 1/2 hours before dinner. They will hold their shape but still become tender. Cut the vegetables in large pieces- not small or they will become mushy.
- This succulent roast is good enough for company. Add a splash of red wine for an even richer sauce.
- Buy the best cut of beef you can. Ask the butcher at your market to trim the fat for you to save time.
Which cut of beef to buy?
- I recommend the Chuck Eye Roast Cut which comes from the shoulder area of the steer. It has plenty of marbling for extra flavor. The connective tissue will break down after several hours in the cooker creating a gelatin adding tons of richness to the dish. Once it has been in the slow cooker for several hours, it will basically fall apart which is a good thing. The muscles in the shoulders run in multiple directions making it difficult to slice if still tough from a short cook.
- Cross Rib Roast– this is a very savory cut of beef that requires slow cooking. It is economical. It has a nice fat cap a the bottom that can be trimmed.
- Chuck Arm Roast– Again very economical and flavorful- lots of marbling and the bone can be used for making beef stock.
- Read more about which cuts to buy and their uses from the National Beef Council Website HERE.
Other beef recipes to try:
- Spicy Korean Beef Wraps
- Mushroom Beef and Barley Soup
- Horseradish Sauce for Beef
- Montana Burger
- Marinated London Broil
- Gordon Ramsey Copy-Cat Burger
A few more Pro-tips:
- Cut the vegetables into large pieces
- Finish with a chunk of butter for an even more indulgent gravy
- Do not use baby carrots or pre-cut vegetables
- Brown the beef and use the pan juices in the slow cooker
What to serve with Slow Cooker Pot Roast:
- a Pinot Noir or Burgundy- try a bottle of Cote de Nuits Villages Burgundy, France
- Bordeaux such as 2020 Chateau Cru Godard Cote des Francs
- Brown Napa Valley 2020 Vintage No. 25 Zin
- 2019 Bodega Montesecano Refugio Pinot Noir, Chile
Equipment needed for this recipe:
- Slow Cooker- buy my favorite HERE
- Butcher’s /chef’s knife- buy my favorite by Wüsthoff HERE
- large cutting/carving boards with grooves for juices
- Gravy boat by Juliska- buy my favorite HERE
Ingredients
- 2-3 TBSP olive oil divided
- 3 cloves peeled garlic
- 2 unit bay leaves
- 2 unit sprigs fresh rosemary
- 6-7 leaves fresh sage stems removed
- 1 TBSP peppercorns
- 2 tsp table salt
- 2 TBSP tomato paste
- 32 oz low sodium beef broth
- 1 tsp smoked paprika
- 10-12 unit small baby Yukon gold potatoes halved
- 1 unit large yellow onion chop 1/4 cup of the onion. Chop the rest of the onion into large chuncks.
- 5 unit large carrots peeled, cut into 3-4 inch pieces – do not use baby carrots
- ¼ cup red wine or cognac optional
Instructions
- Trim the fat cap off the bottom of the roast.
- In a shallow sauté pan, heat 2 TBSP olive oil to the smoking point. Place the roast in the pan and brown on all sides . This should take about 5-7 minutes total. Set the roast aside.
- In the same pan, add in 1 TBSP of olive oil and sauté 1/4 cup of chopped onion until softened.
- To the pan, add in the tomato paste and cook in the sautéed onions for 1 minute on low heat. Add a splash of beef broth (1/4 cup) to loosen any browned bits from the pan. Pour the onion mixture into a slow cooker on low heat.
- To the slow cooker add in the remaining beef broth, peppercorns, salt, smoked paprika, garlic cloves, rosemary, sage, bay leaves to the onion mixture. Whisk to combine all the ingredients.
- Place the browned roast in the slow cooker with the sauce. Cover and cook on low for 6 hours. If possible, turn the roast once during cooking so that all sides are in the sauce.
- After 6 hours, add the remaining chopped onion, carrots and potatoes to the cooker. Cook on low for an additional 1 1/2 hours or until the vegetables are fork tender, but not mushy. If desired, add a splash of cognac or red wine.
- Remove and shred the beef with a fork into chunks or slice the beef against the grain to serve. Place the vegetables on a platter. Plate the beef among the vegetables. Pour the au jus into a gravy boat. Remove and discard the peppercorns u0026 rosemary stems.
