Slow-cooking allows beef time to get all melty, savory, and delicious… and this velvety, fall-apart, fork-tender pot roast is just divine.
A chuck roast is a cut of meat that particularly lends itself to slow cooking. That’s because cooking a chuck roast on low heat over long periods of time allows all that flavor-yielding fat threaded throughout that chuck roast and nestling on top of it in its juicy fat cap to … melt. And when that fat melts, flavor happens. Big time.
As that fat dissolves on top of that chuck roast, it trickles down into that pot roast’s interior, giving it that fall-apart, fork-tender quality you seek in a slow-cooked pot roast.
And that slow trickle of melting fat not only yields a tender, fall-apart chuck roast, it also infuses that roast with deep, delicious flavor. See, slow cookers work magic with pot roasts not just by gently cooking all low and slow-like. They also trap the steam being created by that chuck roast’s slowly melting fat in there with your cooking liquid and aromatics, concentrating their flavors, making your vegetables and pot roast ultra-savory, fork-tender, and amazingly delicious.
But what’s to love most about pot roast is the ease with which it allows you to create meals for the next one to two weeks, if you take care of it properly and freeze a portion of your leftover meat. Because that fork-tender, heady meat is great stuffed in just about everything from tacos to enchiladas to sandwiches to casseroles to shepherd’s pies.
The Wonderful Thing About Slow-Cooked Pot Roast
There’s nothing more lovely than opening your door and finding the aroma of dinner awaiting you that’s already done—ready to eat, even—just all a-bubbling, savory, and warmed by that slow cooker to steamy perfection.
And the aroma of a good pot roast cooking is virtually unrivaled when it comes to enticing-smelling meals.
This pot roast recipe creates a particularly sumptuous pot roast, with a crispy, brown exterior and a melt-in-your-mouth interior that comes from sealing in those juices with a sear on all sides before you begin the slow-cooking process.
How to Make Ahead and Store
You can store this leftover pot roast right in your slow cooker pot with the lid on, if you have room in the fridge for it, or transfer it to an airtight container and refrigerate 3 to 4 days. But with all the amazing meals you can make with it, you’ll probably want to freeze some of that leftover pot roast meat. You do this by portioning enough meat, say a pound or so, of your three-pound roast, into gallon freezer bags, with enough gravy to cover the roast and help prevent freezer burn. You can freeze leftover pot roast 2 to 3 months tops.
Serving Suggestions
This pot roast already contains starchy potatoes and nutritious carrots, so two sides are already taken care of here, but you simply must have certain sides with pot roast to really enjoy this meal as it should be enjoyed. First, Homemade Biscuits. You can serve your pot roast, carrots, potatoes, gravy and all, right on top of a couple of buttered biscuits, and create a truly sumptuous plate of food. I like something nice and cold, with notes of sweet and acid to round out this meal deliciously, like this colorful and tangy Asian Slaw or this healthy, delicious Waldorf Salad just packed with those tart, succulent apples. For dessert, let’s play off all this savory and tangy with some sweet, soft, strawberry and vanilla notes of heavenly flavor that come from this delicious Panna Cotta with Strawberries.
Slow Cooker Roast Beef
Ingredients
- 3 pounds beef chuck roast
- 1 tablespoon olive oil
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 1/2 teaspoon black pepper
- 1 large onion chopped
- 3 cloves garlic minced
- 1 cup beef broth
- 3 carrots peeled and cut into chunks
- 3 potatoes peeled and cut into chunks
- 1 teaspoon dried thyme
- 1 teaspoon dried rosemary
Instructions
- Pat the beef chuck roast dry with paper towels and season generously with salt and black pepper.
- Heat olive oil in a skillet over medium-high heat. Add the roast and sear until browned on all sides, about 3-4 minutes per side.
- Place the seared roast into the slow cooker.
- In the same skillet, add chopped onion and minced garlic. Sauté until onions are translucent and garlic is fragrant, about 2 minutes.
- Add the sautéed onions and garlic to the slow cooker over the roast.
- Pour beef broth into the slow cooker. Add carrots and potatoes around the roast.
- Sprinkle dried thyme and rosemary over the ingredients in the slow cooker.
- Cover and set the slow cooker to low. Cook for 8 hours until the roast is tender and vegetables are cooked through.
- Transfer the roast and vegetables to a serving platter. Optionally, you can thicken the juices left in the slow cooker with a cornstarch slurry to make a gravy.
- Serve the roast beef sliced with vegetables on the side.
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