Perfect Pot Roast

When it comes to stick-to-your-ribs comfort food, it’s difficult to beat tender, flavorful pot roast. A classic main player on holiday tables, this slow-cooking dish is the meal to make when you want to impress and satisfy without a crazy amount of effort. The shredded beef meal comes complete with tender potatoes and carrots and a sauce you’ll want to spoon over everything. You’ll need some time and patience, but trust me—the result is more than worth it. Read on for all of my top tips on making the best classic pot roast that just might rival your treasured family recipe:

How To Make Pot Roast

INGREDIENTS

• Chuck Roast: Classic pot roast is traditionally made from a chuck roast. Because a chuck roast is a tougher cut of meat, you need to give it a lot of time to relax those tight connective tissues throughout the meat—and that’s exactly what we’re doing here. The slow cook will result in meat that is tender, easily shreddable, and incredibly flavorful.
• Yellow Onion: Use half of a yellow onion here; no need to dice, simply cut into 1” wedges.
• Tomato Paste: Tomato paste is a pure umami bomb, and will add a sweetness and acidity to the pot roast.
• Red Wine: Red wine will not only bring some acidity and balance out the richness of the pot roast, but it will also help deglaze our pot. You don’t need to pick anything fancy here—simply choose a red wine you enjoy drinking.
• Carrots & Potatoes: Classic veggies for pot roast are carrots and potatoes, but other hearty vegetables will also work. Parsnips, pearl onions, or turnips would all be delicious. When picking and cutting your vegetables, it’s best to keep them on the bigger size. They have a long cook time ahead of them, and you don’t want them to completely fall apart. If you feel your potatoes or carrots are extra small, add them after the first hour of cooking. That way, they have time to cook through and become soft without being complete mush.
• Beef Broth: Choose low-sodium beef broth so you can control the salt level in the stew.
• Thyme: Fresh thyme will add that woody, earthy flavor to the pot roast. We’ll put it in along with our broth, then discard it before serving.
  

STEP-BY-STEP INSTRUCTIONS

After preheating your oven, pat your chuck roast dry with paper towels. Then, very generously season with salt and pepper. Make sure to season all sides here—don’t be shy.

Then, heat oil in a large Dutch oven over medium-high heat. Add your beef to the pot and cook until golden brown, turning occasionally so each side gets attention. Once every side is golden brown, transfer the beef to a large plate.

In the same pot, reduce the heat to medium-low before adding the onion and tomato paste. Give it a stir to coat the onion in the paste, then add the red wine to deglaze the pan, scraping the bottom to release any of the brown bits (there’s tons of flavor there). Bring it to a simmer and cook, stirring occasionally, until the mixture is reduced by around half.

Then, add about half of the carrots and half of the potatoes to the pot. Place the beef on top, then add the remaining carrots and potatoes around the beef. Pour in the broth and add in the thyme (the whole bunch), then cover the pot and transfer to the oven. Bake the pot roast until the beef is easily shreddable with a fork. This should take around 2 hours (maybe 30 minutes more), but wait until it is perfectly shreddable. Once it’s to your liking, transfer the beef to a cutting board and your veggies to a plate using a slotted spoon.

Get rid of the thyme, then bring the pot back to the stovetop over medium heat. Bring the broth to a simmer, stirring occasionally, until it’s reduced by half—this should take around 10 minutes. Then, shred the meat with 2 forks, and divide it among all of your plates. Serve with the vegetables and broth alongside, and dig in!

The full list of ingredients and instructions can be found in the recipe below.

Recipe Tips

• How to make the best pot roast. To take this pot roast a step further and make it even better, remove the roast and veggies from the broth after it’s done cooking and reduce the broth down by simmering it on the stove. This will concentrate the flavor of the sauce, making it slightly thicker and taste even better. This step is optional but completely worth it. Spoon the sauce over your shredded meat and veggies for the most comforting meal.

Pot Roast Variations

• Instant Pot Pot Roast: If you don’t have a lot of time on your hands, turn to this quick (but still satisfying) recipe.
• Slow-Cooker Pot Roast: We love a slow-cooker recipe, and this pot roast is no exception.
• Slow-Cooker Mississippi Roast: Cooked in the slow cooker with sweet and spicy pepperoncini, plenty of butter and ranch flavor, this shakes up the classic recipe.

Storage

If you have any leftovers, store them in an airtight container in the fridge for around 3-4 days. I’d recommend storing all of your components separately.