Slow Cooker Pot Roast
355 days ago
Skip to recipeAdd this dish to your comfort food repertoire. Slow Cooker Pot Roast is a meat and potatoes recipe with a nice mix of sweet and savory.
Thank goodness for the slow cooker. This versatile vessel can be used year-round for making comforting roasts, soups, side dishes and even desserts. I particularly like meat and vegetables cooked in them.
This recipe requires some stovetop cooking but the slow cooker is the main player here.
Preparing the Ingredients
Before cooking the meat, pat it dry with paper towels. This will aid in browning it when searing it on the stovetop in a fry pan. This will take just a few minutes, but will help in adding bold flavor to the meat.
And what would pot roast be without potatoes, carrots and onions? Cut the potatoes and carrots into similar-sized chunks so they cook evenly. The 7″ Santoku makes the chopping go quickly. You can also use the same knife to slice the onions and mince the garlic for the recipe.
The use of brown sugar, ketchup and spices combined with beef broth produces a slightly sweet broth/gravy that infuses the meat making it moist and tasty.
Caramelizing the onions before adding them to the slow cooker enhances the flavor of the broth.
Finish the Cooking
Typically, cooking the meat slowly tenderizes it, which is a good thing until you try to get it out of the cooker. More often than not, it just falls apart. To prevent that from happening, about halfway through cooking remove the meat from the cooker, slice it with the 6-3/4" Petite Carver and then return it to finish cooking.
When done, use the Slotted Turner to easily transfer the meat to a platter.
When serving, slice a loaf of hearty bread to sop up the delicious broth. A plus of this dish is that if you don't eat all of it, it makes for great leftovers.
This dish is what cozy, winter Sunday suppers are all about.
Ingredients
- 1 3-pound chuck roast (or beef brisket)
- 2 teaspoons kosher salt, divided
- 2 teaspoons freshly ground pepper, divided
- 3 tablespoons vegetable oil
- 3 large sweet onions, thinly sliced
- 6 garlic cloves, minced
- 1 teaspoon smoked paprika
- 1 teaspoon dried thyme
- 1 teaspoon dried oregano
- 2 cups low-sodium beef broth
- 1/2 cup ketchup
- 1/2 cup packed light brown sugar
- 1 tablespoon tomato paste
- 1 pound red potatoes, cut in quarters
- 1 pound carrots, peeled and cut into 1-inch pieces
Directions
- Pat the beef dry with paper towels. Season both sides with 1 teaspoon each of the salt and pepper.
- In a large fry pan over medium-high heat, warm the vegetable oil. Sear the meat on both sides, 5 to 7 minutes per side. Transfer to a platter.
- Add the onions to the pan and stir constantly, scraping up any brown bits on the bottom of the pan. Cook until the onions are soft and golden brown, about 15 minutes. Add the garlic and cook about 2 minutes more. Add the paprika, thyme, oregano and remaining salt and pepper. Cook, stirring occasionally, about 1 minute.
- Spoon some of the onion mixture into the bottom of a 6-quart slow cooker. Place the meat on top of the mixture and spoon the remaining onion mixture over top.
- Return the pan to medium-high heat and deglaze with the beef broth. Add the ketchup, brown sugar and tomato paste and stir. Bring to a simmer and then pour over the onions and meat.
- Put the potatoes and carrots around the meat, cover and cook on low for 2 1/2 to 3 hours.
- Remove the roast from the slow cooker and slice across the grain into quarter-inch slices. Return the slices to the slow cooker; overlapping them. Spoon some of the liquid over the slices. Continue cooking on low for 2 to 2 1/2 hours or until fork tender.