Bread and Butter Pot Roast

The aroma of a savory, Pot Roast loaded with winter veggies, slow cooked until it’s fall apart tender, in a fabulous beef and wine broth will have you hoping for chilly weather! The best meal in the fall and winter for a slow cooked Sunday dinner.

Pot Roast lends itself to crisp afternoons, leaves gently floating to the ground, crunching underfoot. A crackling fire, frosty mornings, the cheers, grunts and whistles of a football game on TV.

Love slow cooked meals? Try these reader favorites! Easy Slow Cooker Pulled Pork, Slow Cooker Red Beans & Rice, Easy Crockpot Butter Chicken (or Stovetop).

Ah, Autumn has officially arrived and along with it, comes my desire for slow-cooked, hearty meals, like this Bread and Butter Pot Roast, paired with a with a loaf of Russian Black bread and a crisp green salad and well, that’s dinner folks!

I love coming together after a busy week and sitting down to dinner with one another; nothing seems to draw people to the table like the smell of a savory, slow cooked meal like this tender Sunday pot roast, slow roasting in the oven for hours on a quiet (or not so quiet) Sunday afternoon.

This is a recipe from The Pioneer Woman, don’t you love her? I do! Everything I’ve ever made of hers I have loved, she’s my kind of gal! I’ve modified it slightly for my tastes.

The following are answers to common questions I receive about pot roast:

TIPS FOR TENDER POT ROAST

• Low & Slow! Pot roast is typically a pretty inexpensive cut of beef and in order to make it tender, you need to cook it LOW & SLOW. Longer in the oven, at lower temps.
• Sear! I am a big believer in searing the meat before cooking, giving the outside a crispy brown crust, preserving the juices inside the meat. Remember the flavor is in the BROWN!
• Don’t peek! The steam that develops in the pot while cooking, brings moisture and tenderness to the meat. I usually only take a peak near the very end to make sure that it still has enough liquid and if you haven’t done it early, to pop in your carrots.
• Let it Rest! Once you take the meat from the oven, allow it to rest for a minimum of 15, preferably 20-30 minutes.

How to make a Tender, Bread & Butter Sunday Pot Roast

Now would be a good time to make sure your pot will fit (with the lid) into the oven, moving racks if needed and preheat to 275°F.

1. Over medium high heat, brown the cut side of onions in hot dutch oven or pot.

2. Add carrots to the hot pan and toss them around until slightly browned, a minute or two.
3. Salt and pepper the chuck roast well. Use your hand to rub it in, salt all 4 sides, it’s a large cut of meat! Set aside.
4. Carefully place meat in dutch oven, it should steam and spit and spurt at you! That’s good! Sear for about 1-2 minutes on each side, you may need to hold it on the short sides with tongs. Remove roast to plate.

FRESH COOKY PRO TIP: You want a well marbled (fat) cut of meat, the flavor will increase greatly with marbling and that fat melts away into the meat while slow cooking, making a normally tough cut of meat, tender.

5. With the burner still on high to medium-high, deglaze your pan using 1 cup of either red wine (yum) or beef broth (also yum), using a wooden spoon scrape the bottom of the pot removing all of those delicious brown bits. Remember that’s where the flavor is!
6. Place the roast back in pot, add sprigs of fresh rosemary, thyme and parsley if desired.
7. Tuck veggies back around pot roast, adding small or cut up potatoes if desired.
8. Add enough beef broth to cover the meat about halfway up, 2-3 cups should do nicely.

It’s ready for you to put the lid on and place in that preheated 275° oven, don’t be tempted to open it either, slow cook at least 3 hours before you peek, it can easily cook longer if needed.

At about 5 hours you might need to check the liquid levels, if it has cooked down too much you can add a bit more beef stock, but return to the oven for at least and hour so those flavors can blend.

To round the meal out, make some Russian Black bread. This is a hearty bread, that pairs so well with the pot roast, the flavors complement one another perfectly and you can use this soft, hearty bread to sop up all those wonderful bits and juices left from the pot roast and veggies.

Once you have the roast in the oven and bread ingredients in the machine, feel free to go and take a long nap, light a fire and read a good book, watch your favorite football team, crunch through some leaves…relax and watch the magic happen as the smells start to waft through the house, I love that word, waft, don’t you!

When it’s slow cooked a sufficient amount of time, at least 3 hours for a smaller roast and 4-6 for a larger roast, carefully remove from the oven and plate the roast, allow it to rest 15-30 minutes (covered) before breaking into serving size pieces; or just serve right from the pot, just be careful.

Crock Pot Pot Roast

Yes, you can make this successfully in a slow cooker. Prepare the pot roast in a dutch oven or skillet through the browning and searing of the pot roast, then transfer everything to a crockpot and cook on low for 8-10 hours.

What to Serve with Pot Roast

• You don’t need much since this is a one pan (pot) meal, however a crisp green salad adds some brightness and ruffage.
• My favorite way to eat Pot Roast hails from the Black Eyed Pea restaurant, Pot Roast Stuffed Spud! Bake up some large russet potatoes and spoon hunks of pot roast, carrots and sauce over your split (and buttered, just saying) baked potato! Dreamy! Or try my air fryer sweet potatoes.
• Bread is a must have, try Russian Black bread, Cheddar Beer Popovers or Sweet Molasses Brown Bread rolls.
• Perhaps instead of cooking carrots with the roast, you want them on the side, these tender Tarragon carrots would go great!
• And a nice, light dessert is in order as well, like this make ahead Tiramisu or a fall classic, Apple Crisp.

Give these other tender, tasty recipes a try!

• Tender Beer Beef Stew
• Bacon Beef Minestrone
• 12 Soups & Stews
• Slow Cooked Butter Chicken
• Ground Pork Stir Fry with Holy Basil (Pad Kra Pao)
• One Pot Creamy Italian Sausage Pasta Recipe

Recipe Card

Best Bread and Butter Pot Roast

4.80 from 5 readers

Author: Kathleen Pope

Prep Time: 30 minutes minutes

Cook Time: 4 hours hours

Total Time: 4 hours hours 30 minutes minutes

Servings: 6 servings

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A slow-cooked wonder. This pot roast is so simple; fork-tender, flavorful beef, soft and creamy carrots, caramelized onions and rich potatoes, the perfect Sunday dinner…or for any weeknight.

Equipment

• ▢
  AmazonBasics Enameled Cast Iron Covered Dutch Oven, 7.3-Quart, Green
• ▢
  Lodge 5 Quart Cast Iron Dutch Oven. Pre Seasoned Cast Iron Pot and Lid with Wire Bail for Camp Cooking

Ingredients 

US Customary – Metric

• ▢ 3-5 pounds Chuck roast well marbled with fat, will yield a more tender pot roast
• ▢ 2-4 Tablespoons olive oil or 2 TBL olive oil and 2 TBL butter
• ▢ 2 onions peeled and cut in half
• ▢ 6-8 carrots washed, cut into 2 in pieces (peeling is optional)
• ▢ 4-8 potatoes if using russet, just 2-4 small medium ones, if using baby potatoes or fingerlings as many as you think your family will eat, cut potatoes that are larger in half or thirds
• ▢ Salt and Pepper to taste
• ▢ 1 cup red wine optional, beef broth or stock may be used instead
• ▢ 2-3 cups beef broth or stock
• ▢ 3 sprigs fresh thyme or 1 teaspoon dried thyme
• ▢ 3-4 sprigs fresh rosemary or 1 teaspoon dried rosemary
• ▢ 1 bay leaf
• ▢ 2-3 sprigs fresh parsley optional

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Instructions

• Preheat oven to 275° F, moving racks to make sure your pot (with the lid) will fit in the oven.
• Heat oil (and butter if desired) in a large dutch oven or pot, medium to medium high heat, until hot but not smoking. Salt and pepper your chuck roast well, it’s a large piece of meat, don’t be shy about salting it. Set aside.
• Cut onions in half and carefully place cut side down in hot oil, brown for 1-2 minutes per side, remove to plate.
• While pot still hot, toss in cut carrots (2 inches or so) and stir around hot pan until lightly browned, about a minute. Remove to plate.
• Turn up the heat a bit, so that the pan is screaming hot, but still not smoking. Carefully, using tongs add your meat to the pot, searing well on each side for about 1-2 minutes per side. Once all sides are seared, remove to plate.
• Next keeping the temp up on the pot, deglaze your pan by pouring in 1 cup of wine or broth, using a wooden spoon scrape the bottom of the pan releasing the flavor in the brown bits.
• Return meat to the pot, tucking in the carrots, potatoes and onions all around. Pour in additional beef broth until about halfway up the side of the meat. Add sprigs (or dried) of rosemary, parsley, thyme, and bay leaf tucking around the veggies and meat.
• Cover and don’t peek, cook for 3 hours (for a smaller roast) and 4-6 hours for a larger roast. If necessary, check the liquid levels about hour 4 or 6 if cooking longer adding a cup or so of additional broth. Serve with warm Russian Black Bread and a crisp green salad.

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Notes

This is so delicious on top of a baked potato as well, or use leftovers and bake potatoes for a completely different meal idea!

Nutrition

Serving: 1serving | Calories: 639kcal | Carbohydrates: 35g | Protein: 48g | Fat: 31g | Saturated Fat: 12g | Polyunsaturated Fat: 3g | Monounsaturated Fat: 17g | Trans Fat: 2g | Cholesterol: 156mg | Sodium: 535mg | Potassium: 1699mg | Fiber: 6g | Sugar: 6g | Vitamin A: 10279IU | Vitamin C: 36mg | Calcium: 95mg | Iron: 7mg

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