Slow Cooker Pot Roast
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No-fuss, fall-apart pot roast made in your crockpot with the most tender vegetables! And the gravy is perfection.
Featured Comment
So I’m not sure if you guys know this but Chicago has some amazing food.
Like really really really bomb food. And I’m not just talking about deep dish pizzas or Portillo’s chocolate cake shake. No, I’m talking about Italian beef sandwiches, Nutella pockets, and ice cream doughnut sandwiches just to name a few.
See, it’s all pretty amazing. But sometimes you just need a classic comfort food dish that brings you back home. Something mom used to make, and something you can enjoy on a Sunday night with friends and family.
And what better way to do that than with a classic pot roast? A pot roast that can cook all day long in your crockpot so all that’s left to do is picking up that bottle of wine to serve.
The pot roast comes out unbelievably fall-apart tender in the slow cooker with the most perfect gravy that you can make from the cooking juices. Not to mention, all the tender potatoes, carrots and celery that soak up all that flavor.
Oh, and I would totally serve this with the wine I just picked up and a slice of Portillo’s chocolate cake for dessert. Just a thought for all you Chicago locals!
WHAT TO SERVE WITH POT ROAST
Tools For This Recipe
6-qt slow cooker
Slow Cooker Pot Roast: Frequently Asked Questions
We recommend using chuck roast for the best results possible. Brisket or rump roast (bottom round roast) can also be used.
Additional beef broth can be used for red wine as a non-alcoholic substitute. Broth will be less acidic and more mild in flavor than red wine.
Absolutely! But because dried herbs are often more potent/concentrated than fresh herbs, you need less when using dry. The correct ratio is 1 tablespoon fresh herbs to 1 teaspoon dried herbs.
Yes! Don’t have 7-8 hours to wait in the slow cooker? Here is our favorite pot roast recipe made in the oven.
Slow Cooker Pot Roast
Ingredients
- 3 pound boneless chuck roast, excess fat trimmed
- Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper, to taste
- 1 ½ tablespoons canola oil
- 1 ½ cups beef broth
- ½ cup dry red wine
- ¼ cup all purpose flour
- 2 tablespoons tomato paste
- 2 tablespoons Worcestershire sauce
- 2 pounds Yukon gold potatoes
- 3 carrots, cut into 3-inch pieces
- 2 celery ribs, cut into 3-inch pieces
- 1 medium sweet onion, cut into 1-inch wedges
- 2 cloves garlic, minced
- 6 sprigs fresh thyme
- 1 bay leaf
- 2 tablespoons chopped fresh parsley leaves
Equipment
Instructions
- Season beef with 1 1/2 teaspoons salt and 1 teaspoon black pepper.
- Heat canola oil in a large skillet over medium high heat. Add beef and cook until evenly browned, about 3-4 minutes per side.
- In a medium bowl, whisk together beef broth, wine, flour, tomato paste and Worcestershire; set aside.
- Place potatoes, carrots, celery, onion, garlic, thyme and bay leaf into a 6-qt slow cooker. Stir in beef broth mixture; season with salt and pepper, to taste. Top with beef.
- Cover and cook on low heat for 7-8 hours, or until beef is fork-tender.
- Remove beef, potatoes, carrots, celery and onion from the slow cooker; shred beef, using two forks. Cover with aluminum foil.
- Strain cooking juices through a fine-mesh sieve into a small saucepan over medium heat; discard solids. Skim any remaining fat from surface and discard. Bring to a boil; reduce heat and simmer, whisking constantly, until desired thickness, about 5-10 minutes. Season with salt and pepper, to taste.
- Serve beef, potatoes, carrots, celery and onion with juices immediately, garnished with parsley, if desired.
Video
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Wonderful! Part of the quarantine cooking trend, I used this recipe today and it was the best. It was 2.75 lbs and cooked in 7 hours.
Didn’t have tomato paste so I used pasta sauce. Also used rosé in place of the red wine.
Thank you for the wonderful recipe!
This recipe was a 2nd attempt at slow cooked meat, and it was amazing! I actually left out the carrots, potatoes, and celery to dedicate the slow cooker to the meat alone. Roasted potatoes and brussel sprouts on the side instead.
The meat came out beautifully, falling apart easily with a fork. The gravy was similarly incredible, and produces a lot for leftovers or other dishes.
I’ll be recommending this recipe to family and friends.
I used a 2.75 flat piece of Chuck.. and cooked it 8 hrs on low and it still was not tender at all. Had to raise to high and cook two more hrs ..
Do not love cooking in slow cooker . Rather just make beef stew .. in a regular pot.
I have never really liked pot roast before. The meat is pretty flavorless and always dry.
But my husband asked for it, so I found this recipe. I added about 2 pounds more beef, 1.5 cups more broth, mushrooms (my favorite part), and leeks. I also marinated the beef for two days before making it in red wine, water, soy sauce, salt, pepper, chopped onion, and garlic.
This was so good. No one could believe I’ve never made it before. The gravy was a little too thin even after I added more flour, but very flavorful. The beef was perfectly tender and moist and just so tasty. The veggies were super flavorful. Just very good overall. I love the addition of the fresh, bright green parsley at the end. Thank you so much for the delicious meal.
We also had green salad and garlic bread. I may try to grill the meat instead of pan sear it before adding it to the crock pot next time.
Very delicious and tasty! Thank you!
Thank you for this recipe! Since I do not own a crockpot, could this be made in a roasting pan or dutch oven instead? Also, would brisket work instead of boneless chuck roast? Thank you in advance!!
Hi! I’m trying this recipe tomorrow for easter dinner. We only have 1.32 lbs of chuck roast (only my husband and I are eating) and have a rice cooker that also turns into a slow cooker on hight. This is my first time to make a pot roast. I have a few questions hopefully someone will answer. Do I have to half the recipe? We do like gravy a lot! And how long should I cook this if it is high?
Thank you! Im very excited to try this!
My family loved this dish! This recipe will be going into our regular rotation for sure. It was delicious!
Best roast we have ever had!
Another amazing recipe! I didn’t have all the ingredients for my usual recipe and chose to make this instead on the fly. Easy, simple and delicious! The roast was fall apart tender and the gravy was perfect!
I wanted to give this a lower rating because of how mine turned out but wanted to give it 5 stars because it was my fault how it turned out. The flavor of the gravy, to die for! Soooo good! I had a slightly smaller roast so had already planned to check it well before the suggested 7-8 hours. However, after only 3.5, mine was well done and not tender at all. I did it on the low setting. I have high, low and warm. I guess next time, I’d do it on the warm setting. Anyway, after discovering it was well done and not tender, I turned it to warm and also took the potatoes out. It was sort of salvageable but only because of the veggies and gravy. I would try again and just be so much more careful about the settings and not to overcook it. Again, the gravy, amazing!!!
I think the problem may have been the short cook time. Pot roast will look done based on the color quite quickly. The tenderness comes from the long slow cook. What was tough at 3.5 hours could have been meltingly tender by 7-8 hours. Hopefully you’ll try it again. 🙂
Agree with Melinda: Just because something ‘looks’ done doesn’t mean it IS done. Recipe times are for a reason. The gravy will get richer and the roast will be done and tender if the timing is followed. Suggest making it again and no peek until the timing suggested is done.
Excellent! Only thing I did differently was liberally salted/peppered the check roast the night before, and the next morning seared in on my GRILL instead of in a pan on the stove … that (in my opinion always takes meat to the next level). Sear at 450 degrees for 5 minutes, turn 90 degrees or so and sear for another 5 minutes. Flip after the first 10 minutes and repeat.
You wont regret it!
First, I don’t own a slow cooker of any kind. I used my Le Creuset Dutch oven to brown the meat and then just threw everything in. I bake at 350 F for about 3 hours. A couple changes, I did not use the celery, as I didn’t have it on hand. I used ketchup instead of tomato paste, because that’s what I had on hand. Just used a heaping table spoonful of flour. This was AMAZING and everyone liked it. Even my MIL complimented it! Thanks for such a great recipe!! There’s not one recipe I’ve tried from this site that I haven’t liked and is one of my go to sites for recipes.
You too good for a slow cooker?
The flavor of this roast and vegetables and gravy was wonderful, and it was so aromatic as it cooked.
However, the vegetables took on the brown-burgundy color of the beef broth and the wine; the Angus chuck roast was not quite “fork tender.”
I used a 7.5 qt. newer Cuisinart, and cooked it for 8 hours on low. I followed the recipe exactly.
Perhaps the next time I will put the roast in the crock pot first, then the vegetables on top, unless there is any other advice?
Did you sear the roast before putting it in? Could affect the level of cook. I also try to put celery down first, leave potatoes a little bigger and add them next then nest the beef in there and put the Carrots around the outside. Pot roast tend to turn out best if they start out partially in the liquid. Definitely try playing around with the layering till you get it how you like
Delicious. I marinated the beef overnite in Lawreys Italian marinade, washed it off next morning and browned beef! I added more carrots and potatoes, garlic and did everything else in recipe. Did not add wine!! Cooked on high for an hour, turned to low when I left house!!
Very tender and good!!
I follow the basics, pot roast (seared), potatoes, onion and carrots, except I put two cups of water in the crock pot and add one envelope of Lipton Onion Soup Mix, instead of the sauce mentioned. When I make the gravy with the meat juice, I use Kitchen Bouquet.
It is so simple and tastes like my Mother’s recipe!
So you didn’t make this recipe. Thanks for wasting our time with your “review.”
Absolutely delicious. The gravy is the best
Great recipe. My 2.5 lb roast was fork tender in about 6.5 hours. I put the potatoes on the bottom, and the carrots & onions on top. I browned the roast on my gas grill (try it; it’s easy and one less skillet to clean) with a little baking soda rubbed in to promote the Maillard reaction and gave it a generous splash of balsamic vinegar once in the crock pot.
My fiancé isn’t a big fan of pot roast, so when I said I was going to make a crock pot pot roast he was a little hesitant. I prepared everything before going to work so it would be ready when I got home. My fiancé said it was the juiciest and most tender pot roast he had ever had and he really enjoyed it, as did I! I skewered the onions (kabob/like) as he doesn’t like onions, which worked out wonderfully! Love this recipe and will be trying others off of this site soon! Thank you for a delightful dinner!
Get another BF.
D.A. – thanks for the wonderful tip about using a skewer for the onions, it’s brilliant! I have one picky eater in a 3-person household and onions and mushrooms are a particular issue. I’m going to use this trick from now on!
Marry him dear. The sooner the better, and just maybe keep him out of the kitchen.
I’ve never been known for my cooking skills but I wanted to have a few friends over for dinner and I followed this recipe. I shocked even myself when it turned out to be absolutely amazing. I will be making this pot roast again tomorrow for Sunday dinner for my father and brother. Looking forward to trying other recipes on your site.