Slow Cooker Pot Roast
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This easy slow cooker pot roast cooks low and slow right in the crockpot, yielding the most fall-apart tender beef and the dreamiest gravy!
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Why you’ll love this slow cooker pot roast
- Classic comfort food. Sometimes you just need a classic comfort food dish that brings you back home. Something mom used to make, and something you can simply enjoy on a Sunday night with friends and family with all the crusty bread.
- Easiest crockpot recipe. This is truly the easiest pot roast recipe that can cook all day long in your slow cooker for 7-8 hours, filling up the entire house with a cozy, homey feeling all around.
- Includes a built-in gravy. The meat not only comes out unbelievably fall-apart tender, but the recipe also includes the most perfect gravy that you can make from the leftover cooking juices!
- Freezer-friendly. Pot roast is an excellent dish to freeze for meal prep, whether it’s for a new mom, a neighbor, or a loved one recovering from surgery, keeping in the freezer for up to 3 months.
Key Ingredients
Beef
Boneless chuck roast
Vegetables
Yukon gold potatoes, carrots, celery, and sweet onion
Liquid
Beef broth, red wine, flour, and tomato paste
Aromatics
Garlic, thyme, bay leaf, and parsley
how to make the easiest crockpot pot roast
- Prep the beef. Season the chuck roast liberally with salt and pepper.
- Sear. Brown the chuck roast in a hot cast iron skillet until a nice crust forms, about 3-4 minutes on each side.
- Combine. Whisk together the beef broth, red wine, all-purpose flour, tomato paste, and Worcestershire sauce.
- Layer the ingredients. Place the potatoes, carrots, celery, onion, garlic, thyme, and bay leaf at the bottom of a 6-qt slow cooker, then stir in the liquid mixture and season with salt and pepper. Place the seared chuck roast on top of the vegetables.
- Cook low and slow. Cover with a lid and cook on low heat for 7-8 hours. The pot roast will be done when it is fork-tender and falling apart.
- Shred the beef. Remove the beef and vegetables from the slow cooker, then pull the meat apart using two forks or a hand mixer. Cover with aluminum foil and keep warm.
- Make the gravy. Strain the leftover cooking juices from the slow cooker into a small saucepan, then skim the fat (or else you’ll end up with greasy gravy). Bring to a gentle simmer until thickened, about 5-10 minutes.
- Serve. Serve the shredded meat with the vegetables, spooning the gravy over on top.
PRO TIP
This pot roast makes for great leftovers.
Use the leftover meat for sandwiches, soups and stews, stroganoff, tacos, burritos, quesadillas and casseroles.
WHAT TO SERVE WITH POT ROAST
Tools For This Recipe
Slow Cooker Pot Roast: Frequently Asked Questions
Chuck roast is ideal but brisket or rump roast (bottom round roast) can also be used.
Not at all! Additional beef broth can be used for red wine as a non-alcoholic substitute but broth will be less acidic and more mild in flavor than red wine.
Absolutely! But because dried herbs are often more potent and concentrated than fresh herbs, you need less when using dry. For example, the correct ratio is 1 tablespoon fresh thyme = 1 teaspoon dried thyme.
The pot roast is ready when it easily pulls apart with a fork. If there’s any resistance, that’s a sign that the connective tissue (collagen) has not broken down yet. You can also insert a digital thermometer into the thickest part of the roast, checking that it reaches 190-205°F.
Yes! Don’t have 7-8 hours to wait in the slow cooker? Here is one of my favorite pot roast recipes made in the oven.
Leftovers can be stored in an airtight container in the fridge for 3-4 days.
Pot roast freezes like a dream and can keep in the freezer for 2-3 months, perfect for quick and easy meals during those busy weeks ahead.
Slow Cooker Pot Roast
Video
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 ribs celery, 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
Instructions
- Season beef with 1 1/2 teaspoons salt and 1 teaspoon black pepper.
- Heat canola oil in a large cast iron 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.
Equipment
Notes
- Sear the meat. Searing the chuck roast – top, bottom, sides, everything and all around – over medium high heat will add all the extra, deeper flavors here, sealing all the juices inside.
- Choose a wine you will drink. A dry red wine (cabernet sauvignon, pinot noir or merlot) is great here – it does not have to be anything fancy or overpriced. Just something you don’t mind sipping on since you will have an open bottle.
- Yukon golds hold up very well. Yukon golds hold up much better throughout the long cook time than russet potatoes, which tend to break down and fall apart. Red potatoes can also be used.
- Carrots and celery should be cut in larger pieces. The vegetables should be cut a little larger here as they will cook down quite a bit in the slow cooker (or else they will be overcooked, fall apart and turn to mush).
- Tomato paste adds so much flavor. Tomato paste is a key ingredient in pot roast, adding body and richness in small amounts without adding too much liquid to the roast. Opt for tomato paste in a tube, using up only what you need at a time without having to open up a whole can.
- Freeze as needed. Pot roast freezes like a dream! Freeze the shredded meat separately from the sauce, packing the meat tightly in freezer bags with a little bit of the cooking juices to prevent the meat from drying out. To reheat, thaw overnight in the fridge, reheating over low heat, stirring occasionally, until heated through.
- Serve with crusty bread. Serve with all the homemade crusty bread for dipping, sopping and dunking in the leftover gravy!
Did you make this recipe?
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By far the best pot roast I’ve made yet! The secret is the sauce , I’ve not taken it out and thickened it like this before, so good! Didn’t change a thing, recipe is perfect as it stands. Tip- use a wine you like!
So happy you liked this, Jan! Thanks for sharing!
This was delicious! Nothing else to add 🙂
We love hearing that, Molly!
I totally agree that this recipe is DAMN DELICIOUS! I am throwing out all of my pot roast recipes and only using your fantastic recipe from now on! I cooked it today and it is so great! Easy recipe and the gravy was perfect. As a former Chicagoan who knows and appreciates great food, congrats to you!
Thank you so much for the kind words, Karen!
I made this recipe yesterday, and it was the best pot roast I’d made. Looking forward to the leftovers tonight! I don’t like using the pre-made packets of slow cooker mix, so this recipe is all natural, all homemade, and simple–not to mention better in taste and flavor.
You get to tweak each ingredient for more or less of a given flavor, so that makes it a more personal meal. I prepared it exactly as the recipe calls for, and it was really, really good. Thanks!!
Thank you so much for your feedback, Mike! We’re so happy to hear that you enjoyed this!
This was very delicious and simple to put together! Thank you so much!
You are so welcome, Claudia!
I was planning on using a cut-left over piece of fresh brisket to cook this recipe.
I began to question it though; these grandchildren don’t appreciate “shredded or pulled apart…anything.”
Sliced, only.
I’m thinking if I cook it to the pull-apart stage, I won’t be able to slice any of it. I’ve had that happen before
with crock pot roasts.
What say you>
I’m asking before I waste a dinner/brisket and because I have your book
and trust your recipes.
What a great idea! But unfortunately, without having tried this myself, I cannot answer with certainty. But if you get a chance to try it, please let me know how it turns out! 🙂
Loved this, and so easy! I used rump roast, local grass-fed beef. I put in both fresh thyme and oregano, upped the garlic cloves, and used small red potatoes. A dash of cream in the gravy right before serving was a nice finishing touch. Can’t wait to make it again!
That sounds great!
Delicious, delicious, delicious!!! Thanks for a great recipe.
You’re so welcome, Shari!
Made this tonight and will absolutely make it again – and I don’t normally even like slow cooker pot roast! My husband brought home a 3 lb cross rib roast from the butcher that was pretty lean to begin with, so we didn’t end up with greasy gravy which was great. I omitted the red wine as we don’t drink and instead used a total of 2 cups homemade beef broth (I would have been fine to leave it at the 1.5 cups of broth per the recipe). Next time I’ll have to cut my potatoes larger as they were borderline mushy for my liking, but otherwise everything was amazing. Thank you for another keeper – your recipes never disappoint, Chungah!
Thank you for your feedback, Jen! We’re so glad you liked it!
thanks
i will try this one
If I had a roast twice this size would I double the recipe?
What a great idea! Yes, I recommend doubling everything but unfortunately, without having tried this myself, I cannot answer with certainty. As always, please use your best judgment when making substitutions and modifications.
Let me know how it turns out! 🙂
This looks divine! Would you still rest the meat once it’s stopped cooking or do you skip this step for crockpot meals?
Yes, I recommend letting it rest for 5-10 minutes.
So glad you tried Portillos! Yes Chicago has the Best food not sure if it makes up for their winters Enjoy the summer weather and definitely go to Taylor Street for the Best Italian. Have a great weekend!
Could you put all the ingredients together, and pre cook the beef, put the crockpot insert in the fridge and then pop it in the crockpot the next morning to cook?
That should work. But as always, please use your best judgement when making modifications. Good luck!
Lena – Yes – that’s exactly what I did. All the prep the night before, including the liquid mix, all in the fridge. Just before work, I put it all together and used the spices I left out on the counter, and let it cook the whole day. My magnificent other and I came home to a great dinner. I stopped and picked up a fresh baguette on the way home just to finish off the meal.
Mike, you even pre seared the beef, as well?
I am wondering this too. Pan sear and put in oven overnight?
Okay, first time using my Instant Pot on slow Cooker setting. Came home and nothing happened. Apparently, it was in keep warm mode all day instead of slow cooking! So, I put on high pressure for an hour, saying a few Hail Mary’s, and hoping someone else can tell me if this will even be okay. Its filled really high, so I’m VERY NERVOUS. Anyone experienced out there with advice?