Slow Cooker Pot Roast
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Enjoy Slow Cooker Pot Roast with red wine – the perfect comfort food for colder nights or when trying to keep a hot kitchen cool. This dish cooks low and slow resulting in fork tender meat and veggies, making it ideal for your slow cooker.
What slow cooker is best for Pot Roast?
This is a large, hearty meal that needs an equally beefy slow cooker. You never want to fill a slow cooker all the way to the top. Aiming for 3/4 full will provide the most even cooking for large dishes such as pot roast, beef stew, and chili. With that being said, having a 7 quart slow cooker on hand will make that possible, and give room for more vegetables should you want them.
What’s to love about Slow Cooker Pot Roast
Our home is three stories tall and when red wine pot roast is cooking, you can smell it in every square inch of the house. If the windows are open, you can even smell the herbs, garlic, and tang from the red wine wafting in the breeze. It’s an amazing smell that will have you impatiently waiting for dinner.
Not only does it smell delicious but it looks and tastes incredible too! Some pot roasts can come out looking like a brown mess. This one has a burgundy sauce that stains the onions, and the carrots are kept a bright, vibrant orange. A sprinkle of parsley or other herbs provide a contrasting green that keeps the dish fresh.
The taste is texturally tender. Searing of the meat before slow cooking adds a bit of caramelization that breaks up the tenderness of the meat and vegetables. While the dish is overall savory, it has notes of tang from the red wine and Worcestershire sauce. A subtle sweetness rounds out the dish from carrots, red wine, and braised onions.
Ingredients Needed
Exact measurements can be found in the printable recipe card below.
Recipe Variations
- If you’re not a fan of red wine, feel free to use all beef broth. If you do not drink red wine, you may find that you don’t tend to have it on hand when you need it for recipes like this one. The red wine in this recipe is used to deglaze the pan. You can do that with beef broth no problem. If you have a splash of red wine vinegar, that can add a lovely acidic note as well. However, you do not want to replace 1:1. Only add a few Tablespoons of the red wine vinegar and substitute the remaining red wine with beef broth.
- If you do not have fresh herbs on hand, use dried herbs at about half the amount.
- If out of Worcestershire sauce, use balsamic vinegar.
- Some people do not like cornstarch or cannot use it. Other options would be potato starch, tapioca starch, all-purpose flour, arrowroot powder, and xanthan gum. No matter the choice, simply remove about 1 cup of the liquid and add to a bowl with the thickening agent of your choice. Stir it well until smooth and a slurry has been created. Poor back into the slow cooker and continue cooking for one hour.
Using fresh garlic?
If you want to use fresh garlic, skip the garlic powder on the roast and add it to the sauted onions instead. Cooking the garlic before adding it to the slow cooker will also prevent a metalic taste from appearing in your food. This can happen with raw garlic that gets only partly cooked.
Instructions
This is an overview of the instructions. For complete directions, scroll down to the bottom.
- Cover the dried meat fully with seasonings and flour if desired.
- Sear the meat in a skillet on all sides with olive oil.
- Remove the meat. Saute the onions and fresh garlic (if using).
- Deglaze the pan with wine.
- Add the potatoes, carrots, and meat to the slow cooker.
- Add the onions and red wine to the slow cooker.
- Add beef broth.
- Add Worcestershire sauce.
- Add the fresh herbs.
- Cook on low for 8 hours or until internal temperature is 195F and meat is shreddable with a fork.
- Remove about 1 cup of liquid and add cornstarch. Whisk well and return to the slow cooker. Mix well and serve with fresh herbs.
How to store and love your leftovers
- Refrigerate: Leftover pot roast can be stored in an airtight container for up to 5 days, once fully cooled.
- Freeze: Once the dish is completely cooled, shred remaining meat and vacuum seal or store in an airtight container for up to 3 months!
- Reheat: Thaw in the refrigerator overnight if possible. Microwave in 1 to 2 minute increments, stirring occasionally based on the amount being microwaved. Or of course put into a Dutch oven or pot and heat slowly over a simmer on the stovetop. If stored in the crock pot insert, it can be warmed on the warm setting or low for 1-2 hours.
Use leftovers from this recipe as a base for “Italian” beef sandwiches!
FAQ’s
Nachos or Mac and Cheese with leftover shredded meat are delicious! I love to put leftovers on a sandwich roll as well. This Penne Pasta looks delicious as well!
Did you forget to pull the chuck roast from the freezer and now it’s time to leave for the day? No worries! You do not have to sear the meat or the onions and garlic. While it will certainly deepen the flavor, just add all the ingredients to the slow cooker (minus the flour) plus a splash of balsamic vinegar, and let it cook on low all day long. When you get home, reduce the sauce by half if you feel so inclined. But otherwise simply dig in!
The typical cut of beef is the chuck roast. This comes from the neck and shoulder area of a cow. Some grocers will even lable this cut as a Pot Roast while others may call it a chuck or chuck eye. Other cut options would be bottom or top round, or brisket. You want a meat that is thick with a lot of cartilage and visibale marbling. As it cooks, this marbling or fat, will melt away within the meat making it fork tender and easy to shred. More lean cuts such as a shoulder roast would require slicing vs shredding – different texture.
If you don’t want or don’t have a thickening agent to use, you can always reduce the liquid you have. Grab the contents from the slow cooker and place on a platter. Shred the beef and layer on the vegetables. Strain the liquid from the slow cooker and place into a small sauce pan on the stove over medium heat. Reduce the liquid by about half. It will become slightly thicker and more developed in flavor.
Tips for the Perfect Pot Roast
Searing the meat and cooking the onions and garlic prior to adding to the slow cooker helps to develop flavors and textures. Both will add a caramelized flavor that happens only when sugars are “burnt” in foods. The standard slow cooker doesn’t offer the ability to do this. Though there are new ones on the market such as this one from Green Pan that offer a sear function making this a truly one and done dish.
Serve with
- Fresh Bread
- Pasta Salad
- Fruit Salad
- Green Salad
Slow Cooker Corner – The Green Pan
EASE: Easier to make than you might think
PROS: It’s large! For large families or those who like to host, this 6 quart slow cooker is one of the largest on the market. It is also beautiful and has that classic look of a slow cooker. It also has a sear function.
CONS: It’s pricey! At $249 you could get mutliple standard CrockPots for the same price
MY THOUGHTS: While I haven’t had the opportunity to try this out myself, I am really looking forward to the day I can. Being able to sear, deglaze, and slow cook while away from the house is a game changer. Especially for large families.
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Slow Cooker Pot Roast
Equipment
- slow cooker 6 quart or larger
- 10-inch skillet or larger
- knife
- cutting board
- tongs or meat claws
Ingredients
- 3 pound beef chuck roast (23.91)
- 1.5 teaspoon garlic powder (0.33)
- 1 teaspoon salt (0.03)
- .5 teaspoon pepper (0.01)
- 2 Tablespoons olive oil (0.21)
- 1 pounds carrots (0.98) sliced into 1 inch rounds
- 1.5 pounds baby Yukon gold potatoes (3.48) halved or quartered based on size
- 1 yellow onion (0.78) large
- 1.5 cups red wine (1.99) dark
- 32 ounces beef broth (1.37)
- 2 bay leaves (0.27)
- 2 Tablespoons Worcestershire sauce (0.10)
- 2 Tablespoons fresh herbs (1.98) rosemary and thyme as available, minced or whole and then removed
- 2 Tablespoons cornstarch (0.05)
Instructions
- Pat the meat with a paper towel to remove any excess moisture. Cover the dried meat fully with seasonings and flour if desired.*
- Sear the meat in a skillet over medium-high heat, on all sides with olive oil (about 15 minutes).
- Transfer the meat to the slow cooker. Saute the onions (5 minutes) and fresh garlic (1 minute if using).
- Deglaze the pan with wine. Allow to reduce for 2 minutes.
- Add the potatoes, carrots, red wine mixture, beef broth, Worcestershire sauce, bay leaves, and fresh herbs to the slow cooker around the meat.
- Cover and cook on low for 8 hours or until internal temperature is 195F and meat is shreddable with a fork.
- Remove about 1 cup of liquid and add cornstarch (if using). Whisk well and return to the slow cooker. Mix well and serve with fresh herbs.
