Ultimate Slow Cooker Pot Roast

8 servings
Prep Time 15 minutes
Cook Time 8 hours
Total Time 8 hours 15 minutes

Ultimate Slow Cooker Pot Roast that leaves you with tender meat, vegetables and a built in gravy to enjoy them all with in just 15 minutes of prep! Perfect weeknight dinner!

Ultimate Slow Cooker Pot Roast that leaves you with tender meat, vegetables and a built in gravy to enjoy them all with in just 15 minutes of prep! Perfect weeknight dinner!Ultimate Slow Cooker Pot Roast is a perfect weeknight meal you can make with little effort the morning of and you can even prep the night before. This pot roast recipe is a pared down version of a recipe I used to use and adapted to give to client’s who’s children were going off on their own.

They wanted easy recipes they could make that would remind them of the meals I had made for them. This dish delivers on that promise offering a warm, hearty, healthy meal with little cooking knowledge needed and even without searing the meat you’ll have a delicious meal!Ultimate Slow Cooker Pot Roast that leaves you with tender meat, vegetables and a built in gravy to enjoy them all with in just 15 minutes of prep! Perfect weeknight dinner!The great thing about this Ultimate Slow Cooker Pot Roast is that the whole meal really is made in one place. We like to serve it with a side salad to add a fresh flavor to the meal but for wintery weather and busy weeknights this is pretty much the gold standard for us for delicious food!

You can add in other herbs and vegetables as you would like. We love playing with adding different root vegetables like turnips and parsnips, sometimes we add onion or sweet potatoes. In the fall we love different squash too. This dish can be adjusted to your favorite veggies with no problems!

Looking for more slow cooker recipes? They’re a favorite around here, here are just a few of them:

Ultimate Slow Cooker Pot Roast that leaves you with tender meat, vegetables and a built in gravy to enjoy them all with in just 15 minutes of prep! Perfect weeknight dinner!

Some quick tips about this Ultimate Slow Cooker Pot Roast:

  • Browning the beef in a pan before adding it to the slow cooker is a step I would not skip if even remotely possible. That crust is delicious and you don’t want to miss it.
  • Seasoning – Yes it looks like a lot of salt, but you also have to remember you have 3 pounds of vegetables under the meat you are seasoning too.
  • The cornstarch finisher – To thicken the liquid you’ll need some cornstarch. I usually add this in the last hour of cooking but a quick saucepan heat-up of the liquids with cornstarch will take care of it for you in just a couple of minutes too. It is just one more dish to wash, haha.
  • Yukon Potatoes – I love the buttery texture of a yukon gold, you can alternately use russet potatoes here without any problems too.
  • If you have fresh thyme by all means use it, I just like how easy this recipe is and pantry friendly so I normally use dried thyme unless I already have fresh on hand.

Ultimate Slow Cooker Pot Roast that leaves you with tender meat, vegetables and a built in gravy to enjoy them all with in just 15 minutes of prep! Perfect weeknight dinner!

 Tools Used in the Making of this Ultimate Slow Cooker Pot Roast:
Slow Cooker: Love this slow cooker and how programmable it is, it has been a workhorse for me… until…
My New Slow Cooker: This recipe was made in this slow cooker. For larger roasts I also brown the meat in the insert and not lose a bunch of the flavor by transferring the meat and leaving the browned bits behind. If you’re thinking of a new slow cooker, consider it if your budget is open.
Better Than Bouillon: I use this for most recipes where I call for broth (I have it in Chicken, Vegetable, Beef and Mushroom (I love this one for adding umami flavor to things). Its so easy to just add a spoonful to some water and it is just beef broth that has had the water cooked out of it.

Ultimate Slow Cooker Pot Roast that leaves you with tender meat, vegetables and a built in gravy to enjoy them all with in just 15 minutes of prep! Perfect weeknight dinner!

Ultimate Pot Roast

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Ultimate Slow Cooker Pot Roast

Ultimate Slow Cooker Pot Roast that leaves you with tender meat, vegetables and a built in gravy to enjoy them all with in just 15 minutes of prep! Perfect weeknight dinner!
Yield 8 servings
Prep Time 15 minutes
Cook Time 8 hours
Total Time 8 hours 15 minutes
Course Main Course
Cuisine American
Author Sabrina Snyder

Ingredients
 

  • 4-5 pound chuck roast
  • 2 tablespoons canola oil
  • 2 teaspoons Kosher salt
  • 1 teaspoon coarse ground black pepper
  • 1 teaspoon dried thyme
  • 1 pound carrots peeled and cut into 2" chunks
  • 2 pounds Yukon Gold potatoes peeled and cut into large chunks
  • 2 cloves garlic minced
  • 2 cups beef broth
  • 2 tablespoons corn starch
  • 2 tablespoons cold water
  • minced parsley optional, to garnish

Instructions

  • Season the chuck roast with the Kosher salt, pepper and thyme (if you are sensitive to sodium, adjust to your taste or you can even leave the salt out altogether since you're adding broth).
  • Heat your pan (or if you can brown in your slow cooker, do it in that insert to medium high.
  • Add the canola oil and when it ripples and is hot add in the roast and brown, deeply, for 4-5 minutes on each side.
  • In your slow cooker add the carrots, potatoes and garlic.
  • Lay the beef on top, then add the beef broth and cover, cooking on low for 8-10 hours or on high for 5-6 hours.
  • In the last hour mix your cornstarch and water and add it to the slow cooker to thicken the sauce or you can take the food out when done cooking, and add the leftover liquid to a small saucepan with the cornstarch/water mixture and cook on high for just 2-3 minutes until the liquid is thickened into a gravy.
  • Pour the gravy over the meat and garnish with parsley if desired.

Nutrition

Calories: 542kcal | Carbohydrates: 21g | Protein: 47g | Fat: 29g | Saturated Fat: 11g | Cholesterol: 156mg | Sodium: 1039mg | Potassium: 1435mg | Fiber: 4g | Sugar: 2g | Vitamin A: 9500IU | Vitamin C: 16.5mg | Calcium: 99mg | Iron: 8.8mg
Keyword: beef roast, chuck roast, pot roast, Ultimate Slow Cooker Pot Roast

Ultimate Slow Cooker Pot Roast that leaves you with tender meat, vegetables and a built in gravy to enjoy them all with in just 15 minutes of prep! Perfect weeknight dinner!

About the Author: Sabrina Snyder

Sabrina is a professionally trained Private Chef of over 10 years with ServSafe Manager certification in food safety. She creates all the recipes here on Dinner, then Dessert, fueled in no small part by her love for bacon.

Sabrina Snyder is a professionally trained personal and private chef of over 10 years who is the creator and developer of all the recipes on Dinner, then Dessert.

She is also the author of the cookbook Dinner, then Dessert – Satisfying Meals Using Only 3, 5 or 7 Ingredients, published by Harper Collins.

She started Dinner, then Dessert as a business in her office as a lunch service for her coworkers who admired her lunches before going to culinary school and becoming a full time personal chef and private chef.

As a personal chef Sabrina would cook for families one day a week and cook their entire week of dinners. All grocery shopping, cooking and cleaning was done along with instructions on reheating. As a private chef she cooked for private parties and cooked in family homes in the evenings for families on a nightly basis after working as a personal chef during the day.

Sabrina has been certified as a ServSafe Manager since 2007 and was a longstanding member of the USPCA Personal Chef Association including being on the board of the Washington DC Chapter of Chefs in the US Personal Chef Association when they won Chapter of the year.

As a member of the community of food website creators Sabrina Snyder has spoken at many conferences regarding her experiences as a food writer including the Indulge Food Conference, Everything Food Conference, Haven Food Conference and IACP Annual Food Professionals Conference.

Sabrina lives with her family in sunny California.

Dinner, then Dessert, Inc. owns the copyright on all images and text and does not allow for its original recipes and pictures to be reproduced anywhere other than at this site unless authorization is given. If you enjoyed the recipe and would like to publish it on your own site, please re-write it in your own words, and link back to my site and recipe page. Read my disclosure and copyright policy. This post may contain affiliate links.

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Comments

  1. This is our go-to pot roast recipe. Everybody loves it and there are never leftovers! Thank you for sharing it!

    1. Plan for 4 – 5 hours but at 3.5 hours use your meat thermometer to check the thickest part of the roast for inner temp of 165 degrees. It’s frustrating for us that we can change ingredients using the Yield bar but it doesn’t automatically change the cook times. We are reviewing this with our IT team!

  2. I added an quartered onion to the crockpot. I also deglazed the pan after browning the meat with the beef broth. I then added dried rosemary leaves on top before turning on the slow cooker. I made the gravy in a sauce pan with a flour slurry.

  3. I followed the directions – for the most part. I added onion and celery in w/the vegetables and put some onions on top of the roast. I seasoned and browned the roast in a cast iron skillet before adding it to the slow cooker. I did sample the roast before putting it on top of the vegs, it is going to be delicious. I used vegetable Better Than Bouillon, as mentioned above for the beef bouillon. I can’t wait for dinner!

  4. Cab u use red wine in it I love the flavor of red wine in beef but I don’t drink so I cook with it but never in a crock pot so wasn’t sure if it was a good idea

  5. I just made this for the second time. It’s great!!!! I added only one thing and that was 1 packet of Lipton’s Onion dip mix. Wonderful!!!!!!

  6. Thanks! I was scrolling through the comments and found yours…exactly what I was looking for about adding veggies last! best idea ever!!
    Who wants mushy veggies, right?

  7. This recipe proves that a simple recipe can deliver a most delicious dinner.
    I used Better than Bouillon Beef, and instead of the corn starch water I just added one packet of McCormick brown gravy. High for 5hrs . Soooo good. Thanks!

  8. So delicious. The vegetables were soft and flavorful, the seared slow cooked meat fell apart nicely and was juicy. Thank you. I never need to look for a pot roast recipe again! I cooked for 6hrs on high in the crock pot.

  9. So delicious. The vegetables were soft and flavorful, the seared slow cooked meat fell apart nicely and was juicy. Thank you. I never need to look for a pot roast recipe again!

    1. Brown the beef in the slow cooker insert on high with a little oil and then follow the recipe from there without removing the juices made from browning the beef. It will add yummy flavor. Good luck with your kitchen remodel!

  10. Even after dry brining the meat overnight this was a very bland recipe that lacked depth of flavor. Needed red wine, bay and other seasonings. Disappointing.

  11. We just had this delicious chuck roast recipe. It was outstanding. We added onions because we love onions. Thank you for sharing your recipe.

    1. I’m just now trying this recipe for the first time. I added a chopped onion, a few mushrooms, deglazed the pan with red wine and added that, and also a tbs of Worcestershire sauce to it. I used 4 cloves of garlic too instead of two. (I love garlic!). We’ll see how it turns out! This is totally different from how I make it. I’m excited!

  12. This was wonderful! The meat was so tender and the vegetables as well. The only thing I would do differently next time is to add onions to the vegetables. It was missing that onion flavor.

  13. This was perfect pot roast. We don’t call it chuck roast in Canada – I bought a boneless bottom blade roast. The recipe was right on (I just used olive oil because it’s what I had).

  14. This was perfect pot roast. In Canada we don’t call the cut chuck roast. I bought a boneless bottom blade roast, which was a great choice. Everything about this recipe was a win.

  15. Excellent!!!!! I added 2 portabello mushrooms and a Vidalia onion, Xtra garlic, and used a whole qt of beef stock. Used Xtra thickener. Served over noodles. The hubs loved it! Thanx!!!!!

  16. Came out absolutely perfect! Thank you very much for your recipe. I will be making this again for sure.

  17. Roast had really good flavor. I used the little mini yellow potatoes, baby carrots, and a 3.54 lb roast. After 5 hours the roast tasted phenomenal but still needed maybe another hour to tender up and fall apart but we were too hungry to keep waiting lol. I’m guessing I just had a really fatty roast because there were so many juices that I ended up with 7 tbs of water and starch which still ended up making a great sauce to use so I’m not complaining. I ended up putting the roast back in to go another hour to try and get it a little more tender but like I said it was already delicious and juicy.

    Ps. My wife doesn’t like roast but she loved this!

  18. Delicious meat was moist vegetables were tender. No mess no fuss. Ideal in the crock pot. Mine was 3 lbs. Done in 6 hours.

  19. Can’t imagine you’ll get this in time!! I just browned my meat and put it in the oven to cook overnight as my slow cooker is broken. If I leave it in for 8 hours, do you think I should set my temp at 200°F or 225°F???
    I have about 8 lbs in there!! ?
    Thanks!

    1. oh no, you’re right, I didn’t see this in time. And how did it turn out using the oven?

  20. Fabulous recipe. Used a 6.1 pound boneless blade roast. Didn’t have enough time to cook it all on low, so did it on high for 2.5 hours then on low for 5.5 hours. Added a large onion cut into chunks. Thank you!

    1. Hi Annie, I know this response is super late, my apologies. If you hover over the word Yield on the recipe card and use the bar to decrease the yield 50% the recipe will automatically update the ingredients and recipe for you!

      1. When you cut the recipe in half by using the yield button it doesn’t ch@ngr the cooking time. That was her question. How long do you cook a 2 1/2 pound roast?

        1. Thank you Cher for bringing this to our attention.

          Slow cooker roast beef cooking times
          2-3 lb / 1-1.5kg on LOW: 7-8 hours on HIGH: 3-4 hours

  21. Good base recipe, I was trying to find an old school pot roast recipe with tomato paste. I added a couple of tablespoons of tomato paste along with a tsp of sugar and blended that with the beef broth and a tbs of sugar. Also added yellow onion. Just a tip if you coat the roast in flour before browning, cornstarch is not necessary for the gravy.

  22. I love the recipe however my chuck roast is just barely 2 lbs hopefully I can swing it! If you get this message quickly send me what you think ?
    Thank You!

    1. I’m so sorry I missed this, I would still make it in my crockpot, just add more veggies to keep the liquid level high enough or use a small slow cooker.

    1. That will depend how much liquid is left after roasting – try adding a teaspoon at a time until the sauce reaches the desired thickness.

  23. very good recipe but i am wondering why onions are not part of the ingredients. i use them. also i add a bit of red wine.

  24. New go to!! Needed a new recipe that didn’t have cream soup, and now I wish I found this sooner!! So delicious! This is the only recipe I use for pot roast. But I do cut back on the salt and use low sodium broth. This recipe is a keeper! Thanks for sharing!

  25. Don’t recommend putting the slow cooker on the stove to brown the meat. Mine split right in half as soon as I added the meat in. Big hot oil mess

    1. That wasn’t what the recipe meant–if you can brown “in” your slow cooker (e.g., it’s like an instant pot that can sear or the slow cooker has a sear function) then do it. Do not put the cooker on the stove top! Very sorry you did that.

    2. I cant believe you put a slow cooker over the stove! Really? You maybe should not use fire or electric when you cook. That could of been way worse than a oil mess. Just… wow!! Lmao

    1. Marie –
      I’m making this today and my roast is 2-3/4 lbs. I adjusted the servings (default is set to 8) on the recipe and all of the remaining ingredients adjusted.

  26. This recipe is amazing! We had the most tender beef ever, almost like slow roasted pulled pork! We had a 1.6kg roast and lightly floured and seared the roast. I changed the recipe by using 3 cups of broth, adding leeks, fresh thyme sprigs, 1/2 cup of red wine and 2 tbsp of Worcester sauce!

  27. Haven’t rated yet because I just put it in the crockpot. So excited to taste it. Simple and great for a Fall day.
    I’ll do a follow up after dinners taste test.

  28. Haven’t rated yet because I just put it in the crockpot. So excited to taste it. Simple and great for a Fall day.
    I’ll do a follow up after dinners taste test. ??

  29. Making this today for my second time.

    My husband and I love this recipe!
    I do agree that using Better than Bouillon is a great addition for the taste.

    I also agree that seating the roast before putting it in the slow cooker adds great texture.

  30. Have made this several times and really love it. I think Better Than Bouillon is key. i made a couple tweaks: i cook meat, broth and herbs together with a chopped onion plus the garlic cloves. Gotta have onion! then the last 30-45 minutes (cooking on high) is when i add the potatoes and carrots.

  31. I deglazed the pan I browned the meat in with a little variety and about 1.5 cups of Pinot Grigio and added to the broth. I also added half an onion with the veggies. Turned out great thank you! Will follow you and try other recipes!

  32. The recipe for the pot roast was good, the gravy, not so much.
    I put 4 Tbs of corn starch in the leftover stock and STILL only had au jus. I finally had to find another recipe using flour as a thickener to get the stock to the right consistency to get gravy. And a quarter cup of flour at that.

    1. Haven’t rated yet because I just put it in the crockpot. So excited to taste it. Simple and great for a Fall day.
      I’ll do a follow up after dinners taste test. ??

  33. Why canola oil? It’s essentially motor oil…
    Can you tell people a healthier oil? Extra virgin olive oil, grassfed butter, coconut oil….

    1. Imagine coming here just to comment something like this. If you want a different recipe just find one. Not everyone has access to or can afford grass fed organic butter or fancy oil. This recipe is accessible and that’s what’s important. If you’re so concerned just sub that in yourself.

      1. Agree! I rolled my eyes at that comment so hard, I was sure they would be stuck. It’s a free, easy, online recipe… Why complain? You have options.

  34. Cooking it now. It’s a standard recipe. I do like to add other stuff, even a little cream of mushroom sometimes.

    TIP: After searing, use some of the broth to deglaze the pan to get that good stuff and pour it in the pot. 😉

  35. I don’t know what planet you live on but finding a 4-5 pound pot roast is almost impossible. I pad 13$ for a two pound and smidge over Yukons forget it,.fresh thyme, good luck.

    1. Lives on my planet. I found a 4 1/2 pounder and it wasn’t even the biggest one available. What rock do you live under? Ever heard of a butcher? They work too. Or just ask nicely at your local grocery and they just might accommodate you.

      1. This is obviously highly dependent on where you live. Not everyone has a butcher near them, and grocery stores often just sell prepackaged meats and wouldn’t have someone FOR you to even ask nicely for special favours.

    2. If you use 2 2lb pot roast it will be 4 lbs of meat??? Just use this as a start and adjust it to whatever you would like it to be. I don’t understand why people have to complain about everything. This is a good recipe…