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!
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:
- Slow Cooker Indian Butter Chicken
- Slow Cooker Cuban Mojo Pork
- Slow Cooker Garlic Parmesan Chicken and Potatoes
- Slow Cooker Korean Short Ribs
- Slow Cooker Honey Garlic Chicken
- Slow Cooker Chicken Fajitas
- and there are many more slow cooker meals on the site…
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.
 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⦠untilâ¦
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 youâre 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 Pot Roast
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
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Best pot roast I ever turned out! Made it last night, guess what I had for breakfast! Wow! I’m 65 and have done my share of cooking, but the little effort and astonishing results are outstanding! Thanks!
Awww, that’s so sweet! You totally made my day! I’m so glad you made it and then came back to tell me about it!
This is literally THE BEST pot roast recipe I’ve ever tasted. I’ve made quite a few versions of pot roast in our slow cooker but this one was above and beyond in flavor. My husband and I were tempted to drink the gravy it was so delicious! We are definitely saving this one and keeping in heavy rotation. Thanks!
I added a couple cups of red wine with the beef broth. It was nice.
Can you prepare this the night before and also sear it??
You wouldn’t want to sear it the night before but everything else can be prepped.
This was amazing! I added onions and celery and probably used about 3c broth but didn’t really measure. I couldn’t fit another thing in the crockpot and was afraid it wasn’t going to finish in time – but it did without any extra time. My family loved it! I will definitely make this again! Yum!
I followed your recipe for the recipe for the Ultimate slow cooker Pot Roast my family really loved it it was the best Pot Roast I ever had very tender and flavorful I will definitely make it again
Made this tonight and it was awesome! I didnt quite get a thick gravy from adding corn starch an hour before finishing but it was all so moist and yummy that it didnt matter. Very good.
Can u add celery
YES! Absolutely! Also, celery will be even more awesome if you brown it a bit after you brown the beef. Just add the celery to the drippings the beef left and cook a couple minutes then dump the whole pan, drippings and all into the slow cooker.
I made this last night only changed a few things I added 1/2 a cup red wine and I sautéed onions and garlic in the same pan I used to sear the meat added that to the crockpot and I added fresh mushroom and boy did my family lick their plates clean. Thanks for this delicious recipe
Going to try it sounds good
Thank you so much for this recipe!! I doubled this (big family!) and cooked on high for 6 hours. Turned out perfectly!!!
So glad you loved it! This is a staple in our dinner rotation too!
Can I use frozen stew veggies in this? Just add them toward the last couple of hours?
Yes! Absolutely. I’ve done it before too, just put them around the roast instead of dumping them directly on top or the temperature of the roast will plummet and the cook time will be completely thrown off.
Hi Sabrina,
Just finished putting everything in and CAN’T wait. However, I do have two questions that I didn’t see answered in previous comments. First, what is the best way to store the leftovers? I’m assuming gravy separate from the roast and veggies? With other similar recipes in the past, I’ve had issues with fat congealing and getting kind of gross looking quickly. Let me know what you recommend. Second, is it better to take the roast and veggies out to make the gravy or just add the cornstarch/water mixture straight to the slow cooker?
I prefer storing the gravy separate but you can store it all together if you’d like. When adding the cornstarch/water mixture, I add it directly to the slow cooker (no need to dirty anything else, haha). I really hope you enjoyed it!
Recipe sounds wonderful but I have a question: Am I supposed to cut up the meat into chunks & sear or keep the roast as 1 piece & sear it? This would be the first time using this cut of meat. Thank you
You’ll want to keep the roast all as one piece. 🙂
2nd time making this recipe. Simple enough and tastes great. I did add half an onion this time for added flavor and a bit more salt. I will be using this for years. Thanks!
Cooking as I type! I can’t wait for the results. Super easy recipe ?
I added a few more cloves of garlic and i also added an entire onion chopped in quarters.
I am new to using a slow cooker I have followed this recipe exactly. My question is this the roast is on top and not covered in liquid is that how it is suppose to be? Thank you for your help
Yes, that’s exactly how you want it. I know it seems different but it will release liquid as it cooks. I hope you enjoy it!
My family and I absolutely LOVED this THANK you so much for sharing the recipe!!
It left my email again Im so sorry could you please fix and tell me how to just use my name? THANKS again the roast was truly delicious 🙂 Dianna
Don’t worry I took care of it. 🙂
Thank you so much for the great review!!
Brown the meat first. YUM!
I made this yesterday for supper. So tender! I used fresh thyme, baby carrots and fingerling potatoes as that’s what I had. I added sliced mushrooms and sauteed a small chopped onion after searing the roast as we like mushroom and onion. The house smelled fabulous! My spouse rarely says anything about food but said “tastes like more” and got a second serving.
We have a 4.5 Quart slow cooker. Cooked 4 hours on high then one hour on low as the veggies were smelling done, and finished gravy on the stove.
This recipe came out amazing! I would highly recommend it! The meat had so much rich flavor! My husband said this was the best pot roast he had ever had, and I agree. I left the potatoes out of the crock pot and instead made mashed potatoes on the side.
I am using a smaller roast, about 2.5 lbs. should I cut down any of the other ingredients/cooking times??
You can adjust the recipe ingredients by using the sliding tool in the recipe card. Just hover over the serving size and change it until you see the roast size you are using. Hope this helps!
I prepared this exactly as the recipe states. Wow! The seasoning was perfect and the meat was so tender. Vegetables were cooked perfect with the called for amount of liquid. I added the cornstarch an hour before as stated and it made the perfect “gravy”. I have never actually been compelled to leave a comment before today. Delicious. Thank you for this recipe, I will definitely make it again.
This makes me so happy! Thank you for taking the time to come back and let me know how much you enjoyed it!
So easy yet so delicious! First time making chuck roast and I’ll be making more of this in the future!
You mentioned Better than Boullion in the text above, where does that come into play in this recipe? I didn’t see it in the cooking instructions. Thanks I can’t wait to make this!
I use it to make my beef broth. I just love the flavor it adds to the dish. Hope you enjoy it!
i’m super embarrassed (bc i’m sure i did something wrong), but mine turned out tasting like dirt :/ too much thyme, maybe? i’ll admit i’m not a huge thyme fan, so maybe it was just my opinion? my husband thought so too tho. also, what do you serve with pot roast? rolls, cornbread?
Oh no! Dirt definitely isn’t the flavor we were going for! You can omit the Thyme if you don’t like it for next time. I love mashed potatoes with pot roast and cornbread sounds yummy too!!
Made this for tonight’s dinner. Did not skip searing, as I have a crockpot with the new inner I can use for searing. Unlike most of your concerned reviewers, I actually added less beef broth, but I had added onions and celery, both of which make liquid (as well, all we had was close to 9oz in a cardboard box). Haven’t tried it yet, but it looks like it’s going to be a winner! 🙂 Thanks for the easy recipe and a quick dinner.
I hope you enjoyed it, Amanda!
It’s 730 am now what time should I start this ?
You’ll want to cook it on low for 8-10 hours so depending on when you want to have dinner, I would start it fairly soon. Enjoy!
I made this recipe over the weekend. This was a stray from my standard roast which includes onion, celery, & onion soup mix in addition to the potato and carrot in this recipe.
As I am preparing the few ingredients in this recipe I thought, “How is this going to be super yummy without onions? Will there be enough flavors in the meat with just thyme, salt, pepper and garlic?”
I opted for the slow and low cook method as I did not want to rush a new recipe and risk us needing to whip out a hacksaw to cut through an overcooked roast.
While the roast was cooking we were not noticing the typical, “are we at grandma’s house smell” where you can tell something delicious must be cooking. Even my hubby was sniffing around the cooker and peering through the condensation on the lid just to make sure I was really making a roast. Was my roast going to be a dud and super bland because I couldn’t smell it cooking? Perhaps I should have just stuck to what I knew and made my same old roast.
Finally after 9 long hours the time came to harvest the liquid to make the gravy. I popped the lid on the cooker and peered inside. “I made this”, I thought to myself. This roast looked photo-worthy. I decided to skip the picture as I needed to stay on task and make the gravy.
With the gravy set it was time to dish-up. The meat was so tender, the vegetables had great consistency and the gravy was the perfect finishing touch.
We started eating and we couldn’t believe how incredible this meal was! I was sad when I realized I had eaten my serving and now had an empty bowl. I had to have a second serving. Even our 2.5yr old daughter really enjoyed this and she couldn’t get enough of the carrots. She went so far as to steal all of mine out of my second serving. We are so pleased with this amazing recipe! I will be using this going forward and most likely will never use my old recipe again!
Oh my gosh!! You just made my day!! Thank you so much for taking the time to come back and let me know how much you all enjoyed it!
Do you season before or after browning in the pan?
Before 🙂
Hi I’m making this now and has been in crock pot for a few hrs so do I need to make sure the meat is completely covered by the liquids or is ok for it to be above on top of everything?
No, the meat will not be completely covered in liquid. I hope you enjoyed it!
I have this in the crock pot now and like others, I am being paranoid that there is not enough liquid but already put an extra cup or so. My question is how much space would you say there needs to be between the lid of the Crock-Pot and the meat? I have no idea how many quarts my crockpot is. I thought it was bigger but when I put the five pound roast in with all the vegetables seems like a lot. Hoping I didn’t overcrowd it.
Oh no, I’m just now seeing this. How did it turn out?
I like this recipe. It’s really simple. I tweaked it by adding celery and I seasoned my beef with a prime rib rub and browned it in a garlic chili infused olive oil. Oh I also added an onion and some whole garlic cloves.
I just made this tonight and it was THE best pot roast of my life!!! Tasty, delicious, moist, falling apart goodness! Hitting the print button and saving this one!
How amazing!! So glad you enjoyed it, Jenn!
Sabrina, I made you’re ultimate pot roast tonight and it is fabulous! My husband iS VERY particular about flavor, moistness, etc. I made the recipe as is except I used 6 cloves of garlic and I seasoned my church roast with No Salt ( salt substitute), ground pepper, granulated garlic and Rufus Teague steak rub. I seared about 10 minutes per side. I cut my carrots in about 3 inch lengths and my potatoes were in large chunks like the recipe says. Beef broth is Orrington Farms dry boullion that I put 5 tsp. To 2 cups hot water. Put the potatoes onions and carrots on bottom and 3 pound seared roast on top. Poured in broth and set crock pot on high for 5 hours. IT WAS PERFECT!!! Roast is fall apart but still firm, we like our meat M rare, and the veggies were still firm, not mushy. My husband could not quit raving about how good it is. He said this recipe is definately a keeper. I can’t wait to try some of your other recipes ?.
Thank you for taking the time to come back and let me know how much you all loved it!
Do you defat the gravy or do anything to it before serving other than the cornstarch?
Yes, you can strain it to separate the fat.
Would.like to make this this week. I love better than bullion. I have used it in another recipe and have it on hand. Would.i substitute it for the beef broth and how much?
You can use it to make the beef broth and I sometimes add a bit more by itself to boost the flavor even more.
Best pot roast I’ve ever made,love it.
I made this according to directions. Very easy to put together. I browned the meat, which I purchased at the butcher shop,
after seasoning it and placed it on top of the veggies. I added fresh whole mushrooms at the end.
I did not think there was enough flavor and the gravy was too thin. It needs more in the spice department.
Made this yesterday…I took out the veggies out early. They were done before the meat was. The best meal I have made in a while! Thanks
I normally cheat and use the pot roast seasoning packet. Didn’t have that seasoning packet available, so I used this recipe. I will not ever use those premade seasoning packets again! Delicious!!!!! This will definitely be my go to recipe for roast.
How awesome, Julie!! Thanks for the 5 stars!
First time making this; it’s so easy & delicious!
Yes I am making this pot roast right now. I have a 5ld roast in the crock pot now. My question is should it be totally submerged by the broth, because mine is not.
Sorry for the delay. Glad to know it wasn’t totally submerged in broth because it shouldn’t be. I hope you enjoyed it!
I have two roast how can I cook them both in the rockpot will I need to double the recipe
I usually don’t recommend it because it’s harder for the center to cook through each one but you might be able to tie them close together to make one and try it that way. Just make sure not to overcrowd your slow cooker because that will affect the timing. You could always use 2 slow cookers if you have them. Good luck!
I have a 2 lb roast instead of the 4-5 lb one. Do I need to make any adjustments to the ingredients?
Yes 🙂 If you hover over the serving size in the recipe card, a slider tool will pop up and you can adjust the size to match up with the size roast that you’re using. Hope this helps!
Putting this in the slow cooker as I type, but concerned with only two cups broth. It just doesn’t seem like enough. It’s not even covering the vegetables, let alone the meat. Should I add more? I don’t see any reviews saying so, but I’m still worried…
I know it seems different at first, but the meat will cook down and release liquids that’ll add to the broth during the cooking process. No need to worry. 🙂
Hello! This looks awesome and I am planning to make it for my sister. I know it is not ideal, but is it ok to start the cooking time at home and then then finish it when I get to her house? Only because I will not have a super long time at her house before dinner time, and I wanted it to be fresh and ready for dinner. I figured this is better than making the whole thing at my house and then just reheating at her house. Just wondering, thanks. 🙂
It’s not really ideal but as long as it’s only unplugged during transport, you should be fine. The longer it sits unplugged, the better the chance of bacteria forming. Just make sure it’s not unplugged for too long.
Just made this tonight! it is the best!!!
So glad you enjoyed it, Rachael!
Hi! I have a 2.5 lb roast im going to use. Do I need to halve all the ingredients, in particular the beef broth?
If you hover over the serving size in the recipe card, you’ll see a slider tool that allows you to adust the recipe to a 2.5 roast. This is a new feature on the site and I hope this helps. 🙂
Thank you SO much!
Thank you I just made the post roast, it was the best ever , If you ever publish a cookbook please let me know Thank You again Peggy Awald
You’re so sweet! I will!!
I thank U for great recipe DeLISH!!!
I only have a 2.2 lb roast. Should I halve everything else, too? And should I reduce the cooking time?
The recipe card now offers a slider tool to adjust the ingredients. Hover over the serving size and it’ll pop up to either lower or raise the adjustments needed.