As we head into the colder months of the year, we want to share one of the Goodparla family favorite sweater-weather recipes! Our Country Kitchen is proud to bring you a mouthwatering deluxe Sunday Pot Roast. Don’t be fooled by the name, though, this recipe is suitable for any day of the week ending in Y. Using one of Goodparla’s generously sized chuck roasts, we cook this delicious pot roast low and slow and with all of your classic pot roast favorites: carrots, onions, celery and potatoes. With just a few extra ingredients, you’ll be able to whip up a down-right divine stick-to-your-ribs pot roast dinner. 

The right kind of meat…

Pot roast is typically made from a large cut of tougher meat such as chuck roast, round roast, or rump roast. We prefer using either a bone-in or boneless beef chuck roast. Our standard cut for a Goodparla chuck roast is boneless, but this recipe can easily be made with a bone-in chuck roast. The only adjustment you’d need to make is to add 15 to 30 minutes of cook time to your recipe, once in the oven.

Prep it up!

The hardest part of this recipe is the 30 minutes or so of prep that you do before you pop it in the oven and forget about it for 3 to 4 hours. So, grab your apron and your best knife and let’s get-a-preppin’.

You want to make sure to sear your pot roast first and foremost! This not only results in a juicer finished product, but it will help you roast keep shape and from becoming too mushy. It’s important to let the oil heat in the pan before adding your roast, as this helps create a nice sear. The other thing you need to do to achieve a nice sear is to season the roast with salt and pepper before searing it. You’ll want to really rub the seasoning into the meat, ‘massaging’ the salt and pepper over the entire roast.

And after all that peeling and chopping and dicing, you want to sauté your veggies in the same pan you used to sear your beef. The veggies can take on some of the roast flavor and it makes the flavors compliment each other even more.

Now, while it might be tempting to just toss the sauteed veggies in with the roast and then add the remaining ingredients, we HIGHLY recommend you don’t skip this next step! Just as the veggies are done, you will want to add some of the broth, wine and fresh herbs to the skillet and simmer everything together for about 5 minutes. What we have found, is that by allowing all of those ingredients to simmer together BEFORE putting it in with the roast, it distributes and enhances the flavors throughout the entire roast. It’s just a step you don’t want to skip for this truly divine Sunday Pot Roast recipe.

Cook it, cook it real good…

A pot roast can be made in just about any kitchen appliance you might have on hand; however, the one hard rule to making a divine pot roast is that you must cook it low and slow. As we mentioned above, a pot roast uses a tougher cut of beef. This is because of the connective tissues that are found in this cut and when you cook this meat slow, it breaks the tissues down, making a fall-apart-in-your-mouth flavorful meat.

Our favorite pot roast recipes in the Goodparla Our Country Kitchen are either made in the oven or the slow cooker. The main issue we run into using a slow cooker are size restrictions. If you have a large 3 or 4 or even 5-pound roast, you’ll find yourself needing more space or having to use less veggies which can impact overall flavor and servings. This is why using the oven on a low heat works best for us, as we used a very large roasting pan to accommodate all of our pot roast yumminess.

For different sized roasts, here are our recommended cooking times (with your oven set to 300℉):

• 3 lb. roast cooks for 3 to 3.5 hours
• 4 lb. roast cooks for 3.5 to 4 hours
• 5 lb. roast cooks for 4.5 to 5 hours

If you are going to make this in a slow-cooker, you’ll first want to make sure it’s large enough to accommodate your roast size and all of your yummy ad-ins. The most important thing is to cook on low for 8 hours. While many recipes will give you the standard ‘cook on low for 8 hours or high for 4 hours,’ we very much recommend only using the low setting for any pot roast, not just ours. In fact, most slow cooker pot roast recipes should be done for a minimum of 8 hours and can even go for as long as 10 hours!

Now, when using an instant pot (aka electric pressure cooker), the whole idea behind using this method is that it’s a faster way to get something delicious onto your dinner table. While we aren’t against the idea of using this method, and it’s a great option for those short on time, there are more ways to “mess” up your pot roast.

Too short a cook time and your roast will be tougher and while still enjoyable, not the fall apart juicy goodness that we want to achieve in a pot roast. Alternatively, if you do too long a cook time, your veggies will be absolute mush and so will the meat, which makes it completely unpalatable in our minds. With all that being said, if you really really want to make it in the instant pot, here are our quick guide tips:

• Be sure to cut the roast up into large chunks BEFORE searing. You are basically making a handful of smaller roasts all in one pot. So cut the beef and then sear! You can either sear in batches in the instant pot or sear on the stovetop.
• You will still want to sauté the veggies and broth/wine mixture. This can be done directly in the instant pot on the sauté setting. You’ll want to remove the seared beef before adding the veggies and broth/wine mix if you seared it in the instant pot.
• After the broth/wine mixture has simmered, add the meat back to the instant pot with all of the ingredients and cook on high for 45 to 60 minutes for a 3-pound roast. Let the pressure release naturally for 15 minutes before performing a manual release.

Jump on the gravy train…

For those of you so inclined, we wanted to include a super simple, yet rich and delicious gravy recipe made right from the pot roast liquid. We decided to make this pot roast without a traditional gravy and just used the cooked liquid as a natural gravy this time. However, you can decide what works best for you and mix it up as you see fit – we know we sure do! This gravy is made in three simple steps and only three ingredients: water, cornstarch and broth from the cooked pot roast.

To make the gravy:

1. Separate the beef and vegetables from the broth. Bring about 2 cups of the broth to a boil in a saucepan.
2. Make a slurry by whisking together 2 tablespoons cornstarch with 2 tablespoons of cold water until smooth.
3. Once the broth is boiling, whisk in the slurry and simmer, stirring frequently for about 1 to 2 minutes.

It’s really just as easy as that! You can also add salt and pepper to the gravy, depending on your taste preferences, but we find that the broth has plenty of flavor from all of our add-ins!

Sunday Pot Roast Recipe

Prep Time: 30 minutes |  Cook Time: 4 hours  |  Serves: 6 

Ingredients:

• 3-pound Goodparla Chuck Roast
• 2 tablespoons coarse salt
• 1 tablespoon fresh cracked black pepper
• 2 tablespoon olive oil, divided
• 2 tablespoons minced garlic
• ½ jalapeno pepper, seeded and diced
• 4 baby bella mushrooms, sliced
• 1 – 2 springs fresh rosemary
• 1 – 2 springs fresh thyme
• 5 – 6 fresh sage leaves
• 1 ¼ cups red wine, divided
• 3 ½ cups beef broth, divided
• 5 stalks of celery, chopped
• 5 carrots, peeled and chopped
• 7 – 8 (roughly one-pound red baby potatoes – halved)
• 1 teaspoon salt
• ½ teaspoon black pepper
• 1 tablespoon Worcestershire sauce
• 2 tablespoons butter, thinly sliced

Instructions:

1. Preheat oven to 300℉. In a large skillet, heat 1 tablespoon of olive oil over medium-high heat.
2. While oil is heating, take chuck roast and pat dry with paper towels before rubbing the 2 tablespoons of coarse salt and 1 tablespoon of fresh cracked pepper onto all sides of the roast. Place roast into the heated oil and let sear for 4 minutes. Turn roast over and sear for another four minutes. Transfer to a large roasting pan.
3. Add the other tablespoon of olive oil to the skillet and continue to heat on medium high heat. Add the onion, garlic and seeded and diced jalapeño. Sauté for about 3 minutes. Add in the baby bella mushrooms and sauté for another two minutes.
4. Measure ¼ cup red wine and ½ cup beef broth and add them to the sauté veggies in the skillet. Add in the fresh rosemary, thyme and sage. Simmer for five minutes. Pour contents of skillet into the roasting pan, on top of and around the roast.
5. Peel and chop carrots into 2-inch pieces. Chop celery into 2-inch pieces and cut potatoes into halves. Place cut veggies around the roast in the roasting pan.
6. Whisk together the remaining 1 cup of red wine and 3 cups beef broth with the Worcestershire sauce, 1 teaspoon salt, ½ teaspoon black pepper. Pour over and around the roast and veggies.
7. Thinly slice 2 tablespoons of butter and place butter pats on different areas of the roast.
8. Cover tightly with foil and cook for about 4 hours or until the roast and potatoes are fork tender.
9. Remove roast from oven and take the meat out of the roasting pan. Put the roast onto a cutting board. Slice or pull beef into large pieces with a fork. Serve with carrots, celery and potatoes cooked with roast.