Table of Contents
- Why I Love This Pot Roast Recipe
- Pot Roast Ingredients
- How to Make a Classic Pot Roast
- Pro Tips for Success
- Variations and Substitutions
- Serving and Storage
- Frequently Asked Questions
- More Dinner Recipes
- Watch How to Make This Pot Roast Recipe
- Have I Convinced You to Make This Recipe?
- Classic Pot Roast Recipe
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There’s nothing more comforting than a hearty, nostalgic Classic Pot Roast. Tender beef shoulder roasts in a rich base of celery, onion, and carrot, creating a melt-in-your-mouth texture and flavor that’s perfect for any gathering.
Why I Love This Pot Roast Recipe
Nothing is better than a pot roast cooking in the oven! This recipe is the original one-pan meal in a world that loves one-dish meals. And it has such a rustic, no-frills presentation: the Dutch oven with a roast as the centerpiece filled with carrots and potatoes. It’s super simple but super delicious!
Growing up, my mom prepared this as a family favorite for Sunday lunch right after church. It was a perfect recipe to prepare before church and let cook while away. The roast is slowly cooked at a lower temperature until fork-tender. The carrots and potatoes are added towards the end of the roasting process so they are not overcooked. The best part is the rich sauce created from all the items cooking together.
Pot Roast Ingredients
There are no fancy ingredients in this pot roast recipe, and that’s intentional! This dish is meant to be simple yet filled with flavor.
- Onion brings a tangy and slightly sweet aromatic flavor to the sauce, creating a depth of flavor.
- Celery has a fresh, bright taste that furthers the flavor in the underlying sauce.
- Carrot brings the classic aromatic flavoring to the dish, forming a solid, earthy taste.
- Beef chuck roast is a thick, flavorful shoulder cut of beef. It has beautiful marbling and creates a great texture when roasting, forming a melty
- Kosher salt seasons the dish. It also helps to pull out moisture from the meat and vegetables.
- Black pepper creates a sharpness in the dish, pulling out the other flavors.
- Tomato paste adds depth to the vegetables. It has a slightly sweet and caramelized flavor that melts into the vegetables.
- Beef broth adds richness to the dish, condensing into a sauce-like underlayment.
- Red wine adds another complementary flavor layer to the dish, bringing out the other tastes.
- Worcestershire sauce has a complex, salty taste that creates balance in the dish.
- Carrots act as a side to the roast, cooking with the meat for the final hour, soaking up the additional flavors in the dish.
- Potatoes are a perfect small, pre-portioned vegetable that serves as a side. They soak up the sauce, creating a tender, delectable bite.
How to Make a Classic Pot Roast
There are six steps to creating a pot roast.
- Prepare the vegetables
- Prepare the meat
- Create the sauce
- Cook the meat
- Thicken the sauce
- Assemble everything
Step 1: Prepare the vegetables. Melt butter in a Dutch oven over medium heat. Finely dice the carrots, onion, and celery. Add to the butter and cook for 6-8 minutes, until softened.
Step 2: Prepare the meat. Season the meat on both sides with the salt and black pepper. Let sit for 5 minutes to absorb the salt.
Step 3: Creating the sauce. Add tomato paste to the vegetables and mix. Let cook until a fond develops on the bottom of the pan. Add in the beef broth, red wine, and Worcestershire sauce. Stir, then add in the beef.
Step 4: Cook the meat. Place the lid on the Dutch oven and place in a 325°F oven. The meat cooks for one hour for every pound. Meanwhile, chop up carrots into sticks. Remove the meat from the oven with one hour left to cook. Scoop out a small of the liquid, reserving it for later. Place in the carrots and potatoes. Place the lid back on the Dutch oven and cook for 30 minutes. Remove the lid for the final 30 minutes of cooking.
Step 5: Thicken the sauce. Remove the meat and vegetables from the Dutch oven, leaving the liquid. Add cornstarch to the liquid that was reserved earlier. Whisk together. Place the Dutch oven back on the stove over medium heat. Pour in the reserved liquid/cornstarch mixture and stir together.
Step 6: Assemble the dish. Place the pot roast on a platter with the vegetables. Let rest for 20 minutes before slicing and serving.
Pro Tips for Success
- Chop the base layer of veggies finely. The onion, celery, and carrot flavors should melt into the butter; making them smaller helps achieve this.
- Cornstarch needs to be stirred into a cooled liquid. If stirred into warm food, it can clump up and become ineffective. This is why a small amount of the drippings are set aside early on in the cooking to be mixed with the cornstarch later.
- Wait to add the vegetables to the pot roast. They don’t take as long to roast, so they can be added to the meat in the last hour of cooking. Otherwise, they will overcook.
Variations and Substitutions
You can alter this dish to fit your needs and what works best. However, quality ingredients in a long roast will always produce a great result. Here are just a few ideas:
- Alter the liquid. Add dark beer for a richer taste. Add cumin, chili powder, and lime for a spicer, Mexican-inspired roast. Onion powder and garlic powder can also provide more mild flavors.
- Add fresh herbs to the roast. Fresh rosemary, bay leaves, and fresh thyme impart incredible flavor to the dish as it roasts. Although not an herb, garlic also adds great flavor.
Serving and Storage
To store: Let the meat rest for 15 to 20 minutes before serving. Cut the roast into slices. Place vegetables onto a plate, then add on a cut of meat. Pour the gravy over the top.
To serve: Place in an airtight container and refrigerate. Leftovers should last up to seven days in the fridge.
Frequently Asked Questions
A chuck roast is ideal. It has good marbling and holds a lot of flavor. It becomes tender and gives a melt-in-your-mouth texture.
Of course! You can leave it out if you don’t want the alcohol in the dish, but it doesn’t have a strong taste. Simply replace the wine with additional beef stock.
The pot roast should cook for 1 hour for every 1 pound of meat.
Watch How to Make This Pot Roast Recipe
Have I Convinced You to Make This Recipe?
I hope you make this recipe and put some food on your table. Leave a comment and share a star rating so you can let others know how much you love this recipe. This helps show others that this is a recipe they, too, can make, enjoy, and love!
Classic Pot Roast
Ingredients
- 3-4 lb chuck roast
- 1 tbsp kosher salt
- 1 tsp freshly ground black pepper
- 2 tbsp unsalted butter
- 1 cup diced onion
- 1 cup diced celery
- 1 cup diced carrot
- 2 tbsp tomato paste
- 1 cup red wine
- 3 cups beef stock
- 2 tbsp Worcestershire sauce
- 2 lb carrots cut into large sticks
- 1 ½ lb small baking potatoes
- 1 tbsp cornstarch
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 325°F. Sprinkle salt and pepper over the entire chuck roast and set aside.1 tbsp kosher salt, 1 tsp freshly ground black pepper, 3-4 lb chuck roast
- In an 8-quart Dutch oven, melt the butter over medium heat. Add the diced onion, celery, and carrot. Sauté until soft and beginning to brown on the bottom of the Dutch oven, 6-8 minutes. Add the tomato paste and cook until the paste forms a caramelized layer on the Dutch oven, 3 minutes. Add the red wine, beef stock, and Worcestershire sauce.2 tbsp unsalted butter, 1 cup diced onion, 1 cup diced celery, 1 cup diced carrot, 2 tbsp tomato paste, 1 cup red wine, 2 tbsp Worcestershire sauce, 3 cups beef stock
- Place the prepared chuck roast in the middle of the liquid in the Dutch oven. Cover with the lid and roast in the preheated oven. The roast will take approximately 1 hour per pound of meat.
- Once the roast is nearing the fall-apart tender stage with about 1 hour remaining in roasting time, remove ¼ cup of the drippings and add the prepared carrots and potatoes. Then continue to roast until the carrots and potatoes are tender, about 1 hour.1 ½ lb small baking potatoes, 2 lb carrots
- Remove the pan from the oven and remove the roast, carrots, and potatoes, leaving the sauce and drippings in the pan. Set the pan over medium heat. Whisk the cornstarch into the reserved cooled drippings. Stir this cornstarch slurry into the hot drippings and stir until slightly thickened like gravy. Serve with the roast and vegetables.1 tbsp cornstarch
I made your pot roast tonight and boy was it a hit!!! OMG so flavorful and it just shredded so nicely. The carrots and potatoes were divine with it, thank you for giving me such a delicious recipe I so ❤️U!!
Never liked pot roast, until I tried this recipe. The flavor is amazing!
It was excellent! It was crusty on top and the gravy was perfect. I added fresh garlic, the only change.
Definitely a keeper! I enjoy following you on FB and YouTube. I’ve tried your beef bourguignon last winter and then prepared it with lamb for some friends who don’t eat beef. Fantastic! I, too grew up in Iowa, and share a lot of the same memories of cooking and preserving food with my mom, my aunt and my sister. Dad was the gardener and kept me and my four siblings busy.
Really enjoyed the pot roast. So easy to prepare and delicious. Easy clean up, too. Thanks!
My husband is the pot roast cook. I gave him your recipe to try – he loved it & so did I. Excellent flavor. I believe it is a keeper.
Thank you
My new go to pot roast recipe! This was incredibly easy and came out fantastic! I love how you don’t have to brown the meat which always takes quite a bit of time and is so messy. Leaving the lid off in the final half hour gave the meat a better crust than if you brown it. The Worcestershire is a great enhancement too!!
I so enjoy watching your videos…you’re so talented in so many areas.
Thank you so much
Sandra
Now a grandmother, I have made many great pot roasts in my cooking life but this is our new favorite. I had questioned why the tiny chopped vegetables at the start (in addition to the traditional larger vegs) but I learned it made the au jus very flavorful, thick, as well as healthy. I only use half the wine as our cabernet is strong. I have made this 4 or 5 times and its always fabulous. I enjoy all Wyse videos and all his recipes I tried are excellent. He is not a food snob and his simple ingredients make sense.
I love this recipe in fall and winter. When they’re aren’t many leftovers I make more gravy from beef stock and water used to cook more carrots, celery in 1″ chunks, 1/2 a diced onion and add in some peas or green beans. I serve it over a mound of buttery mashed potatoes or egg noodles.
The leftovers are also a great base for a tasty soup, basically using up the little bits saved in the fridge and a handful or two of pasta, adjust the seasonings and enjoy with a grilled cheese sandwich on a busy night.
I really enjoy your presentations, they instill so much self-confidence to try almost anything without a worry. Thank you, you’re great at what you do.
Exactly what my Missouri mother would make every Sunday — it would be ready when we returned from Church services. Mother’s was almost exactly like yours. The only differences – With a paring knife she would make slits in the roast and stuff those cuts with slices of garlic, then she would sear all sides of the roast in a little bacon grease. 😉 Thank you for sharing this recipe!
BTW …. I made your delicious apple crisp yesterday. It is a winner here and it’ going into my “favorites” recipe file.
I truly enjoy watching your videos, seeing you and your family and trying your recipes.
Thank you!
Wow! I’ve been make pot roast all my life and followed this recipe to the letter. It puts mine to shame! The secret must be caramelizing the tomato paste. It’s very good!
Best pot roast I ever made. My family loved it and had 3rd’s which is high praise. Thx for sharing! Love your content!
My husband loves pot roast and I made a passable one but I just made yours tonight and it was a huge hit. I do not like cooked carrots but ate these. Can’t wait to try the roast chicken. Made cheesy herb bread to go with it. Cheesecake for dessert. Bless you. I just discovered your post a few days ago.
Excellent! I used an almost 4 lb. chuck roast, and followed your directions exactly. I did add some Italian seasoning to the step using the tomato paste. No further additions or changes. The meat was wonderfully seasoned and extremely tender. That gravy was off the charts delicious! It was a comfort food meal at its best!
Love watching your step by step videos! Learned the raised salt trick today!🎉
I followed your recipe, pre-cooked the onions and celery on the stove and added the paste and Worchestershire. Instead put it in a crock-pot and walla! Can’t wait for dinner!! I’m a small town Iowa gal who ended up in Des Moines.
Made this for Christmas Dinner today! It was so full of flavor and super easy! Very delicious and I’ll be making again this winter!
OMG. The depth of flavors in the pot roast is amazing. Psss, don’t tell anyone but I did use the wine. I think it added much more flavor. And, this is a favorite go to.
I’ve been making pot roast for years and this is the best recipe I have ever made. The addition of the onion celery and chopped carrots at the beginning along with the tomato paste and wine really improved this dish. I added a few sprigs of fresh rosemary and mushrooms for a delicious Sunday meal. I love watching the wyseguide videos
Hi Kaleb, I’ve been following you for a few weeks now and just had to drop you a line. Sunday I decided to make your pot roast recipe with a piece of rare stand rib I had in my freezer. I used the amount of liquid in the recipe and so glad I did. This was the best tasting pot roast I have ever made, and let me tell you I’ve made a lot! Love your recipes and your presentation, so easy and inspiring. Thank you from Elizabeth 77 years old
This recipe was amazing! The only thing I noticed is that I still have alot of liquid and you video shows that most of your liquid reduces. I followed the recipe more than once but it has happened both times.
Doesn’t stop me from making it. It is so good and feels like when my grandmother cooked for us years ago.
Thank you in advance,
Tamara
This is seriously THE best pot roast! The flavors are amazing and perfectly tender roast and vegetables. Give it a try! Kaleb has great recipes and gardening advice. His new cookbook is awesome as well, buy it, you won’t regret it!
Made the roast from your cookbook. Delicious. Couldn’t wait for leftovers – so I took 1/2 pound and made the beef salad. I made a bed of lettuce and red onion and placed a scoop of the beef mixture on it. Omg. It’s even better than the pot roast! Both are yummy. Thanks Kaleb!!!