A pot roast is the ultimate comfort food on a chilly day. Slow cooking an inexpensive cut of beef like blade, yields buttery, tender beef with a rich and meaty glaze. This beef pot roast recipe will become your favourite Sunday night dinner.
The flavours for this recipe come from the perfectly seared blade roast that is slow cooked with classic aromatics plus leeks, thyme and rosemary. While we used a Dutch oven to let these flavours meld, you can use your slow cooker or Instapot instead. Just be sure not to skip the step of searing the meat! That outer layer of browned meat is what brings that rich, beefy flavour to your pot roast.
Most pot roast recipes combine everything into the pot and let it slow cook for hours. While this would be easiest, we like to take an extra step for the sake of texture. Vegetables that have slow cooked for a few hours are mushy and lack their vibrant hue (not pleasing to the eyes or palate!). A general tip to avoid mushy vegetables is to add the vegetables in the last hour of cooking.
This recipe comes together by first searing the meat and cooking the aromatics. The roast is then slow cooked with the aromatics, tomatoes, wine and broth. In the last hour, the aromatics are blended into a thick, delicious sauce. This is also the time to add the sautéed mushrooms and parboiled potatoes and carrots to the roast.
Use your dutch oven for this recipe!
Ingredients
Meat & Aromatics
1 (4-5 lb) boneless beef blade roast, tied (blade is from the chuck area therefore might be called a chuck roast)
kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper
all purpose flour
good olive oil
1 cup carrots, chopped
1 cup yellow onions, chopped
1 cup celery, chopped
1 cup leeks, chopped
3 large garlic cloves, peeled and crushed
1 cup good red wine
1 tbsp cognac or brandy (optional)
1/2 can (14 oz) whole plum tomatoes in puree
1/2 cup chicken stock, preferably homemade
1 chicken bouillon
2 branches thyme
1 branch rosemary
1/2 tbsp unsalted butter at room temperature
Vegetables
1.5 lbs mini potatoes, parboiled
1 1/2 cup carrots, peeled, cut into 1-2 inch pieces, parboiled
1/2 lb white mushrooms, cleaned and cut in half, lightly sautéed
Directions
Preheat the oven to 325 degrees F.
Sear the roast. Pat the beef dry with a paper towel. Season the roast all over with 1/2 tablespoon salt and 1 1/2 teaspoons pepper. Dredge the whole roast in flour, including the ends. In a large Dutch oven, heat 2 tablespoons olive oil over medium heat. Add the roast and sear for 4 to 5 minutes, until nicely browned. Turn and sear the other side and then turn and sear the ends. This should take 4 to 5 minutes for each side. Remove the roast to a large plate.
Cook the aromatics. Add 2 tablespoons olive oil to the Dutch oven. Add the carrots, onions, celery, leeks, garlic, 1/2 tablespoon salt, and 1 1/2 teaspoons pepper and cook over medium heat for 10 to 15 minutes, stirring occasionally, until tender but not browned. Add the wine and Cognac and bring to a boil. Add the tomatoes, chicken stock, bouillon cube, and 1 teaspoon pepper. Tie the thyme and rosemary together with kitchen string and add to the pot.
Slow cook the roast. Put the roast back into the pot, bring to a boil, and cover. Place in the oven for 1 1/2 hours. Remove the roast to a cutting board. Remove the herb bundle and discard. Using an immersion blender, puree until smooth. Place on the stovetop over low heat, and return the sauce to a simmer. Place 2 tablespoons flour and the butter in a small bowl and mash them together with a fork. Stir into the sauce and simmer for 2 minutes, stirring until thickened. Taste for seasonings.
Add vegetables and continue to slow cook. Return the roast to the sauce. Add the parboiled mini potatoes, parboiled carrots and sautéed mushrooms around the roast. Turn the oven down to 250 degrees F and return the roast back to the oven for another 1 hour until the meat is fork tender or about 160 degrees F internally.
Serve. Remove the strings from the roast, slice the meat, and adjust seasonings. Serve warm with the sauce spooned over the beef and vegetables.
Recipe adapted by Ina Garden.
