Pioneer Woman's Pot Roast

 

When the cooler weather hit us I was craving a nice warm stick to your ribs kind of meal and thought that pot roast could be just the right meal I was looking for.  Growing up my mom made stew, roast beef, pork roast and veal roast but not very often did she make pot roast.  I watched Ree Drummond make this on the food network and also had it bookmarked in my reader.  I'm glad I did because it was a very delicious, flavorful and tender pot roast.  I think next time I will thicken the juice a bit because it made a ton and it would have been a nice gravy.  Maybe you don't put pot roast on gravy?  I don't know but I bet it would be good.  I also followed her advice and served it with mashed potatoes.  I don't that I loved that.  It was a little too heavy for us (probably because I made loaded mashed potatoes which are a meal in itself!) Next time I'm going to try Giada's Italian Pot Roast!  Can't wait for that!

Check out Ree's post here for step by by step photos.

Pot Roast

Prep Time 20 Minutes

Cook Time 4 Hours  Servings 10 Difficulty Easy

Ingredients: 

1whole (4 To 5 Pounds) Chuck Roast

2 whole Onions

6 whole Carrots (Up To 8 Carrots)

Salt To Taste

Pepper To Taste

1 cup Red Wine (optional, You Can Use Beef Broth Instead)

2 cups To 3 Cups Beef Stock

3 sprigs Fresh Thyme, or more to taste

3 sprigs Fresh Rosemary, or more to taste

Preparation Instructions:

First and foremost, choose a nicely marbled piece of meat. This will enhance the flavor of your pot roast like nothing else. Generously salt and pepper your chuck roast.

Heat a large pot or Dutch oven over medium-high heat. Then add 2 to 3 tablespoons of olive oil (or you can do a butter/olive oil split).

Cut two onions in half and cut 6 to 8 carrots into 2-inch slices (you can peel them, but you don’t have to). When the oil in the pot is very hot (but not smoking), add in the halved onions, browning them on one side and then the other. Remove the onions to a plate.

Throw the carrots into the same very hot pan and toss them around a bit until slightly browned, about a minute or so.

If needed, add a bit more olive oil to the very hot pan. Place the meat in the pan and sear it for about a minute on all sides until it is nice and brown all over. Remove the roast to a plate.

With the burner still on high, use either red wine or beef broth (about 1 cup) to deglaze the pan, scraping the bottom with a whisk to get all of that wonderful flavor up.

When the bottom of the pan is sufficiently deglazed, place the roast back into the pan and add enough beef stock to cover the meat halfway (about 2 to 3 cups). Add in the onion and the carrots, as well as 3 or 4 sprigs of fresh rosemary and about 3 sprigs of fresh thyme.

Put the lid on, then roast in a 275F oven for 3 hours (for a 3-pound roast). For a 4 to 5-pound roast, plan on 4 hours