Slow Cooker Pot Roast

Cook's Illustrated has an easy way to keep root vegetables from becoming soggy & overcooked after 8 hours in a slow cooker: instead of combining them with the meat, make a packet out of aluminum foil, put in the vegies and a bit of the wine mixture and a bit of the herbs, salt & pepper. Seal up the foil packet and place it ON TOP of the meat in the slow cooker. Cover & cook as normal. When done just open the packet (carefully, it's hot!) and mix in with the meat. Perfect vegies every time!

As written, this dish has almost no flavor. I was able to salvage it by adding a Tbsp of beef demi glace, a Tbsp of roasted garlic paste, 1/4 C of soy sauce, 3 oz of tomato paste, and 2 Tbsp of Dijon mustard. If I had it to do over from the start, I’d hold the water and use beef broth for the liquid and let it reduce a bit before adding it to the slow cooker. I don’t often eat red meat, so I like to make it count when I do. I’m disappointed this took so much doctoring to get enough flavor.

I used a Dutch oven and did low and slow in a 225 oven. (I like the smell of the roasting meat) Perfectly tender and delicious after 8 hours. Added potatoes along with the other veggies. Pretty classic pot roast and there is nothing wrong with that!

Based on others’ feedback, I added extra herbs, doubled wine, doubled vinegar, added soy sauce and tomato paste. It was delicious.

This was delicious with a few changes: twice the red wine vinegar, 2 Tbsp tomato paste, 1/4 cup soy sauce, and beef broth instead of water. But 1.5lbs of combined carrots and potatoes ran out fast! So now I'm cooking maybe another 3lbs of carrots and potatoes in the leftover broth so we have more for the leftover meat. Served with a nice salad with vinaigrette and crusty bread. Next time I'll see if I can cram more veggies in? Which might require more broth ...

I find that this(and most other pot roast recipes) benefit from a splash of fish sauce added to the cooking liquid. It doesn't taste fishy or even vaguely Asian but it gives the sauce/juices a umami boost that is fantastic. I reduce the salt and add a good splash of fish sauce ,add the lid and cook.

Delicious and easy pot roast. Used a mix of white and marsala wine as I didn't have red on hand - made such a fabulous gravy. Used rosemary as my herb. Cut a yellow onion into chunks instead of pearl onins. Don't forget the pickled onions (I used a sliced yellow onion) they are so good! I made mine with apple cider vinegar and added a few shakes of crushed red pepper and a bay leaf to give it a kick.

Rutabega! Don't know why more pot roast and beef soup recipes don't include them. They add more "beef" flavor while kind of disappearing into the gravy. Plus the above recipe really cries out for a good dose of yellow onions.

We added a tbsp of whole grain Dijon and tomatoe paste when we sautéed the garlic and pearl onions and it was incredible. Otherwise I think it would have been bland.

For folks like me who never have liquor in the house, substitute an equal amount of really, really strong coffee for the wine. It certainly deepens the flavor. And yes, I also support increasing the herb mixture.

For reduced meat consumption: use 1 lb stew meat & add mushrooms for more meaty flavor. Add lots of carrots, parsnip, turnip and potato, powdered thyme & 5 sprigs of rosemary from the garden. 1 yellow onion was not enough - after the cooking period the broth definitely needed more onion flavor so add more wine & a packet of onion soup mix. Let the stew cook 1 hour longer. Serve with salad from the garden (with balsamic dressing & pistachios) & garlic bread. Yum. Equals 4 meals for 2 retirees.