This Mississippi Pot Roast recipe is a family favorite, and I love it because it’s so easy to prepare! You only need 5 ingredients and a few minutes prep time. Set it and forget it for a melt-in-your-mouth Crock Pot roast with rich, savory gravy!

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I Absolutely LOVE This Mississippi Pot Roast Because..
- This Mississippi Pot Roast recipe is fork tender with a flavorful gravy.
- With just five ingredients, the prep is super easy.
- Since it’s made in a slow cooker, it’s a ‘set it and forget it!’ meal that practically cooks itself!
- It can be made ahead of time, and leftovers freeze well.

Ingredients
I love this recipe because it’s so easy with just a few simple ingredients. Home cook Robin Chapman created it and it has even been featured in the New York Times!
Beef Roast: For the best results, use a chuck roast with nice marbling throughout (I use the same for any pot roast). Other options include round roast or rump roast. No beef? Make Mississippi chicken or use a pork shoulder roast instead!
Seasonings: This roast is seasoned with dry ranch dressing mix and au jus gravy mix. You can replace the packet with your own ranch dressing mix (I often just add the ranch seasonings and skip the buttermilk powder).
Pepperoncini Peppers: These are the secret ingredient! They tenderize the meat and add flavor. Although they’re spicy out of the jar, I find this recipe is not spicy once cooked.
Butter: This recipe calls for half a stick of butter (salted or unsalted). For a smoky twist, you can swap some of the butter for leftover bacon grease.
Variations: This roast is delicious on its own, but feel free to add some veggies like carrots, celery, or onions.

How to Make Mississippi Pot Roast
Low and slow is the way to go for super tender melt-in-your-mouth beef.
- Brown: Brown the meat on both sides and transfer it to a slow cooker (recipe below).
- Combine & Cook: Add pepperoncini juice and sprinkle the ranch and au jus mixes on top of the roast. Top with pats of butter. Cover and cook until fork-tender.
- Shred & Serve: Shred with a couple of forks and serve with the juices. (The juices can be thickened if you’d like – see recipe notes).
Holly’s Tips
- Searing is optional, but it adds extra flavor.
- Don’t add extra liquid to the slow cooker. The juices from the roast and the butter will ensure there’s plenty of flavorful gravy to go around.
- If you don’t have a slow cooker, you can still make this dish in a Dutch oven. Follow my pot roast cooking times for perfect results.
- If you’d like to thicken the gravy, combine one tablespoon of cornstarch with one tablespoon of water, then whisk it into the drippings. Let it cook for about 10 minutes or until thickened to your liking.

Serving Suggestions
We serve this Mississippi pot roast recipe with:
- Mashed potatoes, rice, or homemade egg noodles.
- Add it to a hoagie roll and serve it french dip style.
- Keep it low-carb with mashed cauliflower or cauliflower rice.
More Tender Beef Recipes
Did your family love this Mississippi Pot Recipe? Leave us a rating and comment below!

Equipment
Ingredients
- 4 to 5 pound beef chuck roast or pot roast
- 1 ounce ranch seasoning mix 1 packet, about 2 tablespoons
- 1 ounce au jus gravy mix or brown gravy mix, low sodium, 1 packet
- 6 pepperoncini peppers plus ½ cup juice
- ¼ cup butter
Instructions
- In a large skillet, over medium-high heat, brown the roast for about 5 minutes per side.
- Place roast in the bottom of a 6-quart slow cooker and pour in the pepperoncini juice. Sprinkle the dry ranch dressing mix and au jus gravy mix over the top of the roast. Add the pepperoncini peppers and sliced butter on top of the roast.
- Cover and cook on low for 8-10 hours or until the roast is fork-tender.
- Once the roast is cooked, shred it with a fork and mix it into the juices in the slow cooker.
- Serve over mashed potatoes, egg noodles, or rice.
Video
Notes
Nutrition Information
Nutrition information provided is an estimate and will vary based on cooking methods and brands of ingredients used.
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This Mississippi Pot Roast recipe was originally developed by Robin Chapman, Ripley, MS.















For the ranch mix… at my store they have a “dip” mix and a “seasoning” mix. Is one or the other the right one or does it matter?
Either would work just fine in this recipe.
I really want to make this, it sounds delicious. I can’t eat pepperoncini, tho. What can I substitute with that’ll do the same thing as the brine?
Pickles and pickle juice would work Alison!
Love this recipe. Just give me a fork and back up! Fantastic leftovers. IF there are any!
That was the best pot roast I have ever made! And what was almost even better was the vegetable soup I made with the leftovers! To the leftover roast, I added a can of Rotel Tomatoes with chilies, about a tablespoon or so of tomato paste, about 4 cups of beef broth, a package of frozen soup mix vegetables and a heaping 1/4 cup of barley. After bringing it to a boil, I simmered it for about 30 minutes. I didn’t need to add any other seasonings because it already had great flavor. Really good soup!
That sounds amazing Brenda! What a great idea!
Oh so easy and oh so good.
I am trying this recipe tonight but not adding the peppers how much water should I add to the roast
We’ve only made this recipe as written Amanda. The recipe calls for ½ cup of juice. If you’re not including the peppers, you’ll want to add 1/2 cup water. The taste will change, but I’m sure it’ll be great. Let us know how it turns out!
After being curious about this Mississippi Pot Roast I decided to take a chance and try it. It honestly seemed “too easy to be that good”.
I doubled the recipe but added one Au Jus packet and one low sodium brown gravy. WOW! This was fantastic and is becoming a staple recipe in our home!!!!
Can I make this is my instant pot???
Absolutely! I would follow the same cook time as our Instant Pot pot roast.
I’m worried about the 1/2 cup of juice at the bottom. Do I need to put something else in it?
We add just the ½ cup liquid. The roast produces juices and the butter melts to create more liquid.
Can you use au jus gravy mix? I forgot to pick up the mix at the store and nor do I have any brown gravy.
I have only tried this recipe as written but I do think it would work ok. Let us know how it goes.
Can’t wait to try
The next day it tastes better. With the leftovers I added sauted peppers, diced celery, corn and peas and served it over toast.
Can you add potatoes and carrots to this
Sure you can!
nice recipe
If making in a Dutch oven how long should it cook?
You would cook this as you would cook a pot roast, about 2½ to 3 hours at 325°F or until the meat is very tender.
Soooo easy and soooo delicious!!
A quick and easy to make roasted mississippi recipe.
The best pot roast ever and even better the next day.
Looking for a couple of recipes.
1. Cotton Candy Ice Cream -NO CHURN
2 Black cherry with chocolate chunks- NO CHURn
3. the mushroom sauce the use for Swiss Mushroom Cheese burger.
Hi Deborah, we have a no-churn vanilla ice cream that you may be able to modify into a cotton candy or black cherry ice cream! We would love to see your creations! As for the mushroom sauce, we don’t have one specifically for a swiss mushroom burger but you could try this hamburger gravy.
The easiest way I know to make a mushroom sauce is to slice a whole package of baby Bella mushrooms cut them down a little bit and then make a brown onion and gravy sauce from a package right in the same pan with the mushrooms. You need a lot of mushrooms for that mushroom taste.
Great food
Wait, shouldn’t water be added? This would be very dry, with no gravy, right?
No water is added but it’s plenty juicy and there is sauce when it’s done.
I put red wine 1/2 cup in the bottom of my crockpot. I made it w/ 1/2 cup of the pickle juice but found it to salty.