If you’re looking for a delicious, easy-to-make dinner, you’ll love this Mississippi Pot Roast recipe!
You only need five simple 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
Once you give it a try, it’ll become a regular in your dinner rotation.
What is Mississippi Pot Roast?
There’s a good reason this is so well-loved! This beloved recipe was created by home cook Robin Chapman, who wanted to tweak a recipe starting with Italian dressing. After being featured in the New York Times, it became an instant favorite.
A Delicious Crock Pot Roast
- Just five simple ingredients make prep a cinch for busy weeknights or lazy weekends.
- Made in a slow cooker, this is a ‘set it and forget it!’ kind of meal that practically cooks itself!
- Tender, juicy roast beef with a rich flavorful gravy; no one can pass up this tender, juicy Mississippi roast.
- It can be made ahead and freezes well.
- Serve with sliced bread to make sandwiches or dinner rolls for sliders! Don’t forget some extra sliced pepperoncini on the side!
Ingredients and Variations
Beef Roast – For the best flavor, choose a roast with nice marbling throughout. Just like oven pot roast, a chuck roast is the best cut for tender meat. Round roast or rump roast also work as does a pork roast.
Seasonings – A combination of dry ranch dressing mix and au jus gravy mix adds tons of flavor to this dish. If you prefer, you can skip the packet and make your own ranch dressing (or just add the ranch dressing seasonings).
Pepperoncini Peppers – This is the secret ingredient that tenderizes the meat and gives it a great flavor! Although they’re spicy out of the jar, this recipe isn’t spicy.
Butter – Let’s be real; everything’s better with butter! Half a stick of butter is plenty, but feel free to add more if you’re feeling indulgent. And for a smoky twist, you can swap some of the butter for leftover bacon grease.
Variations – This roast is delicious on its own, but it’s even better with some added veggies like carrots, celery, or onions.
How to Make Mississippi Pot Roast
Low and slow is the way to go to get mouth-watering, tender meat that just falls apart!
- Brown the meat on both sides and transfer it to a slow cooker.
- 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 with a couple of forks and serve over potatoes, rice, or even on a toasted roll!
Holly’s Tips
- Sear the roast in a large skillet for extra flavor. This 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.
- Want to thicken the gravy? Mix a couple of tablespoons of cornstarch with water, then whisk it into the drippings. Let it cook for about 10 minutes or until thickened to your liking.
What to Serve with Mississippi Pot Roast?
This crock pot Mississippi pot roast recipe is so good when it’s piled high over mashed potatoes or tucked into a hoagie roll. Or serve it as a main dish over garlic-roasted mashed potatoes, or keep it low-carb with mashed cauliflower or cauliflower rice.
Suggested Side Dishes
More Tender Beef Recipes
Did your family love this Mississippi Pot Recipe? Leave us a rating and a comment below!
Mississippi Pot Roast
Equipment
Ingredients
- 4-5 pound chuck roast or pot roast
- 1 packet ranch dressing mix 1 ounce
- 1 packet au jus gravy mix, 1 ounce or brown gravy mix, low sodium
- 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.
Notes
Nutrition Information
Nutrition information provided is an estimate and will vary based on cooking methods and brands of ingredients used.
Course Beef, Dinner, Main Course, Slow Cooker
Cuisine American© SpendWithPennies.com. Content and photographs are copyright protected. Sharing of this recipe is both encouraged and appreciated. Copying and/or pasting full recipes to any social media is strictly prohibited. Please view my photo use policy here.
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This Mississippi Pot Roast recipe was originally developed by Robin Chapman, Ripley, MS.
It says toward the top it could be in the oven too. I have 5lbs of roast but that weight is split between 3 roasts (all the store had) do I need to do different cook times? And what temperature would you suggest for the oven? Do you cover it?
They should be fine to cook together. If it is chuck roast would suggest cooking low and slow at about 275 to 300°F for about 3-4 hours (since the pieces are smaller). Check it early and if it is not tender it needs more time.
How much homemade ranch goes into this recipe? Thanks
Hi Angela, We use one packet of ranch mix, which is about 2 tablespoons.
My best post roast ever. I did not have time to brown the meat first. Just put it all in the cooker as is. This is sooo good! I prefer this over the traditional pot roast flavor. Thank you for an easy, tasty meal.
Do you add water to the au jus as instructed on the packet?
Hi Jennifer, we don’t add any water to this recipe. Just the pepperoncini juices as listed in the recipe. Hope that helps.
The recipe for the Mississippi pot roast are this the nutritional info listed per serving or the entire thing? Need to make sure in case I need to adjust for my boyfriend who has health issues. TIA
Hi Kimmy, our nutrition values are estimates only. We do recommend using a nutrition calculator like MyFitnessPal to determine accurate nutrition information. Our estimated nutrition values are per serving, so ⅛ of this recipe.
I am going to be making this tomorrow. I added the packets but it seemed like so much. I used about half each. Will that be enough?
The recipe calls for 1 packet ranch mix and 1 packet au jus mix or brown gravy mix (low sodium). Using only half will not produce the same results.
I had a problem getting the au jus and ranch packets. Had to go back 3 times. It was worth the trouble. The roast was delicious.
Thank you for sticking through, and I am so happy to hear that you love this Mississippi pot roast Mimi!
Make this recipe for the first time and very tasty but I felt it was a little salty
We make ours with unsalted butter and have not noticed a salty taste. Maybe worth a try?!?!
Pot roast. Good
Holly, may I use your Mississippi Pot Roast image with proper attribution?
Please see my photo use policy here.
Best tasting & most tender toast I’ve cooked in a long time. I’m looking forward to fixing this again!
Can you make the Mississippi pot roast without brown gravy and aunt jus gravy. If so how much of what kind of liquid do you use?
You could add some beef bouillon or a bit of beef broth. The gravy adds a salty flavor.
Would you happen to have a slow cooker/crockpot recipe for the pot roast?
This Mississippi Pot Roast recipe is made in the slow cooker Kurt. Enjoy!
I made this Mississippi Pot Roast Sunday. It was awesome. So tender and flavorful. I put veggies in half way through and they turned out great. Served with mashed potatoes $ gravy. Browning each side first is a must.
Looks delicious! Would like to forward it to my email address but it doesn’t work like that is an option.
I make this all the time but I add 1 pkg of Lipton Onion soup mix
I’ve been making this to help use up the cuts of venison I had no idea what to do with ( I’m more of a poultry pork and burger cook). I’m finally out of roast thanks to this delicious recipe. I have round steak that I was wanting to use….. think that would work as long as I had the same lb of meat?
I think it would work just fine. Let us know how it goes!
Ok to halve the recipe if only doing a 2 pound roast? I’ve never only used half a ranch/gravy packet so just wanted to make sure that makes sense:)
You can half the other ingredients if your slow cooker is small. You will want to ensure you have enough liquid as the butter melts. If your slow cooker is 6qt, you might like to use the full amount of ingredients but you won’t need all of the juices to mix with the roast and might like to check the roast a little bit sooner to see if its tender. I hope that helps.
I love this roast! I actually throw onions, carrots and potatoes in the pot too. Yummy. Thanks for sharing. I actually need to start making it gluten free which will just be a couple adjustments.
I’m trying Mississippi pot roast. For the first time. Wish me luck
Good luck, it’s so delicious!
How much is a serving? A cup? 1/2 cup? More?
The nutritional information is an estimate for 1/8th of this recipe. It can vary slightly based on the roast used (and how much is packed into the measuring cup).