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This pot roast recipe is foolproof, you literally can’t mess it up. Fresh ingredients (no packets!), tender beef, and lots of veggies smothered in gravy—it deserves a permanent spot in your recipe rotation.
Here’s Why Thousands Rave About This Pot Roast Recipe…
- This recipe makes a tender roast every time.
- It’s easy to make with fresh ingredients—no packets or ‘cream of’ soup needed.
- Vegetables are added to make it a complete meal in just one pot.
- I’ve included step-by-step instructions for a savory gravy.
Seriously, check out the reviews!
Ingredient Tips For The Perfect Pot Roast
- Beef: Chuck roast is the best choice for this pot roast recipe. Other cuts of beef with marbling, like round roast or rump roast, are also great options for cooking low and slow.
- Onions: Cook the onions with the roast—they will dissolve into the gravy, adding flavor. If you’d like chunks of onion, add extra with the other vegetables.
- Vegetables: Carrots, celery, and potatoes are added to this pot roast recipe, but you can add other veggies like mushrooms, turnips, or sweet potatoes.
- Broth: Use beef stock and red wine when cooking the meat. You can replace the wine with additional broth. Do not use low-sodium broth, or the gravy won’t have enough flavor.
- Gravy: The base of the gravy is the juices from the meat, thickened with either cornstarch or flour.
How to Make a Pot Roast
This is an overview of the steps to make a pot roast—find full details below!
- Sear beef: Season and sear the beef roast.
- Add onions & liquid: Add onions, broth, wine, and seasonings. Bake in the oven for 2 hours.
- Add vegetables: Add vegetables and cook until the roast and vegetables are tender.
- Separate fat: Separate the fat from the drippings. I use a gravy separator, but you can also skim the fat off with a spoon.
- Make gravy: Separate the fat from the drippings and prepare the gravy according to the recipe directions.
How to Check if Pot Roast Is Done
For this recipe (which uses the technique of braising), skip the thermometer and go by feel. Insert a fork into the roast and twist it slightly—it should be very tender, have very little resistance, and come apart easily.
If the meat isn’t fork-tender, cover it and cook for 20 to 30 minutes longer, then check it again.
Instead of a Dutch oven, try using an oven-safe pot with a lid, a deep roasting pan covered tightly with foil, or a casserole dish with an oven-safe lid.
You can use additional beef broth in place of wine.
Cooking times can vary depending on the size and type of roast you purchase. Here are approximate cooking times for pot roast in the oven:
– Cook a 3 lb. roast for a total of 3-3.5 hours
– Cook a 4 lb. roast for a total of 3.5-4 hours
– Cook a 5 lb. roast for a total of 4.5-5 hours
This can be made in the slow cooker on low for 8-10 hours or on high for 4-6 hours. The slow cooker has less evaporation, so reduce the broth to 1 cup and the wine to ½ cup.
I recommend searing the roast for extra flavor. You can certainly skip the searing if you’d like.
More Chuck Roast Favorites
I make this pot roast recipe with chuck roast because it’s so buttery and tender. Here are a few other favorites for chuck.
Storing Leftover Pot Roast
- Fridge: Keep leftover pot roast in a covered container in the refrigerator for up to 4 days.
- Freezer: Freeze portions in zippered bags for up to 3 months and thaw overnight in the refrigerator.
Pot Roast Recipe
Equipment
Ingredients
- 1 tablespoon olive oil
- 3 to 4 pounds chuck roast or rump roast
- 1 large yellow onion chopped, or two small onions
- 4 carrots cut into 2-inch pieces
- 2 ribs celery cut into 1 ½-inch pieces
- 1 pound baby potatoes or chopped red potatoes
- 2 cups beef broth or as needed
- 1 cup red wine *see note
- 4 cloves garlic coarsely chopped
- ½ teaspoon dried rosemary
- ½ teaspoon dried thyme leaves
- 1 bay leaf
For the Gravy
- all-purpose flour or cornstarch, see notes
- butter optional
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 300°F.
- Season roast with salt and pepper.
- In a large dutch oven, heat 1 tablespoon olive oil over medium-high heat. Sear the roast on each side until browned, about 4 minutes per side adding more oil if needed.
- Arrange onions around the roast. Combine broth, wine, garlic, rosemary, and thyme. Pour over the roast. Add bay leaf.
- Bring just to a simmer on the stovetop over medium-high heat. Once the broth is simmering, cover and place in the oven and cook 2 hours.
- Add potatoes, carrots, and celery, and cook an additional 2 hours (for a 4 lb. roast) or until the roast and potatoes are fork-tender.
- Discard bay leaf. Gently pull beef into large pieces with a fork or slice into thick pieces. Serve with juices or make gravy (below) if desired.
Notes
- Combine 2 tablespoons cornstarch or flour with 2 tablespoons cold water until smooth.
- Remove beef and vegetables from the pot. Use a gravy separator or a spoon to separate the fat from the drippings.
- Bring the remaining broth/drippings to a boil and whisk in the slurry mixture a little bit at a time until thickened. Add extra broth if needed.
- Season with salt & pepper to taste.
Nutrition Information
Nutrition information provided is an estimate and will vary based on cooking methods and brands of ingredients used.
Course Beef, Dinner, Entree, Main Course
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.
Been cooking for70 years and I must say….This is the BEST POT ROAST I have ever made. Was perfect and I had no one to share with me…Thats okay, more for me…Absolutely scrumptious…Thank you for the recipe and I do use some of your other recipes…HAPPY EASTER TO YOU AND ALL YOUR FOLLOWERS!
We are all family of 7. My 3 boys are in college but will be coming home for Easter. How do I scale up your recipe to account for us all? BTW two of them are on football scholarships and have larger than life appetites.
Hi Sammy, it sounds like you might need to double the recipe! Have fun spending Easter with your boys.
I know you use dried herbs could you try fresh? If so what would you reccomend?
You can use fresh, you’ll need 1½ teaspoons of each. Enjoy Nicole!
Hi! I’d love to make this recipe in my crock pot as I don’t have a Dutch oven. I’m just curious if you would still simmer the first veg with the roast and add the others to the crock pot later or if you just add everything to the crock pot! Thanks in advance for a reply! Super excited to try this!
Hi Carly, it can certainly be cooked in a slow cooker. I would cook for 8 to 10 hours on low, adding the vegetables in at the beginning. I would recommend adding a bouillon cube as well (since there is less evaporation). I generally make the gravy on the stovetop. Let us know how it goes!
can I use sweet potatoes instead ? would it taste good ? thanks
I think that would be delicious, Haley!
What size Dutch Oven? I’ll be using a 5lb roast! Planning to make this for Easter dinner
I use a 5.5qt but as long as your roast and veggies fit, any size will work.
Making this for the 3rd time tomorrow (3/26/25). I’ve always followed the recipe. It is fantastic. Only change this time is to make a little gravy. I usually just serve in a bowl with the beef stock and veggies.
I could only find a 2.25 lb cut of meat. Would you recommend cooking it for 2 hours (or longer?) and adding the vegetables immediately? Thanks!
Some readers have cooked a 2lb piece closer to 3 hours. You can check it early and if it’s tender, it’s done. If it’s not tender, cover and continue cooking.
Is the roast covered for a total of 4 hours? The recipe states to cover for 2 hours before adding vegetables and not after?
Yes it is covered the whole time.
Perfect every time !!
Confession: I’m cheating a bit, as I actually made a similar version in my slow cooker from your absolutely stunning cookbook on page 197 and feel compelled to leave a review!!! This makes one of the most incredible gravies I have EVER tasted! Thank you, Holly, for another scrumptious recipe which is even more flavourful on the second day with the flavours having a chance to meld. Dare I say it… perfection!
So glad you enjoyed it, Audrey!
This Pot Roast recipe was excellent
I made this for myself and my husband for tonight and for our son and DIL for later in the week. I’m wondering how to freeze it, all together, separate the meat/ veg from liquid? I’m not sure how to freeze it for best reheating.
I generally freeze the gravy separately and the rest together. Thaw in the fridge overnight.
Hi Holly, Can your Best Pot Roast recipe be prepared in the SLOW COOKER?
I should certainly like to try it, but being single and living in a single person’s accomadation, I do not have room enough for an oven capable of taking a Dutch Oven, but do have the slow cooker which I use a great deal.
I look forward to your reply,
Very best regards,
Derek Cridland.
Yes, it can certainly be cooked in a slow cooker. I would recommend adding a bouillon cube as well (since there is less evaporation). Cook for 8 to 10 hours on low. I generally make the gravy on the stovetop. Let us know how it goes!
Made this last Saturday. Prepped all veggies ahead of time as I was getting it ready in between student lessons. Very tasty. Just added mushrooms because my family loves mushrooms. A complete meal.
Great recipe! We always enjoy this roast! We like to serve ours over steamed rice and we put potatoes, carrots, onions, and mushrooms in ours when cooking.
Made this for a family member’s birthday dinner. It wasn’t too difficult to make, and everyone thoroughly enjoyed it!
I made this pot roast. I omitted the wine, adding more beef broth and put in boiled onions and it was absolutely delicious! And for an encore the next night for dinner I separated the meat and put a slurry in the juices, and we had a wonderful beef stew! Another great recipe, Holly. Thank you very much!
I love this recipe but instead of beef roast I used fish and swapped the vegetables for pasta. /s
I followed the directions as written and the roast was excellent.
Hi! Do you use fresh herbs or dried spice herbs?
I use dried herbs in this recipe.