Description
Our classic Dutch oven pot roast with fall-apart tender beef and a rich gravy that is perfect for your next Sunday supper (and don’t sleep on those leftovers!).
Ingredients
Scale
Pot Roast:
- 2.5 lb boneless beef chuck roast
- kosher salt and ground black pepper
- 3 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil (or butter), divided
- 2 tablespoons garlic, minced
- 1/2 sweet yellow onion, diced
- 2 celery stalks, thinly sliced
- 2 tablespoons tomato paste
- 3–4 cups beef broth
- 1 cup pomegranate juice (sub with dry red wine)
- 1 tablespoon balsamic vinegar
- 1 tablespoon red wine vinegar
- 1 small head of garlic (cut off top and remove loose outer covering)
- 4–5 sprigs fresh thyme
- beef soup bones (if available)
Vegetables:
- 15–17 baby yukon gold potatoes
- 3–4 carrots, peeled, halved, and cut into two-inch chunks
- 1 1/2 cup pearl onions (optional)
Gravy:
- 3 cups cooking liquid with excess fat removed (use beef broth if not enough cooking liquid)
- 4 tablespoons butter
- 6 tablespoons all-purpose flour
Instructions
- Preheat Oven to 325 degrees F.
- Season + Sear Meat: Place beef on a large plate and season generously with salt and pepper. Add 1 tablespoon olive oil (or butter) to a large dutch oven and bring to medium-high heat. Place beef roast inside, searing 1-3 minutes per side. Remove and place on a clean plate, set aside.
- Cook Aromatics: Add remaining 2 tablespoons of olive oil (or butter) to dutch oven, allowing it to coat the bottom of the pan and scraping up any bits that are stuck to the bottom (add a splash of beef broth if you need to). Add 2 tablespoons minced garlic and allow to cook for a moment or two until it becomes fragrant. Next, add onion and celery, allow to cook down, approximately 2-3 minutes; sprinkle with a little salt and pepper. Add 2 tablespoons tomato paste and stir to coat everything.
- Add Liquid: Add 3-4 cups broth, 1 cup pomegranate juice (or red wine), 1 tablespoon balsamic vinegar and 1 tablespoon red wine vinegar; stir to combine.
- Braise: Return seared beef roast to dutch oven along with the head of garlic, fresh thyme and beef soup bones. Cover and allow to come to a boil, then turn off stove and transfer Dutch oven to the oven. Let cook approx. 3-4 hours or until the internal temperature of the roast, at it’s thickest point, reaches between 195-210 degrees F. (this is the temp at which it will fall apart nicely).
- Add Vegetables + Potatoes: Approximately 30-60 minutes before the roast is done, add the potatoes, carrots and pearl onions. You can add earlier, if you want really soft veggies – up to you!
- Rest + Cooking Liquid: Once your beef has reached an internal temp of between 195-210 degrees F. and your veggies are soft, but firm – transfer the roast and veggies to a platter and cover with foil to let the beef rest. Strain the remaining liquid into a glass measuring cup and let fat naturally rise to the top – skim off the fat and discard.
- Make Gravy: using either the same Dutch oven or a 12-inch cast iron skillet (which is what we used), bring to medium-high heat. Add 4 tablespoons butter and let melt. Add 6 tablespoons flour and whisk to combine with the butter to make a roux. Slowly add the cooking liquid approx. 1/3 cup at a time and then whisk to combine with the roux. Continue until all the cooking liquid is used up. Note: if you don’t have enough cooking liquid, sub in beef broth to reach a total of 3 cups.
- Adjust Gravy: To make the gravy thinner, simply add additional splashes of beef broth. Taste and add some salt and pepper, if desired.
- Serve: Once gravy is done, serve everything while it’s warm and enjoy!
Notes
- Best Cut of Beef for Pot Roast: recommended cuts of meat include chuck roast (recommended), shoulder steak, boneless chuck roast, rump roast, or bottom round roast.
- Pomegranate Juice: use to make this recipe Paleo/Whole30 compliant. If you aren’t concerned with Whole30/Paleo, we would recommend using a dry, fruity red wine instead.
- Beef Soup Bones: these can generally be found at your local deli. They help to add another layer of flavor and make the broth/sauce that much better! That being said, the recipe will turn out just fine without them.
- Stove Top Option: you can simply cover and let this simmer gently on the stove top instead of transferring to the oven (see Step 5). Cook time was a little longer when we tested this method – closer to 4-5 hours – but it will depend on several variables, such as thickness of roast and temp of your simmer so let your internal meat thermometer be your guide!
- Gluten-Free: gluten-free 1-to-1 flour can be used in the gravy!
- Dairy-Free: use dairy-free butter.
- Storage: leftover pot roast can be stored in an airtight container in the fridge for up to 4 days.
Nutrition
- Serving Size: 6 oz
- Calories: 271
- Sugar: 6.9 g
- Sodium: 253.7 mg
- Fat: 10.2 g
- Carbohydrates: 19.4 g
- Protein: 25.5 g
- Cholesterol: 67 mg