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Pot Roast · Dutch Oven

Sunday Dutch Oven Pot Roast

A well-browned chuck roast braised low and slow in the oven with onions, carrots and potatoes until it falls apart. The braising liquid becomes the gravy.

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Prep
25 min
Cook
3 hr 30 min
Total
4 hr 5 min
Serves
6
Level
Medium

Ingredients

Roast

  • 3 ½ lb boneless beef chuck roast
  • 2 tsp kosher salt
  • 1 tsp black pepper
  • 2 tbsp vegetable oil
  • 2 onions, cut into wedges
  • 4 cloves garlic, smashed
  • 2 tbsp tomato paste
  • 1 cup dry red wine, or more broth
  • 2 cups beef broth
  • 1 tbsp worcestershire sauce
  • 4 sprigs fresh thyme, or 1 tsp dried
  • 2 bay leaves

Vegetables

  • 1 lb carrots, peeled, cut into 2-inch pieces
  • 1 ½ lb yukon gold potatoes, halved, or quartered if large

Gravy

  • 2 tbsp cornstarch
  • 2 tbsp water
  • 2 tbsp fresh parsley, chopped (optional)

Cook to 145°F inside (check with a thermometer).

Steps

  1. Heat the oven to 325°F with a rack in the lower third.
  2. Pat the roast dry and season it all over with the salt and pepper.
  3. Heat the oil in a large Dutch oven over medium-high heat until it shimmers.
  4. Brown the roast well on the first side without moving it.
  5. Turn the roast and brown the other side, then sear the edges briefly. Move it to a plate.
  6. Lower the heat to medium. Add the onions and cook, stirring, until they start to brown.
  7. Stir in the garlic and tomato paste and cook until the paste darkens a shade.
  8. Pour in the wine and scrape up the browned bits from the bottom. Simmer until reduced by half.
  9. Stir in the broth and Worcestershire, add the thyme and bay leaves, and nestle the roast back in with its juices.
  10. Bring the liquid to a simmer, cover the pot and move it to the oven.
  11. Braise the roast.
  12. Take the pot out and arrange the carrots and potatoes around the roast, pushing them into the liquid.
  13. Cover again and braise until a fork slides into the beef with no resistance and the vegetables are tender. By then the beef is far past the safe 145°F (63°C).
  14. Move the beef and vegetables to a platter and cover loosely with foil. Fish out the herb stems and bay leaves.
  15. Spoon off the fat from the top of the liquid. Bring the liquid to a simmer on the stove over medium heat.
  16. Stir the cornstarch and water together, whisk it into the liquid and simmer until the gravy thickens.
  17. Pull the beef into large chunks, spoon the gravy over everything and sprinkle with parsley.

Tip: Braised beef is safe at 145°F, but chuck only turns tender once it goes much higher (around 200°F), so cook it by tenderness, not by the thermometer.

Tip: If it's tough, it isn't done yet. Give it another 20 to 30 minutes and check again.

Tip: Pot roast tastes even better the next day.

Tip: Use a separate cutting board for raw meat, and wash hands, boards and knives in hot soapy water after handling it.

Storage: Refrigerate in an airtight container within 2 hours, up to 4 days. Store the beef in its gravy. Freeze up to 3 months (potatoes get a little grainy).

Make ahead: Cook a day ahead, chill, lift off the hardened fat and reheat covered at 325°F for about 40 minutes.

Estimated nutrition per serving: 890 calories · protein 55 g · carbohydrates 37 g · fiber 6 g · sugars 7 g · fat 54 g (saturated 21 g) · sodium 1,150 mg. Estimate from USDA FoodData Central; not medical or dietary advice. Based on 16 of 16 ingredients.