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Beef Pot Roast

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Servings: 4
Course: Dinner
Cuisine: American
Prep Time 20 minutes
Cook Time 3 hours
Total Time 3 hours 20 minutes
Pot roast is the dinner that makes your whole house smell like Sunday at your grandmother's place. Even on a Tuesday. Especially on a Tuesday. You walk in after work, the oven's been doing its thing f
Mike

Ingredients  

For the roast
  • 3-4 pound boneless chuck roast
  • 2 tablespoons olive oil
  • 1 large yellow onion (quartered)
  • 4 cloves garlic (smashed)
  • 2 tablespoons tomato paste
  • 2 cups beef broth
  • 1 cup red wine (or more broth if you don't cook with wine)
  • 2 sprigs fresh rosemary
  • 3 sprigs fresh thyme
  • 1 bay leaf
  • salt and pepper
For the vegetables
  • 1 pound baby potatoes (halved)
  • 4 large carrots (cut into 2-inch chunks)
  • 3 stalks celery (cut into 2-inch pieces)
For the gravy
  • 2 tablespoons butter
  • 2 tablespoons flour
  • pan drippings from the roast
  • Nothing exotic. The wine is optional — I use it because it adds depth
  • but extra broth works fine

Method
 

Step 1: Sear the beef
  1. Take the chuck roast out of the fridge 30 minutes before cooking. Pat it dry with paper towels — this is important, wet meat steams instead of searing. Season generously with salt and pepper on all sides.
  2. Heat olive oil in a Dutch oven over high heat until it's almost smoking. Lay the roast in and don't move it for 3-4 minutes. You want a deep brown crust, not a light tan. Flip and sear all sides. This takes about 8-10 minutes total and it's the most important step. All that brown crust is concentrated flavor that's going to melt into your braising liquid.
  3. Remove the roast and set it aside.
Step 2: Build the braising liquid
  1. Preheat your oven to 300°F. In the same Dutch oven, add the quartered onion and garlic. Cook for 2-3 minutes. Add the tomato paste and stir for about a minute — it'll get deeper in color and slightly sweet.
  2. Pour in the wine (or extra broth) and scrape up all the brown bits from the bottom. That's fond, and it's liquid gold. Add the beef broth, rosemary, thyme, and bay leaf.
  3. Nestle the seared roast back into the pot. The liquid should come about halfway up the sides of the meat — you don't want it fully submerged.
Step 3: Braise low and slow
  1. Cover with the lid and slide into the oven. Cook for 2 hours. Then add the potatoes, carrots, and celery around the roast. Cover and cook for another 1-1.5 hours until the beef is fork-tender and the vegetables are soft.
  2. Total time in the oven: about 3-3.5 hours for a 3-pound roast, up to 4 hours for 4+ pounds. You'll know it's done when a fork slides into the meat with zero resistance.
Step 4: Make the gravy
  1. Remove the roast and vegetables to a platter. Strain the braising liquid through a sieve into a bowl, then skim off the fat. You should have about 2 cups of intensely flavored liquid.
  2. In the Dutch oven, melt 2 tablespoons of butter over medium heat. Whisk in 2 tablespoons of flour and cook for a minute. Slowly whisk in the strained braising liquid. Simmer until thickened into a rich gravy, about 5 minutes. Taste and adjust seasoning.
  3. Pour that gravy over everything. Outstanding.