This Slow Cooker Chuck Roast recipe transforms a budget-friendly beef chuck roast into the ultimate comfort food. Serve with gravy and vegetables on the side.
Easy Slow Cooker Chuck Roast with Vegetables & Gravy
This Slow Cooker Chuck Roast recipe should be in everyone’s go-to recipe collection!
It’s an easy and budget-friendly meal made with chuck roast – a cut of beef that is less expensive than many other roasts but with lots of beefy flavor.
After searing the beef in a hot skillet, you’ll deglaze the pan. Next, add the seared meat to a slow cooker that has been lined with onions, carrots, celery, garlic, and little yellow potatoes on the bottom. Pour in some beef broth and a few other seasonings – then let the slow cooker do the rest of the work!
We include a gravy recipe to serve with this Slow Cooker Chuck Roast and the cooked vegetables. Or, slice the beef and make French Dip Pot Roast Sliders (recipe coming next week) with the cooking liquid served on the side in bowls for dipping.
Key Ingredients & Substitutions
- Chuck Roast – This budget-friend cut of beef yields the best flavor and a super tender texture when cooked in the slow cooker.
- Beef Broth – While you can use canned, boxed, or even a homemade beef stock, for this recipe, we recommend using “Better Than Boullion” Roasted Beef Base into some water. This concentrated beef paste adds a fantastic deep flavor to the broth.
- Vegetables – Onions, carrots, garlic and celery flavor the broth.
- Herbs, Spices and Flavorings – Fresh flat leaf parsley, bay leaves, salt and pepper are used in conjunction with tomato paste, red wine and water.
- For the Gravy: Unsalted butter, all-purpose flour, gravy browning and seasoning sauce such as Kitchen Bouquet or Gravy Master.
Cooking Tips & Tricks
- This pot roast can be made ahead and chilled until ready to serve. Keep most of the cooking liquid to make gravy and to reheat the sliced meat for serving.
- Slice the beef while still chilled (it will hold together and be easier to slice). Then reheat the slices in a skillet with some of the cooking liquid and some beef broth.
- Always slice your pot roast against the grain.
- Note this Alternative Cooking Method: Sear the beef as listed in the recipe below, but instead of a slow cooker, cook in a covered Dutch oven in a 325-degree F oven for four hours.
Slow Cooker Chuck Roast
This Slow Cooker Chuck Roast recipe transforms a budget-friendly beef chuck roast into the ultimate comfort food. Serve with gravy and vegetables on the side.
- Prep Time: 20 minutes
- Cook Time: 9 hours
- Total Time: 9 hours 20 minutes
- Yield: 8 servings 1x
- Category: entree
- Method: slow cooker
- Cuisine: American
Ingredients
4–6 pound chuck roast
1 teaspoon kosher salt
1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
1 tablespoon vegetable oil, or any high smoke point oil
2 tablespoons tomato paste
1 1/2 cups red wine, divided (such as Merlot or Cabernet)
1 large onion, coarsely cut up
1 rib celery, coarsely cut up
1 large carrot, peeled and coarsely cut up
2 garlic cloves, smashed
1/2 bunch fresh Italian flat-leaf parsley
2 bay leaves
4 cups water (depending on the size of your roast and slow cooker)
2 cups beef broth (boxed, canned, homemade, or made from jarred paste such as “Better Than Boullion Roasted Beef Base”
1 stick unsalted butter (8 tablespoons or 1/2 cup)
1/2 cup all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon gravy seasoning and browning sauce, such as Kitchen Bouquet or Gravy Master
Instructions
- Pat the beef dry and coat with the salt and pepper on all sides.
- In a large skillet that can stand a high heat (such as cast iron or carbon steel), heat the oil over medium high heat.
- Sear the meat in the oil on all sides for approximately ten minutes. Remove to a platter.
- Lower the heat to medium and add tomato paste and cook one minute.
- Add one cup of the wine and cook one more minute then remove from heat.
- In your slow cooker, line the bottom with the onion, celery, carrot and garlic then add the seared meat and the liquid from the pan.
- Tie the parsley and bay leaf together using butcher’s twine then nestle beside the beef.
- Pour in the water and beef broth.
- Cover and cook for 5-6 hours on high or 8-9 hours on low.
- Remove beef and set aside to set up while you prepare the gravy.
- Remove carrots and potatoes to a platter and cover with foil to keep warm.
- Skim off any fat that floats to the top of the cooking liquid and discard.
- Using an immersion blender (or pour into a blender) puree liquid and solids. Pour into a saucepan and heat.
- In a small pan, heat butter to melt and add flour and cook for two minutes to remove the raw flour flavor.
- Then add flour mixture to the saucepan and simmer to thicken into a gravy.
- Flavor with more salt, pepper and gravy seasoning/color.
- To serve, separate the meat by the natural sections of the roast and cut out all large pieces of fat or gristle. Lay the pieces on their side on your cutting board and with a sharp slicing knife, slice thick slices against the grain.
- Serve portions of the sliced pot roast with the carrots, potatoes and the gravy on the side.
Frequently Asked Questions
- Can I make Slow Cooker Chuck Roast ahead of time? Yes, you can prepare the beef the day before, then store the meat, vegetables, and cooking juices in the refrigerator in separate covered containers. When ready to serve, slice the beef and reheat the meat in some of the juices (or more beef broth) in a large skillet on the stove. Make the gravy just before serving.
- How do I store any leftover chuck roast, vegetables and gravy? Store covered and refrigerated for up to three days.
- How do I reheat the leftovers? Microwave individual portions in the microwave, or reheat slices in a skillet with broth added.
- Can I freeze the leftovers? You can freeze leftover beef and juices. Freeze them in separate bags for best results.
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