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Yankee Pot Roast

Yankee Pot Roast - A Family Feast
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5 from 1 review

Yankee Pot Roast is a classic New England recipe. Tender beef pot roast with roasted root vegetables is super flavorful with a luscious gravy!

Ingredients

Units Scale
  • 4-6 pound chuck roast, tied with butchers twine
  • 2 teaspoons kosher salt
  • 1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
  • 2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
  • 2 tablespoons butter
  • 1/2 pound carrots unpeeled, stem removed and roughly cut up
  • 1 pound onion peeled and cut into quarters.
  • 1/2 pound parsnips unpeeled, stem removed and roughly cut up
  • 2 large celery stalks roughly cut up
  • 1 ounce (in weight) or two large cloves garlic, smashed
  • 3 tablespoons tomato paste
  • 2 tablespoons flour
  • 1 cup hearty red wine, such as merlot
  • 3 cups beef stock or broth (canned or carton is fine)
  • 2 bay leaves
  • 1/2 ounce fresh rosemary (about 2-3 medium stems)
  • 1/2 ounce fresh thyme (about half a standard bunch)
  • 2 ounces parsley stems
  • 1 teaspoon gravy seasoning such as Kitchen Bouquet

Vegetables for the Finished Dish

  • 1 pound onion peeled and cut into 16 wedges
  • 1 pound fresh carrots, peeled and cut on the bias into bite sized pieces
  • 1 pound fresh Parsnips, peeled and cut on the bias into bite sized pieces
  • 1 1/2 pounds new red potatoes peeled and cut into bite sized pieces
  • 1 pound turnip (yellow or white) peeled and cut into bite sized pieces

Instructions

  1. Salt and pepper all sides of the beef.
  2. In a five quart heavy bottomed pot with a tight fitting lid (like the OXO 5 quart Stainless Steel Pro Casserole that we used), melt butter in oil over medium high heat. Once melted and a little frothy, add beef and sear for 4-5 minutes per side (four sides and two ends). The total time for this step should be between 25 and 30 minutes total. Remove the beef to a platter.
  3. Preheat oven to 325 degrees.
  4. Add carrots, parsnips, onion, celery and garlic to the pot. Cook and stir often for 15 minutes over medium high. Add tomato paste and cook for 2 minutes stirring often. Lower the heat to medium if the mixture starts to stick. Add flour and stir and cook for one more minute.
  5. Add wine and stir and scrape bottom to deglaze. Once most of wine has evaporated, add stock.
  6. Wrap bay leaves, rosemary, thyme and parsley stems in butcher’s twine and add to pot. Add gravy seasoning and stir. Nestle beef back in the pot pushing to the bottom so the vegetables come up around the sides. Cover the pot and place in center of oven.
  7. Cook for 1 ½ hours at 325 degrees then lower temperature to 300 degrees and cook for another one to two hours or until tender. Test every 30 minutes for last hour or so by cutting a small sliver of beef and checking for doneness.
  8. Remove the pot from the oven, remove beef to a platter and cover platter loosely with foil.
  9. Remove and discard herb bundle including bay leaves.
  10. Using a ladle, skim off and discard fat that floats to the top, about half a cup or so.
  11. Using an immersion blender, puree mixture until extra fine. If you do not own an immersion blender, carefully transfer the contents to a blender, food processor or food mill and process until you have a fine consistency. The texture should resemble gravy.
  12. Bring sauce to hot over medium heat, add onion, cover and simmer five minutes.
  13. At this point, if you don’t have room for the vegetables remove some of the thickened stock to a bowl and then add the carrots, parsnips, potatoes and turnip to the pot. Cover and simmer 20-25 minutes until tender, stirring occasionally so they don’t stick to the bottom. The mixture will have reduced some so add reserved sauce back in after they are cooked.
  14. Taste mixture for seasoning and adjust with salt and pepper.
  15. Transfer the roast to a cutting board and slice against the grain into thick slices. Strain vegetables and serve on platter with beef.
  16. Serve the sauce remaining in the pan on the side with the beef and vegetables.

Notes

Note: The length of cooking time will depend on the size of the roast, the accuracy of your oven and the quality of the cooking pot. Our large six pound roast was in the oven for 3 ½ hours after being seared, but a smaller roast could be done in as little as 2 ½ hours. The trick is to leave it in the oven until tender but not so long that it shreds and falls apart. I tested the beef at 2 ½ hours then again at 3 hours by slicing off a small piece to test.

Find it online: https://www.afamilyfeast.com/yankee-pot-roast/