You will get many opinions on pot roast recipes, but I will start out with my very basic "the only (pot roast) recipe you'll ever need." Follow the recipe exactly and you will have a very tender beef roast and very good gravy. Don't be tempted to add some broth or red wine or water, etc. Try to get a boneless chuck roast in the 3 1/2 to 4 pound range.

Pot Roast - the only recipe you'll ever need

2 teaspoons olive oil
4 pounds boneless chuck roast
1 onion, chopped
2 cloves garlic, minced
2 bay leaves
1 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black
pepper

1.Preheat oven to 325 degrees F (165 degrees C).

2. Heat a heavy Dutch oven on top of the stove over medium high heat. Add oil, and sear meat in the center of the pan for 4 minutes. Turn meat over with tongs; sear all sides for 3 to 4 minutes on each side. Remove meat from pan. Arrange onion, garlic, and 1 bay leaf in the bottom of the pan, and sprinkle with salt and pepper. Return meat to pan, place remaining bay leaf on top of meat, and cover.

3. Cook in the oven for 30 minutes at 325 degrees F (165 degrees C). Reduce the heat to 300 degrees F (150 degrees C), and cook for 1 1/2 hours. Remove roast to a platter to rest for 10 to 15 minutes. Slice, and top with onions and gravy that results while cooking the roast.

Dale, That is what we had for dinner. I had to work today so I put the pot roast in the oven early this morning and Moe took it out a few hours later. All I had to do when I got home from work was cook the vegetables, make the gravy and heat up the meat. I used a stick blender to puree the garlic into the gravy.

The following recipe is just a basic idea. Can be adapted to suit your own taste. Today's pot roast was just two heads of garlic and fresh rosemary from the garden and beef broth. The meat was a 3.5 pound bottom round.

Home Cookin Chapter: Recipes From Thibeault's Table

Pot Roast
=========
I use either a Rump or a Round Roast

1 carrot
Celery
Onion
6 or more cloves of garlic
Red wine
Beef broth
Squirt of tomato paste (I buy it in a tube)
Salt/Pepper
Herbs - Rosemary/Thyme/Bay/Parsley
. I used a rump roast last night but I also like to use a round for pot
roast. A cast iron pot with a lid is perfect for cooking a pot roast.
Brown the meat well on all sides. Remove from the pan and add whatever
vegetables you are using. I used one carrot (I don't like carrots and I
find that more than one sweetens the gravy too much. I also added
chopped celery, onion, about 8 cloves of garlic (just smashed, not
chopped) salt, pepper, a sprig of rosemary, about a cup of red wine (I
never measure) beef broth and a squirt of tomato paste. TIP: Tomato
paste isn't something I use often so I buy it in a tube rather than a
can. It keeps in the fridge and is perfect for when I need just a
"squirt" or a tablespoon or two. Put the lid on and into a 325�F oven
for about 3 hours. It was a small roast. So a larger one would take
longer.

When the roast was melt-in-the-mouth-tender I removed it from the pot
and spooned off the fat and I used the stick blender to puree the
vegetables. That was all that was needed to thicken the gravy.

I have been using this recipe for years. It has always been good. I rub the meat down with garlic and steak seasoning, then brown it for half a minute on each side before throwing it in the pot and add whatever veggies appeal to us. I also put a dark beer in the mix. My husband asks for this often during wintertime especially. I made it this week using a large chuck steak that had been in the freezer for while. Yum.

Kate

Here is a link that might be useful: Yes, it is awesome..,

The trick to pot roast is to cook it long and cook it slow and open the pot as little as possible. Everyone has a favorite recipe, so which you choose doesn't matter. What does matter is that the meat cooks long enough to soften. If you open the pot too much, all the steam escapes along with the extra moisture.

Can't get simpler than this:
meat
1 can Campbell's Chicken Mushroom Soup
1/2 cup Ginger Ale
1 pkg Lipton Onion Soup Mix
1 4 oz jar mushrooms, drained (optional)
Preheat oven to 300. Combine ALL ingredients (DO NOT brown meat and DO NOT dilute soup with water) together. Mix well. It will be lumpy before it's cooked. Pour into a casserole dish and cover. Bake 2 1/2 to 3 hours. DON'T PEEK!! Serve over pasta, rice or mashed potatoes.

Can you make pot roast in a pressure cooker? Perhaps I am really asking, can you use a pressure cooker in the oven?

Yes, you can make a pot roast in a PC, but do not put the PC in the oven. Most have plastic handles and I can just see the melted black mess.

The secret to a good potroast is to brown the meat very well before adding whatever liquid you use and covering and braising until tender.
I use wine and a little beef broth as the braising liquid....the only veggies I add are onions and garlic and the only herbs is a bay leaf.....usually!
But sometimes I add a pinch of ground ginger to the sauce....sometimes a little catsup(my sub for tomato paste) some times Worchestershire....often whole button mushrooms.
And as longa s the meat is cooked long and very slow and browned well, it all works.
Linda C

Hi Dale! My MIL swore by rump roast and her pot roasts were always heavenly but over the years I've gone to chuck roasts and that's my preference now. But I honestly love a brisket in the oven also. But I'm easy, you can't give me a pot roast (or a meatloaf) that I wouldn't love.

I finally am able to make a nice tender/'falls apart' potroast of either beef chuck or arm roast or pork loin roast.... before they always were tough from using the oven! I put the roast in a crock pot, add couple cans of broth, sliced onion, garlic,sage, basil,oregano, beef boullion cubes & some Claude's sauce, hickory salt or liquid smoke. Get the dial to where it begins to simmer well, turn it a bit down & let it go for 10-12 hours. The meat fairly falls apart when trying to take it out of the crockpot! The broth left is so good & rich that I let it cool, remove the congealed fat on top & freeze the rest of the broth to start another pot roast later. Some times I add sliced potatoes & carrots an hour or so before taking out the roast. I find the cheaper fatter cuts seem to do best for me at least. 'Golden Corral' restaurants here make fantastic pot roasts & they gave me their 'hints' about doing it!

Finally got around to making a pot roast the other night and thanks to all of you- my family claimed it was a success!

I took a little inspiration from everyone's post and we had a winner.

I think I identified a few problems that I was making. Things such as too much liquid, not browning long enough, had been adding tomatoes, and was cooking it on top of the stove as I remember my mother making that way.

Teresa- you really don't add ANY liquid? And you get gravy?I'm going to give that method a try next time.

Again, thanks to everyone.

Dale

This post inspired me to try my first pot roast which I just put in the oven.
2.63 lb chuck roast with a big slab of fat running down the middle, dried, sprinkled with some spices, seared in some oil
put back in on top of some sliced onion in the bottom with some smashed garlic cloves, a couple of sticks of celery, 2 bay leaves, 1 cup of beef stock with some splashes of red wine.
Put in 325 oven for an hour. Then I'll lower to 300.
At the 2 hour point I plan on throwing in some carrots and cubed potato quick.
Does that sound ok? Why does this sound like stew?