Recipes Ingredients Meat & Poultry Beef Recipes Slow-Cooker Pot Roast 3.2 (6,536) 99 Reviews This all-in-one dinner is the ultimate comfort food. By Martha Stewart Martha Stewart Martha Stewart is a bestselling author, entrepreneur, and lifestyle expert who has taught millions of people through generations the joy of entertaining, cooking, gardening, collecting, crafting, and home renovating via her eponymous magazine, Martha Stewart Living, Emmy-winning television shows, and 99 books (and counting). Based in Katonah, N.Y., where she helms her 156-acre Bedford Farm, Martha is America's first self-made female billionaire. Editorial Guidelines Updated on November 4, 2024 Rate PRINT Share Prep Time: 15 mins Total Time: 6 hrs 25 mins Servings: 8 Jump to recipe This slow-cooker pot roast recipe is what hands-off cooking is all about. Perfectly juicy meat and tender vegetables are cooked to perfection all at the same time. Whether you make this recipe in a slow cooker, Crock-Pot, or pressure cooker, pot roast is a great way to feed your hungry family a hearty meal. Just set it and forget it. This recipe uses a braising technique. Traditionally, this means the meat is partially covered in liquid and cooked for hours until it becomes juicy and tender. In this case, the steam from the slow cooker creates moisture for the meat to braise in. The vegetables are coated in cornstarch before cooking to thicken the juices from the meat and create a sauce. We like to use a chuck roast. It's affordable, flavorful, and always a crowd-pleaser. Since the pot roast is cooking low and slow for several hours, it has time to marinate in its own juices and soak in tons of flavor. Worcestershire sauce is all you need to impart flavor to this robust roast. Jacob Fox Our 12 Best Beef Dinner Recipes to Make for Sunday Evenings What Is Pot Roast? Pot roast is a catch-all term for tough cuts of beef that are cooked low and slow until they are tender enough to easily slice. Most traditionally, pot roast is made with cuts like chuck or round roasts. The Difference Between Pot Roast and Brisket While similar, the difference is where the meat comes from on the animal. Chuck roast, which is most often used for pot roast, usually comes from the neck or shoulder. Brisket comes from the lower chest area. Why Cook Pot Roast in a Slow Cooker? The slow cooker is an insulated cooking environment, as opposed to an oven. Cooking pot roast in the oven exposes the meat to dry heat. Slow cookers create a lot of steam, which pretty much guarantees that your pot roast will come out nice and juicy. The steam also helps ensure that the meat is nearly impossible to overcook. The longer it stews away in the pot, the more tender the chuck roast will become. 28 Slow Cooker Recipes You'll Want to Make All Year Long Browning the Meat Searing meat in a hot pan for stews is an initial step that builds flavor and helps seal in moisture within the meat. We skip this step to both save time and keep the recipe simple. Since the pot roast cooks for several hours, there is plenty of time for the flavors to concentrate without adding an extra step and dirtying another pan. Cook Mode (Keep screen awake) Ingredients 1 tablespoon cornstarch 8 medium carrots, cut into thirds 2 medium onions, each cut into 8 wedges Coarse salt and ground pepper 1 beef chuck roast (3 pounds), trimmed of excess fat 2 tablespoons Worcestershire sauce Directions Jacob Fox Coat vegetables in cornstarch mixture: In slow cooker, stir together cornstarch and 2 tablespoons cold water until smooth. Add carrots and onions; season with salt and pepper, and toss. Jacob Fox Season meat: Sprinkle roast with 1 teaspoon salt and 1/2 teaspoon pepper; place on top of vegetables, and drizzle with Worcestershire. Jacob Fox Cook pot roast: Cover; cook on high, 6 hours (or on low, 10 hours). Jacob Fox Slice pot roast: Transfer roast to a cutting board; thinly slice against the grain. Jacob Fox Transfer to serving dish: Place vegetables in a serving dish; pour pan juices through a fine-mesh sieve, if desired. Serve roast with vegetables and pan juices. Jacob Fox How to Serve Slow-Cooked Pot Roast Simple is always best when it comes to a classic pot roast, but this recipe is very versatile. Substitute carrots for other starchy vegetables, like chopped russet potatoes, parsnips, or butternut squash. Any leftover meat is delicious served cold on sandwiches the next day with a smear of mustard and mayonnaise. Storage and Reheating Pot roast will stay moist and juicy, unsliced, and stored in a baking dish with some of the brothy liquid. Sliced meat tends to dry out faster than larger hunks so we recommend you only slice as much of the pot roast as you intend to use. Wrap the dish tightly with plastic and store it in the refrigerator for up to three days. To reheat, transfer the brisket and liquid to a baking dish just big enough to fit it snuggly, cover with foil, and warm in a 325-degree Fahrenheit oven for 20 to 30 minutes. Frequently Asked Questions How long does a roast take in a Crock-Pot? How long a pot roast will take to cook depends on a couple of things. First, the size of your pot roast. Second, it all comes down to whether you set the Crock-Pot to the low or high setting; a 3-pound pot roast will take about six hours to cook on high heat or 10 hours on low. What's the difference between a Crock-Pot and a slow cooker? The difference between a Crock-Pot and a slow cooker is that Crock-Pot is a brand of slow cooker whereas slow cooker is the name given to a type of appliance. What makes things confusing is that the terms are commonly used interchangeably. Whether you use a Crock-Pot or another brand, you are using a slow cooker, a small appliance that cooks food slowly and has settings to keep food warm after it has cooked. Do you need to add water to a slow cooker pot roast? Whether you need to add water to a slow cooker pot roast or not depends. We recommend you follow the directions in the recipe you are using; some recipes call for liquid, some do not. The main reason for this difference is the type of meat used. Cuts like chuck roast will release more fat and moisture than leaner cuts, so they don't need any water. In addition, the slow cooker itself creates some moisture, which helps keep the meat juicy. Variation: Oven Method Preheat oven to 350 degrees. In step 1, use a 5-quart Dutch oven or ovenproof pot with a tight-fitting lid; add 2 cups water. Cover; bake until roast is tender, 3 1/2 to 4 hours. Proceed with step 3. 5 More Pot Roast Recipes To Try Martha's Favorite Pot Roast Pressure-Cooker Pot Roast Garlic Lover's Pot Roast Pot Roast With Bacon and Vegetables Korean Beef Chuck Roast Originally appeared: Everyday Food, October 2008 Rate It PRINT Updated by Riley Wofford Riley Wofford Riley Wofford is a recipe developer, food stylist, and writer with over 15 years of experience and holds a Professional Culinary Arts diploma from the International Culinary Center. In addition to MarthaStewart.com, Riley's work can be found in TODAY.com, Delish, Food52, and Marley Spoon.