Valerie’s Roast Beef
Beef Pot Roast is a favorite in our family and an absolutely perfect choice for any gathering. This recipe is one I came up with many years ago. It’s not fancy, but it’s a winner and it’s pretty much foolproof.
You can easily make it a couple of days ahead and just re-warm when you’re ready to serve. If you need to double it, it works out just as well, just may need to add some cooking time. I can’t think of anything that smells more inviting than a pot roast in the oven…oh, the aroma!
And might I add– the leftovers are just as delicious. We love it served with traditional sides of southern green beans, fresh corn off the cob, mashed potatoes for the gravy and warm fresh yeast rolls or biscuits, and of course a slice of pumpkin or apple pie!
Valerie’s Pot Roast
Ingredients
- 3 - 3 ½ lb Chuck Roast Boneless
- 1 medium Yellow or white onion cut in large chunks or diced small if you prefer
- 2 stalks Celery - diced
- 2 or 3 regular Carrots - cut in about 3” pieces or use baby carrots if you prefer
- 1 can diced tomatoes with juice (14.5 oz)
- 1 can Campbells soup brand Beef Consommé soup
- 1 can Campbells soup brand Cream of Mushroom with Garlic Soup If they don’t have the kind with garlic just the regular cream of mushroom is fine
- Worcestershire Sauce
- 3 dry bay leaves
- Kitchen Bouquet liquid seasoning
- Kosher Salt
- Freshly Ground pepper
Instructions
- Take the roast out of fridge 2 hours before you’re ready to cook it and pat it very dry with paper towels. You want to get all of the moisture off of it.
- Prep all of your veggies.
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
- Using a Dutch oven style pot (type that can go in the oven, with lid), heat pot over high heat for a couple of minutes. You want the pot very hot.
- While pot is heating sprinkle both sides of roast liberally with kosher salt and freshly ground pepper.
- Add vegetable or canola oil just enough to coat the bottom of the pan.
- Sear the roast getting a nice caramelized coating on both sides. Best way to achieve this is to put the roast in and don’t move it for a few minutes then lift to check and make sure it’s browned nicely before you flip to the other side to brown.
- Once browned, add in all of your veggies and season with a little salt and pepper and toss them just to mix them up a bit.
- Add your bay leaves.
- Reduce heat and add the consume soup, then tomatoes with juice, a few dashes of Worcestershire sauce, then the cream of mushroom, coating the top of the roast with the cream of mushroom.
- Stir mixture on sides of roast.
- Cover pot and place in the oven for 2 hours.
- Remove lid and stir into gravy, about 2 teaspoons of Kitchen Bouquet.
- If you want your gravy a little darker just add more of the Kitchen Bouquet.
- Flip roast and place back in the oven without the lid for 45 minutes.
- Flip roast again and cook uncovered for another 30 minutes.
- Your roast should be very tender by now unless it was a larger cut and you can always cook for another 30 minutes or an hour if you need to.
- Remove from oven back to stove top and let sit for about 15 minutes.
- Remove roast to platter.
- Simmer the gravy on low heat for 7 – 10 minutes to reduce gravy down a bit.
- You can remove the veggies if you want to but I never bother to.
- Slice up your roast to desired thickness and add back to the pot or serve separately.
Notes
I think of prep time as getting everything ready to cook. The prep time would include an hour as letting the roast come to room temp. TIPS:
- When chopping the celery, don't overlook the celery leaves. I can't stress enough how much flavor they add to this recipe and so many other savory dishes. Just mince up well and add to the other ingredients. A good handful is not too much!
- This roast freezes very well. I add both the roast and gravy to a freezer-safe container and have frozen up to 6 months. To rewarm, just let freezer container sit on the counter until you can remove it to an oven-safe container, lightly cover with foil and warm in a 300-degree oven for about an hour. Time will vary depending on the size of roast.
- I always use a boneless chuck roast for this recipe. You want to look for one that has even marbling throughout the cut of meat. If any outer fat ‘chunks’ are particularly large, I trim them down. But remember, fat equals flavor and tenderness. I have tried other cuts of meat and none work as well as good old chuck roast. It’s usually the most economical cut, as well.
- Once your roast is finished, you may need to remove some of the liquid fat that sits atop the gravy. This is easily accomplished by letting the roast & gravy sit for about 10 minutes allowing the fat to settle. I just use a large spoon to remove it.
- This roast is a great make-ahead meal. You can make it up to 2 days ahead and let sit in the pot in your refrigerator and just rewarm in a low oven or on the stove top until ready to serve. This also allows the fat to solidify so that it can easily be removed before rewarming.
- I often add other aromatic herbs such as a sprig or two of rosemary and/or thyme.