A classic style dutch oven pot roast is a favorite meal in our home and is one I grew up eating regularly. Country food at its finest- errr simplest? It’s truly very simple but floods you with the memories of simpler times.
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Yesterday I stepped outside to do my morning farm chores and joked that I did not get hit with a blast of hot air just by opening our back door. Summertime is fun, but my favorite time is the cooler months of the year. So with that, I set out to make a favorite fall meal of ours- beef pot roast! Country comfort food at its finest.
And I must say that Ila ate her helping of roast, then mine, then suckered some off of her grandparents. We did have leftovers and she ate some of those too! This girl just could not get enough, which makes mama happy. So this meal is one for the books.
A classic pot roast like this dutch oven pot roast is a staple recipe in our house. Besides how delicious it is, it is also very important that we have a few recipes for roast considering we buy our beef locally in bulk which means we get plenty of roasts for the freezer.
Some of our favorite recipes for roast include shredded barbecue for sandwiches and shredded for tacos. These are more unconventional but are great ways to eat up those tougher cuts of roast.
For cuts like a chuck roast, this classic is my favorite! Especially in fall and winter but this is really a great meal for any season.
From frozen it cooks up in about 3 hours but this gets better over time so I like to let it cook slowly in the oven. It is great for a night that you don’t quite have anything planned but have a couple of hours before dinner or for a day when you want to get dinner started in the morning and go on about your day until dinner time. Most days I’m the first ha!
Dutch Oven Pot Roast
1 medium sized roast (3-5 lbs)
8-10 carrots
1 onion
4-5 potatoes
6 cloves of garlic
2 teaspoons salt
1 teaspoon pepper
1/2 cup red wine
1/4 cup Worcestershire sauce
2 cups bone broth or water
Sometimes I use a thawed roast and sometimes I pull it straight from the freezer. I cook it the same regardless but will try to cook it even longer if it was frozen.
You can choose to sear the roast first or not. Either way it is delicious but I usually like to sear it first. To sear, I just like to heat up a few tablespoons of butter in the dutch oven and then sear each side of the roast until the outside is a little crispy and golden brown. Once seared on both sides, I like to remove the roast and deglaze the pan with my wine, broth and Worcestershire. If you are short on time, this meal is delicious without searing too and you can just toss it in.
When I don’t sear it, I just add my roast first then drizzle it with a little oil (or sometimes melted butter).
Next I just like to chop up my veggies and toss them in so they will be covered in all of brine and seasonings. We prefer potatoes, carrots and onions for a classic traditional meal but if you do not have these things on hand, any veggies will do!
Now as for the brine, I like to add my water or broth first so that nothing gets washed off the top of the roast when I pour it later. So first I add my water or broth, then pour the Worcestershire and red wine over the top of the roast and veggies. This gives it a nice rich taste with a little sweet touch. If you seared and deglazed, the liquids are already in the pan so this step is done already.
Lastly I sprinkle my garlic that I have minced and my salt and pepper evenly over all of the veggies and roast.
Cook for a minimum of about 3 hours at 350 degrees but for really tender, flavorful roast let it continue cooking for 6+ hours. Frozen or thawed.
I cook mine with the bone in for flavor. Once it is falling off the bone, I like to pull it out and cut any major fat or bones out. If we want it shredded, I will go ahead and shred it. Then I put all of the meat back into the dutch oven with the veggies and juices and let it cook a bit longer.
I usually like to serve this by itself or add a fermented food like sauerkraut or pickles with it. Sourdough bread would be another perfect side. We also like to leave out the potatoes sometimes and make them mashed on the side. I have a few ways I change this meal up with different veggies or the veggies prepared differently but the seasonings and roast is always the same because the flavor is great.
Be sure to grab your copy of the dutch oven pot roast recipe card over in my country community page. They are perfect to print and keep in a recipe binder or box!