Southern Pot Roast

5 from 136 votes

This Southern Pot Roast is the coziest one pot dinner. It is loaded with fresh herbs, garlic, red wine, potatoes, carrots, onion, celery, and whole mushrooms. It is all slow cooked to perfection in a dutch oven creating the best pan sauce. You can turn the cooked potatoes into a white cheddar mash or serve them as is. Regardless, there is plenty of red wine leftover for drinking!

Prep Time15

Cook Time4

Total Time4 15

Course: Main

Cuisine: American

Servings: people

Calories: 704kcal

Author: Brianna May

Equipment

Ingredients

2 Tablespoons olive oil
3 - 3 ½ pound chuck roast
1 Tablespoon kosher salt
1 teaspoon black pepper
1 Tablespoon brown sugar
3 cups beef broth plus more if needed
1 cup dry red wine*
2 Tablespoons worcestershire
8-10 cloves garlic pressed or minced
1 Tablespoon fresh chopped rosemary*
1 Tablespoon fresh chopped oregano*
1 Tablespoon fresh chopped thyme*
1-2 bay leaves
8 ounces whole baby bella mushrooms*
1 large yellow onion sliced into large wedges
2 ½ pounds small yellow potatoes 1 - 1.5 inch*
4 small celery stalks (3 ½ ounces), sliced diagonally into 1.5 - 2 inch long pieces
6 medium carrots (12 ounces), sliced diagonally into 1.5 - 2 inch long pieces
2-4 Tablespoons cornstarch*

Optional White Cheddar Mashed Potatoes

4 Tablespoons unsalted butter
¾ cup milk*
1 teaspoon salt
fresh cracked pepper
6 ounces (1 ½ cups) white cheddar cheese shredded

Instructions

Review all recipe notes and instructions before beginning.
Preheat the oven to 325 degrees.
Heat the olive oil over medium high heat in an 8 quart ductch oven. While the oil heats, in a small bowl combine the salt, pepper, and sugar. Rub every side of the roast with the spice mixture. Sear each side of the roast for 1-2 minutes or until deep brown.
Deglaze the pan with broth and wine, scraping any bits off the bottom of the pan. Stir in the worcestershire, garlic, rosemary, oregano, thyme, and bay leaves. Add the mushrooms and the onion around the roast. Bring to a simmer and cover.
Braise in the oven for 2 ½ hours. Add the potatoes, celery, and carrots in this order.
Cover and braise for another 1 ½ hours or until vegetables are done to your liking.
Remove the roast and all vegetables. Discard the bay leaves and thyme sprigs. Bring the pan drippings to a simmer. Combine the cornstarch with 2 tablespoons of broth or water. Pour into the pan drippings and thicken. Add more if desired.
In a small saucepan, bring the butter, milk, salt, and pepper to a simmer. Remove from heat and stir in cheese. In a large bowl mash the potatoes with a masher or ricer. Fold in the milk mixture until completely incorporated.
Serve the roast and vegetables over the mashed potatoes with the sauce on top.

Notes

Dry Red Wine: I like to use a dry Pinot Noir. Merlot, Cabernet Sauvignon, or Syrah work as well. I recommend using what you like to drink!

Fresh Herbs: I highly recommend using fresh herbs if you can. However, dried herbs can be used as well. 1 Tablespoon of fresh herbs = 1 teaspoon of dried.

Mushrooms: Swap for whole white mushrooms.

Yellow Potatoes: If you can’t find super small or baby yellow potatoes. Slice regular yellow potatoes in half or into quarters.

Cornstarch: I like my pan sauce to be pretty thin so I just add 2 tablespoons of cornstarch. If you prefer it thicker or want to make a gravy out of it add an additional 1-2 tablespoons. I recommend adding additional cornstarch 1 tablespoon at a time.

Milk: I normally just use whatever I have on hand. Nonfat, 2%, whole milk, and half and half will all work.

Press the rub. After you have made the rub. Press it into the meat with some pressure rather than just sprinkling it on because when you flip it it will fall off.

Sear the roast. Getting a nice crust on the roast adds so much flavor. Don’t be shy. I normally end up cranking my heat up to get a dark brown crust. Take your time and sear each side.

Use fresh herbs and red wine. Fresh herbs infuse the best flavor into the roast and vegetables. The red wine is also an important flavor note. Since this pot roast has a simple flavor profile, it is important to use quality ingredients.

Slow cook. Chuck roast is a tough cut of beef. This is why it is less expensive. With that being said, it can be super tender and delicious if cooked properly. Chuck roast must be cooked at low temperature for a long period of time. This allows the collagen to break down.

Rice the potatoes. For the smoothest potatoes, use a ricer. If you like lumps, use a masher. Using an electric hand mixer gives the potatoes a stickier and almost rubbery consistency.

Grate the cheese. Buy a block of white cheddar cheese and grate it at home. Shredded cheese has added starches which prevent it from melting as well. This will also affect the texture of the mashed potatoes.

Warm the milk, butter, and cheese. You want to take the chill off of the dairy so that it melts into the potatoes. This gives them a smooth consistency and keeps them hot.

Nutrition