Dutch Oven Pot Roast

Source: Food Network

Click here to read about my experience making this recipe for my state meal challenge!

Servings: 6

Total time: 4 hours, 30 minutes+

INGREDIENTS

• One 3-lb chuck roast
• Salt and pepper to taste
• 3 Tbs olive oil
• 2 yellow onions, peeled and quartered
• 8 whole carrots, unpeeled, cut into 2” pieces
• 3 cups beef broth
• 3 sprigs fresh rosemary
• 3 sprigs fresh thyme
• 2 russet potatoes, cubed (will be added at the last hour)

DIRECTIONS

• Preheat the oven to 275 degrees F.
• Generously salt and pepper the chuck roast.
• Heat the olive oil in a large Dutch oven (or a large pot) over medium-high heat. Add the onions to the pot and cook until browned. Remove the onions and set aside.
• Add the carrots to the pot and toss until slightly browned, about a minute or so. Set aside with the onions.
• If needed, add more olive oil to the pot. Place the chuck roast in the pot and sear on all sides for about a minute each until browned. Set roast aside.
• With the heat on high, add 1 cup of beef broth to deglaze the bottom of the pan, scraping the bottom with a whisk or spoon. Place the roast back in the pot and add the remaining beef broth, or however much you need to cover the meat halfway. (My roast was kind of flat so I only used 2 cups.)
• Add in the onions and carrots, along with the fresh rosemary and thyme.
• Put the lid on (or, if using a roasting pan, cover with foil), then roast for four hours or until done, adding the potatoes for the last hour. The roast is ready when it falls apart easily.

NOTES

• I cooked the roast for 4 hours as recommended, and it was great, but I think an extra hour or two would have rendered the fat a bit more and made the meat even more tender. 
• If, after roasting, you want to make gravy from the drippings, remove the roast and veggies from the pan, and discard all but about ¼ cup of drippings. Heat the pan over the stove on medium-high heat, and whisk in about ¼ cup of flour to make a roux. Then add 3-4 cups of beef stock and simmer until thickened. Season with salt and pepper, then serve over the roast and veggies! (Yields about 2 cups of gravy.)

I’d love to know what changes you would make to this recipe, if any! Please comment below!