SLOW COOKER POT ROAST

Nothing better on a weekend than a good pot roast.  Here is a recipe I have just sort of always done.

A variation on a theme:

Pot roast ingredients

Ingredients:

3.5 lb beef chuck roast

2 large onions (sliced)

4 (or 5) large carrots (sliced into large coins)

5 cloves of garlic (whole)

1 bay leaf

1/2 cup red wine

Chuck roast

Season the beef with seasoning, salt and pepper of course, I also added some Italian blend seasoning. 

Heating oil in the pan

Heat some oil in a large pan.  The roast is of course going into a slow cooker and so you can skip this step.  However, because the slow cooker won't create that color that adds so much 'flavor' to the end result, I do this step to add the extra level of flavor.

Browning the roast

You're not cooking it here, just browning it.  I flip it and sear on both sides for a couple minutes on medium high heat (I even do the edges for a minute or so).

Brown food tastes good!

Sautéing onions

I missed a photo but after you take the meat out, set it aside for a bit and put the onions in the same pan/oil and sauté.  When they are done, toss in the garlic cloves for a bit of color as well.  Again, this is more just for an extra layer of flavor, you could skip this step.  After the onions have some color on them, put them in the bottom of the slow cooker.

Carrots in the potroast 

On top of the onions, add the carrots and garlic.

Pot roast

Place the browned roast on top of all that.

Bay leaf and red wine

The last two ingredients, a bay leaf and the only liquid (yes the ONLY liquid) the red wine.

Pot roast in the slow cooker

Pour the wine around the carrots and toss in the bay leaf.  Here it is, ready for the lid to go on. 

Put the slow cooker on low and let it go for 8 hours.

Slow cooker pot roast

Oh my.

SO good.  

We know there are pot roasts with potatoes and celery but this one is simple, carrots and onions.  But hey, you could of course add any of those, sometimes we add mushrooms around the meat on top of the carrots.