If you're craving the warm savory flavors of pot roast, give this Slow Cooker Pot Roast recipe a try! This is by far the easiest, least messy way to make pot roast. I'm talkin' about 10 minutes prep time, that's all!
The results are absolutely delicious. You'll get tender, flavorful shredded beef that's been cooked in a tasty broth along with some veggies.
You can choose to throw potatoes into the slow cooker along with the pot roast, or serve the shredded pot roast and delicious gravy over mashed potatoes. Either way is great!
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More easy slow cooker recipes to try: Slow Cooker Creamy Chicken and Gravy
Crock Pot pot roast
The whole point of using a Crock Pot (aka slow cooker) is to have an EASY, DELICIOUS, HANDS-OFF dinner. That last part — hands-off — is super important to me!
This pot roast is a true "dump and start" recipe, it's very easy! Just add everything to the slow cooker and press "Start." Several hours later you have a perfectly tender, shred-able pot roast, tasty veggies, and a delicious gravy that you do NOT have to cook separately!
All with just a few SIMPLE ingredients!
There are plenty of other slow cooker pot roast recipes out there that have so many extra steps, like cooking the gravy separately or searing the beef. That is not necessary, I promise. 10 minutes of prep time, hit "Start," and come back to dinner being done.
Ready to get started?
More easy beef dinners: Beef Stew for a Crowd
Ingredients
- 3-5 lb roast chuck, or use tri-tip roast, top round roast or bottom round roast—whatever you can find on sale!
- 1 large onion, diced
- 4 large carrots, peeled and diced into ½ inch pieces. I often use more carrots so I can add more veggies to my dinner. If you choose to do that, add some more beef broth as needed to cover at least half of the roast in the slow cooker.
- 4 large celery stalks, diced
- Optional: 2 lb potatoes, scrubbed clean and cut into quarters or large pieces (I often skin potatoes in this recipe and serve the shredded pot roast over mashed potatoes)
- 1-2 oz Lipton onion soup and dip mix (that's 2 envelopes, 1 oz each. Use 1 if you're watching your sodium or like to eat less salty foods.)
- 16 oz beer, such as bud lite or any other lager. Do not use a hoppy beer such an IPA because it will make a bitter gravy. The alcohol in the beef will cook off if that's a concern, but if you don't want to use beer at all, you can use 2 cups of beef broth or water instead.
- 1 cup beef broth or water, or use more if needed to cover the chuck roast at least halfway, if not more.
Equipment
- 6-8 quart slow cooker (if you're adding potatoes to your slow cooker and cooking a 4-5 lb roast chuck, you'll need the larger slow cooker)
- Optional: large skillet to brown the roast before slow cooking. This gives the pot roast a little more savory flavor, but I often skip this step.
- Meat chopper or 2 forks to shred the roast
More easy slow cooker dinners: Slow Cooker Honey Chicken
Instructions
Optional first step: Preheat a large skillet over high heat, add a glug of vegetable oil, and sear the chuck roast on all sides until browned. To be honest, I usually skip this step. It adds a little bit more flavor, but it's so messy and more than doubles the amount of time I would like to spend on a slow cooker dinner.
Place the chopped onion, celery, and carrots in the bottom of your slow cooker pot. If using potatoes, add them too. Top the veggies with the Lipton soup mix.
Pour in the beef broth and beef (or additional broth or water).
Place your chuck roast on top.
Cover and slow cook on LOW for 6-8 hours, or until your roast is cooked through and tender when you start to shred it. The cook time will depend on the size of your roast and on how how tender, fall-aparty, and shredded you want your roast to be.
Now you have two options: You can shred the roast with 2 forks (or with a meat chopper) right in the slow cooker and mix it in with the gravy. The other option is to remove the roast onto a cutting board or serving platter, and slice to serve. It will still shred nicely as you cut it, but you'll be able to choose how much shredded roast you want and how much gravy you want.
More delicious beef & beer recipes: Guinness Beef and Bean Soup
How to serve slow cooker pot roast
I typically make mashed potatoes on the side and serve shredded pot roast over the mashed potatoes. Fresh warm bread with butter also goes great with pot roast.
If you decided to add potatoes right to the slow cooker, then you have a complete dinner right from the pot.
If you've been following Babaganosh for a while, you know that I like to add extra veggies to every dinner. The point of a slow cooker dinner is to not have to prep and cook an elaborate dinner after work, so I would serve a simple side salad with a vinaigrette dressing or a tzatziki salad. A vinegary or creamy dressing would have a nice contrast to the pot roast!
Or I would put together a veggie side dish that is REALLY easy to prepare, such as roasted shishito peppers, which take only 10 minutes from start to finish. Or put some veggies in the air fryer, such as this air fryer delicata squash. Each of these options would make an easy, healthy, balanced no-fuss dinner.
How does pot roast get tender?
The connective tissues of the roast gets softer and the fat breaks down as the roast cooks. The longer the roast cooks, the softer the meat will be as those connective tissues and fat break down and soften the meat. This is why I like to use a slow cooker to make pot roast!
More tender shredded meat recipes to try: Instant Pot BBQ Pulled Pork and Instant Pot BBQ Shredded Chicken
If you enjoyed this recipe, let me know with a comment and a star rating below. And don't forget to share it on Facebook and save it on Pinterest for later!
Slow Cooker Pot Roast
Ingredients
- 3-5 lb chuck roast - or tri-tip roast, top round roast or bottom round roast—whatever is on sale!
- 1 large onion - diced
- 4 large carrots - peeled and diced
- 4 large celery stalks - diced
- optional: 2 lb potatoes - I often leave these out and make mashed potatoes for serving the pot roast
- 1-2 oz Lipton onion soup and dip mix - (1-2 packets. Use 1 if you want to cut down on salt)
- 16 oz beer - use a lager, such as Bud or Bud Lite, or substitute with more broth
- 1 cup beef broth
Special equipment
- Slow cooker 6-8 quart, depending on size of roast
- Large skillet optional, only if you choose to brown the meat first
Instructions
- Optional first step: Preheat a large skillet over high heat, add a glug of vegetable oil, and sear the chuck roast on all sides until browned. To be honest, I usually skip this step. It adds a little bit more flavor, but it's so messy and more than doubles the amount of time I would like to spend on a slow cooker dinner.
- Place the chopped onion, celery, and carrots in the bottom of your slow cooker pot. If using potatoes, add them too. Top the veggies with the Lipton soup mix.
- Pour in the beef broth and beef (or additional broth). Place your chuck roast on top.
- Cover and slow cook on LOW for 6-8 hours, or until your roast is cooked through and tender when you start to shred it. The cook time will depend on the size of your roast and on how how tender, fall-aparty, and shredded you want your roast to be.
- Now you have two options: You can shred the roast with 2 forks (or with a meat chopper) right in the slow cooker and mix it in with the gravy. The other option is to remove the roast onto a cutting board or serving platter, and slice to serve. It will still shred nicely as you cut it, but you'll be able to choose how much shredded roast you want and how much gravy you want.
- If you liked this recipe, don't forget to give it a star rating and pin it on Pinterest!
Notes
Nutrition
The nutritional information displayed is an estimate and not to be used as dietary or nutritional advice. Consult a nutritionist or dietician for nutritional info based on the exact ingredients you use.