To me, a pot roast should be tender, flavorful and falling apart on my fork. My mother taught me to make an amazing pot roast – my ingredients are a bit different, but I start with the same important basics: chuck roast, seasonings, meat searing and slow cooking. This can be done in the oven or in a slow cooker.
– Pre-heat a large pan to medium-high on your stove top with about 2 tablespoons of oil.
– Season your roast (I’m using a 2.5 lb chuck roast) liberally with salt and pepper, and any other seasoning you want to use.
– Place your roast in the pan and allow each side to cook 3-5 minutes, or until each side is nicely seared/browned.

– Remove roast and set in your crock pot or in an oven bag. If your roast has a large piece of fat on either side, place the fat side up.
– Place 1 medium sliced onion into the hot oil in your frying pan. Cook about 5 minutes, or until they begin to soften.
– Turn off stove and pour entire contents of pan (onions and drippings) over your roast.
– Pour about 30 ounces of water or beef stock on top of the roast. Add additional seasonings to taste – I like to use 2 tsp salt, 1/2 tsp pepper, 2 tsp onion powder. My Mom uses Lipton Onion Soup Mix which gives the roast great flavor. I use beef stock in place of water when I have it on hand – after cooking with the roast, it becomes what I like to call “super stock”, and is amazing in my French Onion Soup.

– For the crock pot, cook 4 hours on high or 8 hours on low.
– For an oven bag, follow the directions on the package for cooking times. Be sure to follow any instructions included in the package when using an oven bag.
– Remove roast from crock pot and allow to rest about 10 minutes before slicing and serving. I like to let it rest with a little tin foil tent over the serving platter.

Have a wonderful day! I’ll be pleased to be enjoying pot roast leftovers on a sandwich for lunch!

-Amelia