This pot roast is so easy my kids can make it! But the best part is the amazing flavor. Easy Pot Roast that is also the most delicious pot roast! If you are looking for more fabulous dinner ideas, check out my Tuna Casserole or Bacon Stuffed Mushrooms as a delicious side!
World’s Easiest Pot Roast
So I scoured the internet looking for the perfect pot roast. I must have read 30 recipes! After reading them all it seemed like they all had five basic ingredients in common. The meat, carrots, onions, and salt & pepper.
So I decided, why not just start there?
I rough chopped some unpeeled carrots.
Quartered some onions and then threw them in my favorite Staub oval cocotte with a couple of tablespoons of oil. (not an affiliate link, I just seriously love Staub) It is basically the best Dutch oven of all time. I ordered the one with the chicken on top. I love it. Love love love it. We are chicken people after all!
Ok, back to dinner.
So while the carrots we just barely searing, I added salt and pepper to the meat. Both sides.
Remove the carrots and drop in the meat.
Sear for a couple of minutes on each side and then throw the veggies back in the pan.
Add lid and roast for a few hours. And the result? Perfection!
Here is the actual recipe.
This pot roast is so easy my kids can make it! But the best part is the amazing flavor. Easy Pot Roast that is also the most delicious pot roast!
- 1 chuck roast, 3-4 pounds
- 2 tbsp. olive oil
- 1 tbsp. butter
- 2 onions, quartered
- 6 carrots
- 1 tbsp. sea salt, or more to taste
- 2 tsp. pepper
- 1 tsp. parsley for garnish optional
Take your meat out of the refrigerator at least 30 minutes before cooking and generously salt and pepper it. I put 1 tablespoon of salt in the ingredients, but you should use as much or as little as you are comfortable with.
- Heat a large pot or Dutch oven over medium-high heat. Then add olive oil.
Rough chop carrots into 2-3 inch pieces. (after cutting off the top this meant I was cutting the carrots in half on the diagonal.)
Cut two onions in half and add them to the hot pot, browning them on one side and then the other. Remove the onions to a plate.
- Add carrots to same pot and brown slightly. (about 1 minute) Remove and set on plate with onions.
Add butter to pot and allow to melt. Place the meat in the pan and sear it for about a minute on both sides until it is nice and brown all over.
Using sturdy tongs, remove meat and add onions and carrots back to Dutch oven. Place meat on top and cover and roast at 275°F for about 3 hours in the oven. I started checking mine at 2 hours. You want the meat to be cooked through and to tear easily with a fork.
Recipe Video
You can add potatoes of course, but I prefer to make my potatoes separate. I will quarter some baby reds and roast them in the oven with some oil, salt, pepper, and rosemary for 30 minutes.
Did you happen to notice what I left OUT of this recipe?
The liquid. I didn’t want to braise the meat, just gently roast it. In my opinion, this produces the most FLAVORFUL roast you will ever have!!! (The meat gives off quite a bit of its own liquid, you will not have a dry roast.)
If you want to have gravy with your roast then you can add about 1 cup of beef broth or wine (or both!) or about 1 cup for every 4 lbs. of meat. The wine can also be used as a pan de-glazer after removing the onions.
Amanda…this is BEAUTIFUL! And I love that Dutch oven!!!! Gorgeous meal!
Thank you!
I make this with the addition of some baby red potatoes (or sometimes Yukon Gold ones). Such a satisfying meal, easy and quick clean up, my all time favorite. If I have company or extra people to feed I make some Yorkshire puddings to make it go further
I add a small can of peeled chopped tomatoes
Where can I order the roasting pan with the chicken on top? The roast looks amazing!!
Sur La Table
I do everything the same but add a can of golden mushrooms soup.
Best pot roast ever!will never make it any other way..
Made this last eve. I Added and browned mushrooms along with the carrots. Did have to cook longer than 3 hours. Ended up raising oven temp to 350 for the last 30 minutes. Overall great easy recipe. Recipe will be a keeper. Thanks for sharing.
275 for the pot roast? My crockpot has high and low?
This recipe is written for roasting in the oven.
Amanda, I’m so glad I found this recipe. Super easy and simple to make. Made this last night for dinner, it was great. I added sliced baby Bella mushrooms sauteed in butter and sprinkled about 1/2 tsp rosemary on the roast before searing it. We love garlic on everything and your recipe doesn’t call for any, so I sprinkled it with garlic powder after putting everything back in the pan to roast. Best pot roast ever, will never make it any other way. It came out perfectly tender and just fell apart.
DELICIOUS RECIPE, BUT, I LIKE POTATOES COOKED WITH IT THE LAST HOUR…..YUM..YUM
Hi Amanda. I was just wondering if I could cook this in my crockpot and how long it would take. Thank you
Thank you!
What kind of wine would you use for cooking the pot roast?
I don’t have a Dutch oven and am
wondering if I can just sear my veggies and meat (separately) in my cast iron skillet and then roast in my roasting pan in the oven?
Can I make this recipe in a Crock Pot, for how long and do I have to fry carrots, onions? Thanks so much!
So who can afford to buy a roast these days? Growing up, we had roast every Sunday – a big enough one to have a few relatives over. Now, I am about to become a vegetarian because meat has gotten so expensive! This sounds wonderful.
just watching the video makes my mouth crave for that roast. Seems to awesome and looks so flavoursome. Will try your style next time I do some roasting