Servings: 6 Prep: 20 mins Cook: 8 hrs 20 mins Total: 8 hrs 40 mins
Growing up, I didn’t get a lot of pot roasts. I don’t believe my mother EVER made one (Mom, did you? I don’t remember …). One truly memorable pot roast was cooked in a solar oven, when I was a kid. We took a cardboard box, insulated it, painted the inside black, and used aluminum foil to channel the light into the box. We placed a pot of raw meat and veggies into it, to SLOWLY cook in the sun. At the end of the day … Pot Roast cooked in the sun!
I did get enough of them, to gain an appreciation for them.
Most pot roasts I’ve had were large and soft pieces of meat, often in some kind of slightly thickened jus, and loaded with potatoes. This pot roast is similar, but with “faux”tatoes, instead!
The method is essentially searing a piece of meat, throwing it into a crock-pot with some veggies, herbs and red wine. Leave it alone for 8 hours. Return and add cauliflower, pushing it down into the jus. Let it sit for 20 more minutes. Serve!
Sure, it probably wasn’t cooked in a solar oven, but … it’s still some fine Pot Roast!
Crock-Pot Roast
Print RateIngredients
- 4 lb beef chuck roast
- 1 tbsp light oil (for sautéing ... such as coconut olive or ghee)
- 1 cup red wine good quality
- 4 each garlic cloves
- 10 sprigs fresh thyme
- 1 each bay leaf
- 1 large carrot peeled and cut into chunks
- 2 each celery ribs cut into chunks
- 1 small onion cut into chunks
- 1 small head cauliflower leaves removed and cut into florets
- salt and fresh cracked pepper to taste
Instructions
- Turn on your slow cooker, setting it to low.
- Season your beef with a good layer and salt and pepper.
- Heat a large sauté pan or skillet over medium high heat. Add your oil to the pan and swirl it around. Quickly add your beef to the pan and sear it, until a nice brown crust has formed. Flip it over and sear the other side. Continue flipping it, until all sides have been properly seared. Add your beef to the crock pot.
- Pour your red wine into the still very hot pan, with all the "stuff" stuck to the bottom. This should QUICKLY boil, releasing some of those little flavor morsels into the hot wine. Swirl the pan around and use a wooden spoon to scrape anything else off the bottom of the pan, into the wine. Pour the wine mixture over the top of the beef.
- Add your garlic, thyme and bay leaves to the slow cooker, making sure it's pushed into the liquid.
- Add the rest of the vegetables, except the cauliflower. Season with a bit of salt and pepper. Again, push these into the areas on the side of the roast, as much as possible. You don't want much of it covering the roast. You want most of the veggies on the sides, surrounding the roast. As this all cooks, the meat and veggies will shrink, releasing their juices, creating an AMAZING flavor, as well as creating its own natural juices, in which to cook! Getting everything as close to the bottom of the pot, as is possible, will help this process along.
- Add the lid and allow the ingredients to cook for 8 hours.
- After 8 hours, add your cauliflower to the pot and push the florets under the surface of the liquid, as much as possible. Season with a bit of salt and pepper. Cover and allow to cook for 20 minutes.
- Serve!
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* Learn More: More about this recipe and nutrition …
Just wondering what would you suggest in place of the Red Wine…won’t use it. Thanks so much for any help. Blessings.
Hi Marla! I’m going to assume the issue is related to the alcohol content … I’d suggest replacing it with a mixture of 1/3 cup balsamic vinegar and 2/3 cup of beef broth. I suspect it might add a carb or two, but it shouldn’t be extreme. The flavor would be absolutely delicious! I hope this helps! 🙂
DJ — Mom here. It is true that I never cooked a pot roast that you remember. But I did make at least one pot roast with potatoes, carrots, celery and onion when you were very young — when I got my first crock pot. However, your dad didn’t like it, for some reason (I don’t remember it being a ‘bad’ pot roast; perhaps he just doesn’t like the dish), but I was never encouraged to do it again. However, I really do like pot roast and may try it again. After 30 years, perhaps he would be more open to it!
Hi Mom, thanks for clarifying! Yes, give it a shot and let me know how it turns out. It’s just beef, and … done well, it’s hard for me to believe Dad wouldn’t like it. Let me know how it goes!
Made this tonight with a pork roast and it was great! I didn’t use wine but instead substituted beef broth and apple cider vinegar. I also added sun dried tomatoes and a small can of tomato paste. Thanks for the great recipe!
Fun modifications, Esther! Thanks for sharing! 🙂
DJ….turnips and/or celeriac would be great potato replacers in this! Thanks for posting.
Hi Frank. Thanks for the thoughts! I’ve also heard several people suggest that radishes or daikon are great options, as well! 🙂
I made this last weekend. Fantastic! Couldn’t believe the price of beef though. "Chuck" used to be a cheaper cut. A 4-lb. roast at our local grocery store was about $20! My family isn’t big on cooking with wine, and they really didn’t like the color of the veggies after it was cooked because of the wine, so next time, I will just use beef broth. I liked the wine. I thought it gave it a nice flavor.
Carol, if the big beef with the family was the color … perhaps next time use a dry white wine, instead. It won’t have AS big an impact on flavor, but it’ll still give a nice bit of extra character to the dish, without altering the color in any way. Just a thought. Sorry about the price of beef!
Can this be cooked on high in the crock pot to cut down on some time? (Thinking of making this today. I’ll have to get to the store to get the ingredients, but then I won’t have 8 hours to cook before dinnertime..
Hi Unknown, yep! I say … go for it! 🙂
I am not much of a cook. Period. I needed to take a meal to a family gathering. Several of us are on special diets–organic whole foods, gluten free, and lactose-free. I followed the directions carefully. This Pot Roast was INCREDIBLE. Everyone LOVED it…Everyone. Leftovers galore. It was so good that it tasted like I knew how to cook!! D-E-L-I-C-I-O-U-S.
WONDERFUL, JILL!! I’m thrilled to hear it!! Yep, this is a keeper, for sure! I’m glad you were able to pull it off. Now try the cochinita pibil! THAT’ll knock your socks off!
Best roast I ever had!!
Do you think this would work with a venison roast just as well?
Lindsey … I do! You may need to add a bit of extra fat from somewhere, even if just to melt a bit of butter over it, but … yep. I think it would work quite nicely!
I want to try the chocolate cake. Does anybody know the best “sugar substitute” to buy?
—Reply posted by DJ on 1/10/2015
Hi Monique … opinions really vary. My suggestion would be to go to the top of my website and click “search” and then search for “Sweet Spot”. You’ll see a series of posts covering this exact topic. The short answer, from me anyway, is a sweetener called “Swerve Sweetener”. I always suggest erythritol based sweetener blends. I hope this helps! 🙂
So DJ, did your mom try the roast and did your dad like it? What a wonderful story! Also, thanks for the suggestion for the wind substitution. I’m going to give this a try.
—Reply posted by KarenV on 10/11/2017
That’s a wonderful story?
—Reply posted by DJ on 2/28/2015
Hi Sharon, as far as I know … they’ve never tried it. They have tried MANY of my recipes, but … this isn’t one of them (again, as I know it … ). If you do give this a shot, be sure to report back. I’d love to hear what you thought! 🙂
While I know it would no longer be considered paleo, do you think this would work with sweet potatoes, or even butternut squash in place of the cauliflower? Also, if making that swap would the potatoes go in for the full 8 hours?
—Reply posted by DJ on 11/15/2015
Hi Gabrielle, actually sweet potatoes and squash would both be considered Paleo. No worries, there! I think you could make those swaps, but I’d suggest putting them in for the last hour, not the entire 8 hours. 60 to 90 minutes, I would say … They won’t hold together QUITE as well as a potato. My only other concern would be the slightly sweeter flavor. Not a big deal, but definitely a slightly different taste. Give it a shot, though. I think it’ll be fine! 🙂
This roast is delicious! I’ve made it twice now and my husband loves it as well – thanks for the recipe!
—Reply posted by asp0t6cc on 6/14/2018
your recipes are great!
when I do the slow cook method like using crock pot, I have found that removing the remaining liquid from cooking, putting in fridge for a couple of hours causes the fat to congeal for easy removal.reduce on low heat for a fat free sauce!
—Reply posted by DJ on 10/11/2017
I say … eat the fat! 🙂