This slow cooker pot roast with mushroom gravy is slathered with delicious mushroom sauce made from the flavorful juices left behind in the slow cooker. It makes a super rich and comforting beef roast that’s slow cooked, juicy and tender.
Slow Cooker Pot Roast
The tender beef and slow cooked vegetables come out super soft, tender, and totally infused with flavor. The slow cooker does its low and slow magic and breaks everything down until it just melts in your mouth. For this pot roast I used a 2 pound chuck roast that I just picked up already cut and packaged. Here are some extra tidbits on choosing the right cut of meat for your roast.
1. Chop & Toss Your Vegetables
Chop up the vegetables into a fairly large dice (so they don’t basically liquify over the long period cook time). I took smaller fingerling potatoes and just halved them and tossed them right in. I also tossed in a few crushed garlic cloves. A sprig of rosemary is optional if you like.
2. Sear The Beef Before Adding to the Pot
Try to take the time to sear the beef on all sides in a hot pan with already glossy and rippling hot oil. Searing the meat on all sides takes only minutes on high heat and seals soooooo much flavor, character and juiciness. It’s just one little step that preps the meat and makes it ready for the slow cooker. It just just come to a nice deep brown (but not burned) color on all sides. When this is done, remove from the hot pan and add to the slow cooker pot over vegetables.
Related: Dutch Oven Beef Stew
Once you sear it, and toss all the vegetables into the slow cooker, place the meat over the top. The vegetables act as a snug little bed the for the meat before it gets cozy, delicious, and tucked in for the night.
3. Add Flavor Enhancing Ingredients
Cover it with a can of stewed tomatoes and add flavor enhancing ingredients that will kick up the taste. For starters, add some worcestershire sauce, soy, a dash of chili sauce and/or ketchup, some brown sugar and broth, and (optional) a splash of red wine.
4. Set It & Forget It
When you’re finished tossing everything in, cover the roast with the lid. Set the slow cooker to cook on low for 8 to 10 hours and forget about it! The ingredients fill up my 4 quart slow cooker almost all the way or a little over 3/4 of the way full.
5. Slice Mushrooms
While you wait for the meat to cook, prep the mushrooms. Rub them clean with a paper towel to remove any dirt. A thick slice is okay as these will soften and release juices in the pan. This recipe will yield a lot of delicious juices which is exactly what you’ll need for that mushroom gravy sauce. You have to wait until the cook time on the meat is finished before you can make the mushrooms sauce. You’ll need the juices leftover from the pot.
7. Brown Baby Bella Mushrooms
Take a moment to brown the baby bella mushrooms while the beef cooks in the slow cooker. Add mushrooms to a hot pan with little dab of butter and olive oil. Toss them in and hit them with a little salt and pepper. Brown the mushrooms until golden and releasing juices about 10 minutes or so on medium/high heat.
8. Make Mushroom Sauce By Adding In Reserved Juices
Once the mushrooms are browned, take the juices left behind from the now finished/cooked pot roast and add them to the pan with the mushrooms. While you bring the mushrooms and juices to light simmer, grab a bowl and combine some flour with a little olive oil until it forms a little paste. Head back to the pan and whisking it in, add the paste to the mushroom and juices mixture.
Whisk and stir in until nuttiness from the flour is cooked out and sauce is thickened and coating the mushrooms, about 5 to 7 minutes on medium heat. Taste and adjust for seasonings if needed.
Why Make Mushroom Sauce?!?
You have all those scrumptious and amazing juices left over in the cooker, so yes! Why not make a quick sauce? This sauce just finishes everything off and gives the pot roast just another mouthwatering element to enjoy.
Serve the post roast over mashed potatoes or steamed rice and top with rich mushroom gravy and some of the slow cooked vegetables from the crock pot. I promise you that sauce WILL bring everything full circle once ya taste it…. Garnish with herbs for a fresh green touch.
Black Angus Cabernet Slow Cooker Pot Roast
Equipment
Ingredients
- 1 2 lb Chuck/Beef Roast
- 1 Yellow Onion - Cut large into quarters
- 2 Carrots and Celery Stalks - Large Dice
- 1 Fingerling Potatoes - I used about 12 oz of small potatoes cut in half
- 3 cloves Fresh Garlic - Crushed
- 1/8 cup Red Wine - (Optional)
- 1 tbsp Olive Oil - plus more for searing & browning mushrooms
- 1 tbsp Unsalted Butter - for browning mushrooms
- 1 tbsp all purpose flour/olive oil - to combine into a paste for thickening mushroom sauce
- Heinz Chili Sauce (Optional) and Ketchup - 1 tbsp each
- 1 tbsp Brown Sugar and Worcestershire Sauce - 1 tbsp each
- 1 tsp Soy Sauce
- 1/4 Cup Water
- 1/2 tsp Coarse Sea Salt/Ground Pepper
- 1 14.5 oz Can of stewed tomatoes
- 3/4 cup Beef Broth
- 1 container Baby Bella Mushrooms - sliced
- 2 tsp Mustard - Optional
Instructions
- In a wide pan over medium heat, add olive oil or canola oil and when the oil is glossy and hot, season both sides of the meat if desired with pinches of coarse salt and pepper. Add the chuck roast to the pan and sear it browning it thoroughly on each side, about 5 or 6 minutes each side.
- Add your large diced onion, carrots, celery and potatoes to the slow cooker to create a bed for the pot roast. Over this, toss in crushed cloves of garlic. Sprinkle with a dash of salt and pepper if desired. Add chuck roast meat to the slow cooker.
- Toss in stewed tomatoes, splash of red wine (optional), olive oil, chili sauce, ketchup, brown sugar, mustard, Worcestershire, soy sauce, water, and beef broth. Season with 1/2 tsp of coarse sea salt, ground pepper if desired. Set slow cooker to low and cook for 8 to 10 hrs.
- When Roast is finished cooking, remove meat and vegetables with tongs and set on a platter along with cooked vegetables, leaving the juices behind. Mine yielded about 2 cups.
- In a pan over medium heat, melt butter and olive oil until hot but not brown, and toss in sliced baby bella mushrooms. Season mushrooms with a pinch of salt and pepper if desired or leave plain. Brown muchrooms until golden, about 5 or 6 minutes.
- Add reserved juices from the pot roast (mine yielded about 2 cups of juice from the cooker) to the pan with the mushrooms. While the juices and mushrooms take a minute to come to a simmer, combine flour and olive oil in a bowl and stir until it forms a paste. Add the paste to the pan and whisk into the juices with the mushrooms until thickened and coating the spoon. Serve slow cooker pot rost over rice or mashed potatoes and top with mushroom sauce.
