Make this pot roast!
When I saw pot roasts on sale at Kroger last week, I decided to search the recipe database on PlateUp for a recipe I could try. Savory Sweet Pot Roast caught my eye because it looked tasty and easy and because, let’s face it, anybody with the user name “GRANNYTREBOS” might know a thing or two about fixing a pot roast.
It didn’t hurt that she said she likes to cook it in “a deep cast iron skillet.” You go, granny. But I don’t have time during the week to slowly roast a hunk of meat in my cast iron Dutch oven, so I figured I’d try to adapt the recipe to my Crock Pot. We ended up having a delicious meal last night.
The name on this recipe is very fitting, because the juice, which I thickened into gravy, has a sweetness from the brown sugar, as well as savory and slightly tart notes from the other ingredients, which include vinegar and mustard. I used almost a whole sweet onion, which was probably the equivalent of a medium onion. But next time I make this, I’m doubling up on the sweet onion, because it was so delicious eaten with the meat and the gravy.
Try this recipe soon. I don’t think you’ll be disappointed. I’ll type it below because it’s short, but you can click here to print it from the recipe database.
Savory Sweet Pot Roast
Serves 4 to 6
3 to 4 lb. chuck roast
One onion (I used a sweet one)
One can cream of mushroom soup
1/4 cup vinegar (I used apple cider)
1 tsp. Worcestershire sauce
1 tsp. mustard (since it didn’t say dry mustard, I assumed it meant the condiment)
2 tsp. salt
1/2 cup water
1/4 cup brown sugar
1. Brown meat on both sides; add sliced onion to top and sides.
2. Blend together remaining ingredients and pour over meat and onion.
3. Cover and simmer slowly for 2 1/2 to 3 hours, or until tender.
Note: I browned the roast in a skillet, then transferred it to the slow cooker and placed sliced onions on top of and around the meat. Then, I blended the remaining ingredients in a big measuring cup and poured the sauce all over and around the meat and onions. I used my large, oval Crock Pot, and it took about 7 hours on low. You may want to try 4 to 5 hours on high if you’re in a hurry, and if you have a smaller Crock Pot it may take the full 8 hours on low.
November 11, 2010 - 9:40 AM
RSS feed 
This sounds like it would be a great treatment for venison! (darts off to freezer…)
Indeed it does!
Ha! I have a pot roast cooking in my large oval crockpot as we “speak.” But will try this recipe next time!!! Must be pot roast week!!!
This sounds great! I’ve been looking for a new roast-crockpot- recipe. Thank you!
All pot roasts that I’ve eaten have always had onions, carrots and potatoes.
You could always throw the veggies on top to cook if you want.
I have a freezer full of roasts – the remains of a section of a cow I bought last summer. It’s been a parade of potroasts here for a couple of weeks, and this one looks like the one for this weekend!
It’s good to switch up the potato thing and serve the roast and gravy on top of egg noodles once in a while.
Sharron, I had just mentally added potatoes, celery, carrots to the recipe above out of habit.
One question I have for any/everyone – has anyone ever tried sweet potatoes in a pot roast recipe? I am planning on doing that. Not in place of white potatoes, but in addition to them. I thought I could just peel & chop the sweet potatoes to match the white potatoes.
Just wondering in advance of doing it how it might result. Any ideas?
I haven’t used sweet potatoes, but I’ve used rutabaga chopped up in stews, and it’s a lot better than regular white potatoes.
There’s no reason you could not add carrots and potatoes to this particular recipe. In fact, it made so much gravy that I may put taters in there myself next time to have something else to drown in the tasty sauce.
I haven’t tried sweet potatoes in pot roast but I think it’s a marvelous idea, and it couldn’t hurt to try!
Has anyone ever mashed sweet potatoes and white potatoes together? They used to serve those at Red Clay and they were really good.
P.S. Turnips would be good in pot roast too.
I found this pot roast recipe today. It sounds quick and very easy. I’ll be trying both recipes this winter. Don’t be offended by the name of the recipe, she explains it.
http://stickygooeycreamychewy.com/2010/11/12/trailer-trash-pot-roast/
I made the pot roast recipe I linked to, today. The sauce is really good, but because it’s kind of barbequey, (I know that’s not really a word) I think I’ll use a pork roast the next time I make it. I prefer pork bbq to beef. The savory sweet pot roast shall be next.
We’ll be making some pot roast later this week, in time for the weekend most likely. We’ll have to find a substitute for the can of soup, but otherwise I think we’ll try this recipe and see how it goes. I ordinarily make mine by simply browning/pan-frying the roast first for a good 5-7 minutes on each side, then adding in a little bit of water, cut potatoes, onion, carrots, a clove or two of garlic, black pepper, a sprinkle of red pepper, paprika, salt, and a dash of liquid smoke. We have a combo stainless steel oil-filled slow-cooker/fryer deal we use for the browning, then we drop the temp to low to slow-cook the roast so in about a half day or so, we’ve got a nice pot roast. We can also use our standard crock pot, but I like not having to transfer the meat too much, and keeping the juices from the meat for the liquid as much as possible. It’s almost guaranteed to yield a very nice pot roast. Most of the time the only thing we have to do is maybe add a dash more salt, and we could easily take some of the broth and make a gravy from it.
I did a pot roast last night (still plowing through the 1/8 cow I bought in May!), but I did my usual mushroom/mushroom soup/red wine/broth mix. I served it on egg noodles and it was delicious.
I did pick up on pot roast trick from a SL recipe….to thicken the sauce, I take the beef out, cut it in chunks, proof some corn starch and add it back in the pot with the liquid. Then I turn the pot on high for half an hour or so before reintroducing the meat. It makes a nice thick gravy.
Like OtherJohn, I brown the heck out of it before I put it in the crock pot. Searing it with a nice crust of salt and pepper adds great flavor.
I have used that recipe (one very similar actually) with the Brown Sugar and Worcestershire which are the essential ingredients and it does indeed make a delicious pot roast.
Searing is definitely important, especially in a Crock Pot dish. After the first couple of times I did it, I realized you really want a HOT skillet so you can achieve a nice, brown crust on the outside without cooking the roast too much.
The smell of someone searing a roast is one of the absolute best, isn’t it? In my book, it’s right up there with bread baking and onions and celery cooking in butter.
I don’t usually have time to mess with the pot roast in the morning, so I let it sit overnight in the fridge in the crock with carrots, onions, potatoes, brown gravy mix and seasoning salt. I take the whole crock out of the fridge, set it in the frame, turn it on and leave.
I made this pot roast this weekend (I added garlic, potatoes and carrots) and it was fantastic! I love cider vinegar so I used more of that than the recipe called for. I also used corn starch to thicken the sauce a little. I love how much sauce this makes; I didn’t have enough potatoes for leftovers but that’s ok. I’ll put the roast leftovers over some rice tomorrow night. Yum!