This slow cooker beef roast is a wonderful comfort dish the whole family can enjoy. Made with beef roast, potatoes, and carrots, it's a full meal that's ready to eat in just a few hours.
Recipe: $21.96 | Per Serving: $2.75 | Servings: 8
Roasts are on the menu any time we get the chance (meaning there's a good sale happening, haha). But, most of the time it's pork roasts like Garlic Brown Sugar Pork Tenderloin or Honey Mustard Pork Shoulder Roast. So when we get the chance for a beef roast, we make sure that we go all out.
Making an easy crock pot roast with potatoes and carrots, may not be one of our cheaper meals to make, but it is a comforting slow cooker meal that can feed a small crowd. (Which is perfect for when we have family coming over).
This is a slow cooker recipe that is definitely worth keeping handy. Perfect for serving with our Jiffy Cornbread With Cake Mix or 2 Hour No Knead White Bread.
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🍯 Why This Recipe Works
- It's convenient. One of the best reasons to bring out the crock pot is when you want to let something simmer all day while you do whatever you want (or need) to do. I love it when I plan to work long hours. Convenience is everything. Of course I also use it for Chocolate Crockpot Lava Cake too.
- It's comforting. Meat, potatoes, carrots, and gravy/broth, what's not to love? This dish is full of flavor and warmth and is truly heartwarming. Perfect for cold nights and homestyle cooking.
- Simple ingredients. This recipe uses very simple pantry staple seasonings, cornstarch, broth, veggies, and meat. You may have some of the ingredients on hand already, and if not, the ones you're missing should be easy to locate in your local grocery store.
🥘 Ingredients
Ingredient Notes:
Beef roast- You will need a beef eye of round roast that is about 3.5 pounds in size. Other beef roasts will work too, but Eye of Round is great for shredding and slow cooked meals.
Broth- Use beef broth to help hydrate the food as it cooks and to give a great start to the gravy it will create.
Carrots- You'll want to use a pound of baby carrots, but if desired, you can use peeled and chopped larger carrots.
Potatoes- Red potatoes and yellow potatoes hold up better to the long cook times in the slow cooker as russets usually fall apart and become grainy. That said, you can use your potato of preference.
Cornstarch slurry- To turn the juices in the pot into a delicious gravy, you will need some water and cornstarch.
For specific ingredients and measurements, please see the recipe card below.
🔪 Instructions for Slow Cooker Beef Roast
Step 1: Add your Italian seasoning, salt, pepper, garlic powder, and onion powder to a small bowl (Image 1).
Step 2: Stir together to combine (Image 2).
Step 3: Add the seasonings to your roast (Image 3).
Step 4: Rub the seasoning well to coat the roast evenly (Image 4).
Step 5: Place the roast at the bottom of your slow cooker (Image 5).
Step 6: Add in the chopped potatoes (Image 6). They should be quartered or 1.5 inches in size (whichever is smaller).
Step 7: Add in the baby carrots (Image 7).
Step 8: Add in chopped onion and celery (Image 8).
Step 9: Pour in the beef broth (Image 9).
Step 10: Cover and cook on low for 9 hours or on high for 6 hours (Image 10).
Step 11: An hour before serving, you can mix the cornstarch slurry together in a small bowl and add it to the slow cooker. The juices in the crock pot will thicken as it continues to cook.
Alternatively, you can drain all of the juices from the crockpot into a pot with your cornstarch slurry and cook on the stove on medium-high until bubbling (about 3-5 minutes).
Step 12: Place your roast on a large cutting board and shred it apart with two forks.
Serve with cooked veggies and gravy.
🍴 Recipe Tips
- How to tell if the roast is finished cooking. After 6 hours on high or 9 hours on low, your meat should shred easily. Toughness indicates it hasn't cooked long enough.
- Roasts need to cook past the safe-to-eat temperature to become tender. If it's still tough, switch to high heat, adding an extra hour if necessary. Slicing larger roasts in half or quarters can expedite cooking.
- My preferred method. 7 hours on low, then 2-3 hours on high.
👩🏻🍳 Storage
Separate Storage: When storing leftovers, keep roast and veggies separate from gravy for easier use later.
Storage Duration: Store gravy in airtight container and meat/veggies separately; lasts 3-4 days in fridge.
Freezing Option: Freeze in freezer-safe containers for up to 3 months; thaw overnight in fridge before reheating.
🍳 Reheating
Microwave Reheating: Avoid reheating leftovers in slow cooker. Instead, microwave for 1.5-2 minutes for single servings.
Oven Reheating (Large Portions): Place roast and veggies in 9x13 baking dish with juices, broth, or gravy. Cover with foil, bake at 325°F for 30 minutes.
🥗 Side Dishes
Because this dish already includes starches and veggies, you can easily consider it a full meal on its own. That said, some great side dishes to serve with your roast can include Instant Pot Au Gratin Potatoes, Bacon Ranch Brussel Sprouts, and these Easy Yeast Rolls for Beginners.
⏲️ Make Ahead Instructions
Preparation: Prepare the seasoned roast the night before and chop your veggies too. You can keep them in the covered crockpot liner (assuming it's not ceramic) or in gallon-sized baggies in the fridge.
Cooking: In the morning, just pull everything out of the fridge and place it into the slow cooker on low heat.
💭 Recipe FAQs
The best type of roast to use is actually a top round roast. This is because it doesn't have as much fat and it's cheaper too.
Yes and no. You'll want enough liquid to create a base in the slow cooker, but you don't need enough to submerge anything as the meat and veggies will release their own juices as they cook. Adding liquid to the crock pot will help to develop flavors and prevent food from sticking to the liner.
Yes, the longer it cooks, the more the collagen breaks down and melts, making the meat more tender as a result. When collagen breaks down, it turns into gelatin (picture unsolid jello), and this coats the meat making it juicy and silky in texture. Then when cold, it solidifies, only to melt when reheated again.
❤️ More Delicious Slow Cooker Recipes
If you tried this slow cooker beef roast, please leave a ⭐️ star rating and share your feedback in the 📝 comments section below. I would truly appreciate it!
📖 Recipe
Slow Cooker Beef Roast
Ingredients
- 1 Tablespoon Italian seasoning ($0.24)
- 2 teaspoons salt ($0.01)
- 1 teaspoon ground black pepper ($0.08)
- 2 teaspoons garlic powder ($0.16)
- 1 teaspoon onion powder ($0.08)
- 3.5 pounds beef eye of round roast ($15.82)
- 2 pounds red potatoes (yellow and russet okay!) ($2.20)
- 1 large onion, chopped ($0.91)
- 1 pound baby carrots ($1.38)
- 2 stalks celery, chopped ($0.42)
- 2 cups beef broth ($0.50)
Cornstarch Slurry (for gravy)
- ¼ cup water ($0.00)
- ¼ cup cornstarch ($0.16)
Instructions
- In a small bowl, combine your seasonings.
- Rub the seasoning mixture over the roast to fully coat.
- Place the roast at the bottom of your slow cooker.
- Add in chopped potatoes, chopped onions, baby carrots and chopped celery stalks.
- Pour in the beef broth.
- Cover and cook on low for 9 hours or on high for 6 hours.
- An hour before serving you can mix the cornstarch slurry together in a small bowl and add it to the slow cooker. The juices in the crock pot will thicken as it continues to cook.
- Alternatively you can drain all of the juices from the crockpot into a pot with your cornstarch slurry and cook on the stove on medium-high until bubbling (about 3-5 minutes).
- Place your roast on a large cutting board and shred apart with two forks. Serve with cooked veggies and gravy.
Notes
- Cook roast until tender, exceeding the safe-to-eat temperature.
- Optimal results: Low for 7 hours, followed by 2-3 hours on high.
- Keep roast, veggies, and gravy separate for future use.
- Refrigerate leftovers for 3-4 days.
- Freeze in suitable containers for up to 3 months; thaw overnight before reheating.
- Microwave smaller portions (1.5-2 minutes).
- For larger portions, bake at 325°F for around 30 minutes, covered with foil.
- Season roast and chop veggies the night before; store in the fridge and transfer to the slow cooker in the morning.
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