Simple Crockpot Pot Roast with Potatoes and Carrots

This simple pot roast in the crockpot is a chuck roast, potatoes, carrots, onion, garlic, broth, thyme, salt, and pepper, cooked on low until the beef pulls apart with a fork.

Nine ingredients plus a spoonful of cornstarch for the gravy, no searing, no seasoning packets, no canned soup.

What sets it apart is the liquid: 2 cups of broth instead of the usual 4, with the vegetables stacked on top of the meat instead of floating next to it.

The beef braises in its own juices, the potatoes steam instead of boil, and the liquid left at the end is concentrated enough to turn into a real gravy with nothing but cornstarch.

It takes about 9 hours on low, and only 15 minutes of that is hands-on.

Why You’ll Love It

• Nine ingredients, all from a regular grocery store
• No searing and no stovetop work until the gravy
• 15 minutes of prep, then 8 to 9 hours unattended
• Meat, potatoes, carrots, and gravy from one insert
• Feeds 6, and the leftovers reheat well

Ingredients

For the Roast

3-pound boneless beef chuck roast

2 teaspoons kosher salt

1 teaspoon black pepper

1 teaspoon dried thyme

1 large yellow onion, cut into 8 wedges

4 garlic cloves, smashed

2 cups low-sodium beef broth

2 pounds Yukon gold potatoes, cut into 2-inch chunks

1 pound carrots, peeled and cut into 2-inch pieces

For the Gravy

3 tablespoons cornstarch

3 tablespoons cold water

Salt and black pepper, to taste

Steps

1. Pat the roast dry with paper towels, then rub the salt, pepper, and thyme over every side. Dry meat holds seasoning, and the thyme sticks to the surface instead of sliding off into the broth.

2. Scatter the onion wedges and smashed garlic over the bottom of a 6-quart programmable slow cooker. They lift the meat off the base so it does not scorch, and they season the liquid from below.

3. Set the roast on the onions with the fat cap facing up, then pour the 2 cups of broth around the meat, not over it, so the seasoning stays where you rubbed it.

4. Pile the potatoes and carrots on top of and around the roast. They will sit above the liquid line, which is the point. They steam in the trapped moisture and hold their shape instead of going soft and waterlogged in broth.

5. Cover and cook on low for 8 to 9 hours. Leave the lid alone until hour 7, since every peek drops the temperature and adds about 20 minutes. The roast is done when a fork twists into it with no resistance and an instant-read meat thermometer reads 200°F to 205°F (93°C to 96°C) in the center. If it still fights the fork at hour 8, give it another hour.

6. Lift the potatoes and carrots out with a slotted spoon onto a platter, then move the roast next to them and tent loosely with foil. Pull off and discard any large pieces of fat from the meat.

7. Ladle 2 cups of the cooking liquid through a fine mesh strainer into a 2-quart saucepan, then skim the fat off the top with a wide spoon. A 4-cup fat separator does this in one pour if you have one.

8. Whisk the cornstarch and cold water together in a small bowl until no lumps remain, then whisk the slurry into the liquid in the saucepan. Bring it to a boil over medium-high heat and cook for 2 to 3 minutes, whisking, until it coats the back of a spoon. Taste it and add salt and pepper now, because the cooking liquid is seasoned lightly on purpose so you can adjust it here.

9. Slice or pull the beef into large pieces, arrange it with the vegetables, and pour half the gravy over the top. Put the rest in a bowl for the table.

Helpful Tips & Substitutions

The most common failure with pot roast is pulling it too early. Chuck is full of collagen that only melts after hours above 160°F (71°C), so meat that is tough at 6 hours needs more time, not less, and the fix is always to put the lid back on.

If you have 10 extra minutes, searing the roast in 1 tablespoon of oil in a 12-inch cast iron skillet over high heat, 3 to 4 minutes per side, adds a browned flavor the slow cooker cannot make on its own. The recipe is written without it and the gravy covers most of the difference, but seared is noticeably deeper.

Stick with chuck roast. Bottom round and rump roast are leaner, so they slice instead of shred and come out drier after 8 hours.

Yukon golds hold together through a long cook because they are waxy. Russets go grainy and start to dissolve into the liquid, so avoid them here. Small red potatoes or baby potatoes can go in whole.

Fresh thyme is a straight swap: tuck 4 sprigs against the meat and pull the stems out before serving. Rosemary works in the same amount.

Resist the urge to add more broth. The vegetables release a lot of water, and 4 cups of liquid gives you boiled beef and a thin gravy.

The high setting gets you there in 5 to 6 hours, but the meat is less tender and the carrots go softer. Low is the setting this recipe is built for.

Thaw a frozen roast in the fridge for 24 hours before cooking. A frozen roast spends too long between 40°F and 140°F (4°C and 60°C) in a slow cooker, which is the range where bacteria multiply fastest.

Serving Ideas

Serve from the platter with the gravy poured over the potatoes as well as the meat, since the potatoes soak it up better than anything else on the plate.

The plate is already rich, so a sharp side balances it: steamed green beans with lemon, or a plain green salad with a mustardy vinaigrette.

If you want the same beef and vegetables as a bowl meal with the liquid thickened in the pot, the Hearty Crockpot Beef Stew with Root Vegetables uses the same cut and cook time with the vegetables cut smaller.

For a louder version of this roast, the Savory Slow-Cooked French Onion Pot Roast takes the same chuck roast in the direction of caramelized onions and a soup base.

There are more ways to use the cut in 9 Crockpot Chuck Roast Dinners.

Leftover beef makes a good sandwich on a toasted roll with horseradish sauce.

Make-Ahead & Storage

The night before, cut the vegetables and season the roast. Keep the cut potatoes in a bowl of cold water in the fridge so they do not brown, and wrap the seasoned roast in plastic. In the morning, drain the potatoes and load the cooker.

Leftovers keep 4 days in the fridge in an airtight container. Store the beef submerged in the gravy, which keeps it from drying out.

The beef, carrots, and gravy freeze well for 3 months in a freezer bag with the air pressed out. The potatoes do not, since they turn mealy and grainy when thawed, so eat those within the 4 days and freeze only the rest.

To reheat, put the beef and vegetables in a baking dish with the gravy and a splash of broth, cover with foil, and warm in a 325°F (165°C) oven for 20 to 25 minutes. In the microwave, use 50 percent power in 90-second bursts so the beef does not seize up.

The gravy sets firm in the fridge, so warm it in a small saucepan over low heat with a tablespoon of water and whisk until it loosens.

If you change one thing next time, add two parsnips cut the same size as the carrots. They cook at the same rate and sweeten the gravy without adding another step.