If you’re looking for a hearty fall or winter meal that’ll fill up everyone’s bellies, look no further than this easy Pot Roast recipe. While beef is expensive no matter which way you slice it (literally), this juicy, tender Pot Roast can be stretched further thanks to an abundance of potatoes, carrots, and onions. Everything is cooked in a Dutch oven, and the meat is melt-in-your-mouth soft with a flavorful, herby gravy. There’s no need to make a side dish if you don’t want to; this is already one big, hearty, full meal!
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“This was out-of-this-world good!! The beef was melt in your mouth tender and the flavor was amazing! Everyone from our 1 year old to his grandparents loved this meal.”
MEGHAN
Easy Pot Roast Recipe
There’s something so comforting about walking into the kitchen and smelling a pot roast slowly simmering away—it instantly takes me back to Sunday dinners growing up. I love how this recipe brings all that cozy, home-cooked goodness with hardly any effort. With just a few simple ingredients and a bit of patience, I can have a tender, flavorful roast that tastes like it took all day. It’s the kind of meal that makes everything feel a little more grounded.
I recipe-tested pot roast multiple times in the Budget Bytes kitchen to make sure you don’t waste your dollars on a subpar meal—this recipe is IT my friends! A Dutch oven is my cooking vessel of choice, and I flavor the broth with beef bouillon, Worcestershire sauce, tomato paste, garlic, and fresh herbs. It’s everything you could ever want in a comforting pot roast but made in a more budget-friendly way!
Budget-Saving Tips!
- I knew lots of vegetables would be key for feeding 8 people, but this 2.6 lb chuck roast was the winner in terms of portion size for the meat. If you want more meat and fewer veggies, you’ll have to spend a little more money, but I can tell you these flavors will not disappoint! (My husband was an overjoyed taste tester during this recipe testing process!)
- Most recipes call for red wine, but I found substituting red wine for balsamic vinegar sent the flavor of this oh-so-moist roast over the top and is a cheaper alternative.
Pot Roast Recipe
Servings 8 servingsIngredients
- 1 boneless beef chuck roast (mine was 2.61 lbs)* ($17.33)
- 2 tsp salt ($0.02)
- 3 tsp beef bouillon ($0.24)
- ½ cup balsamic vinegar ($0.96)
- 1 Tbsp Worcestershire sauce ($0.05)
- 1 Tbsp tomato paste ($0.07)
- 2 cups water ($0.00)
- 1 tsp olive oil ($0.07)
- 2 large carrots, peeled and cut into large chunks ($0.18)
- 1 large yellow onion, peeled and quartered ($0.86)
- 1 sprig fresh rosemary ($0.29)
- 2-3 sprigs of fresh thyme ($0.05)
- 5 cloves garlic, smashed, but kept whole ($0.20)
- 1 bag mini potatoes (about 1lb – 1.5 lbs depending on the size of your roasting dish) ($3.54)
Instructions
- Rub boneless beef chuck roast on all sides with the salt. Then, let it rest at room temperature for 15-20 minutes. Preheat oven to 275°F.
- In a small saucepan, whisk together beef bouillon, balsamic vinegar, Worcestershire sauce, tomato paste, and water. Bring it to a gentle simmer. (We are purposely making the beef broth more concentrated for this recipe.) Keep it warm on the stovetop while you prepare the meat and veggies.
- Drizzle olive oil in your dutch oven/roasting vessel of choice and heat on medium high on your largest stovetop burner. Once hot, add carrots and onions. Stir the carrots around every couple of minutes and sear the onion on all sides for approximately 8 minutes total. You want to see some color on those veggies! Remove vegetables from roasting pan and set aside.
- To the hot dutch oven, add the salted beef and sear on each side for 4 minutes. You want to see a little color and caramelization of the fat when you flip it. No need to add more oil, the fat from the roast is enough!
- Next, add the seared carrots and onions, fresh rosemary, fresh thyme, smashed garlic, and potatoes on top of the seared chuck roast and pour the beef bouillon mixture over the top.
- Put the lid on your dutch oven and slow cook the roast in the oven for 3 hours**.
See how we calculate recipe costs here.
Equipment
- Dutch Oven
Notes
Nutrition
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how to make Pot Roast step-by-step photos
Rub salt over beef: Rub 1 boneless beef chuck roast on all sides with 2 tsp of salt. Then, let it rest at room temperature for 15-20 minutes. Preheat oven to 275 degrees.
Whisk together broth: In a small saucepan, whisk together 3 tsp beef bouillon, ½ cup balsamic vinegar, 1 Tbsp Worcestershire sauce, 1 Tbsp tomato paste, and 2 cups water. Bring it to a gentle simmer. (We are purposely making the beef broth more concentrated for this recipe.) Keep it warm on the stovetop while you prepare the meat and veggies.
Roast veggies: Drizzle 1 tsp olive oil in your dutch oven/roasting vessel of choice and heat on medium high on your largest stovetop burner. Once hot, add 2 diced carrots and 1 quartered onion. Stir the carrots around every couple of minutes and sear the onion on all sides for approximately 8 minutes total. You want to see some color on those veggies! Remove vegetables from roasting pan and set aside.
Sear beef: To the hot dutch oven, add the salted beef and sear on each side for 4 minutes. You want to see a little color and caramelization of the fat when you flip it. No need to add more oil, the fat from the roast is enough!
Next, add the seared carrots and onions, 1 sprig fresh rosemary, 2-3 sprigs fresh thyme, 5 cloves smashed garlic, and 1 bag of mini potatoes (1lb-1.5lbs) on top of the seared chuck roast and pour the beef bouillon mixture over the top.
Cook roast: Put the lid on your dutch oven and slow cook the roast in the oven for 3 hours.
This Dutch oven pot roast recipe is perfect for a cozy, comforting Sunday dinner or special occasion!
How to Make Pot Roast Gravy
This is completely optional, but making gravy from the pan drippings is easy and ensures those extra bits of flavor don’t go to waste. Here’s how to do it:
- Once your roast is cooked, remove some liquid from the Dutch oven and add it to a saucepan.
- Heat over medium heat and whisk in a teaspoon of flour at a time.
- Keep whisking and adding flour until desired thickness is reached.
- Season with salt and pepper to taste.
Serving Suggestions
You truly don’t need anything else to go with this roast—it has everything you need for a complete meal! But if you want to stretch it even further or have some picky eaters to please, I’d serve it with some homestyle cornbread or homemade biscuits. A crisp autumn kale and apple salad or corn pudding would also be great options!
Storing Leftovers
Let your pot roast cool completely before storing. Keep it in airtight containers in the fridge for up to 4 days or in the freezer for 2-3 months. Reheat everything in the microwave or on the stovetop until warmed through. Add a splash of beef broth or water if the gravy thickens too much or the meat looks dry.
Made this for dinner last night and it was delicious. We have a family of 4 and we have a single serving of leftovers left! I accidentally used veggie better than bouillon, still amazing. I added 1.5lbs of potatoes and 6 carrots, next time I’ll add 2 onions and the entire 5lb bag of carrots. Plenty of fluid per the recipe to accommodate the extra vegetables.
So glad you loved it. Thanks for the notes!
This recipe has become a favorite with my family. The first time I made it, there wasn’t nearly enough veggies. Now when I make it, I add more carrots and potatoes and it still all cooks together fine. The gravy came out awesome too. Thank you!
So glad you love it! If it’s in your budget to load up the veggies, I always say go for it!
I used a 2 lb roast and cooked it at 275 for 3 hours and it was still a tad too tough. So I followed the suggestion to let it cook another half hour and it still didn’t shred with a fork.
Since the roast I used was slightly smaller should I have cooked it less rather than longer?
Hey Catharine, it shouldn’t have been tough. Did you select a chuck roast, lots of fat marbling? The beauty of this recipe is it’s hard to overcook it if it’s just a slight variation from the directions because it just marinates in its own juices which helps it stay moist.
Yes it was a chuck roast with plenty of fat marbling.
After posting my comment I spent some time reviewing what I did with the roast and I think I may have seared it too much on the stove before putting it in the oven. I remember searing it on both sides exactly how long the recipe says to, but it was more “cooked-looking” than the roast in the pics on the webpage. Could that have been what made it too tough?
This was our Christmas Eve feast & the first time I’ve made a pot roast. I followed directions as written and did use a crockpot on high for 5 hours. The meat fell apart and veg all perfect. The balsamic really made it special. This meal definitely helped get me (and all my Budget Bytes friends) on the nice list!!
Woohoo! I’m not usually credited for helping people get on the Nice List, but I am turning a corner! Haha. So glad you enjoyed it. Thanks for the awesome feedback. Happy New Year!
Would it be ok if I use beef stock instead of the water and skipped the bouillon? Thanks
That would be great!
This was out of this world good!! The beef was melt in your mouth tender and the flavor was amazing! Everyone from our 1 year old to his grandparents loved this meal.
When you’re slow cooking the dish for the 3 hours, are you doing it on low heat or higher?
Hey, April. This needs to be cooked in a 275 degree oven.
Your oven temp should be at 275°F, which is moderately low. If you’re referring to using a slow cooker, you’d want to do it on high, but it would take more like 4-5 hours in a crock pot. We also haven’t tested it this way, so that might not be exact.
This recipe was incredible! I ended up doubling the onions and carrots because I love them roasted so much. It turned out so wonderful and made the house smell amazing!
Yum! I love extra onions and carrots, too. I’m so glad you loved it.
This is one of those dishes where it’s simply too delicious to be this easy, to have such few ingredients, but it is. I initially made it with mashed potatoes (left potatoes out of the dish). This time it’s in the oven with the potatoes in to minimize dishes. I also use red wine instead of balsamic vinegar because we always have a bottle around. 10/5 stars.
What can I use instead if I don’t have a Dutch oven type pot?
Has anyone tried this recipe in a crock pot? Do I need to make any adjustments to the ingredients?
I did not test it in the crock pot, but I have done pot roasts in crock pots before. I definitely recommend searing it in a hot pan before it goes in the crock pot!
If I’m making a half recipe – should I still make a full recipe’s worth of the liquid medley?
You should only need half of the liquid then! Will you be using a smaller dutch oven then we used as well?
This recipe is chef’s kiss! I’m sold – making it this weekend!
This was delicious and so easy to make. My husband said something like “This is an A+ recipe. Delicious.” in between bites and I have to agree!
As a cooking tip, I subbed the red potatoes with yellow potatoes, which I peeled and cut into 2″ chunks and they came out perfectly. I followed the rest of the recipe exactly and served it with sourdough. 10/10 will make again!
Hey, Elaine! YUM. I’m so glad the hubs gave it 2 thumbs up. Sourdough bread to sop up all the yummy juices and gravy is a great idea. Thanks for sharing!
Just made this for Sunday dinner. Excellent pot roast.
Thanks, Susan!