Slow Cooker Pot Roast with Homemade Onion Soup Mix (VIDEO)

Fall-apart-tender pot roast cooked in the crock-pot with root vegetables and homemade onion soup mix. This super easy recipe takes about 20 minutes to prep and can be made in as little as 4-5 hours on the high setting or 8-10 on low. Serve it with your favorite mashed potatoes, sweet potatoes, or cauliflower for the best type of comfort food meal. 

One of my favorite comfort foods is tender, pull-apart pot roast (hello, Mississippi pot roast!), shredded over hot mashed potatoes and topped with ladles of juice a.k.a. drippings OR a quick homemade gravy...oh, dear. It's the type of comfort food meal that sings to my soul.

Growing up in Kansas, my aunt used to slow cook a chuck roast on the stovetop every once in a while. She'd always layer it with carrots + huge chunks of chopped potatoes before placing a lid on top to let it do its thing. A perfect stick-to-your-bones, meat n' potatoes kinda meal.

An Alternative To Slow Cooker Pot Roast with Ketchup or Red Wine

As a kid, I always picked big chunks of meat and potatoes out of the pot come mealtime, piled them onto a plate, sprinkled them generously with salt, and then dunked every bite in ketchup! Ack. Don't judge.


These days I'm all about slow-cooked pot roast with red wine, broth, and herbs made in a manual slow cooker or enameled Dutch/French oven. (And no ketchup.) Yum, yum, yum! 

But a person can only eat the same ol' pot roast for so long before they decide to experiment, right? That, and I don't always have wine on hand when I get a sudden hankering for slow-cooked beef. 

Slow Cooker Pot Roast with Onion Soup Mix

That's how this recipe came to be. I was out of wine and decided to surf Pinterest for slow cooker pot roast recipes that used other seasonings. I found this pot roast recipe and thought it looked amazing, but didn't want to use any canned cream of mushroom soup or dry onion soup packages (both typically contain a ton of sodium, additives, preservatives, etc.) 

So, I looked up how to make homemade onion soup mix using real food ingredients (thankfully there are a ton out there with varying spices) and settled on this recipe from The Gracious Pantry.

Here's what she uses in the dry onion soup blend:

• dried chopped onions (you can use flakes)
• dried parsley
• onion powder
• celery seed
• black pepper
• turmeric powder
• sea salt
• garlic powder

Why this one? It only took me a few minutes to mix together using spices I already had on hand and I love that it contains dried turmeric, which is so good for you!

I definitely recommend giving it a try if you're looking for a healthier alternative to the dry onion soup packets they sell at the store.

Should You Brown (Sear) The Chuck Roast Before Slow Cooking?

I always do! Yes, you can skip this step, but in my opinion, the extra 5 minutes it takes to brown the meat is 100% worth it. 

To up the savory factor, I apply some of the onion soup mix to the outside of the roast before searing it (for extra flavor) and then add the rest of the dry seasoning mix to the broth to infuse the veggies and beef. 

The searing creates a flavorful crust on the outside of the chuck roast, which then leaves yummy bits of beef behind in the pan. 

From there, I add in a bit more cooking oil to the same pan, followed by my normal pot roast mix-ins of sliced onions and root vegetables (carrots and sweet + spicy parsnips--mmmmm). Those get a quick cook in the pan to "sweat" a few minutes, then dumped into the slow cooker around the chuck roast.

Then I pour a bit of broth into the pan to scrape up all the flavorful bits from the beef & veggies, stir in more onion soup mix, and everything goes into the slow cooker to work its magic.

You could skip all this and dump everything in the slow cooker if you're in a super rush BUT the extra 10 minutes of simple prep helps the final product taste better. 

Cooking The Potatoes Separately

If you're waiting for me to mention how I add the potatoes to the slow cooker...well, I don't! I know it's really popular and a total time-saver to cook potatoes with the meat, but I actually prefer to fix them separately.

What? You think I'm a total weirdo? Pssssssshhh. 

Here's my logic:

1. Mashed potatoes are the perfect vessel for pot roast juices and homemade gravy. 
2. When you cook the carrots, onions & potatoes all together, they end up tasting the same. 

I happen to enjoy a little variety in my meals. Hence why I like my potatoes on the side. Nothing wrong with that. Plus, it gives you the flexibility to switch up the "starchy" side dish with whatever you have on hand at the time. Or fix extra veggies to pair with the pot roast like air fryer brussels sprouts!

For My Fellow Type B's...Cook The Pot Roast on High

Ohhhh...and I should probably tell you that if you're short on time and not so good at planning ahead (me!), you can totally make slow cooker pot roast on the HIGH setting in about 4-5 hours. Pot roast purists might think that's blasphemous of me to suggest, but it works when you're pressed for time!

TIP: If you have leftover shredded beef after making this recipe and want to use it in a new dish (for picky eaters who need a different meal the next day), try this easy beef sliders recipe for using it up!

So...are you ready to nosh on some savory melt-in-your-mouth beef with tender vegetables and creamy mashed potatoes on the side? Let's make it happen!

Cozy Side Dishes To Serve With This Crock-Pot Chuck Roast

• Healthy Mashed Sweet Potatoes
• Mashed Cauliflower "Potatoes" with Roasted Garlic
• Colcannon (Irish Mashed Potatoes with Greens)
• Cheddar Garlic Buttermilk Drop Biscuits (Red Lobster Copycat)
• Savory Roasted Butternut Squash

Watch The Recipe Video

Are you a visual learner? Watch my short recipe video showing you how easy it is to make this onion soup pot roast recipe at home in your slow cooker.

recipe, lipton, crock pot, onion soup, chuck roast, beef roast, easy

Main Dishes

American

Yield: 6 servings

Author: Elaina Newton - The Rising Spoon

Slow Cooker Pot Roast with Homemade Onion Soup Mix

prep time: 20 Mcook time: 4 hourtotal time: 4 H & 20 M

Fall-apart-tender pot roast cooked in the crock-pot with root vegetables and homemade onion soup mix. This super easy recipe takes about 20 minutes to prep and can be made in as little as 4-5 hours on the high setting or 8-10 on low. Serve it with your favorite mashed potatoes, sweet potatoes, or cauliflower for the best type of comfort food meal.

ingredients:

• 3 lb. boneless beef chuck roast
• 2 tablespoons of cooking oil (like avocado oil, butter, ghee or coconut oil)
• 3 tablespoons of homemade onion soup mix (or store-bought)
• 2 medium onions
• 3 carrots
• 3 parsnips
• 2 celery stalks
• 2 cups of beef broth or chicken broth (I typically use homemade)
• 3 cloves of garlic, peeled and crushed
• 1 bay leaf
• Salt & pepper, to taste (this will vary based on whether you use homemade stock & onion soup mix)

instructions:

How to cook Slow Cooker Pot Roast with Homemade Onion Soup Mix

1. Pull the roast out of the fridge, sprinkle all sides with salt & pepper, and set aside for about 10 minutes to warm up. Meanwhile, make the homemade onion soup mix (this should only take about 1-2 minutes using spices you have on hand). Use this time to also prep the veggies by peeling the onions then slicing them into wedges, chopping the celery, then peeling and chopping the carrots and parsnips. (Make sure to save all the veggies scraps to use for homemade stock.)
2. Sprinkle one tablespoon of the onion soup mix over the roast (get all sides), pressing the seasonings down into the meat, if needed. Place a skillet or large pot over medium heat, then add 1 tablespoon of cooking oil. When that's warm (should take 1-2 minutes), lay the roast in the pan (it should sizzle when you add it). Sear all sides of the roast using tongs to flip the meat (I let the big sides cook for 1 1/2 minutes and the other sides for 30-45 seconds), then transfer the pot roast to the slow cooker.
3. Reduce heat to medium-low, measure in another tablespoon of cooking oil, and add in the onions. Season to taste with salt & pepper. Cook, stirring occasionally, for 2 minutes. Remove the onions from the skillet and place them around the pot roast in the slow cooker. Repeat the process with the carrots, parsnip & celery (all cooked together), then place those in the slow cooker, as well.
4. Measure the broth into a cup or bowl, then pour about 1/4 cup of it into the skillet. Use a wooden spoon to scrape up the fond (flavorful beefy bits) from the bottom of the skillet, then add the remaining 2 tablespoons of onion soup mix into the skillet and slowly pour in the rest of the broth while stirring. Let the broth warm-up for a few minutes (no need to bring it to a simmer) then pour it into the slow cooker over the veggies. 
5. Cover the slow cooker with its lid and cook on HIGH for 4-5 hours OR on LOW for 8-10 hours, or until the meat is fall-apart-tender and the veggies are fully cooked.
6. Serve the pot roast shredded or in big chunks with extra drippings/juices poured over it. Alternately, you can use the drippings/juices to make a quick homemade gravy using a roux or cornstarch (see notes below) to pour over it.

NOTES:

If you want to use the drippings/juice to make gravy you can either make a roux (using flour + butter) or a quick gravy with cornstarch mixed in water. This is my favorite homemade gravy recipe using flour (I tweak it based on the amount I want to make & the type of drippings I'm using). When I don't have time to do it that way, I will instead do 1 cup of drippings (fat included - I don't measure) + 1 cup of broth heated in a skillet, mix 2 tablespoons of cornstarch with 1/4 cup of cold water, then pour that into the drippings, stirring constantly until thick (about 2-3 minutes). I then season to taste with salt & pepper.

https://www.therisingspoon.com/2016/11/slow-cooker-pot-roast-with-onion-soup-mix.html

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