Mason-Dixon Recipes

Slow-Cooker Pot Roast

George: “How do you cook a pot roast?”
Gracie: “I put both a big pot roast and a small pot roast in the oven. When the small one is burnt, the big one is done just right!”

         — George and Gracie Allen comedy routine

The pot roast that most people think of today started out being called Yankee Pot Roast. That dish, made on the East Coast of the United States, evolved from the colonial-era New England boiled dinner. It consisted of cured meat (such as corned beef) and vegetables (such turnips, cabbage, carrots and potatoes) all boiled together.

In a Yankee pot roast, the beef, such as rump or round roast, was fresh and braised with the vegetables. The term "pot roast" in print dates back to 1881—described as meat that is browned and cooked with vegetables and gravy in a deep pot or saucepan, usually covered. Not much has changed since that description was written, except for the fact that pot roasts are now also flavored in ethnically diverse ways.

INGREDIENTS

2 lb chuck eye, bottom round, or chuck roast
3 medium potatoes
2 cups baby carrots
1 medium onion
1 14-oz can beef broth
4 tbsp flour
1 tbsp Worchestershire sauce
1 pkg beefy onion dry mix
1 tsp sugar
1 tsp salt
¹/₄ tsp black pepper

DIRECTIONS

Blend flour, salt, pepper, and sugar (to assist in browning). Quarter beef and dredge in mixture. Lightly grease deep, heavy pan and brown until meat is a dark, rich brown color. Set aside.

In a slow cooker, add beef broth, beefy onion mix, and Worcestershire sauce. Blend with whisk. Peel and quarter potatoes and add a layer on bottom of pot. Place meat on top of potatoes and add quartered onion and carrots if desired.

Cook 4 hours on high.

Return to Mason-Dixon Recipes