Basic Crock Pot Beef Roast With Vegetables

By
Diana Rattray
Diana Rattray
Diana Rattray
Southern-cuisine expert and cookbook author Diana Rattray has created more than 5,000 recipes and articles in her 20 years as a food writer.
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Updated on 08/3/22
Crock pot beef roast recipe

​The Spruce Eats/ Katarina Zunic

Prep: 18 mins
Cook: 9 hrs
Total: 9 hrs 18 mins
Servings: 6 to 8 servings

This pot roast is a simple preparation, yet it offers amazing flavor. With a variety of vegetables and straightforward seasonings, it's a complete meal in one pot. The slow cooker is the perfect appliance for a pot roast, and it doesn't heat up the kitchen the way the oven or stovetop does.

As with many slow cooker recipes, it's easy to adapt the dish to suit your tastes. For example, if your family isn't fond of carrots, replace them with parsnips or chunks of rutabaga. Or add more potatoes to the pot. For extra color, add some frozen green beans or mixed vegetables about 30 to 45 minutes before the pot roast is ready.

Serve the pot roast and vegetables with hot baked biscuits or crusty bread for a tasty and satisfying family dinner.

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Ingredients

  • 4 pounds beef chuck roast

  • 1 pinch kosher salt

  • 1 pinch freshly ground black pepper

  • 2 tablespoons olive oil

  • 2 medium onions, sliced

  • 1 1/2 pounds small round potatoes, peeled or unpeeled and scrubbed

  • 3 to 4 medium carrots, peeled, cut into 1/2 x 3-inch sticks

  • 3 cloves garlic

  • 4 to 6 sprigs fresh thyme, or about 1 teaspoon dried leaf thyme

  • 2 cups no-sodium beef broth

  • 1 tablespoon Worcestershire sauce

  • 2 tablespoons cornstarch

  • 3 tablespoons cold water

  • 2 teaspoons unsalted butter

Steps to Make It

  1. Gather the ingredients.

    Ingredients for crock pot beef roast with vegetables recipe gathered

    ​The Spruce Eats / Katarina Zunic

  2. Sprinkle the pot roast lightly with salt and pepper.

    Sprinkle meat with salt and pepper

    ​The Spruce Eats / Katarina Zunic

  3. Heat the olive oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat and sear the pot roast on all sides.

    Searing the pot roast in the skillet

    ​The Spruce Eats / Katarina Zunic

  4. Add the onions and continue cooking until onions are just beginning to brown. 

    Add onions

    ​The Spruce Eats / Katarina Zunic

  5. Put the potatoes, carrots, and garlic in the slow cooker. Add the browned roast and the onions, along with the thyme sprigs or dried thyme.

    Carrots and potatoes and meat in slow cooker

    ​The Spruce Eats / Katarina Zunic

  6. Combine the beef broth with the Worcestershire sauce and pour over the roast and vegetables. 

    Combine the beef broth with the Worcestershire sauce

    ​The Spruce Eats / Katarina Zunic

  7. Cover and cook on low for 9 to 11 hours or on high for about 4 to 5 1/2 hours. 

    Cover and cook

    ​The Spruce Eats / Katarina Zunic

  8. Transfer the roast and vegetables to a platter and keep warm.

    Transfer roast and vegetables to a platter

    The Spruce Eats / Katarina Zunic

  9. Strain the remaining broth and let stand for a few minutes. Skim off fat. Or use a gravy separator to skim the fat.

    Strain off fat

    The Spruce Eats / Katarina Zunic

  10. Put the juices in a large saucepan and bring to a boil. Boil for about 10 minutes, or until the broth has reduced to about 1 1/2 to 2 cups.

    Sauce in pan

    The Spruce Eats / Katarina Zunic

  11. In a small bowl, combine the cornstarch and cold water.

    Cornstarch and cold water

    The Spruce Eats / Katarina Zunic

  12. Stir in the cornstarch mixture and cook until thickened.

    Stir in cornstarch mixture

    The Spruce Eats / Katarina Zunic

  13. Stir in the butter. Taste and adjust seasonings.

    Butter in the pan

    The Spruce Eats / Katarina Zunic

  14. Drizzle some of the sauce over the meat and vegetables, and serve the rest at the table.

    Basic crock pot beef with vegetables recipe

    The Spruce Eats / Katarina Zunic

How to Choose Your Meat

Tougher cuts of meat are ideal for long, slow cooking. They have lots of connective tissue, which breaks down and makes the meat tender and succulent. Choose a cut from the chuck, such as the chuck arm, 7-bone, blade, or chuck eye. Other excellent options include the beef brisket (not corned), rump roast, or bottom round.

Should you turn meat over in a slow cooker?

There is no reason to ever flip the meat over in your slow cooker. Just put it in with the other ingredients and let it cook as directed.

Nutrition Facts (per serving)
689 Calories
39g Fat
26g Carbs
59g Protein
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Nutrition Facts
Servings: 6 to 8
Amount per serving
Calories 689
% Daily Value*
Total Fat 39g 50%
Saturated Fat 16g 78%
Cholesterol 191mg 64%
Sodium 353mg 15%
Total Carbohydrate 26g 9%
Dietary Fiber 3g 12%
Total Sugars 3g
Protein 59g
Vitamin C 13mg 67%
Calcium 80mg 6%
Iron 7mg 36%
Potassium 1302mg 28%
*The % Daily Value (DV) tells you how much a nutrient in a food serving contributes to a daily diet. 2,000 calories a day is used for general nutrition advice.
(Nutrition information is calculated using an ingredient database and should be considered an estimate.)