Winter Pot Roast
Buttery-soft, melt-in-your-mouth pot roast is the perfect addition to your winter menu. This warm, comforting, and great for keeping the immunity strong during the chilly months of the year.
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Servings: 4
Ingredients
- 3.5 lbs. chuck roast
- 1 Tbsp. sea salt
- 1 Tbsp. extra virgin olive oil
- 4 medium carrots
- 4 medium celery stalks
- 1 sweet onion
- 5-6 cloves garlic
- 1.5 Tbsp. tomato paste
- 3 Tbsp. all-purpose flour (sub for gluten free if needed)
- 2 Tbsp. butter (cold)
- 2/3 cup white wine
- 1.5 Tbsp. worcestershire sauce
- 3 cups chicken bone broth
- 1 bunch fresh thyme
- 1 sprig rosemary
- 1 sprig fresh sage
- 2 bay leaves
- 1 tsp. black pepper
Instructions
- Begin by dry-brining the chuck roast. This will help bring some of the moisture out of the meat and help it to get a crispy sear on the exterior later on in the pan. Cover all sides of the meat in sea salt and allow the meat to rest for 20-30 minutes at room temperature.
- After 20-30 minutes, blot the chuck roast dry with a paper towel on all sides. We do not want any excess moisture on the steak.
- Over medium high heat, add olive oil or avocado oil to the dutch oven and sear both sides of the chuck roast for 6 minutes each side, pressing the steak down into the pan. This will allow the meat to get an even sear all the way across the roast.
- Once the pot roast is seared on both sides, take it out of the pan and place it on a cutting board to rest.
- Roughly chop the sweet onion, carrots, celery stalks, and garlic.
- Turn the heat down to medium heat and add the veggies to the same dutch oven used to sear the chuck roast. Allow the veggies to slightly soften.
- Once the veggies are slightly softened, add tomato paste and cook down until the tomato paste becomes rusty in color.
- Next, add all-purpose and cold butter to make a roux. This is going to help thicken the sauce later on. Continue to sauté for 1-2 minutes longer.
- Add in 3 cups of chicken bone broth, white wine and worcestershire sauce. Deglaze the bottom of the pan, scraping up any bits and bring the sauce to a simmer for 2-3 minutes.
- Remove the pot from the heat and place the roast back into the dutch oven.
- Add fresh thyme, sage, rosemary, and bay leaves into the pot.
- Place the lid ajar, slightly offset, onto the dutch oven pot and bake at 275 F.
- Bake for 2 hours. After two hours check the internal temperature. It should read between 195°-205 F. We want to maintain this internal temperature for the next 6 hours, so make sure to check every could of hours to see what the internal temperature of the roast is. If the temperature raises above 205° F, lower the oven temperature by 5 degrees and finish out the roasting process.
- After 6 hours of total cook time, remove the pot roast from the oven. By this time, the collagen in the meat should have gelatinized and the meat should be buttery soft, moist, and shreddable.
- Allow the meat to rest in the pot for 20 minutes before serving in order to cool and soak up all the juices left in the pot.
Notes
- Slow roast: Slow roasting the meat in the oven throughout the day helps break down the collagen fibers into gelatin, and in turn, creates a melt-in-your-mouth, buttery texture.
- Maintain internal temperature of 195-205° F: Maintaining an internal meat temperature of 195-205° F is crucial to creating a soft and succulent texture to your meat. It will make the meat shreddable, but not ropy.
- Keep the lid ajar: Keeping the dutch oven lid ajar, slightly offset, while the meat cooks is essential to maintaining a steady internal temperature in the meat over the long roasting time.
- Dry brine: Prior to searing the chuck roast, you want to do a dry brine on the meat, meaning that you salt all sides of the meat, then allow it to rest for 20-30 minutes. After 20-30 minutes. Pat all sides of the meat dry with a paper towel. This is going to help draw some of the moisture out of the roast and allow the meat to get a nice, crispy sear on it. Dry-brining also allows the seasoning to set in deep into the fibers of the roast, flavoring and tenderizing the meat.
- Bone broth: I recommend using homemade bone broth to make this recipe. It will add a lot of additional flavor and a ton of essential nutrients that your body needs such as collagen, magnesium, potassium, and much more.