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Easy Slow Cooker Pot Roast

Slow Cooker Pot Roast is a mouth-watering, healthy and hearty meal that will feed the entire family.

This beef roast is a stick-to-your-ribs meal with plenty of flavor, and it only requires a few minutes of prep before cooking. You can come home at the end of a long day to a nice hot tender pot roast.

An Easy Pot Roast Recipe

Slow Cooker Pot Roast is an easy recipe to fix for dinner. The delicious recipe, with plenty of seasoning, will feed a family of six with ease.

This easy pot roast recipe features veggies, potatoes, chicken broth, and lots of tender meat for a well-rounded out meal. It’s comfort food at it’s best.

This might be one of the best Crock Pot roast recipes because you can toss the simple ingredients in the pot in under a few minutes, turn it on, let it cook, and come home to a delicious meal.

I gotta say, this main dish is one of my all-time favorite meals–for several reasons:

It’s easy to throw together

It takes me about 15 minutes to peel the potatoes, chop some onions and celery, and add everything to the Crock Pot.

You can add red potatoes, Russet potatoes (that’s what I use), sweet potatoes, or Yukon gold potatoes and have a ton of flavor.

And after picking up kids from school, going to practices, and running errands, it’s nice to come home to a finished meal that has been cooking on the low setting all day.

The Slow Cooker Pot Roast Tastes Delicious

I love the way the roast falls apart and the veggies are soft and piping hot. There’s a whole intermingling of flavors that is just amazing. 

The Dinner Is Versatile

You can add just about any type of veggie, red wine vinegar, onion flakes, ranch seasoning, or anything you’d like. Tomatoes, green beans, corn, butter beans and so much more can be added to the roast.

What is the Best Cut of Meat for Pot Roast?

Chuck roast is the best cut of meat for a pot roast, which is the shoulder section.

But there’s more than one type of meat, including:

Don’t be worried about the fat in the meat because it will add a lot of flavor to this dish and help create tender meat that can’t be beaten. If you place your fork on the meat, it falls apart so easily.

And fork tender is the best kind of slow cooker pot roast.

Is There a Difference Between Pot Roast and Roast Beef?

The main difference is that roast beef is cooked without liquid, and pot roast is cooked with liquid. 

Is a Beef Chuck Roast Tender?

Yes, any meat that comes from the shoulder will be tender cuts of beef, and very delicious after the cooking process.

And when you cook the meat on low for 8-10 hours, the meat will be the most tender roast.

Items You Will Need for the Best Pot Roast Recipe in a Slow Cooker

You will need the following ingredients for this recipe that makes a complete meal.

  • Crock Pot
  • Chuck roast
  • Large potatoes
  • Baby carrots
  • Diced celery
  • Diced onion
  • Minced garlic
  • 1 packet of onion soup mix
  • Chicken broth
  • Water

Full printable recipe with measurements and instructions listed at the bottom of the post in the recipe card.

Slow Cooker Pot Roast is an easy recipe to fix for dinner. The delicious recipe, with plenty of seasoning, will feed a family of six with ease.

Where do you Buy Your Meat and Veggies?

I usually buy the meat at Publix or Fresh Market when it goes on sale.

You can freeze it until you’re ready to use the meat and then you can set the meat in the refrigerator at least one day ahead to thaw it out a little. 

I buy the veggies at Aldi’s Grocery Store or Kroger delivery because I get a great deal on the veggies. You can buy a large bag of potatoes for around five dollars. 

How Long Do I Cook a Pot Roast in the Slow Cooker?

I usually cook the meat for about eight hours on low to get it tender. You can also cook the roast on high for four to six hours, but I personally don’t think the meat will be as tender.

How To Make the Easy Slow Cooker Pot Roast

Slow Cooker Pot Roast is an easy recipe to fix for dinner. The delicious recipe, with plenty of seasoning, will feed a family of six with ease.

Peel and dice the potatoes and put them into the bottom of the slow cooker.

TIP: I always spray the cooker with non stick cooking spray before adding any food. It helps make clean up easier.

Slow Cooker Pot Roast is an easy recipe to fix for dinner. The delicious recipe, with plenty of seasoning, will feed a family of six with ease.

Cut up the celery and the onion and add it in. I use baby carrots and just put those in whole.

I also buy minced garlic in a small jar. It just makes life easier and I can spoon some out and put it in the slow cooker

Slow Cooker Pot Roast is an easy recipe to fix for dinner. The delicious recipe, with plenty of seasoning, will feed a family of six with ease.

Place beef chuck roast on the top and sprinkle the packet of dried onion soup mix on top. 

If you don’t have any dry onion soup mix, you can sprinkle on some dry ranch dressing mix instead, beefy onion dry soup mix, or French onion soup mix. The other soups make for a flavorful roast, as well.

I like to keep a packet of Lipton handy for recipes. You can get a regular rotation of soup flavors going for your pot roasts.

If you want to make your own soup mix, give this homemade dry onion soup mix a try from The County Cook.

Some people like to sear both sides of their meat in a large hot skillet with butter before adding it to the slow cooker. You can do that, but it’s not necessary.

Slow Cooker Pot Roast is an easy recipe to fix for dinner. The delicious recipe, with plenty of seasoning, will feed a family of six with ease.

Add the chicken broth (or beef broth) and water, as well as a pinch of salt and pepper to give it some more seasoning.

I didn’t add too much salt, because the onion soup can be a bit salty. 

Cook on low heat for about eight hours. At the end of the cooking time, when you take off the lid, you’ll have a wonderful beef pot roast.

If you want to cook the roast in less time, you can cook it on the high setting for about five to six hours. Just be sure it’s done cooking.

The temperature should reach 210 degrees when it’s done cooking.

Mmm… your easy slow cooker pot roast recipe is done with little effort!

Optional Ingredients

One of the great things about this recipe is that it has some versatility to it. You can take some of the liquid and create a brown gravy mix with a cornstarch slurry, and create a very rich gravy to pour over the roast and veggies.

Remove about two cups of water and add about two tablespoons of cornstarch. Then, mix it well and pour it back into the Crock Pot. Let it cook for another 30 minutes or so to thicken.

You can add more or less cornstarch depending on how thick you want the gravy. You will need about one to two parts cornstarch to the water.

You can also switch out some of the veggies for broccoli, cauliflower, green beans, or some butter beans.

Slow Cooker Pot Roast is an easy recipe to fix for dinner. The delicious recipe, with plenty of seasoning, will feed a family of six with ease.

This pot roast recipe in the slow cooker is somewhat of a budget-friendly meal. I spent around $20 on everything.

We have two adults and two growing teens, and we got two good, filling meals out of the recipe.

What to do With Leftover Pot Roast

We love leftovers here, and that’s one more night I don’t have to cook! To store the leftovers, put them in an airtight container and refrigerate.

You can reheat the pot roast the next day on the stovetop, in the oven, or in the microwave.

Slow Cooker Pot Roast is an easy recipe to fix for dinner. The delicious recipe, with plenty of seasoning, will feed a family of six with ease.

Other Slow Cooking Meals that are Perfect for Potlucks, Family Meals, and Easy Dinners

We love an easy recipe, and slow cooker meals are some of our favorites. Here are some to choose from.

  • Crock Pot Beef and Noodles – This is similar to a hamburger helper type of meal. But, you’re not standing in front of the stove. It’s one of those easy recipes to make and has a lot of flavor with ingredients such as Worcestershire sauce, mushroom soup, ground beef, and sour cream. Plus, you’ll have plenty of leftovers.
  • Easy Crock Pot Meatball recipe – This is a great dish to make for parties or for home. You can save it for several meals and eat it with mashed potatoes, on a hoagie bun, or on top of noodles. 
  • Crock Pot Chicken and Rice – This is one of my favorite meals around here. I am not always the best planner, and I forget to set out the chicken to thaw. Thankfully, I can add frozen chicken to the slow cooker, let it cook, and later add some rice. It’s a super easy family dinner. 
  • Chicken and Dumplings – I make this a lot around here. It’s such an easy dinner to make, and it’s another recipe where you can use frozen chicken in the slow cooker. You just need to add a few things, and you’ll have dinner on the table in a few hours. 
  • Slow Cooker Pork Chops and Gravy has been a very popular recipe because it’s so delicious and easy to make. This is another soup mixture recipe, with condensed soup, that has so much flavor.
  • Easy Crock Pot Meals is a great list of meals for the entire family.
  • Mississippi Pot Roast is the perfect pot roast. It’s easy to make and only requires five ingredients!

What To Serve With Pot Roast

Slow Cooker Pot Roast With Onion Soup Mix

Check out the best slow cooker pot roast recipe card below, grab those ingredients, and start cooking! This is a great meal any time of the year and I think you’ll  love it.

Then, share your comments below and click here to share a picture of your classic pot roast recipe on the Pinterest Pin!  If you made any changes or added something different, be sure to share it with us so we can try it, too!

Slow Cooker Pot Roast is an easy recipe to fix for dinner. The delicious recipe, with plenty of seasoning, will feed a family of six with ease.

Slow Cooker Pot Roast

Yield: 8 servings
Prep Time: 15 minutes
Cook Time: 8 hours
Total Time: 8 hours 15 minutes

Slow Cooker Pot Roast is a mouth-watering, healthy meal that will feed the entire family. This easy pot roast recipe features veggies, potatoes, and lots of tender meat for a rounded out meal. 

Ingredients

  • 3 lbs chuck roast
  • 6 large potatoes (cut into 1-1/2" pieces)
  • 1 cup baby carrots
  • 1 celery stalk (diced)
  • 1/4 onion (diced)
  • 1 Tbsp. minced garlic
  • 1 - 1oz pkg onion dip
  • 1 - 14.5oz. can chicken broth
  • 2-1/2 cans water (use the chicken broth can)

Instructions

  1. Peel the potatoes, cut them into 1-1/2" pieces, and add to the slow cooker.
  2. Dice the onion and celery and add it to the slow cooker, as well as the carrots and garlic.
  3. Add the chuck roast on top and sprinkle the onion dip over the top of the roast.
  4. Add a pinch of salt and pepper.
  5. Add the can of chicken broth and 2-1/2 cans of water to the slow cooker. (You might need a little bit more or less water, depending on the size of your slow cooker).
  6. Set on low and cook for 8 hours or until the roast is tender.

Notes

Add tomatoes or corn for more variety.

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Nutrition Information:
Yield: 8 servings Serving Size: 1 serving
Amount Per Serving: Calories: 631Total Fat: 27gSaturated Fat: 11gTrans Fat: 2gUnsaturated Fat: 14gCholesterol: 145mgSodium: 504mgCarbohydrates: 50gFiber: 5gSugar: 4gProtein: 48g

Nutrition is approximate

Did you make this recipe?

Please leave a comment on the blog or share a photo on Pinterest

Ann

Sunday 2nd of April 2023

I just tried this dish. After 8 (low) hours, the meat was very tender and the veggies (onions, carrots and celery) were delicious. However, next time I will definitely add more seasoning. It was missing something 🤷🏽‍♀️… Also, I used 2 cans of water (vs. 2 1/2), but it was still too much liquid. So basically, add more seasoning and reduce the liquids. Also, next time, I may add in additional potatoes and carrots during the last 3 hours. Overall, quick and easy dish.

Julie Pollitt

Monday 3rd of April 2023

Thanks for the ideas! Glad you liked it!

mbj

Wednesday 1st of February 2023

Did not like this at all. Very little flavor. Too much water/broth!!

Julie Pollitt

Thursday 2nd of February 2023

Hi mbj,

You can use a little less liquid if it was too much. You can also add some more of your favorite seasonings to the dish, as well.

Barbara

Friday 11th of November 2022

Wonderful recipe!

And to the person who questioned the chicken broth with beef -- yep! it's a great addition. I even sometimes cook my green beans in chicken broth.

Julie Pollitt

Sunday 13th of November 2022

Thank you!

Uncle Shorty

Thursday 27th of October 2022

Chicken broth in a beef pot roast? BAAWAAHAAAAA

Julie Pollitt

Friday 28th of October 2022

It's delicious! You should try it. :) What's the old saying? "Don't knock it until you try it."

Shelby

Saturday 30th of July 2022

I have tried to make a pot roast that wasn't too chewy... I've tried probably 9 times before this recipe! This was SCRUMPTIOUS! Thank you for providing this! Could you add a "jump to recipe" button at the top of your recipes? I've scrolled through some of your other recipes, and it probably would have been more if I didn't have to scroll! I work in marketing. Highly recommend the "jump to recipe"! Just an idea. Thanks again for the recipe!

Julie Pollitt

Saturday 30th of July 2022

Hi Shelby, I am so happy to hear that the roast was scrumptious! It's a great go-to roast recipe! I have a Jump To Recipe right at the top of the page below the social media buttons. Every once in a while it's not there and you're always welcome to let me know if you see a post without it. I can go in and update it. Thanks!

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