How to Cook and Serve Southern Beef Pot Roast
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This Southern-style beef pot roast recipe is delicious and comforting. And the best part is you can cook and serve this pot roast in the same dish for easy cleanup! From the melt-in-your-mouth beef roast to the fork-tender root vegetables, you’ll find yourself making this simple recipe over and over again. The flavorful beef gets extra juicy from long, low cooking, along with the vegetables surrounding it. Serve it alongside some fluffy dinner rolls to soak up all the delicious and nutritious broth. Round out the meal with something sweet for dessert. Double chocolate pecan brownies, fruit cake, or German chocolate cake using freshly milled flour are great options.
There’s just something special about a good, hearty beef pot roast simmering away in the kitchen. It’s the kind of meal that fills your home with the most wonderful aroma that’s rich, savory, and comforting all at once. Around here, a pot roast isn’t just supper…it’s a gathering. It’s a meal that says “slow down and stay a while.”
Cooking a beef pot roast doesn’t have to be complicated. With a good cut of meat, some basic seasonings, and time to let it all come together, you can create a dish that’s tender enough to pull apart with a fork. The key is letting the roast cook low and slow until it practically melts in your mouth.
When it’s time to serve, I like to surround the roast with its own flavorful vegetables like carrots, potatoes, and onion, and spoon that rich broth right over the top. Add a side of homemade bread to soak up the juices, and you’ve got a cozy, down-home meal that makes everyone at the table feel cared for.
Why You’ll Love This Recipe
Perfect Sunday Meal – Since this recipe needs a long time to cook, it’s great on days when you’ll be busy or out of the house. On Sunday mornings, I’ll get a pot roast going before getting ready and leaving for church with the family. And then when we all get home and the kids are complaining about hungry bellies, the house smells amazing and lunch is ready!
Easy Recipe – This is one of the easiest meals you can put together because you just need one dish and everything cooks together without any fuss!
Better the Next Day – While this pot roast hits the spot the day that you make it, it’s even better the next day. That means it’s also a great make-ahead meal.
Southern Flavors – While there are a multitude of pot roast recipes that include things like tomato past, red wine, and fresh herbs, this one is typical if you were born and raised in the Southeast United States and skips all that.
Ingredients
The star of the show is a good beef chuck roast, which comes from the neck…the most tender area. Other roasts from this ideal area are the boneless top blade roast, boneless shoulder pot roast, arm pot roast, and sometimes butchers will just label a cut “pot roast.” However, you can also use a tough cut of meat like a rib eye roast, tenderloin roast, bottom round roast, or top round roast.
A full ingredient list with exact amounts can be found in the recipe card below.
How to Make Southern Beef Pot Roast
First, preheat your oven to 325°F (160°C).
Then heat about a tablespoon each of butter and good olive oil an enameled cast iron Dutch oven over medium to medium-high heat. The butter is for flavor and color.
Next, dry off a 3-pound to 5-pound beef chuck roast with some paper towels or napkins so that you can get a good sear on your meat.
When the butter and oil are hot, gently set your roast into the Dutch oven. Then sprinkle each side to taste with salt and Montreal steak seasoning.
I usually add about a quarter teaspoon of salt and a half teaspoon of Montreal seasoning to each side. Then I’ll add more spices to the vegetables so that everything is flavorful, but not too spicy for the kids.
I buy a 1-pound bag of Azure Standard’s Montreal steak seasoning blend, but did you know that you can make your own? Just combine coarse salt, coarse pepper, dehydrated minced garlic and onion, red pepper flakes, coriander, and dill.
While the roast is searing, wash six medium potatoes, four large carrots, and peel a large onion. Then cut your potatoes into quarters. Yellow potatoes and red potatoes are my favorite in this recipe, but you can also use fingerling, or potato medleys.
Then wash and cut four long carrots into big chunks. I cut large carrots lengthwise in half first, and then chop them down into 1-inch pieces or so. If you want to save time, you can use baby carrots instead.
Lastly, slice the onion in half and then into half-inch slices.
After 4 minutes or so, check to see if the bottom side of your roast is seared. It should have a deep brown and golden brown crust. When one side is seared, flip it over to sear the opposite side.
Once both sides of the pot roast are seared, turn off the heat. Add the chopped potatoes, carrots, and onion slices. Then sprinkle the vegetables with salt and Montreal seasoning. Pour in a quart or three and a half cups of filtered water.
Put the lid on your Dutch oven and bake it in the oven at 325°F (160°C) for 2 hours. When the timer goes off, turn the heat down to 250°F (120°C). Cook the roast and vegetables for another 2 hours or more.
When the final timer goes off, check to see if your pot roast is tender by sticking a fork in it. If your fork goes in easily and you have tender meat, it’s done to perfection.
The vegetables will also be soft and juicy, but they will hold their shape and be firm enough to spoon into bowls.
How to Serve Pot Roast
The best part about pot roast is that you can serve it straight out of the Dutch oven you cooked it in. Simply put a few potato, carrot, and onion slices in a bowl along with tender beef, and use a ladle to spoon in some delicious beef and vegetable broth.
A great side dish to have is fresh dinner rolls. You can make fluffy dinner rolls a day in advance so that they’re ready when you need them. You can also serve pot roast with a whole wheat artisan boule, corn bread, crescent rolls, or French bread to soak up the braising liquid just as easily.
Tips
- The key to tender pot roast is to roast it for at least 4 hours or even 5 hours. The amount of time makes a HUGE difference. If you cook your pot roast for less than 4 hours, it will be tough and you’ll have to use a knife. So don’t lose your patience.
- Take care that you’re using a low temperature. Pot roast is best when it roasts at a low heat of 325°F (160°C) for 2 hours and then for another 2 hours or more at 250°F (120°C).
- Cook and serve pot roast in the same dish the Southern way by using a pretty cast iron Dutch oven. It goes from stove top to oven to table better than anything else. The food also tastes better, I think.
Recipe FAQs
You can set the lid on your Dutch oven and simply move it to the refrigerator to store your pot roast once it’s cooled down. Alternatively, use an airtight container and refrigerate for several days.
If you want to change things up, add more vegetables to this dish. Roasted brussels sprouts or green beans are a tasty side dish. Also, mashed potatoes with sour cream or potato casserole topped with cheddar cheese are a great alternative if you only have russet potatoes or don’t want to roast potatoes in with your pot roast. And sweet potatoes can also be used in lieu of white potatoes.
To make slow-cooker pot roast, follow the same steps. Cook your pot roast on low for 5 to 7 hours, or on high for 2 to 4 hours.
More Lunch and Dinner Recipes from the Farm
- Skillet Pork Chops with Caramelized Apples
- Simply Satisfying Country Fried Steak Recipe
- Ham, Potato, and Cheese Casserole Recipe
If you try this recipe and love it, I would love if you gave it 5 stars! Also, tag me on Instagram @rivers.family.farm.
Southern Beef Pot Roast Recipe
Southern Style Beef Pot Roast Recipe
Equipment
- cast iron enameled Dutch oven
- tongs
- measuring cups and spoons
Ingredients
- beef chuck roast, thawed (3 to 5 pounds)
- 1 tbsp butter
- 1 tbsp olive oil
- 6 medium potatoes, washed and quartered
- 4 large carrots, washed and diced large
- 1 sweet onion, peeled and sliced
- 1 quart filtered water
- sea salt, to taste
- Montreal steak seasoning, to taste
Instructions
- Preheat your oven to 325°F. Set your Dutch oven on your stove over medium-high heat and add the butter and olive oil. Pat your roast dry and season it with salt and Montreal seasoning. Sear each side about 4 minutes or so.
- When both sides of the chuck roast are seared with a golden brown crust, turn off the heat and add the potatoes, carrots, and onion. Then season the vegetables with salt and Montreal seasoning, and add a quart of water.
- Put the lid on your Dutch oven, and bake the roast for 2 hours at 325℉. After 2 hours, turn down the heat to 250℉ and cook an additional 2 hours or until a fork pulls the meat apart easily. Serve in a bowl with plenty of broth and a side of bread.
Tips
- The key to tender pot roast is to roast it for at least 4 hours or more at a low temperature. If you cook it for less than 4 hours, it will be tough.
- Cook and serve pot roast in the same dish the Southern way by using a pretty cast iron Dutch oven. It goes from stove top to oven to table better than anything else.
- Use an airtight container and refrigerate for several days to store your meal.
