Easy Oven Pot Roast Recipe (How to Cook)

Easy Oven Pot Roast recipe is one you’ll share with your family over and over! It’s an easy recipe with onion soup mix, carrots and onions, creating a melt in your mouth tender roast! 

This recipe is the slow-cooking chuck roast recipe you’re craving when you need comfort food.

If you love hearty beef broth braised beef roast, this recipe is for you.

In this post you’ll learn a few tips and tricks for the best way to cook a tough cut of beef, turning it into a juicy pot roast you’re family will love!

​Easy Oven Pot Roast

Making pot roast is one of the easiest meals you can make.

​The major key players in creating an irresistible roast beef are flavor and time.

You need to season the meat and broth so it packs in the flavor.

Then, you need to let the oven and time do their job.

If you’ve ever had a dry, tough pot roast, it wasn’t cooked long enough! 

With any tough cut of meat, let the slow cooking process do it’s job in either a large dutch oven, crock pot, or even on a low simmer on the stove top! 

Before you read any further, if you’re interested in making a Pot Roast for Two, this will become your go to recipe! As the single girl, it’s nice to have a little pot roast without making enough for an army.

Okay! Back to a classic pot roast that is packed with flavor.

I love using Lipton’s Onion Soup Mix for pot roast. In my opinion, the beef and onion flavors are the classic pairing with roast.

You don’t call it easy oven pot roast if you’re using a ton of ingredients!

How to Make Pot Roast

Let’s chat about the various cuts of meat you can use for your pot roast.

My favorite is the chuck roast. It’s a large cut of beef that has fiberous tendons running down the middle. While it has a lot of connective tissues, but it cooks up so well and shreds to nice pieces. I like using a boneless beef chuck roast, around a 2.5 pounds to 3 pounds. For me, this makes the perfect pot roast! 

You could also use a rump roast or even some ribeye steaks. If you pick up a package of cut meat called “stew meat,” this is a great way to use it! 

In the bottom of your dutch oven, heat up a good swirl of olive oil in the bottom of the pan. Use a medium-high heat! Not ripping hot, something that sears the meat slower at a low temperature. 

While the oil heats up, you’ll season the chuck roast both sides. I used The Usual seasoning that I found at Walmart. It’s got everything in it! The perfect blend of rosemary, garlic, black pepper, and a pinch of cayenne.

We want to sear the meat on both sides before we add the carrots and onions.

((I have thoughts on vegetables in pot roast… keep reading to learn them!))

​While the meat sears, slice up a couple of medium onions and several carrots in large chunks. 

Sear the meat for 4-5 minutes on each side. You want to create a heart crust on both sides. 

I used a Staub Cast Iron Round Cocotte. It’s my favorite for braising meat!

​Once the beef is seared, you’ll remove it to a plate on the side and add in your onions and carrots.

​Let those cook for about 6 minutes, stirring occasionally.

Now, you’ll pour in a package of the onion soup mix along with unsalted beef broth. I like to add a bottle of red wine, too! Just because it adds so much flavor. If you’re not a fan, leave it out.

Using a wooden spoon scrape up the brown bits that form on the bottom of the large pot. The acid from the red wine helps bring all of that up.

Add in your seared chuck roast and a couple of bay leaves.

I also added in a bunch of fresh thyme and some whole garlic cloves.

Pop the top on the whole thing and roast in the oven for a couple of hours at minimum.

The cooking times will vary, depending on how large your beef is.

Tender Pot Roast Tips

Everyone wants a fork tender pot roast, and there’s really only one secret: time. 

Around the two hour mark, I will remove the roast, and use two forks to see if it’s shreddable. If the meat doesn’t immediately fall apart, it goes back into the oven for another half hour. 

Your easy oven pot roast should be easy, y’all! Let the oven do its job.

You might need to add some more beef broth, too. If there isn’t enough liquid, you may get a little dry on the top. As your cooking time increases, add in a few splashes. And don’t worry about too much liquid (unless it’s about to spill out of the pot!). I’ll share how to turn that liquid into a gravy for the shredded meat.

​If you’re worried about knowing if your beef is cooked through, you could use a meat thermometer. But the internal temperature of a boneless chuck roast won’t matter if you’ve cooked it for a few hours! 

Now, here’s my secret: I remove the beef and place it on a big wooden cutting board. It should come apart in pieces, so pick up all the big meaty pieces and let it rest a few minutes on your big board.

While that is happening, you can make the pot liquid into a gravy. 

Making Pot Roat Gravy

You have a couple of options for making the gravy for a pot roast.

​Remove some of the liquid, carrots, and onions, and blend them together.

You can mix cornstarch and cold water to create a slurry, then pour that into the pot and bring it to a boil.

​Or, you can mix room-temperature butter with flour to create a beurre manié. It’s the French trick to thicken something, and it’s my favorite way! 

It’s how I create gravies in a slow cooker by whisking in that flour and butter combo, and then letting the slow cooker continue cooking.

While your pot roast liquid is simmering with the additions, you can shred your beef removing any large connective tissues that didn’t break down.

Add the shredded beef back to the pot and stir into the thickened sauce.

I like to add a little Worcestershire sauce at this point! It helps give great flavor, creating the best pot roast! 

​Serving Pot Roast for Sunday Dinner

I grew up as a pot roast for one of our favorite after-church Sunday dinner meals.

​Now, here comes my rant on vegetables in pot roast.

​I know this recipe is made with carrots and onions in the pot, but most recipes use celery and potatoes, too.

​Personally, I like serving this Dutch oven pot roast with Creamy Mashed Potatoes or Goat Cheese Grits! If I really want chunky potatoes with this meal, I’ll roast them separately so they remain intact and don’t just disintegrate into the whole pot. 

With this hearty meal you’ll need a salad, I like making this Caprese Caesar Salad to serve with it.

​Some roasted green beans also pair well. 

If you have easy oven pot roast leftovers, store them in an airtight container in the fridge for up to five days.

This makes a fantastic meal prep idea, too!

You can stuff tortillas with the shredded beef and make enchiladas — you can top Mexican rice with a rice bowl. Or you can serve it with crispy air fryer tater tots for some delicious touches!

​It also freezes beautifully for a second meal when you know you have a busy season ahead. I like to freeze in aluminum pans for easy thawing, baking, and cleanup!

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