Dutch Oven Pot Roast with Carrots and Potatoes
Dutch oven pot roast with carrots and potatoes gets juicy and fork tender right from the oven. If you have time to skip the slow cooker, it’s worth it for a melt in your mouth meal you’ll be happy to serve again and again.
If you’ve been around here any length of time, you know that I’m not a slow cooker person. I won’t rant–but just know that it doesn’t produce the kind of food we enjoy.
And it seems like the #1 food people want to make in a slow cooker is a pot roast. And a lot of pull it off. I’ve tried it but my meat comes out so dry at the end. Yes, it’s tender on some occasions but what’s the trade off? The meat has just been cooked to death.
That’s why I’m far and away a fan of a dutch oven pot roast. Dutch ovens are made from cast iron and retain and distribute heat really evenly. Plus the tight fitting lid allows moisture to stay inside for the most part and with a few tricks, makes the juiciest pot roast you’ve ever had.
This recipe probably won’t be something you make on a week night if you’re terribly busy–but save it for a weekend, or if you happen to have a snow day at home and you’ll be so glad you put it together.
Add those carrots and potatoes in the last hour of cooking and they are so soft when you’re ready to eat that they beg for a light mash with a little butter and salt.
Perfection.
Tips for a top-notch dutch oven pot roast
- Use a heavy cast iron dutch oven with a lid. This one is my favorite. or a good quality oven-safe pot with a tight lid. Just covering your meat in aluminum foil won’t really cut it.
- Sear your meat first over high heat to start the browning process. Browning meat equals flavor and we need that.
- Use a good beef broth with your meat, and check the level of the liquid around your dutch oven pot roast every hour to hour and a half. Add some water if it’s reduced too much.
- I prefer a chuck roast for this recipe, but a cheaper tougher cut could work if you’re willing to cook it longer.
- Add carrots and potatoes to the pot during the last 45 minutes to an hour of cook time so they absorb the broth and get good and soft.
>>This is not a rare roast beef recipe. Please take note.<<
I’ve gotten a bit of hate mail from some confused home cooks who make this and then yell that their roast is overcooked at the halfway point.
This is not oven roasted rare roast beef and at no point should you be taking its temperature.
This is a pot roast that’s braised–a technique that uses moisture and long cook times to break down tough cuts of meat like a chuck roast until it falls apart. If you want a rare roast beef, you want a recipe like this one.
Watch me make the full recipe on YouTube
These homemade rolls would be great on the side or my no-yeast quick version if you need something faster.
Dutch Oven Pot Roast with Carrots and Potatoes
Ingredients
- 2 tablespoons vegetable or olive oil
- 1/2 red onion sliced
- 2 pound chuck roast
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 1/2 teaspoon black pepper
- 4 cups beef broth
- 3 large russet potatoes peeled and sliced into 1-inch wedges
- 5 large carrots peeled and sliced into 1-inch thick pieces
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 375.
- Put your dutch oven on the stove and heat it over high heat about 5 minutes to sear the meat. (Please watch your pot and monitor the heat. Your pot may only need 3 minutes or 4. Y'all stop trying to burn your houses down because I said 5 minutes) Add the oil and season the meat with salt and pepper on both sides. Add it to the pan. It should sizzle immediately.
- Reduce the heat to medium high, and let the meat sear on one side 5 minutes, then flip. Add the onions and cook 5 minutes more.
- Add the beef broth to the pot--it should come about halfway up the side of the meat.
- Cover and bake an hour and a half, then check the liquid in the pot. Add a cup or so of extra water if needed.
- Reduce the heat to 350 and bake an additional hour, and then add the carrots and potatoes. Bake covered 45 minutes longer or until the meat is tender and the potatoes and carrots are soft.
Our very favorite pot roast recipie!! The veggies are perfect.
This is the first time in 18 years I’ve made a Pot Roast as my late husband who passed recently was incredibly sensitive to beef of any kind, so I stopped cooking beef when we were married. This was bang on…so tender and juicy. I removed the Roast and veggies and made a slurry of cornstarch to thicken the juice, and added salt and more ground black pepper. This recipe is a winner! Thank you so much for sharing!! I also have leftovers
now which I will package and freeze once completely cold, so I’ll have a few ready to eat meals when I don’t feel up to cooking.
Certainly a bittersweet reason I’m sure Wendy. I’m so sorry for your loss but so glad you enjoyed the recipe. And leftovers are wonderful! Enjoy. 🙂 –Rachel
My daughter, her children, and myself just enjoyed the best Pot Roast I’ve ever prepared. your recipe is spot on. Salt and pepper and a real good sear was the start of a masterpiece. I used a very well marbled Chuck Roast and added 2 cloves of minced garlic and 2 sprigs of fresh Rosemary. The onion disappeared from sight but the flavor remained. When I read other comments about herbs and garlic I had to use it. @ Rick, next time add the flavor you want and then you’ll get the flavor you want. My grandchildren are asking me when I’m making this again.Thanks a million for this and other great recipes.
I’m so glad you all enjoyed it! Thank you for your comment. –Rachel
What is the final temp supposed to be at?
Hi Robert–you’ll find that in step 6. Reduce the heat to 350 after an hour and a half at 375. –Rachel
Baking beef stew vs stovetop cooking is something different for me. Cant wait to try it. What is the cook time iand temp if done on a gas stove?
Hi Jodie, well this isn’t beef stew in the oven though it may seem that way since some of the ingredients are similar. This is a pot roast with carrots and potatoes so it’s meant to be served as a pile of meat on a platter with the vegetables on the side and perhaps a gravy made with the drippings. Does that make sense? I cook on gas and there are no changes to the recipe for a gas oven vs. an electric oven. –Rachel
If I use yellow onion will it have the same delicious flavor?
Yep that’s just fine!
Leslie, I used a large Vidalia onion sliced thin and it had the best flavor I can imagine having.
I have a 2 lb petite sirloin roast… any adjustments to the time????
Hey Dave, no real adjustments–just know that sirloin roasts are lower in fat than the chuck roast recommended here so you may end up with a drier end result. –Rachel
i am new to dutch oven cooking.. I felt it was less dry than crock pot roast, a bit more tender. used juice to make a gravy. Husband was pleased and he doesn’t care much for my crock pot roast so I definitely will keep cooking it in Dutch oven.
Just wondering how much longer to cook a 3lb roast for this recipe?
I cooked one that was 2lbs, followed everything exactly and it was Amazing!!
Hey Lisa, there’s not really a set time on that. Just until it falls apart. Maybe an hour to an hour and a half longer? That’s just a ballpark guess. I do this recipe with roasts of various sizes and never watch the clock. I always just check the meat and take it out when it’s fork tender.–Rachel
Just made this today! Veggies are delicious; meat made it’s own gravy pretty much. Used butter instead of olive oil, minced garlic too!
Will definitely make it again.