In this french onion pot roast recipe, browned beef chuck roast is cooked low and slow with sautéed onions, carrots, celery, and garlic in an onion soup broth. At the end we get a delicious, fall-apart roast with potatoes and a fantastic onion sauce.
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A roast with french onion soup is not the traditional take on pot roast but it’s flavorful, tender, and a cinch to make. This is an easy recipe with simple ingredients. If you want to try more tasty roasts make our more traditional stovetop pot roast and this budget-friendly pork pot roast.
This pot roast with onion soup is an effortless way to get a meal together that’s Sunday dinner worthy. We use canned french onion soup for this recipe. It’s a great idea to store a few cans in the pantry. Use them to make this french onion beef roast, then try our easy french onion pork chops and this amazing french onion chicken recipe.
Ingredients
- Beef – We use a boneless chuck roast. You can use a bone in chuck (7-bone steak) too. Other options include brisket and bottom round if you need alternatives.
- Seasoning – This dish is simply seasoned with salt and pepper because we’re adding a ton of flavor with the aromatics and the onion soup.
- Oil – We sear the beef on medium heat so we can get away with using olive oil in this recipe. You can use your favorite oil that has a similar smoke point.
- Produce – Yellow or white onion, carrot, celery, and garlic make up the flavor base and small red potatoes are added at the end.
- Pantry – We use canned condensed french onion soup. Other varieties not labeled “condensed” will also work.
- See the recipe card for quantities and preparation.
Instructions
Trim any large pieces of fat from around the roast. Pat the meat dry. Season it with salt and pepper. Let it sit out at room temperature for 15-20 minutes provided it’s cool in your kitchen.
Heat the olive oil in a large, heavy pot (we used a 6-quart dutch oven) over medium heat. Add the chuck roast. Cook for 5-6 minutes, or until browned and the meat releases.
Turn the roast and cook for another 5-6 minutes until it’s browned. Take the pot off the heat and remove the roast. Place it on a pan or plate and cover loosely with foil to keep warm.
- Do not wash or wipe the pot. Place it back over medium heat and add the onions, carrots, and celery. Cook the vegetables for 5 minutes until the onions start to soften. Stir often.
- Next, add the garlic. Cook for 1 minute while stirring.
- Add the onion soup to the sautéed vegetables while stirring and gently scrapping any bits off the bottom of the pot.
- Return the chuck roast to the pot along with any juices collected on the plate or pan. Add enough water so that at least three-quarters (¾) of the roast is covered with liquid at its thickest part.
If the onion soup broth does not come to a simmer right away, then raise the heat. When it starts simmering lower the heat to medium-low and cover the pot. Keep the liquid at a simmer during the cooking time, raise or lower the heat as needed.
Cook the roast with onion soup for about 2½ hours or until it’s almost fall-apart tender. Check on it every ½ hour or so, especially after raising or lowering the heat to make sure the liquid is simmering how we want it.
Add the potatoes to the pot. Arrange them around the roast. Make sure that they are submerged in the onion broth. Raise the heat and let the liquid come back to a simmer. Then, lower it to medium-low.
Cover the pot and cook the meat and potatoes for another 20-30 minutes until they’re both tender. A fork or a knife should slide in and out without them offering any resistance.
Serve the French onion pot roast with a generous piece of crusty bread to soak up the delicious broth, if desired.
Cook’s note
Despite the long cooking time I prefer to make roasts on the stovetop instead of using a slow cooker. I have a few reasons. The main one is that to achieve the best flavor in a pot roast you should brown the meat.
Browning meat before braising develops flavor and enhances the color of the dish. This advice goes for the slow-cooker and a pressure cooker. So, if I’m going to use a pot to brown the meat, I’ll just cook the whole thing there.
Frequently asked questions
Pot roast is braised beef roast that is quickly browned then cooked on low heat in a covered pot with a liquid. The meat is usually an affordable, tough cut that tenderizes with the long cooking time. Because slowly cooking the meat breaks down the connective tissue and it becomes fall-apart tender.
Boneless chuck roast is the frontrunner when it comes to pot roast. It’s a tough cut that comes from the shoulder region of the cow. 7-Bone roast is the bone-in equivalent of the chuck roast. Brisket is another cut that’s used for pot roast. It comes from the breast section of the animal. Beef bottom round is another good option. It comes from the rear leg of the cow.
If you ate all the meat and vegetables but have liquid leftover, you can store it for other uses. Strain it using a mesh sieve. Store the liquid in an airtight container in the refrigerator for 3-4 days or freeze for up to 2 months. Use it to make gravy, saute vegetables, or add it to soups to kick-up the flavor.
Variations and substitutions
If you prefer to use a french onion soup mix prepare an equivalent amount following the package directions. Keep in mind that we are using condensed soup for this recipe when choosing the mix.
If you don’t have red potatoes substitute with yellow, Yukon, or white. Adjust the cooking time by a few minutes if needed. Russet potatoes will also work in a pinch. Peel them and watch the cooking time so they don’t overcook and fall apart.
Storing instructions
Store leftovers in an airtight container in the refrigerator for 3-4 days or freeze for 2-3 months.
For more information on food storage and safety guidelines visit U.S. Department of Agriculture and foodsafety.gov.
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📖 Recipe
French Onion Pot Roast
Ingredients
- 2-2½ pound Boneless Beef Chuck Roast
- 1½ teaspoons Salt
- ½ teaspoon Black Pepper
- 2 tablespoons Olive Oil
- 1 Large Onion finely diced (white or yellow onion)
- 1 Celery Rib sliced or diced
- 1 Large Carrot cut into rounds or half rounds depending on the size
- 3-4 Garlic Cloves minced
- 2 (10.5 ounce) cans Condensed French Onion Soup
- 10 ounces Water plus more if needed
- 1 pound Small Red Potatoes whole if they are small or cut in half or quarters if they’re larger
- Chopped parsley for garnish optional
Instructions
- Trim any large pieces of fat from around the roast.
- Pat the meat dry. Season it with salt and pepper.
- Let it sit out at room temperature for 15-20 minutes provided it’s cool in your kitchen.
- Heat the olive oil in a large, heavy pot over medium heat (see note 1).
- When the oil is hot, add the chuck roast. Cook the meat for 5-6 minutes, or until browned. (see note 2)
- Turn the roast and cook for another 5-6 minutes until it’s browned on both sides.
- Take the pot off the heat and remove the roast. Place it on a pan or plate. Cover loosely with aluminum foil to keep it warm.
- Do not wash or wipe the pot. Place it back over medium heat and add the onions, carrots, and celery. Cook the vegetables for 5 minutes until the onions start to soften. Stir often.
- Next, add the garlic. Cook for 1 minute while stirring.
- Add the onion soup to the sauteed vegetables while stirring and gently scrapping any bits off the bottom of the pot.
- Return the chuck roast to the pot along with any juices collected on the plate or pan.
- Add enough water so that at least three-quarters (¾) of the roast is covered with liquid at its thickest part.
- If the onion soup broth does not come to a simmer right away, then raise the heat. When it starts simmering lower the heat to medium-low and cover the pot. Keep the liquid at a simmer during the cooking time, raise or lower the heat as needed.
- Cook the roast with onion soup for about 2½ hours or until it’s almost fall-apart tender. Check on it every ½ hour or so, especially after raising or lowering the heat to make sure the liquid is simmering how we want it.
- Add the potatoes to the pot. Arrange them around the beef roast. Make sure that they are submerged in the onion broth. Raise the heat and let the liquid come back to a simmer. Then, lower it to medium-low. Cover the pot and cook the meat and potatoes for another 20-30 minutes until they are both tender. A fork or a knife should slide in and out without them offering any resistance.
- Serve the roast with the potatoes and sauce. Garnish with chopped parsley, if desired. Enjoy with a generous piece of crusty bread to soak up the delicious broth.
Notes
- We use a 6-quart enameled dutch oven.
- When the beef is browned, and a crust forms on the surface it will release from the bottom of the pot. If you go to turn it and it’s stuck and offers resistance, give it another 30 seconds to 1 minute and try again. Once that crust forms the meat will release.
- If you are cooking a larger roast (like 3-4 pounds) the cooking time will be roughly the same, about 3 hours. Cook it until it is fork-tender (you can break it up using a fork). However, you may need to add more liquid depending on the thickness of the meat.
Nutrition
The nutritional information above is computer generated and is only an estimate. There is no guarantee that it is accurate. This data is provided as a courtesy for informational purposes only.
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