Homestyle Pot Roast In A Dutch Oven

Homestyle Pot Roast made in a dutch oven.

This Dutch Oven Pot Roast is the ultimate one pot meal and your whole family is going to LOVE it. With a simple 4-ingredient pot roast seasoning and an Ah-Mazing Porcini Sauce made with dried porcini mushrooms for deep umami flavors and depth, this Yankee Pot Roast is heads and tails over the rest. So, if you want to know how to cook pot roast in the oven, stick around. FYI – You can also use your slow cooker or Instant Pot (directions included).

This post has been updated for Recipe, Photos and Content since it’s original publication in 2015.

adding pot roast seasoning to chuck roast.

Before we get into the recipe for this Dutch oven pot roast, let’s talk about the best cut for pot roast.  

Best Meat For Pot Roast

There is no “Best” for pot roast, except to say that the tougher, chewier cuts that you’d NEVER think to throw on a grill for a 10-minute meal, generally work VERY well for pot roast. That’s because slow braising tougher cuts of meat will break down the natural collagen of the roast, tenderizing it and adding body to what will become a silky sauce later. 

Newsletter Signup
Join our community of food lovers!

Get my latest recipes, helpful kitchen tips and more good things each week in your inbox.

3 Of The Best Cuts For Pot Roast

Chuck Roast – You’ll find this with and without bones. I usually prefer with bones, because they add another layer of flavor to this one pot meal, but realistically a boneless chuck roast is fine too.

Round – You’ve probably seen bottom round roasts or rump roasts in the supermarket. These portions come from the rear of the animal and work well in a long braise like this.

Brisket – The brisket comes from the underside of the animal (breast region) and the flat cut makes it ideal for this Yankee pot roast. Note: Because the brisket has such long strands, when you’re serving you may want to cut it against the grain.

Easy Dutch Oven Pot Roast Seasoning

Once you’ve chosen your cut, you need to season the meat. I like to go with something really straightforward. My 4-ingredient pot roast seasoning uses:

  • Kosher Salt
  • Black Pepper
  • Dried Thyme
  • Onion Powder
  1. Blot the roast with paper towels to assure that it’s dry.
  2. Mix the pot roast seasoning in a bowl and sprinkle over both sides of the roast, pressing it firmly into the flesh.
searing the meat and sautéing the mushrooms in a dutch oven.

This is a step you don’t want to skip. It’s where the flavor really starts to develop in this recipe and its one reason I prefer a Dutch oven over slow-cookers and pressure cookers for this Yankee pot roast recipe. It’s a real one pot meal with a Dutch oven.

Searing The Meat and Sautéing Mushrooms

  1. To sear the meat, heat the Dutch oven over medium heat and add the olive oil.
  2. Transfer the roast to the hot oil and sear the meat — letting it cook for 4-5 minutes to form a solid crust. 
  3. Use a pair of tongs to carefully flip the roast and continue searing the other side for another 3-5 minutes.
  4. Transfer the roast to rimmed sheet pan and add the mushrooms to the Dutch oven. Mushrooms are primarily water, so after a few minutes, they’ll give up their liquid and start to brown. Stir occasionally until they’re tender and golden.

Pro Tip: If the meat doesn’t easily release from the pan, it’s not done searing. Don’t worry, it may just need a few more minutes and will release when it’s good and ready.

Other Methods Of Cooking

For Slow Cooker: You’ll need to sear the meat in another heavy pot or pan — because you can’t achieve the crust in the slow cooker. Follow the same method outlined above.

For Instant Pot: Depending on the size of your pressure cooker, the roast may not fit in the pot in one piece, consequently, you may need to cut it into chunks that will fit in the pan to sear. Brown the chunks of meat in batches using the sauté function on the Instant Pot, or for regular pressure cookers just sear over the stove top as instructed above.

quickly sautéing the veg for this one pot meal.

What’s the Difference Between Plain Pot Roast and Yankee Pot Roast?

In a word? Vegetables. Regular pot roast is just meat and sauce… Yankee Pot roast adds vegetables making it a true one pot meal. But don’t go crazy with the veg. You want to keep it simple for that authentic homestyle feel. 

Vegetables For Yankee Pot Roast

  • Carrots
  • Celery
  • Onions
  • Mushrooms 
  • Potatoes (I like those baby dutch potatoes, but you can cut up larger Yukon Gold or red wax potatoes into chunks for this dish.)
grinding dried porcini for the braising liquid.

My secret ingredient for a richer, deeper and more flavorful braising liquid and sauce is dried porcini mushroom powder and it’s incredible… I actually came up with this when I had a package of dehydrated mushrooms in my pantry — that had been there for a long time and were well past their use by date. I didn’t want to risk rehydrating them, but I also didn’t want to throw out $5 worth of fancy-pants mushrooms. I ground it into a powder and used it to flavor sauces, soups and stews. This one ingredient can be transformative to so many dishes including this Dutch oven pot roast.

To Make Dried Porcini Powder

  1. Place dehydrated or dried porcini mushrooms in a spice grinder.
  2. Pulse until a very fine powder forms.
  3. Voila, dried porcini powder.
Making the porcini sauce to braise the Yankee pot roast in.

The braising liquid doubles as the sauce for the Yankee pot roast, so you want it to be GOOD. Rich, silky and loaded with flavor. Am-I-right? Most pot roasts just use beef broth and a little red wine and leave it at that. Frankly, that method is very one-note to me. This red wine porcini sauce is everything you want that gravy to be and then some.

Ingredients For Rich Wine Porcini Sauce

  • Beef Broth
  • Red Wine (A drinkable one – not cooking wine)
  • Tomato Paste
  • Dried Porcini Powder

Whisk the ingredients together until well combined. 

adding herbs and potatoes to the dutch oven pot roast.

How To Cook Pot Roast In the Oven

  1. Pour the wine porcini sauce over the Dutch oven pot roast and vegetables.
  2. The liquid should come about half to 3/4 of the way up the roast. 
  3. Add the bay leaves and herb bundle, tucking them into the sauce.
  4. Cover tightly with the lid and transfer Yankee pot roast to the oven.
  5. Cook for 2 1/2 to 3 hours or until the meat is tender.

How To Cook Pot Roast In The Slow Cooker

  1. Transfer the vegetables (sautéed mushrooms, onions, celery, carrots and raw potatoes) to the slow cooker.
  2. Place the pot roast on top of the vegetables.
  3. Pour the porcini sauce over the meat.
  4. Tuck the herb bundle into the sauce.
  5. Cover with the lid.
  6. Cook for 6-8 hours on low or 3-4 hours on high.

How To Cook Pot Roast In The Instant Pot 

  1. Transfer the vegetables to the Instant Pot.
  2. Place the pot roast on top of the vegetables.
  3. Tuck the herb bundle to one side of the roast
  4. Pour the dried porcini mushroom sauce over the roast.
  5. Seal the Instant Pot and set it on high for one hour. 
  6. Let the pressure release naturally.

How To Cook Yankee Pot Roast In Stovetop Pressure Cooker

  1. Place the cooking rack in the bottom of the pressure cooker.
  2. Add the vegetables to the pressure cooker. 
  3. Place the pot roast on top of the vegetables.
  4. Add the herbs and tuck them to one side.
  5. Pour the mushroom wine sauce over the meat.
  6. Seal the pressure cooker and place the pressure regulator over the vent.
  7. Place the pressure cooker on the stovetop over medium high heat.
  8. When the pressure regulator starts to rock, reduce heat to medium to medium low and cook for one hour.
  9. Remove from heat and let the pressure release naturally.
One Pot Meal after a 3 hour braise.

This pot roast smells SO FREAKIN’ GOOD, you’re gonna want to dive right in… but don’t. You see, that braise has not only broken down the cartilage, it’s also dissolved the fat into the wine-porcini sauce. Now a little fat isn’t a bad thing, but I’m willing to bet there’s more than just a little that came out of your roast. 

removing excess fat from the yankee pot roast.

How To Remove Excess Fat From Dutch Oven Pot Roast

Method 1: Use a spoon – {the fat will be on top and porcini sauce will sink to the bottom} – and bit by bit, skim away the fat from the sauce and discard.  This will take some time and patience.

Method 2: Let the roast come to room temperature, cover and refrigerate for several hours or overnight. The fat will solidify. Then use a spoon or fork to lift the fat solids from the pot roast and discard. (This is my preferred method as it eliminates about 95% of the fat and it’s SO MUCH EASIER.)

reheating the pot roast with porcini sauce.

You can reheat the pot roast in the oven or on the stovetop. 

Reheat The Dutch Oven Pot Roast

In The Oven: Place the covered pot in the oven at 300° for 30 minutes.

On The Stovetop: Place the pot over medium heat with the lid securely fastened. Heat, stirring occasionally until the Yankee pot roast, vegetables and rich wine porcini sauce are hot. 

spooning up a bit of the stew.

The pot roast seasoning started the layers of flavors in this one pot meal, but searing and caramelizing the meat really make it sing. That rich sauce is amazing to dunk a dinner roll into and the pot roast is so tender that it comes apart with a fork or spoon. I’ve seen some recipes that call for shredding the meat. I don’t do that. Instead, I use a serving spoon to carve off chunks and then ladle the veggies and porcini sauce over the roast. It’s heavenly.

You shouldn’t need to thicken the porcini sauce with flour or cornstarch as will naturally come together in a glossy, velvety blend. Seriously, you’ll want to bathe in it. Pinky-swear.

A one pot meal fit for a king.

What To Serve with Dutch Oven Pot Roast

More One Pot Meals

spooning porcini sauce over the pot roast.

Tried this recipe? Leave a rating and review.

Your comments and shares are invaluable to me and the thousands of readers who use this site daily. If you've made the recipe, leave a star rating and review. We want to hear how you liked it.

We'd love it if you shared the recipe with your friends on social media!

Dutch Oven Pot Roast with Porcini Sauce
Print Pin
3.86 from 61 votes

Homestyle Pot Roast

On a cold rainy day, you want comfort food.  This is it.
Author: Lisa Lotts
Course Main Course
Cuisine American
Keyword baked potatoes, chicken stew, gravy, pot roast
Prep Time 30 minutes
Cook Time 3 hours
Total Time 3 hours 30 minutes
Servings 6

INGREDIENTS:

  • 2 ½ pound boneless chuck roast
  • 3 tablespoons olive oil
  • ½ teaspoon kosher salt
  • ¼ teaspoon black pepper fresh ground
  • 16 ounces button mushrooms thick sliced
  • 1 medium onion peeled and sliced root to tip into eighths
  • 4 carrots peeled and cut into 1″ pieces
  • 2 stalks celery cut into 1″ pieces
  • 4 small red skinned potatoes cut into quarters
  • 1 ¼ cups beef broth
  • cup red wine
  • 2 tablespoons tomato paste
  • 1 tablespoon dried mushroom powder optional, see note
  • 3-4 sprigs of thyme and 3-4 sprigs fresh rosemary tied into a bundle with kitchen twine
  • 2 bay leaves

DIRECTIONS:

  • Preheat the oven to 325 degrees.
  • In a large dutch oven, heat the oil over medium high heat.
  • Use a paper towel to dry all the moisture off the chuck roast. Sprinkle with salt and pepper. 
  • Sear the meat in the dutch oven for 3-4 minutes on each side, until it forms a nice crust. Transfer the meat to a platter and add the mushrooms with a sprinkle of salt. 
  • Stir and place the lid on the pan until the mushrooms start to give up their liquid. Cook for 5-8 minutes, stirring occasionally. When most of the liquid has evaporated from the mushrooms, add the onions, celery and carrots and cook for an additional 2-3 minutes until crisp tender.
  •  Add the chuck roast and any accumulated drippings back to the dutch oven. Add potatoes, thyme bundle and bay leaves and tuck them into the pot
  • Stir together the broth, red wine, tomato paste and mushroom powder if using. Pour over the vegetables. Cover and heat to boiling. Transfer the covered pot to the oven and braise for 2 1/2-3 hours until meat is tender.
  • Remove from the oven and cool to room temperature. Cover and refrigerate for several hours or overnight.
  • After the pot roast has chilled, the fat will solidify at the top of the pot making it easy to remove. Use a spoon to lift off the orange fat cap and discard.
  • Reheat the dutch oven pot roast with the lid on, over medium heat on the stove top until the roast is hot and the porcini sauce is simmering. Transfer the dutch oven pot roast to a serving platter. Stir the porcini sauce and vegetables to combine and pour over the Yankee Pot Roast. Serve.

NOTES:

Sometimes the dried mushrooms in my pantry go past the point of reconstituting in water and look more like a fossil from the cretaceous period than the aforementioned dried mushroom. I don’t waste them, though. I make mushroom powder. To make mushroom powder, put dried mushrooms (like porcini) into a spice grinder and pulse until a fine powder forms. Store in an airtight container. Whenever I want to add more umami flavor to a braised dish, I add a tablespoon or two of mushroom powder. Delish!

NUTRITION:

Calories: 483kcal | Carbohydrates: 12g | Protein: 40g | Fat: 29g | Saturated Fat: 10g | Cholesterol: 130mg | Sodium: 619mg | Potassium: 1212mg | Fiber: 2g | Sugar: 5g | Vitamin A: 6960IU | Vitamin C: 6.9mg | Calcium: 64mg | Iron: 4.9mg

Pin “Dutch Oven Pot Roast – A One Pot Meal” For Later!

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Recipe Rating




This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.

84 Comments

  1. Going to make it tonight…. question, does it taste different if we eat it right away and skipping the overnight process?? Thanks!

  2. 5 stars
    Making this pot roast for the 4th time in as many months. It is absolutely the best recipe ever! I now use mushroom powder in many other things like coq au vin and beef stew. It is addictive and quite versatile. Thanks for this deliciousness on a cold soggy day in Portland.

  3. Hey! I was wondering if I do not have a dutch oven or a crock pot, would I be able to cook the roast in a casserole dish covered in foil when it comes time to bake it?

    1. What you really want is a heavy, lidded pot. You can use stainless steel as long as its a sturdy pot with a tight fitting lid. If you have a casserole with a lid (Pyrex makes them), that would be your best option. I’d avoid tin foil as it’s not heavy enough to hold in the juices, making the roast tender and juicy, which is what you accomplish with a dutch oven.

  4. 5 stars
    I made this roast in the oven yesterday in my cast iron pot. My husband and I loved it! I followed the recipe except did not add mushroom powder. Used the fresh herbs! Smell cooking wa wonderful. Definitely a keeper. Thank you!!!!!

    1. So glad you both enjoyed it! One of our absolute favorites as well!

  5. Darcie Purdun says:

    5 stars
    This is simple and delicious! I didn’t follow all of the steps. We ate this as soon as it was done roasting. It was perfect! So tender. The dutch oven is the only way to go. My husband was asking for thirds! Keep the recipes coming!

  6. 5 stars
    Question, I was unable to find the dried mushrooms at my super market. Should I add some corn starch to thicken the sauce up a bit at some point? Thank you, this sounds so amazing & I am making for supper tonight!

  7. Isabel Hovig says:

    I want to do a 5lb BONE-IN chuck roast for that extra layer of flavor (as you mentioned early in the page) to serve 10 rather than a boneless chuck roast. How should I change the cooking temp and time? Or is cooking that size of chuck roast too ambitious?

    1. Just make sure you have a pot large enough to accomodate the larger roast. Temperature should remain the same, but you may need to add an additional 30-45 minutes to the cooking time.