This meal is nothing fancy, nothing elaborate, but is so good in the simple essence of roasted beef. It is comforting on a cold night and can be served to good friends over for dinner to just catch up & relax. I hope you enjoy!

Budget Note: This grass fed 1.5 pound boneless chuck roast cost me under $12 and fed 4 adults. The portions were a healthy amount combined with a side of brown rice and roasted carrots & onions. The total cost for my entire dinner was $4/person. So maybe next week you can find some locally raised, grass fed beef to include in your weekly menu. And, if you only fed 2 adults this roast, you could put the leftovers into a stir fry to stretch the meat further.

Classic Pot Roast

Ingredients
Marinade
3 tablespoons ketchup
2 tablespoons cider vinegar
2 tsp olive or canola oil
2 tsp soy sauce
2 tsp Worcesteshire or Heinz 57 Sauce
1/4 tsp dijon mustard
1/4 tsp garlic powder
1/4 tsp fresh ground pepper
1.5 lb boneless chuck roast

Roast
1 small yellow onion, cut into quarters
2 cups fresh baby carrots, sliced in half
2 garlic cloves, chopped
2 bay leaves
1/4 cup chicken broth
1/4 cup red wine

Preparation
In a gallon size Ziploc bag mix together all of the marinade ingredients and then add the roast. Allow to marinate for 4-8 hours, or overnight.

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. In a dutch oven or oven safe skillet, heat apprx. 2 tsp of olive oil over medium high heat. Remove roast from marinade and discard marinade. Apply kosher salt and fresh ground pepper to roast and then sear on each side for approximately 4-5 minutes. This helps seal in the juices. Once all sides have been seared, remove roast from pan.

Reduce heat to low and add onions, carrots, and garlic. Saute for approximately 1 minute and then add in chicken broth, stirring up the browned bits on bottom of pan. Remove from heat and place 1 bay leaf on the top of carrots & onions.

On top of this, place the roast. Then add the remaining bay leaf on top of the roast.

Lastly, pour the red wine over the bay leaf and roast.

Place pan into preheated oven and allow to cook for approximately 45 minutes to 1 hour. The time in oven will all depend upon the size of your roast. If your roast is 3 to 4 pounds it will probably require 1.5 to 2 hours roasting time. Use a digital thermometer (LOVE MY HUSBAND….he got me a new (and working one) for Christmas!) to determine when your roast is finished. Medium rare will be 145 degrees; medium will be 160 degrees; and well-done will be 170 degrees.

Remove your roast from pan and allow to rest for 10 minutes. Resting allows all the juices to settle back down. Enjoy with the carrots & onions. This would also be great served with mashed potatoes. Maybe, blue cheese mashed potatoes? Yummm! Also, the juices in the bottom of the pan make this even juicier!

I’d love to hear if you try the recipe out or if you have another classic pot roast recipe you use.

Cheers to eating locally & humanely raised cattle!

Jess