Weeknight Slow Cooker Pot Roast

Yes, I realize it has been quite a while since I posted anything remotely close to a recipe on here, but here's to hoping this gets me back in the habit. I've learned that with an active baby/toddler, the slow cooker really is your best friend. You can throw everything in there the night before or even during nap time and stick it in the fridge until it's time to start cooking. This morning's cool fall temps make it a great day for a savory roast with veggies. This is quite possibly the easiest dinner as there is little to no preparation and the finished result is so yummy.

Slow Cooker Pot Roast

• 1 decently sized pot roast or chuck roast (this will depend on the size of your family and how much you want leftover, but mine was around 3lbs.) *I'm all about lean cuts of meat, but with a roast, you want one that is nice and marbled as that will be the most tender and have the most flavor.
• 1 sweet onion roughly cut into eighths
• 1 bag of small golden potatoes whole (or you can quarter them if they're large)
• 1 container of whole mushrooms
• Half a bag of baby carrots or about 4 whole carrots peeled and cut
• Half a carton of beef stock
• Seasonings of your choice (salt, pepper, thyme, rosemary are good starters)

*Trader Joe's actually has great all natural (no artificial anything or preservatives) pre-seasoned roasts and I bought the Cabernet kind. If you want this same flavor, just cut down the beef stock to about a third of a carton and add a couple pours of red wine. 

Directions

1. If you bought a pre-seasoned roast, just simply place it in your slow cooker after spraying the pot with some non-stick cooking spray. If you are seasoning yourself, be sure to season both sides of the meat generously with salt and pepper.

2.  *Optional* you can sear your roast in a pan on the stove with a couple tbsp of olive oil on all sides until it's nice and brown (a minute or two on each side). This will help to lock in the flavor before placing it in the slow cooker, but it will turn out just fine if you don't have time (or don't want to dirty another pot) and want to skip this step.

3. Once you place your meat in the slow cooker, just throw in your potatoes, mushrooms, carrots and onion.

4. Pour the stock and optional red wine in last over everything and then sprinkle with the seasoning of your choice if your meat was not already pre-seasoned. I also added in a splash of Worcestershire and soy sauce for good measure but this is also optional. 

Cook on low for 10-12 hours or high for 4-5 hours. Your house will smell amazing and you'll have a delicious home cooked meal with virtually very little effort. 

Enjoy!