The Cozy Cook

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Crock Pot Roast (with Gravy!)

This Crock Pot Roast recipe is easy to make with potatoes, carrots, and thick and flavorful gravy. The meat is moist and full of flavor, your family will love this home cooked meal! 

Be sure to serve this with my Buttermilk Biscuits or Copycat Texas Roadhouse Rolls

A Crock Pot Roast in a Crock with Potatoes, potatoes, and gravy.

If you’re looking for the best Crock Pot Roast recipe, (with a ton of flavorful brown gravy), you’ve come to the right place!

I love that this is a complete meal all in one pot. You can do the prep work a day ahead of time, then set it and forget it.

Don’t be alarmed by the number of ingredients. They’re all super simple and really make the difference in this meal- the flavor is like no other.

Best Cuts of Meat for Pot Roast

Below are the 3 best options for making pot roast. Try to find one that has nice even marbling throughout the meat.

  • Chuck Roasts (the best option)
  • Rump Roasts (2nd best)
  • Bottom Rounds (3rd best)

How to Make Crock Pot Roast

See recipe card below this post for ingredient quantities and full instructions.

  • Pat the roast dry and rub with seasoning, then with flour. Sear in a skillet for 2-3 minutes per side.
  • Combine gravy ingredients and add them to the Crock Pot along with the roast, potatoes, and carrots.
  • Cook on low for 8-10 hours or on high for 5-6.
  • Remove roast and vegetables and tent with foil. Bring gravy to a boil and add cornstarch + water mixture to thicken it. Reduce to a simmer and swirl in cold butter. Serve. 

A pot roast before and after having seasoning added to it. A pot roast coated with flour next to a seared roast in the crock pot. Crock Pot Roast in a slow cooker before and after cooking.

How to Make Brown Gravy More Flavorful

The following ingredients add depth of flavor to brown gravy, but they also help achieve a rich dark brown color.

  • Beef and Chicken Broth: I like to use a combination of both for a greater depth of flavor.
  • Soy Sauce: You can’t taste it, but the soy sauce enhances the other flavors and adds umami. 
  • Worcestershire Sauce: A great alternative to soy sauce.
  • Kitchen Bouquet Browning and Seasoning Sauce: I like to add a few drops of for a hint of a darker brown color. You can find it in the aisle where they sell gravy packets.
  • Onion Powder, Garlic Powder, and extra 1 bouillon. 
  • Optional additions: Thyme, Rosemary, and Sage.
  • Cold Butter: Swirl 1-2 Tablespoons cold butter into gravy at the end of cooking. This is a technique called “Monter au Beurre” which adds a smooth, velvety finish to gravies and sauces.

A saucepan filled with brown pot roast gravy with a ladle spooning it out.

Make-Ahead Method

  • Combine gravy ingredients ahead of time.
  • Prepare carrots and wash/dry the potatoes, but don’t cut the potatoes until ready to cook.
  • Sear the meat just before cooking or skip that step and place unseared meat in the crock pot with the gravy and carrots.
  • Refrigerate for up to 1 day, then cooked as outlined, but add 30 minutes to cooking time since you’re starting from a cold state.

Pro Tips

  • Celery, sliced yellow onions, smashed garlic, and fresh rosemary/thyme make great additions to this meal as well.
  • Searing the Roast isn’t completely necessary but it adds a nice color, texture, and element of flavor. Even when I’m in a rush, I go for the sear. It’s worth it!
  • Don’t open the lid of the Crock Pot during cooking, you lose a lot of heat and about 30 minutes of cooking time.
  • This recipe is in The Cozy Cookbook on page 89!

Storage

Store in an airtight container and refrigerate for up to 3 days or freeze for up to 3 months.

A white plate with Crock Pot Roast with gravy on top with potatoes and carrots.

Tools For This Recipe

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A white plate with tender Crock Pot Roast with gravy and carrots and potatoes in the background.

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A Crock Pot Roast in a Slow Cooker with potatoes and carrots with gravy.

Crock Pot Roast

4.99 from 297 ratings
This Crock Pot Roast recipe is easy to make with potatoes, carrots, and thick and flavorful gravy. The meat is moist and full of flavor, your family will love this home cooked meal!

Ingredients

  • 3-4 lb. Chuck Roast, see notes for other cut options
  • 2 tablespoons flour
  • 4 tablespoons olive oil

Meat Seasoning:

  • 2 teaspoons brown sugar
  • 1 teaspoon EACH: salt, garlic powder, onion powder, chili powder, paprika
  • ½ teaspoon black pepper

Gravy:

  • 1 cup chicken broth
  • 2 cups beef broth
  • 1 beef bouillon cube, or 1 tsp better than bouillon
  • 1 ½ teaspoon onion powder
  • 1 teaspoon garlic powder
  • 1 teaspoon low sodium soy sauce, can sub Worcestershire

Sides:

  • 2 ¼ lbs. baby potatoes, see notes
  • 2 lbs. whole carrots, cut into halves or thirds.

For the End:

  • 3 tablespoons corn starch + 3 tablespoons cold water
  • 2-3 drops Kitchen Bouquet browning and seasoning sauce, optional: gives it a darker color
  • 1 Tablespoon cold unsalted butter

Instructions

  • Pat roast completely dry. Combine seasoning ingredients and massage it onto all sides of the roast, followed by the flour.
  • Heat olive oil in a large pan over medium-high heat. Once the oil is shiny and heated, add the roast and sear on each side for 2-3 minutes, until a brown crust has developed. Decrease heat slightly if needed during cooking. Remove from heat and set aside.
  • Whisk together the gravy ingredients and add some of it to the skillet that you used to sear the roast. Use a silicone spatula to "clean" the bottom and sides of the skillet, this will give the gravy more flavor. Transfer it to the slow cooker along with the remaining gravy mixture, followed by the pot roast and any juices from the plate.
  • Cut the potatoes in half or thirds of equal size. (If 1-2 inch potatoes, you can leave them whole.)
  • Peel the carrots and slice them into halves or thirds. Very thick carrots can also be sliced in half lengthwise.
  • Arrange the potatoes around the roast and top with carrots. Place the lid securely on top and resist the temptation to open it during cooking as you’ll lose a lot of heat.
  • Cook on high for 5-6 hours or on low for 8-10 hours.
  • Carefully remove the carrots, potatoes, and the roast and set on a serving platter. Tent with foil.

Prepare the Gravy

  • Use oven mitts to lift the crock and transfer the juices to a saucepan, OR, if the crock is stovetop safe, you can place the crock right on the stovetop.
  • Bring the juices to a boil. Whisk together the corn starch with cold water until completely combined. Gradually add it to the gravy and whisk continuously to incorporate.
  • Decrease heat to low and simmer until ready to serve. It will continue to thicken. Add a few drops of Kitchen Bouquet browning and seasoning sauce if a darker color is preferred. Swirl in 1 tbsp. cold butter prior to serving.
  • Season carrots/potatoes with salt and pepper if desired and serve!

Notes

Best Cuts of Beef for Pot Roast: 
• Chuck Roasts (the best option)
• Rump Roasts (2nd best)
• Bottom Rounds (3rd best)

Potatoes: I used 3-4 inch round white potatoes, cut in half. Red potatoes or sliced Yukon Gold potatoes make great options as well.

This recipe is in The Cozy Cookbook on page 89!

Nutrition

Calories: 564kcal, Carbohydrates: 41g, Protein: 38g, Fat: 29g, Saturated Fat: 11g, Trans Fat: 1g, Cholesterol: 121mg, Sodium: 992mg, Potassium: 1555mg, Fiber: 6g, Sugar: 8g, Vitamin A: 19211IU, Vitamin C: 34mg, Calcium: 94mg, Iron: 5mg
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796 comments on “Crock Pot Roast (with Gravy!)”

  1. Until I found this recipe I could never make a tender delicious roast. Now I have made this recipe twice and it came out just the same delicious. I enjoy cooking a Chuck Roast now. Thank you for the recipe.
    Look forward to trying many more of your recipes.

    • This makes me so happy Sharon! Can’t beat a good roast, I’m so happy you’re enjoying this one. Thanks so much for taking the time to leave a review!💗

  2. OMGoodness!
    Soooo good! I am 68 Years old and this is the best crockpot roast I’ve ever cooked! Gravy was delicious and taste of meat was wonderful! 
    Thank you

  3. Used this recipe today in my slow cooker. The roast came out delicious and fork tender. I will definitely make again.

  4. Oh, my goodness! I have made this recipe twice, and both times I have had the most flavorful, easy, and delicious pot roasts from the cheapest cut of chuck roast. Before finding this recipe, I had pretty much quit making pot roast because the roast always ended up tough. Not any more!! I did 8-10 hours on low in my large crock pot. I’m not a big fan of chili powder, so I cut it to 1/2 tsp. but followed the recipe on everything else. Yum! Tried and true and go to for me! Thank you!! 

  5. I just made this recipe and I gotta say it smell’s absolutely incredible so far, I definitely can’t wait to bite into this tonight. It’s making me feel like I’ve been cooking pot roast wrong my entire life. 

  6. Hi , I’m going to try this this week . So I follow the instructions and prep the day before I would out the roast , veggies and  gravy in the crock pot and store in the fridge ? Or throw everything in the morning of ?

  7. I have been making pot roast in a crockpot for a very long time.  Pretty basic stuff.  But, the seasonings on this one is a standout.  So very good.  Love this recipe!  I sometimes leave out the potatoes and serve the pot roast with mashed potatoes.  The best. 

  8. Wowww this turned out so good. Fall-apart tender meat. And that GRAVY!

    It’s actually easier than it looks to make and the best recipe I’ve made in a looong time. I must have said at least four times while eating it how good it was.

    Thanks for offering the option to scale the recipe. My roast was a just 1.8 lbs. It cooked perfectly in 8 hours on low.

  9. Is cooking time the same if I half recipe?  I’m cooking for onky myself. 

  10. Okay so full transparency, I am new to cooking and I am 53yrs old. hahaha. So I have tried several dishes over the past month, read many recipes as I don’t want something so difficult for this newbie that I mess it up before I even get started. I have to admit when I read “Searing” I almost jumped out becuase again, I am a new timer and searing a pot roast prior to 8-10 hours in a slow cooker, figured outside of my wheelhouse however I followed the recipe to the letter, minus the carrots as my husband and son hate cooked carrots, and let me tell you, it turned out amazing. So much so that my husband said, “This is probably the best meal you have ever cooked.” My son and husband both wanted seconds however apparently my roast was not large enough. Next time I will know better but this is a 5 star meal made at home and if I can “Nail it” anyone can and no question, everyone will love it. Thank you so much, going to look at your other recipes as well. (On a side note, how the heck does one lift the pot roast out of the slow cooker, hahaha, wish I’d have caught that on video. 😉

    • Hi Darla! I am so happy that this recipe was a success!! Nicely done!! (You made my hungry just thinking about it!)- I actually have a gigantic meat spatula that I use to lift it out, I know what you mean, that can be a struggle! Thank you so much for taking the time to leave a review! 🙂 -Stephanie

      • Excellent, thank you. Just ordered me an extra large spatula as I have agreed to make this once a week now. Hahaha, thank you again.

      • I love that you’re going to make it once a week now! 😉 That is amazing! I make this every time my in-laws visit, we just love it! 🙂

      • Stephanie, I am going to make this again for my boys however one Chuck Roast was just not enough, hahaha. I have purchased two this time, should I use two separate slow cookers or can I put them both in one as I have an 8qt slow cooker or is it best to not have them touching. Thank you and remember, I am no cook so this might be a dumb question. 🙂

      • Hi Darla! This isn’t a dumb question at ALL! 🙂 (And I’m thrilled that you will be making two roasts instead of one! 🥳 You can put them both in the same Crock Pot (the 8 quart), that’s not a problem. You can keep the cooking time the same as well! ENJOY! 🙂

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