Dutch Oven Pot Roast

This delicious Dutch oven pot roast recipe has fall-apart tender beef, savory carrots and potatoes, a flavorful blend of fresh herbs, and a rich, comforting gravy for the perfect cozy dinner recipe.

If you’re craving a warm, savory, comforting one-pot meal, this pot roast is for you. This restaurant-quality recipe will show you exactly how to cook a roast in the oven to produce fall-apart tender beef, velvety carrots and potatoes, and a thick, rich gravy bursting with flavor.

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Professional Tips for Making a Dutch Oven Roast

• Work in batches. Be sure to leave plenty of room between your pieces of beef when you are browning them. If they are too close together, they tend to steam instead of creating a nicely browned crust.
• Be patient. Shoulder roast can take time to cook down to tender perfection. Make sure you leave yourself plenty of time to allow the meat to cook properly. It’s worth it! And, the leftovers make killer Roast Beef Swiss Melt Sandwiches or a twist on Monte Cristo!
• Taste for seasoning. The best way to improve your home cooking is to taste for seasoning. This will let you know whether the dish needs more of a certain ingredient to be in balance.

Ingredients

• Roast: I used shoulder roast. This is typically a bone-in cut. You can also use a top round roast or boneless beef chuck roast, like I do in my Dutch Oven Beef Stew. These are tougher cuts of meat with plenty of marbling. However, when you cook a cut like chuck roast in the oven over low heat, it becomes extremely tender.
• Flour: All-purpose flour works best for this recipe. If you are gluten-free, you can try using rice flour or millet flour in its place.
• Kosher Salt & Pepper
• Unsalted Butter
• Olive Oil
• Pearl Onions: Pearl onions are sweeter and milder than regular onions, and their small shape adds a distinct texture to the dish that regular onions would not.
• Garlic: I like to use whole garlic cloves for this recipe. If you don’t have access to fresh garlic, you can use jarred, chopped garlic in water.
• Carrots: I recommend using regular, medium to large carrots for this recipe. I would not substitute baby carrots, as they will become quite soft and start to break apart throughout the long cooking process.
• Potatoes: Small yellow or red potatoes are best. If you can fit more in the pot than the recipe calls for, feel free to do so. Potatoes in this recipe, just as in my Lemon Roasted Chicken dinner, make everything extra hearty!
• Mushrooms: I use a mix of button and baby portobellos for this recipe. I like the slight variety in texture and flavor they add to the dish.
• Thyme & Oregano
• Rosemary: Fresh rosemary adds a fragrant, piney aroma and a woodsy, lemony flavor to the overall dish, and also makes it pair nicely with some rosemary lemon roasted cauliflower.
• Bay Leaf: Bay leaves add more savory flavor to the dish with hints of eucalyptus and a light bitterness.
• Beef Broth: I love to use homemade beef broth for this recipe, but store bought will work as well. Try to buy a brand that is low-sodium so you can determine the seasoning for the overall dish.
• Red Wine: I use dry red wine for this recipe, like this Château Ste. Michelle Cabernet Sauvignon. I recommend using a wine you would enjoy drinking. If you’re more of a white wine person, I recommend my Lamb Stew Recipe!
• Cornstarch: Cornstarch helps thicken the gravy for this dish, turning it from a thin, soup-like consistency to a thick, velvety consistency.

See the recipe card for full information on ingredients and quantities.

Variations

• Slow Cooker: To make a slow cooker pot roast, brown the meat as instructed in the original recipe above. Deglaze the pan with the wine and beef broth. Then add all of the ingredients to the slow cooker and let cook on low for 8 hours or on high for 4 to 6 hours. To thicken the gravy, pour the broth from the slow cooker into a pan and thicken with cornstarch.
• Instant Pot: To make an Instant Pot pot roast, brown the meat using the sauté function, cook the vegetables and aromatics for a few minutes, deglaze with the wine and broth, then add all of the remaining ingredients and cook on the pressure cook function for approximately 60 minutes.
• Mashed Potatoes: You can serve this roast over a bed of mashed potatoes or with some potato dinner rolls for a creamy, rich finished dish.

How to Make Beef Roast

Use these instructions to make the perfect Dutch oven pot roast every time! Further details and measurements can be found in the recipe card below!

Step 1: Preheat the oven to 325°F. Whisk together flour, salt and pepper. 

Step 2: Pat your roast with paper towels to make sure it’s dry. Sprinkle with flour/salt/pepper mixture, rubbing it to evenly coat. 

Step 3: Heat a Dutch oven over medium heat until it is hot. Add the butter and olive oil to the pot and stir until butter is melted.  Brown the roast on all 4 sides.

Step 4: Add onions, garlic, potatoes and carrots, and herbs to the pot. Pour in wine and beef broth, deglaze the pot, and bring to a boil. 

Step 5: Cover the pot and bake in a preheated oven for 3 hours, turning the roast after 1 ½ hours. 

Step 6: About 10 minutes before the roast is done, sauté the mushrooms in 1 tablespoon olive oil in an oven-safe pan until they are browned. Remove from heat and set aside. 

Step 7: Remove the Dutch oven from the oven and turn the oven off. Transfer the meat and vegetables to the pan with the mushrooms; tent with foil; and place in the oven to rest. 

Step 8: Place the Dutch oven over medium-high heat and boil until reduced by half. 

Step 9: In a small bowl combine cornstarch with several tablespoons of braising liquid (you don’t need to be precise here), whisking until cornstarch is dissolved. Add the cornstarch mixture to the Dutch oven and continue to cook until the sauce has thickened to your liking. 

Step 10: Slice roast and serve with sauce and vegetables!

Frequently Asked Questions

Before You Go

I hope you enjoyed this professional chef-tested recipe. Check out our other delicious, chef-developed beef recipes! Or, mix it up, and try one of these prime rib recipes next!