This is the most flavorful, tender pot roast I have ever had in my life. The best way to cook it is in a pressure cooker, but a slow cooker will work, as well.
What you’ll need:
- 2-3 lb beef roast
- 3 tbsps flour
- 2 tbsps olive oil
- 1 1/2 cups chicken broth (or beef, but I only have chicken lying around on a regular basis)
- 2 tbsps balsamic vinegar
- 1 tbsp garlic
- 1 tsp thyme
- 1 tsp salt
- 1/4 tsp pepper
- 3 red potatoes, quartered
- 1-2 cups baby carrots
- celery, chopped
Step 01 CP: Sprinkle roast with flour, salt, and pepper. Brown on the stove (or in the pressure cooker). Once the outside is sufficiently browned, put it in the crock pot with everything else and cook on low 6-8 hours. If you’re using a crock pot, you’re done. If you have a pressure cooker, let’s continue.
Step 01 PC: Sprinkle the roast with flour, salt, and pepper and brown it. Add everything EXCEPT the vegetables. Lock the lid and cook on “high” for 75 minutes.
Step 02 PC: Do a quick release. Add the vegetables, re-lock the lid, and cook for 5 minutes on “high.”
Step 03 PC: Let the cooker release naturally for 10 minutes. Once the time has passed, if there is still pressure, do a quick release.
Step 04 PC: Transfer everything to a serving dish, cut, and serve!
This wasn’t even a very good chunk of meat, when I bought it. Very cheap and fatty. But I used this recipe, stuck a fork in it, and it just fell apart. I believe I’ve found my permanent pot roast recipe.
[yumprint-recipe id=’165′]
4 comments
What exactly is a pressure cooker versus a slow cooker? I only have a crock pot so I’ll have to make it in that, but it looks really good!
That’s a really complicated question! Let’s see if I can figure out an answer that makes sense. 😛
A pressure cooker works by collecting steam and not allowing it to to escape, so it cooks much faster because it just keeps creating more steam and heating up its contents. For that reason, all of the recipes you would make in a pressure cooker require water, or some kind of liquid to 1) create the steam that will create pressure, and 2) keep the food from burning to the inside of the cooker. You’re basically steaming the food. The pressure also works as a major tenderizer, which is why pressure cookers make meat come out so nicely.
Slow cookers/crock pots, on the other hand, simply simmer at a low temperature for a long period of time. Mostly, a slow cooker is used for its convenience, since you can plop your food in there and walk away for up to 10 hours if you have to. Also, some recipes are more difficult to regulate using a conventional oven/stove, and a crock pot makes that easier. Like a pressure cooker, the majority of crock pot recipes require some kind of liquid, which keeps the food from burning and sticking (if you experience burning and/or sticking, the food either cooked too long or the temperature was up too high). Cooking meat slowly will also make it more tender (and flavorful) than cooking it quickly in an oven or on a stove would. However, I have found that a pressure cooker is better for tenderness.
What a slow cooker takes 8 hours to cook, a pressure cooker can cook in 30 minutes to an hour and a half. Very fast, but very dangerous if you don’t use it correctly (as the bombings in Boston could tell you…though those guys intended to use their cookers as bombs…I don’t think you could accidentally make a bomb :P). Zach and I spent a lot of time reading and rereading the directions and safety procedures to make sure we didn’t hurt ourselves. 🙂
I still use my slow cooker because they’re just so convenient (and because it can go in the dishwasher–the pressure cooker basin cannot).
Really, if I post a pressure cooker recipe, you can make it in a slow cooker or in the oven/on the stove. But I use my pressure cooker and slow cooker more often for some of these recipes, which is why I never mention any other methods. I have no idea how long you should cook a roast in the oven before it’s done…and I don’t want to guess at a set time and then have someone reading my posts say, “That wasn’t long enough. I got sick when I ate it!” 😛
Point is: you definitely do not NEED a pressure cooker for any of the recipes I post. Whatever method you’re most comfortable with using will work just fine.
That was WAY longer than I intended. But I hope it helps!! 🙂
Oh, I never got a notification about your response! I didn’t mean to ignore you! That definitely clears it up, though. Thanks 🙂
That’s OK! That happens to me sometimes, too. =/ Glad it was helpful, though!