Braised Beef Pot Roast with Root Vegetables
Inspired by techniques from NYT Cooking and America's Test Kitchen.
A chuck roast is browned deeply then braised low and slow with onions, garlic and stock until it falls apart, with carrots and potatoes cooked right in the pot for a complete one-pan meal.
Always check the labels of the products you use.
Method
- 1
Brown the beef. Heat the oven to 150°C (130°C fan). Pat the beef dry and season all over with the beef salt and pepper. Heat the oil in the casserole over medium-high heat until shimmering, then brown the beef deeply on all sides, 10-12 minutes in total, before lifting it onto a plate — this deep colour is where most of the dish's savoury flavour comes from.
- 2
Build the base. Turn the heat down to medium and cook the onions and celery in the fat left behind for 6-8 minutes, scraping the bottom of the pot, until coloured at the edges. Stir in the garlic, tomato purée and flour and cook for 2 minutes until the purée darkens slightly. Whisk in the stock and vinegar, scraping up every browned bit stuck to the base, then add the bay and thyme and bring to a simmer.
- 3
Braise the beef. Return the beef and its juices to the pot; the liquid should come about halfway up the sides. Cover with foil, then the lid, and braise in the oven for 2 hours 30 minutes, turning the beef once halfway through. A low, covered oven keeps the liquid just under a simmer, so the tough collagen in the meat melts slowly without the fibres drying out.
- 4
Add the vegetables. Tuck the carrots and potatoes in around the beef and sprinkle over the vegetable salt. Cover again and cook for 1 hour to 1 hour 15 minutes more, until the beef yields completely when pressed with a fork and the vegetables are tender all the way through.
- 5
Finish the sauce. Lift the beef and vegetables onto a plate, then skim the fat from the braising liquid and discard the bay leaves and thyme stems. Boil the liquid for 5-8 minutes until it thickens slightly, then pull or slice the beef into large pieces and return everything to the pot with the sauce. Scatter over the parsley and serve straight from the pot.
Storage
Keeps in a sealed container in the fridge for up to 3 days, or frozen for up to 3 months. Reheat gently on the stove or in the oven, covered, with a splash of stock if needed, until piping hot throughout (74°C). Cool leftovers in a shallow container and refrigerate within 2 hours (within 1 hour on a day above 32°C).
Equipment
- large heavy casserole (Dutch oven, 6 litres or more) with a tight lid
- tongs
- wooden spoon
- aluminium foil
- slotted spoon
- fat separator or ladle
Nutrition per serving (estimated values)
| Per serving | Amount |
|---|---|
| Energy | 862 kcal |
| Protein | 58.1 g |
| Carbohydrate | 36.9 g |
| of which sugars | 8.1 g |
| of which free sugars | 0 g |
| Fat | 53 g |
| of which saturates | 19.8 g |
| Fibre | 6.1 g |
| Salt | 2.67 g |
Protein per 100 kcal
6.7 g High Protein needs ≥ 10 g
Calculated from USDA FoodData Central ingredient values
