Slow Cooked Balsamic Pot Roast
Tender fall-apart crock pot roast slow cooked in a balsamic gravy with veggies is a perfect hearty weekday dinner with minimum efforts.
Servings: 8
Equipment
Ingredients
- Roast beef boneless and trimmed of excess fat- 4 pounds (2 kg)
- Salt and pepper- to taste
- Olive oil- 2 tablespoons
- Onions diced-2
- Garlic cloves smashed-8-9
- Carrots cut into 1-inch pieces-2
- Celery stalks cut into 1-inch pieces- 2
- Medium potatoes halved-1 pound (500 g)
- Balsamic vinegar-1/4 cup
- Dijon mustard- 2 tablespoons
- Brown sugar-1 tablespoon
- Fresh thyme sprigs- 3-4
- Bay leaf-1
- Low-sodium beef broth- 1 cup
- Flour or cornstarch - 2 tablespoons to thicken the gravy, optional
- Parsley chopped- 2 tablespoons
- Black pepper and salt- as needed
Instructions
Crock Pot:
- In a large skillet heat oil over high heat. Season beef with a generous amount of salt and ground black pepper. Once the oil is hot, sear the beef on all sides until browned, about 5-6 minutes per side. Transfer to the bowl of a 6-quart slow cooker.
- Add the onion, celery, garlic (smashed with the back of a spoon), carrots, potatoes, balsamic vinegar, brown sugar, bay leaf, Dijon mustard and thyme sprigs.
- Whisk together the beef stock and flour until lumps free. Pour it into the bowl of your crock pot. Season with salt and pepper. Cover and cook on "LOW" for 8-10 hours or until the beef is tender and falling apart with a fork.
- Adjust the seasoning and garnish with parsley and thyme sprigs.
Oven:
- Preheat your oven to 350 F (175 C). Heat oil in a 6 quart dutch oven or oven safe pot over medium high heat. Sear the seasoned meat on all sides until browned.
- Arrange the onions, carrots, garlic, celery, potatoes, bay leaf and thyme sprigs around the the roast. Add the balsamic vinegar, brown sugar, Dijon mustard and beef broth combined with flour. Season with salt and pepper.
- Bring to a simmer, cover with an oven safe lid or foil and transfer to the preheated oven. Roast for 4-5 hours or until the meat is tender and falling apart. Check the roast after 2 hours of cooking. If there is no liquid, add 1 cup of warm broth and continue to cook until the meat is tender.
- Discard the bay leaf and thyme sprigs. Garnish with parsley and extra thyme sprigs.
- Pull the beef into large pieces and serve with vegetables and gravy.
Instant Pot:
- Choose "Saute" mode. Add oil and heat. Once it is hot, sear the meat on all the sides until browned, about 4-5 minutes each side.
- Add the celery, potatoes, carrots, garlic, onions, balsamic vinegar, bay leaf, mustard, brown sugar, thyme, salt and pepper. Combine the stock with the flour and pour into the bowl.
- Choose "Pressure cook" mode on "high" and set time for 1 hour.
- When the time is over, cancel "pressure cook" mode and allow natural air release for 15 minutes.
- Carefully remove the lid and transfer the roast to a serving dish.
Video
Nutrition
Calories: 401kcal | Carbohydrates: 15g | Protein: 36g | Fat: 21g | Saturated Fat: 8g | Cholesterol: 123mg | Sodium: 584mg | Fiber: 2g | Sugar: 4g