This Dutch Oven Pot Roast with carrots, potatoes and a rich sauce, is the perfect weeknight dinner, and tastes like you spent hours in the kitchen, but you only spent 15 minutes of active cooking time.
Allow roast to sit: Pull the roast from the fridge and allow it to come to room temperature by placing it on the counter for at least 30 minutes before cooking.
Preheat the oven to 350 F.
Prep Veggies: While the roast is coming to room temperature, begin preparing the vegetables. Peel and cut the carrots into about 1-inch pieces. Halve the onion and then peel and quarter the halves, breaking the layers apart with your hands. Wash the baby potatoes and halve them or you can leave them whole. Halving them takes more time but allows them to absorb more flavor from the sauce. Set all veggies aside.
Season the roast: Pat the meat dry using a paper towel and season with salt, pepper, and garlic powder.
Sear roast: In a large Dutch oven (I used a 7 Qt), heat 2 tbsp. of olive oil over medium heat. Once the oil is hot place the seasoned roast in the pot and begin to sear each side, about 3-4 minutes per side.
Create broth: Once the roast has a nice sear on both sides, remove it from the Dutch oven and set it to the side. Deglaze the bottom of the pot using the broth and a wooden spatula. Add in the tomato paste, Worcestershire sauce, balsamic vinegar, and ground celery seed, and mix together until there are no clumps. Place the meat back in the Dutch oven with the broth and surround it with the prepared vegetables.
Bake the roast: Top the roast with fresh rosemary and thyme. Place the lid on the Dutch oven and place it in the oven for about 2.5-3 hours (1 hour per pound of meat), or until the meat becomes fork-tender. Periodically, spoon some of the liquid from the Dutch over the roast to ensure that it stays moist.
Remove from the oven, and remove the sprigs of rosemary and thyme from the pot. Run your fingers along the thyme to release the leaves from the woody stem.
Notes
Tips:
Basting for Moisture: Spooning the cooking liquid over the roast periodically during the cooking process can help keep the meat from drying out.
Tougher Cuts of Meat: If you have a lower-grade cut of meat or are using grass-fed meat, cutting the meat into smaller chunks can help expose more surface area to the cooking liquid.
Texture of Veggies: For this cooking time (2.5-3 hours) your vegetables should not be mushy, but if you prefer your veggies to have a little more structure consider adding them later in the cooking process.
Save the liquid: Even if you don’t make gravy, do not discard the cooking liquid. Serve and store the meat with this cooking liquid to help keep it moist and flavorful.
See blog post for more details about tips and notes to help make this recipe a success!