This Balsamic Slow Cooker Pot Roast is an easy, healthy make-ahead main dish recipe that takes 5 minutes of prep time (no browning required). This crock pot roast is my go-to dish for holiday entertaining.
This Balsamic Slow Cooker Pot Roast is an easy, healthy make-ahead main dish recipe that takes 5 minutes of prep time (no browning required). This crock pot roast is my go-to dish for holiday entertaining.
I adore this recipe because it’s the most delicious crock pot roast I’ve ever had! It’s healthy (Paleo, keto, gluten-free, dairy-free, etc.), and can be prepared and cooked overnight in the slow cooker.
I usually start this roast cooking just before I go to bed on Christmas Eve (or the night before any holiday or hosting a meal). Then, when it is finished cooking in the morning, I shred it, make the gravy, and then reheat everything when it’s dinner time – making the holiday meal very low-stress so I can enjoy every moment with my family.
Crock Pot Roast: Ingredients & Substitutions
There are only a few simple ingredients in this slow cooker pot roast recipe, but here are some potential substitutions.
- Olive Oil. Any neutral oil can be used in place of olive oil – suggestions include avocado oil and canola oil.
- Honey. Maple syrup is a great substitute for honey.
- Honey Mustard. Sub your favorite mustard variety if desired: Dijon, regular yellow, spicy brown, etc.
- Beef Broth. You can use chicken or vegetable broth but I highly recommend beef broth as it yields the best flavor! I keep this beef base on hand to make broth for this recipe.
A note about balsamic vinegar:
For the best results, use a premium balsamic vinegar which should be thick, sweet, and pour like molasses instead of water. I recommend this 25-Year Aged Balsamic Vinegar or this Garlic Cilantro Balsamic Vinegar. Both of these can be purchased online from my absolute favorite family-owned shop in my hometown, The Twisted Olive!
How do you make slow cooker pot roast?
Let’s walk through the steps in making the BEST, easy slow cooker pot roast recipe and answer some commonly asked questions! Don’t forget to watch the video.
Make & apply the rub
Combine the rub ingredient sin a small bowl and stir until they’re evenly combined. Next, brush or rub olive oil all over the roast and place it in the slow cooker. Then use your hands to spread the rub over the roast, pressing it down so it sticks.
Mix and add sauce
In a small bowl, whisk together sauce ingredients. Then pour the sauce over the crock pot roast.
Cook
Cook on low for 8-10 hours, occasionally spooning more sauce over the roast, until it is very easily shredded with a fork.
Do you have to brown a roast before putting it in the crockpot?
NO! That’s another beautiful thing about this balsamic pot roast recipe, there is no need to brown it before putting it in the slow cooker!
Shred & Continue Cooking
Once the meat is finished cooking, shred it with two forks and return to the sauce to cook on low for another hour. This helps the shredded meat absorb the flavor even more – yum!
Make the gravy
I prefer to separate the sauce from the meat to strain and thicken it for serving. However you can simply add thickener to the slow cooker towards the end of the cooking time if you prefer.
Remove the meat from the sauce and strain the sauce through a fine mesh strainer into a large bowl (do NOT pour it down the drain)! Then, transfer sauce to a saucepan and whisk in the thickener. Cook on medium heat, stirring constantly. until sauce becomes thick.
Serve
Pour one-fourth of the thickened sauce over the meat and transfer the rest to a serving dish (gravy boat, small pourer, etc.) for serving.
Store
Store any leftovers in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to 5 days, or in the freezer for up to two months.
To cook the night before:
Prepare the roast according to the recipe instructions. Begin cooking on low in the slow cooker when you go to bed at night. In the morning, when the roast is fork-tender, shred it and transfer the meat to a 9×9″ baking dish or a casserole dish with a lid.
Add a little bit of the reserved liquid, and store the meat, covered, in the fridge until it’s almost time to eat. Then when you’re ready to eat simply warm the meat, covered, in the oven at about 325 degrees until it’s warmed through!
Keep the sauce covered in a small saucepan until you are close to ready to eat. Follow the recipe instructions to make/thicken the sauce, then use according to the recipe.
Serving suggestions
Here are some of our favorite dishes to serve with this balsamic pot roast!
- Bread! I always bake some fresh bread to go with this roast! Some of our favorites are:
- The BEST homemade dinner rolls!
- My favorite no-knead bread that you mix together the night before!
- Our famous pretzel bread!
- Salad! I also always make a salad to go with this balsamic pot roast!
- It pairs beautifully with this burrata salad, Balsamic Caprese quinoa salad and this honey mustard quinoa salad!
- Mac and Cheese. Any of our mac and cheese recipes make a great side dish for this pot roast! Spaghetti squash mac and cheese, stovetop homemade mac and cheese and vegetable mac and cheese are all great choices!
- Make a pan of these balsamic roasted vegetables or these balsamic roasted beets to go with the roast!
- Brussels Sprouts! This recipe for Balsamic Roasted Brussels Sprouts will turn a sprouts-hater into a sprouts-lover!
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Balsamic Slow Cooker Pot Roast
Ingredients
- 2 lbs boneless Chuck Roast
- 1 TBS olive oil
Rub:
- 1 tsp garlic powder
- ½ tsp onion powder
- 1 tsp sea salt
- ½ tsp freshly ground black pepper
Sauce:
- ½ cup high quality balsamic vinegar
- 2 TBS honey
- 1 TBS honey mustard
- 1 cup beef broth
- 1 TBS cornstarch (or arrowroot powder or tapioca starch)
Instructions
- Generously grease the bowl of your slow cooker. Set aside
Make the rub:
- In a small bowl, mix together garlic powder, onion powder, sea salt and pepper. Set aside.
Make the sauce:
- In a medium bowl whisk together balsamic vinegar, honey, mustard and beef broth. Set aside.
Putting it together:
- Coat the roast in 1 TBS olive oil (I spread it around with my hands). Set in your slow cooker.
- Evenly sprinkle the roast with the rub, pressing it into the meat so it sticks.
- Pour sauce over roast and turn your slow cooker onto low.
- Cook on low for 8-10 hours, occasionally spooning more sauce over the roast, until it is very easily shredded with a fork.
- Shred and continue cooking on low for another 1 hour.
- Just before you are ready to serve, remove the meat from the sauce and strain the sauce through a fine mesh strainer into a large bowl (do NOT pour it down the drain)!
- Transfer sauce to a saucepan and whisk in 1 TBS cornstarch.
- Cook on medium heat until sauce becomes thick.
- Pour ¼ of the thickened sauce over the meat and save the rest for people to spoon on when you serve!
- Eat and enjoy!
Video
Notes
To cook the night before:
Prepare the roast according to the recipe instructions. Begin cooking on low in the slow cooker when you go to bed at night. In the morning, when the roast is fork-tender, shred it and transfer the meat to a 9x9" baking dish or a casserole dish with a lid. Add a little bit of the reserved liquid, and store the meat, covered, in the fridge until it's almost time to eat. Then when you're ready to eat simply warm the meat, covered, in the oven at about 325 degrees until it's warmed through! Keep the sauce covered in a small saucepan until you are close to ready to eat. Follow the recipe instructions to make/thicken the sauce, then use according to the recipe.Store
Store any leftovers in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to 5 days, or in the freezer for up to two months.Ingredient Substitutions
- Olive Oil. Any neutral oil can be used in place of olive oil - suggestions include avocado oil and canola oil.
- Honey. Maple syrup is a great substitute for honey.
- Honey Mustard. Sub your favorite mustard variety if desired: Dijon, regular yellow, spicy brown, etc.
- Beef Broth. You can use chicken or vegetable broth but I highly recommend beef broth as it yields the best flavor! I keep this beef base on hand to make broth for this recipe.
A note about balsamic vinegar:
For the best results, use a premium balsamic vinegar which should be thick, sweet, and pour like molasses instead of water. I recommend this 25-Year Aged Balsamic Vinegar or this Garlic Cilantro Balsamic Vinegar.Nutrition
Photos in this post were taken by Jamie from Dishing Out Health.
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Carolynn
I’ve made this recipe more times than I can count now! It is SO delicious & might be my favorite easy recipe of all time. I’ve made a few slight modifications & they work beautifully, in case anyone has thought of trying something similar to these! 1) I like to slice a yellow onion & include it as a layer below the roast. 2) I typically use a stone-ground mustard rather than honey mustard. 3) I omit the honey (it develops a sweet tanginess even without these ingredients!).4) I don’t use a thickener – instead, I shred the beef & place it back in the slow cooker with all the juices to soak up more of the flavor. It pairs perfectly with roasted potatoes with rosemary plus a veggie like Brussels sprouts, broccoli, or green beans!
Laura
Thank you Carolynn! It’s my go-to for special occasions and hosting friends and family!
Lennie Gail
Absolutely delicious! I used bottom round roast and it turned out great!
Gina
Hi, Laura! This recipe is absolutely delicious. I wanted to ask though- do you brown your meat or anything to get the crust on yours? Mine did not come out with a crust so I didn’t know if I missed something.
Laura
Hey Gina! thank you for your sweet comment! This is one of our favorite recipes! I don’t brown the meat, it just gets some burnt edges in the crockpot!
Hayley C.
Could I make this in an Instant Pot instead?
Laura
Hey Hayley! I do not own an insta pot (Gasp) so I am unsure if it will work! I’m so sorry!
Amy T
Hi there. I followed your recipe to a tee but when I checked it after 5 hours, it was as if the roast had been boiled and was tough and cooked through. The only difference was my roast was 2.24 lbs. What size is your crockpot? I used my oval one. Maybe the crock pot is too big for this small of a roast? Help a sister out 🤣
Laura
Hey Amy! I’m sorry that you had some trouble with this recipe. I make it allll the time, so I’m surprised to hear it didn’t turn our perfectly. However, my guess is you simply need to let it cook the full 9 hours. It needs to cook the full amount in order to become fork tender.
Charmaine McKinney
Have tried this several times and it’s delicious. My husband loves carrots and potatoes cooked with a roast but I haven’t tried that with recipe because of the long cooking time. Do you recommend a time when I could add these in?
Thx Charmaine
Laura
I’m SO glad to hear that you enjoy this recipe Charmaine! I make it at least twice a month because we love it so much too! I have thought about adding potatoes/carrots as well but haven’t tried it yet. There are two methods I’d give the potatoes and carrots at least 3-6 hours to cook with the roast. But I have not tried it so I can’t say for sure!
Charmaine McKinney
Thx I’ll try it and let you know.
Dakota
What would you recommend doing with leftovers? Like tacos or sandwich?
Laura
Hey Dakota! Either one of those is a great way to use leftovers! We often eat it with egg noodles or rice as well! Or toss it in a stir fry!
Barbara
Hi!
I just found your site and you have so many delicious recipes that I am looking forward to trying. I’m really excited to try this Balsamic Roast recipe this weekend, but want to make sure I am clear on the directions. You mentioned putting this on the night before in the slow cooker. So if I put this on say 9:00 pm on Saturday before bed, and we don’t have it until Sunday for dinner at 5 pm, it won’t be overcooked or dried out?
Many thanks!
Barb
Laura
Hey Barb! GREAT question! I will update this in the recipe too! What I usually do is check the meat after 9 hours and if it’s ready then I shred it and transfer the meat to a 9×9″ baking dish with a lid or casserole dish, add a little bit of the reserved liquid, and store it in the fridge until it’s almost time to eat. Keep the sauce covered in a small saucepan to thicken and warm close to dinner! Then when you’re ready to eat simply warm the meat, covered, in the oven at about 325 degrees until it’s warmed through!
Robyn D
This was super easy to make and it was delicious!! The whole family loved it! The only mistake we made was not doubling the recipe so we could enjoy leftovers!
Laura
I’m SO glad you love it Robyn! This is one of our family’s favorite recipes! I actually just bought a roast today to make it this week! 🙂
Kim
I put this in the crockpot this morning along with some veggies that came with it (it was a packet from Walmart) and we saw your recipe and are so thankful because we used to do cream of mushroom soup but my little girl has a slight milk allergy so I was glad to see this option. My husband is excited to try it as well! The only thing I didn’t do is get the tapioca flour and also we are serving it over white rice. Thanks again!
Janet
Could eye of round be used instead of chuck?
Laura
Hello Janet! You really can use any cut, just be sure to give yourself plenty of time for it to cook on low heat. The meat should be so tender it will fall apart when you go to shred it!