Grass-Fed Pot Roast with Red Wine and Mushrooms – Holiday Comfort Made Easy
Tender grass-fed beef, earthy mushrooms, and rich red wine…
a flavorful, budget-friendly pot roast perfect for holidays or cozy dinners.
#GrassFedBeef #HolidayPotRoast #ComfortFoodRecipes
Servings: 6 to 8
Hearty, Homestyle, Holiday-Ready
Rich, savory and effortlessly elegant, this Grass-Fed Beef Pot Roast with Red Wine and Mushrooms is the perfect choice for a holiday feast… or for a cozy meal with family or friends.
Slow-cooked grass-fed beef becomes melt-in-your-mouth tender, absorbing the deep flavors of red wine, earthy mushrooms and fragrant herbs.
Grass-fed beef’s naturally robust flavor shines in this classic comfort dish.
Simple to prepare yet special enough for entertaining, it pairs beautifully with creamy mashed potatoes, egg noodles or crusty bread to soak up the juices.
This is a meal your family will crave year-round.
What’s A Pot Roast?
“Pot Roast” isn’t really a specific recipe or cut of meat — it’s more of a method.
Take a big cut of tough beef, brown it, then cover and slow cook it with aromatics and liquid (stock, broth, wine, or water) until tender.
Tough Meat Makes Good Pot Roast
That doesn’t sound right, does it. Tough meat is good?
When thinking about how pot roast is made, time and temperature really define the process. Pot roast is basically a braise that cooks at a low temperature for a long period of time.
So what kind of meats work best then? The tougher cuts!
We’re talking about lean cuts with lots of connective tissue and very little fat that see a lot of movement and action on the animal — ones that would be like chewing shoe leather if you just seared or grilled it quickly. Let’s not do that, eh?
When cooked properly, the high amount of collagen in tough cuts eventually breaks down into gelatin, tenderizing the meat, making it succulent and adding richness and body to the braising liquid to turn it into a velvety sauce.
The best beef cuts for a pot roast are those with ample connective tissue, like chuck roast, brisket and round roasts (like bottom round).
These tougher cuts become incredibly tender when cooked slowly as the connective tissue breaks down resulting in a rich, flavorful and juicy “pot roast”.
Chuck Roast
This is the most popular choice due to its rich marbling (fat throughout the meat) and abundant connective tissue.
The fat renders down during cooking, creating a flavorful and moist pot roast and the connective tissue breaks down into gelatin, making the meat incredibly tender.
Also known as ‘shoulder steak’, ‘boneless chuck roast’, ‘chuck shoulder pot roast’, ‘chuck seven-bone pot roast’, or ‘beef chuck arm’
BRISKET
Another excellent option, brisket also benefits from slow cooking to break down its connective tissue and develop a deep, beefy flavor.
Leaner and tougher than chuck, brisket is from the breast or lower chest of the cow.
It’s a large, rectangular cut (typically about 13 pounds) that is often split into two smaller cuts — the flat cut (leaner) and the point cut (more fat).
The flat cut of brisket is generally preferred for pot roast.
Either cut is wonderful for pot roast, though may require a bit more time to tenderize.
The meat will hold together more than other cuts, even after a long braise, and is best sliced against the grain for maximum tenderness.
Round Roasts
Bottom Round or Rump Roast
While leaner than chuck roast, these cuts can still make a delicious pot roast with the right cooking method.
The key is to cook them low and slow to tenderize the meat.
Sourced from the hind legs and rump of the cow, round is leaner than chuck or brisket and doesn’t quite have the same beefy punch, but has the advantage of being pretty inexpensive.
Look for ‘rump roast’, ‘round roast’, ‘bottom round roast’ or ‘outside round’.
Avoid ‘top round’ when making pot roast as it’s better suited for a thinly-sliced preparation like roast beef.
Key Factors For a Successful Pot Roast
Low and Slow Cooking
Tougher cuts of beef require a long, slow cooking process (braising) to break down the connective tissue and achieve maximum tenderness.
Searing
Searing the beef on all sides before braising helps to develop flavor and creates a nice crust.
Fat is Your Friend
Look for cuts with good marbling (fat throughout the meat) as the fat contributes to flavor and moisture.
Ingredients
3 slices bacon, chopped
3 pounds chuck roast (bone-in adds more flavor, or other cut as described above)
8 ounces pearl onions
3 cloves garlic, minced
12 ounces baby portobello mushrooms, quartered
Salt and pepper
1 cup beef broth
1 cup red wine
1/2 teaspoon dried thyme
1/4 teaspoon marjoram (or sub-Italian seasoning blend)
2 Tablespoons cornstarch
16 ounces egg noodles (substitute with mashed potatoes)
Parsley, for garnish
Directions
Preheat the oven to 275 degrees. In a Dutch oven or other large oven safe pot, fry the bacon over medium heat until crispy. Remove the bacon to a paper towel, leaving the fat in the pan.
Season the roast on all sides with salt and pepper. Place the roast in the pan and brown on all sides. Remove the roast to a plate.
Add the onions and mushrooms to the pan and sauté until browned. Stir in the garlic. Pour the beef broth and red wine into the pan, scraping up any browned bits on the bottom. Return the roast to the pan and sprinkle with thyme and marjoram.
Cover the pot and cook for 3-4 hours in the oven, flipping the beef over every hour. The beef is ready when it is fall apart tender. You can substitute a slow cooker / crockpot on low for 6-7 hours for the oven.
When the beef is done, remove it to a plate or cutting board. Shred or leave it in big chunks.
Make a slurry by mixing 1/4 cup of the liquid from the pot and 2 Tablespoons of cornstarch. Place the pot over medium heat and whisk in the slurry. Bring to a boil and cook for 2 minutes then reduce heat to low. Continue to cook until thickened slightly then remove from heat. Return the beef to the pot.
Meanwhile, cook the egg noodles or make your mashed potatoes. Ladle beef and sauce over noodles/potatoes to serve. Sprinkle with parsley if desired.