Lazy Day Pot Roast
On Sundays, I usually make ‘mega-meals’ which means a meal that is bigger than for the two of us. It’s a meal to split three ways – for us, for his parents and for my parents. Both our parents are aging and while they get “Meals On Wheels” – it gives me great pleasure to give them a homemade meal each week.
I’m am sharing with you the most incredible, flexible pot roast recipe EVER! Seriously, this recipe gives you the guidelines and basics…all you do is fill in the blanks with different, spices, fluids and herbs. I have had so much fun playing with this recipe. When I’m in the creative, exotic mood – I play with Chinese Five Spice and cinnamon in the flour mixture to get exotic depth of flavors.
This time I took the lazy way out for I didn’t want to spend much time in the kitchen…would rather spend it with my hubby. Today’s pot roast interpretation is the “Lazy Day” version.
I found the recipe on Epicurious.com and it is dated from 1963. Time tested for sure. Over the years, I have had fun playing with all the options.
I start with a basic flour dredge of 1/4 cup flour, 2 tbsp. Montreal Steak Seasoning and a good hefty shake of Lawry’s seasoned salt.
I had a 3 1/2 lb. chuck roast from a special at a local grocer. It was a bit fatty so I carved off all visible signs of the nasty stuff.
Before diving in and braising the beef, I prepared all the veggies that were going to go in to the pot. This time I used onions, garlic (lots of it!) and carrots. The recipe is so flexible that you can add your favorite veggies – I’ve used turnips, fennel and mushrooms in the past.
Speaking of carrots, I don’t skimp on fresh veggies – lazy day or not. I always buy a bunch of carrots with tops attached…fresh and full of flavor…and oh so pretty!
Next step is to line up your herbs and spices. Again, this recipe gives you lots of room for creativity! Today, I’m going the rosemary (2 sprigs), Worcestershire sauce (1 TBS) and bay leaf (2) route. There are so many variations of spices to play with…I like to go into the reviews of the recipe and see what other cooks have come up with.
A moment of digression here, I have the pleasure of having a delightful little spice shop near my house and I have sworn never to buy grocery store spices again!
Fresher!
Cheaper!
I love my visits to Heather’s and my chats with the owner over recipes…(another blog post for sure!)
Back to the recipe.
Veggies cut. Spices, herbs and seasonings lined up.
Time to braise the meat.
High temperatures. Frying pan. Canola oil.
Brown the meat on both sides until you get a nice crust on the meat.
Remove the meat from the frying pan, drain the excess oil and immediately throw in the veggies.
I add some fresh ground pepper, turn the heat down a bit and stir the veggies so they collect what’s left of the drippings from the beef in the pan. After a few minutes, I toss in a cup of red wine!
Stir the veggies and wine to collect all the flavors and toss it all over the braised meat in a dutch oven or roaster.
This is a LOW and SLOW recipe – better cooked at a low temperature of 300 degrees for 3 1/2 to 5 hours. Check the meat and when it falls apart with a fork, it’s done.
While it’s cooking, enjoy the smells that will permeate your kitchen…and enjoy your lazy day!
97 comments on “Lazy Day Pot Roast”
Leave a Reply to lindalyell Cancel reply
Potatoes…..gotta have potatoes in it…..but I’m an Irish girl and we don’t do anything without potatoes!
Amen! I always serve mine with mashed potatoes on the side!
I completely agree about the variation of spices. If I could cook I would probably list them year, but alas!
Great photos.
lazy = me
pot roast = yummers
lazy day pot roast = definitely a recipe i can’t wait to try out! thanks for sharing and congrats on being freshly pressed!
Pot roast is the greatest! So good for Sunday family meals. My son use to call it “roast beast,” like in How the Grinch Stole Christmas. The only red meat he would eat when he was little was my pot roast. Very nice photos!
I love that – “roast beast” – all 3 of my girls were vegetarians when they were growing up. I feel your pain!
I’m having one of those lazy days!!
awesome pictures. Congratulations. U got freshly pressed.
I love a good pot roast. My wife makes a great one!
That looks delicious. Husband would love it. Last night I made mashed turnips and carrots, with cream and salt/pepper. Still using up those garden carrots! It was good.
Thank you for sharing!
Sounds yummy! :o)
Man, I wish there were a fresher, cheaper spice shop near my home. I’ll bet those spices make ALL the difference!
Beautiful recipe, photos and post. Thank you for sharing.
A lazy day pot roast sound perfect for me. Today I thought about exercising, so I lied down until the feeling passed.
Awesome pictures as well.
You LAY down … the past tense of LIE is … LAY. You LAID down yesterday. You have LAIN down many times. Not that it makes any difference, but just so you know.
Yum that looks delicious and is making me hungry.
Beautiful photos. Makes me want to start cooking now!
my stomach is growling as i type. looks so amazing. i can literally smell the aroma from my screen. great post. oh by the way im gonna use this recipe =]
Recipe sounds delicious! Now I’m going to have to make one. Headed to the grocery store after work!
Yummy!
That looks amazing! I can almost smell it from here. lol!
Congrats on a well deserved Freshly Pressed.
That looks better than any pot roast I’ve ever had.
Thanks! After looking at your blog, I take that as a BIG compliment!
I think I am going to like it as it is.
I’m loving any lazy day meal! Here’s the link to a bunch of mine:
http://fisilis.wordpress.com/tag/recipes/
Congrats on being Freshly Pressed!
xo
Mindy
I love pot roast. I’m going to try doing this. Fantastic recipe! Thanks!
Nothing says it’s a cozy lazy Sunday like a pot roast. It’s especially great if it’s raining outside. Was it? I make pot roast regularly and will try this one soon. Btw, gorgeous pictures!
I’m from Ohio…of course, it was raining or snowing
In either case, we watched a movie in the afternoon! Thanks!
The pictures are really nice! Im sure it tasted great as well:)
A big YUM!!!!! the images are amazing. They look good to eat. I will try this one Sunday. We have a Sunday meal with the whole family (in the Philippines we are used to big families
) too. This would be a great meal. Thanks…
Ну так аппетитно выглядит!Непременно сама приготовлю.Я очень люблю сама готовить и это нравится моему любимому мужчине,с которым я живу уже 26 год.Ему будет вкусно от этого ленивого рецепта!Спасибо за рецепт!!!
Thank you! Here’s the English translation:
Well, looks so appetizing! Certainly she prigotovlyu.Ya love to cook myself and like my beloved man, with whom I lived for 26 were secured to a delicious recipe from this lazy, Thanks for the recipe!
It does look yummo – but it still kind of looks like work, Where is the easy part?
Blessings,
Ava
xox
It’s a matter of being organized, putting it in the oven and enjoying the rest of the day! Thanks for reading!
I have never thought to use the Montreal spice on my pot roast before. This I am going to try. Congrats on being freshly pressed.
Your pics are mouthwatering… love the easy recipe! Thanks for sharing. Absolutely love your blog!
There is nothing like a pot roast with all the trimming! Thanks for sharing!
love your photography.
Yummy looking, this is a great blog! I am glad I stuumbled on it!
Agree looks like work, but worth it!
Also agree needs potatoes. Pot Roast= yummy! Gotta have my meat! Must try this one. Thanks! Congrats on being FP!
It’s really not that much work if you get organized…once it’s done, it’s done. Enjoy those taters!
Good and good for you. Don’t you just love meals that can be cooked in one pot!
Looks so yummy, the only way to get lazier would be to use the microwave!
You are amazing!
I believe I want to become lazy for a day, just to make this
Thank you so much for caring about both sets of your parents. Having a home cooked meal send them love and they know it.
Beautiful pictures, well done on the layout.
P.S. I use potatoes too-Roast is always served with celery, potatoes, carrots, garlic and onions around these parts.
I have always hated pot roast… but I’m starting to get the feeling, it’s because I’ve never had a good one.
Ha! Time to give it another chance!
wow
sounds good. however, my mom and an aunt used to do a ‘golf roast’ which i still do several times each winter. it’s even easier to deal with than yours. chuck roast as well but i never ever cut off that good fat.
drink some red wine to cut it.
Celery. It needs celery.
That’s the beauty of this recipe…you can add any veggie you like! I don’t like celery so I leave it out!
I absolutely love your food photography! Great post!
Great photography!
This recipe looks awesome! All my friends are foodies so I re-posted this on my blog! Congratulations on being Fresh Pressed! :oD
many thanks!
Beautiful Photos!
Thank you for such a great post. I am a fan of pot roast and those pictures look yummy.
wow, yummie!
Definitely got to give this a try! Thanks.
I don’t even like roast, but I can see myself eating some of that!
Hey Mom!
Congrats on such a successful blog post. Now please send me some of this pot roast, oh and I would also like some of the donuts you made last week. Overnight shipping would be appreciated.
Love,
Your Hungry Daughter
How bout if we overnight ship you HERE! And you can help cook and take photos! hmmmm?
Sounds good to me!!!
This looks amazing! And your photos are so beautiful. Congrats on being Freshly Pressed. I’ll be back soon!
The meat looks tender and juicy with the combination of vegetables
Lazy day means ordered-in pizza to me. I will definitely try this recipe on a non-lazy day since I never knew what to do with the Chinese-Five-Spice that I bought on a whim.
I made my version of this lazy day roast on 3/12/11 using 3 oxtails and a small chuck steak. I used 4 t Better Than Bouillon (vegie) rather than wine (to 4 C water) and did the slow braise in the oven like Linda. I added 5 garlic cloves, 1 onion and 1 fennel bulb (S & P) for the oven process. When the meat fell apart, I removed the vegies (discard or nibble on some) and separated from the broth. I refrigerated the broth to condense the fat. I removed the meat from the bones and removed any fat from the chuck. After the broth cooled, I removed the fat. 15 minutes before serving I added my potatoes and carrots, S & P, ( I don’t care for mushy vegies.) The flavor of this stew is to die for! This stew is for those on a budget that want gourmet taste (I modified the Joy of Cooking recipe, which discussed the historical connection to noblepeople eating the tails of cattle being tanned during the French reign of terror.)
Congratulations on being freshly pressed. Your blog is well set up, your food is delicious, and your photography is great. I am going to try to add this blog to my posts
congratulations once again
It’s Healthy to Have a Dog
People who walk their own dogs get more exercise.
Great photos! It seems that it was taken on the yummy magazine.
Sounds yummy and warming. Just the ticket for winter.
Hello Linda. Your presentation is so appetizing, I feel like wanting to cook and eat! Great piece. I will try them with my own kitchenware collection. Thanks and goodluck! Vanessa
http://www.yoursmartkitchen.com
i always love the braised meat, it could melted in ur mouth….
nice pict too
YUM! This would be a huge hit in my house. Im going to have to give it a try. Congrats on being Freshly Pressed. Great post!
The photos are fantastic, and everything looks delicious. Thank you for sharing!
yum yum ^_^
i just failed my driving tes, i’m super pissed off, but this has made me feel better. it looks amazing!
Glad to help! Good luck next time!
your pictures are gorgeous! keep up the beautiful work!
oh such a beautiful roast. I fall in love with food the more I read blogs like this. Love the photography. Why kind of camera are you using?
It is one of my most cherished possessions – a Nikon D5000….Christmas present from hubby!
Nice preparation. Beautiful pics Lindalyell.
The pictures look excellent. Thanks for sharing this post. Feel free to check out our recipes as well.
that pot roast made me hungry! That really looks good and tasty
This looks and sounds delicious. Your pictures are amazing, too.
I used this recipe to make short ribs and it was fabulous! My mother never put the veggies in till the end and I always thought this was how you were supposed to cook a pot roast, but it made all the difference to put the veggies in at the beginning! We loved it and this recipe will be used in my kitchen forever!
Looks delicious! Just made pot roast for the first time this past weekend. Next time I’ll have to try some of your suggestions.
Amazing, love it!
Thanks. http://calogeromirafoodand.wordpress.com
Delicious and easy to make. Thanks for sharing!!
I was new in the world of bloggers so please guidance yes, And thank you for sharing these on your blog, And your blog is very useful to me.
I have never thought to use the Montreal spice on my pot roast before. This I am going to try. Congrats on being freshly pressed.
That looks amazing! I can almost smell it from here. lol!
Congrats on a well deserved Freshly Pressed.