This Red Wine Pot Roast is fork-tender and braised in a delicious sauce alongside potatoes and carrots. Roasted in the oven and simple to make, this beef roast is the ultimate comfort food for the whole family.
Pot roast is a classic comfort food most of us have enjoyed many times. It's a delicious and flavorful recipe that is surprisingly easy to make. Make this for the family to enjoy next Sunday night.
Chuck roast is seared on the stove and then slow-roasted in the oven with vegetables, seasonings and a red wine sauce. The roast is hearty, full of flavor and perfectly tender. This recipe is perfect to enjoy on cold nights. If you are a fan of roast dinners, you will also love my Chicken and Potatoes in Dutch Oven, Easy Spatchcock Cornish Hens and Steak and Onion Pie.
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🌟Why You'll Love this Recipe
- Comfort food. This Dutch oven red wine braised pot roast is the definition of cozy food. It's perfect for cold winter nights and large family dinners. If you love this you will also love my Dutch Oven Short Rib Ragu.
- Easy to make. This beef pot roast recipe is super simple to make, requires staple ingredients and is very hands-off.
- Flavorful and filling. After cooking for hours, you'll have a nice tender pot roast (falling apart) that is loaded with delicious flavor.
🥘Ingredients and Substitutions
- Chuck roast- I highly recommend using a beef chuck roast when making pot roast as it is a tough cut of meat that works best when braising. Round roasts (top round or bottom round) or rump roasts also work for this recipe.
- Tomato paste- This adds some richness to the sauce. You can also use tomato sauce in a pinch.
- Worcestershire sauce- Helps to enhance the flavor of the beef. I highly recommend not skipping this ingredient but soy sauce is a great substitute.
- Carrots- I use regular-sized carrots in this recipe but baby carrots can also be used.
- Potatoes- Baby or creamer potatoes are recommended, however, you can also use yellow or red potatoes.
- Red wine- Use a dry red wine that you enjoy drinking for this recipe. I typically use a Cabernet Sauvignon or Pinot Noir.
- Herbs- this recipe calls for bay leaves and fresh thyme. Be sure to remove the bay leaves before serving as they are not meant to be eaten. You can also use fresh rosemary.
See the recipe card below for quantities and remaining ingredients.
📖Variations
- Serve over mashed potatoes. Instead of adding the potatoes to the Dutch oven, serve the finished roast over my Instant Pot Mashed Red Potatoes.
- Omit the red wine if you prefer not to cook with wine. The wine adds a great depth of flavor but just add another cup of beef broth instead.
- Make gravy from the broth. I typically serve this dish as is, but if you prefer a thicker sauce, you can make gravy. Melt 2 tablespoons of butter over medium heat in a small saucepan and whisk in 2 tablespoons of flour or cornstarch. Slowly pour in 1 cup of the pan drippings and continue to whisk until thickened.
🔪Instructions
Step 1: Season and sear all sides of the roast until browned. (Make sure to remove it from the fridge at least 30 minutes before searing). Remove it from the pot.
Step 2: Cook the onion for a few minutes. Add the tomato paste, garlic and Worcestershire sauce to the pot.
Step 3: Deglaze the pan with red wine. Add the roast back to the pan with the remaining ingredients aside from the potatoes and carrots.
Step 4: Braise in the oven for 1 ½ hours. Add the veggies and cook for another 1 ½ hours. The meat should be tender and falling apart.
💭Recipe FAQs
Pot roast consists of a big, tough cut of meat (typically a more affordable cut) that is seared and then slow-braised with vegetables in a delicious broth. It should be fall-apart tender when done cooking.
My favorite is chuck roast but you can also use a top or bottom round or brisket.
Braising is the easiest way to make sure a pot roast is nice and tender. Low heat and slow cooking are key here.
Yes, you can substitute white wine for red wine in this recipe, but the flavor profile and color of the sauce may change slightly. White wine is usually lighter and more delicate in flavor compared to red wine, which can impact the overall taste of the pot roast.
🍳Alternative Cooking Methods
While I like making this recipe in the oven, it can also be done in a slow cooker or Instant Pot.
How to make slow cooker pot roast
Heat olive oil over medium-high heat in a Dutch oven or large skillet. Season the roast on all sides with salt and black pepper. Sear for about 2 minutes per side. Transfer it to a slow cooker with the remaining ingredients and slow cook on low for 8 hours.
How to make Instant Pot (pressure cooker) pot roast:
Set the pot to the Sauté function and add oil. Once hot, season and then sear the meat on all sides for about 2 minutes per side. Turn off the cooker. Add the rest of the ingredients and pressure cook on high for 60-70 minutes. Let the pressure come down naturally for 15 minutes then manually release the remaining pressure.
👩🏻🍳Chef Tips
- Use a well-marbled chuck roast or an overall good-quality cut of beef. The best cuts of meat for pot roast are those that are tough and have a lot of connective tissue, such as chuck roast, shoulder roast, or rump roast. These cuts will become tender and flavorful when cooked slowly over a long period.
- Remove the meat from the fridge at least 30 minutes before cooking so it can come to room temperature.
- Sear all sides of the meat before slow cooking. A good sear gives the roast a delicious crust that results in a more flavorful dish.
- Use a heavy cast iron Dutch oven or another large oven-safe pot with a lid. A large Dutch oven allows for excellent heat retention, resulting in a juicy and more flavorful red wine pot roast recipe.
- Let the red wine pot roast rest for about 10 minutes before serving.
Storage & Reheating
- This easy pot roast recipe will continue to develop flavors as it rests. It may even be better the next day! You can store it covered in the fridge for about 5 days or in the freezer for up to 3 months.
- Defrost in the fridge overnight and reheat in the microwave for 2 minutes or in a pot on the stove until warm.
🥗Serving
This Dutch oven pot roast is an entire meal on its own but here are a few side dish options that go great with this recipe.
I also recommend serving it with your favorite bottle of red wine.
More Comfort Food Recipes
Did you make this recipe? Please leave a 5-star ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ rating & comment below to let me know how it came out. Thanks for visiting!
🍳Recipe
Dutch Oven Red Wine Braised Pot Roast
Equipment
Ingredients
- 3 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 1 teaspoon black pepper
- 3 pounds boneless chuck roast
- 1 large yellow or white onion diced
- 3 garlic cloves minced
- 4 tablespoons tomato paste
- 1 tablespoon Worcestershire sauce
- 1 teaspoon paprika
- 1 cup red wine, (Pinot Noir or Cabernet Sauvignon)
- 3 cups beef broth
- 2 bay leaves
- 4 sprigs thyme
- 1 pound baby or creamer potatoes
- 6 large carrots, peeled and cut into thirds
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 300 degrees F. Heat olive oil over medium-high heat in a Dutch oven. Rub the chuck roast on all sides with salt and black pepper.
- Sear the roast to brown on all sides, about 3 minutes per side. Remove it from the pot and add the diced onion.
- Cook for about 2 minutes, then add in the garlic, paprika and tomato paste. Deglaze the pan with the Worcestershire sauce and wine. Cook for 5 minutes.
- Pour in the beef broth and add the chuck roast back to the Dutch oven. Turn off the heat.
- Add in the bay leaves and thyme, cover the Dutch oven and put it on the middle rack of the oven. Cook for 1 ½ hours.
- Remove the pan from the oven, add the potatoes and carrots. Cover, place back in the oven and cook for another 1 ½ hours until the potatoes are tender and the chuck roast falls apart.
- Let cool for a few minutes and serve.
Notes
- Use a well-marbled chuck roast or an overall good-quality cut of beef. The best cuts of meat for pot roast are those that are tough and have a lot of connective tissue, such as chuck roast, shoulder roast, or rump roast.
- Remove the meat from the fridge at least 30 minutes before cooking so it can come to room temperature.
- Sear all sides of the meat before slow cooking. A good sear gives the roast a delicious crust that results in a more flavorful dish.
- Use a heavy cast iron Dutch oven or another large oven-safe pot with a lid. A large Dutch oven allows for excellent heat retention, resulting in a juicy and more flavorful red wine pot roast recipe.
- Let the red wine pot roast rest for about 10 minutes before serving.
- You can store leftovers covered in the fridge for about 5 days or in the freezer for up to 3 months.
- Defrost in the fridge overnight and reheat in the microwave for 2 minutes or in a pot on the stove until warm.
Nutrition
Nutritional information is based on third-party calculations and should be considered estimates. Actual nutritional content will vary with brands used, measuring methods, portion sizes and more.
Rehoboth says
Awesome recipe
Thanks
Sarah Holt says
Thanks!
Marq says
its in the oven now but I ran out of thyme so I added some rosemary. so far it smells amazing!!
Sarah Hill says
Hi Marq, great idea to use rosemary as a substitute. I will make sure to add that into the post! Hope you enjoy it 🙂
Claude c says
Missing the amount of beef broth and no mention of the paprika aside from the ingredient list.
Sarah Holt says
Sorry about that Claude, thanks for catching my mistake!