Dixie Pot Roast
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When it comes to a Sunday dinner in America, there is nothing quite as classic as my Dixie Pot Roast with hearty vegetables.
And if you should find yourself with leftover Dixie Pot Roast, I have a simple solution for using those up. How do Easy French Dip Sandwiches with Picante Provolone and hot Au Jus sound?
If you love meltingly tender, slow cooked roast beef, and if you are looking for the perfect Sunday dinner recipe that tastes delicious and requires extraordinarily little hands-on time, Dixie Pot Roast is for you! Dixie Pot Roast is super simple and incredibly flavorful.
When it comes to a Sunday dinner, nothing beats the well-known classic pot roast! Pot Roast, Sweep Steak, Winn-Dixie Pot Roast, Chuck Roast Winner Dinner, or whatever YOUR Mom called it, burst on to the American family dinner table scene in the 1950s to wide popularity. It gained further momentum in the 1960s when featured in “The I Hate To Cook Book” penned openly for housewives to survive cooking rather than take pleasure in the process.
Dixie Pot Roast is a fall apart, tender flavored beef roast that is accompanied by starchy caramelized vegetables and served with a rich brown gravy. It is mouthwateringly good and so simple to make.
But the lazy chef and her Sunday pot roast has been updated. Made over some might say. The days of low and slow dinners are not a thing of the past, rather have just been made a whole lot easier.
Fall is around the corner and shorter days are closing in. For me, that means using my oven a good bit more than my grill. Slow cooked in the oven, this easy recipe yields a complete meal with hearty potatoes, caramelized onions, and sweet carrots cooked right alongside the meat.
A secret ingredient which gives this recipe depth of flavor is instant espresso powder. I can curl up with some red wine and a book while time and the low temperature do their thing. With little preparation I will have a hearty, comforting dinner with little effort.
Any leftovers can be saved for your busiest weeknight for a quick batch of Easy French Dip Sandwiches with Picante Provolone. Well…okay, maybe I will put in the effort to make up some biscuits, too ?
Consider yourself lucky if you find you have some leftovers. Serve on Chicago or torpedo rolls with some melted Provolone and a dipper of au jus and you’ve got a whole other meal.
What is the best cut of beef for pot roast?
A good pot roast can be made with any cut of beef including a chuck roast, round roast, or even a brisket. I can remember as a kid my Mom shopping the meat bin at our local Shop Rite. The ‘bin’ was not the meat counter by any means. These were the shrink-wrapped big, tough cuts that were cheaper and honestly perfect for slow cooking.
I never realized Mom shopped the bin because it was what we could afford. She had masterful methods for seared, smothered, and slow cooked meals that were complete with fresh herbs and home-grown vegetables from our own gardens.
Serve the pan gravy drizzled over the meat or pass at the table in a gravy boat.
Between that bin and my Mom’s great culinary tricks, I recall some of the most amazing and fall apart tender beef dinners ever. Nowadays, I like to start with a well-marbled boneless chuck roast. I sear the meat well to help keep the juices in during the roast and to develop that deep caramelized flavor.
I make onions, potatoes, and carrots with the meat, and always make enough potatoes to be able to leave some whole while mashing the rest for those who prefer them mashed. Not to mention I always have plenty of pot roast sides to round out this amazing meal!
My method for the gravy at the end is optional but delightful. I save EVERY drop of the drippings for gravy, and for au jus that I will serve with French dip sandwiches from the leftover roast.
Dixie Pot Roast
Ingredients
Ingredients for Dixie Rub
- 3 tablespoons cornstarch
- 4 teaspoons onion powder
- 2 teaspoons light brown sugar
- 2 teaspoons Kosher salt
- 1 teaspoon black pepper
- 1 teaspoon garlic powder
- 1 teaspoon instant espresso powder
- 1 teaspoon dried thyme leaves
- ½ teaspoon celery seed
Ingredients for The Pot Roast
- 1 4 lb boneless beef chuck-eye roast
- 4 large onions, peeled and quartered
- 6 red potatoes, scrubbed and quartered
- 4 large carrots, peeled and cut into 3 to 4 inch pieces
- 2 bay leaves
- 2 tablespoons soy sauce
Ingredients for Dixie Brown Gravy
- ⅓ cup pan drippings from roast
- ⅓ cup all-purpose flour
- 3 cups warm beef broth
- ½ teaspoon Kosher salt
- ¼ teaspoon black pepper
Instructions
- Adjust oven rack to lower-middle position and heat oven to 300°F.
- Using a small whisk, combine rub ingredients in a small bowl.
- Rinse and pat roast dry with paper towels. Separate roast into 2 pieces along natural seam and trim fat to 1/4 inch thickness. You need to retain at least this much fat so the meat stays moist. Tie with kitchen twine around each roast at 1 inch intervals.
- Crisscross two 30 by 18 inch sheets of heavy duty tin foil inside a large roasting pan.
- Place vegetables and bay leaves in the center of the foil and drizzle with the soy sauce. Set roasts on top of vegetables. Rub roasts all over with rub. Fold opposite corners of foil toward each other and crimp edges tightly to seal. Transfer pan to oven and cook until meat is completely tender (about 4 1/2 hours).
- Remove roasts from foil pouch and place on carving board. Tent meat with foil and let rest for 20 to 30 minutes. Discard bay leaves. Using a slotted spoon, place carrots and potatoes on serving platter. Alternatively, mash half or all of the potatoes.
- Remove kitchen twine from roasts. Slice roasts thinly against the grain and transfer to platter with vegetables.
* if you are making the Dixie Gravy, retain 1/3 cup drippings from the foil roasting pan and pour into a 3 quart saucepan over medium heat.
** if you are meal planning and plan to use leftovers for Easy French Dip Sandwiches with Picante Provolone, retain 2 to 4 tablespoons of drippings from foil roasting pan and refrigerate until ready to use.
- Add flour to drippings; blend well.
- Cook over medium heat 2 to 3 minutes until smooth and light brown, stirring constantly.
- Add broth; cook until mixture boils and thickens, stirring constantly.
- Add salt and pepper to taste.
The nutrition value can vary depending on what product(s) you use. The information below is an estimate. Always use a calorie counter you are familiar with.
Please note that table salt and iodized salt are NOT substitutions for Kosher salt. Do not deviate unless otherwise specified.
This sounds so wonderfully homey and comforting. Thanks for sharing at the What’s for Dinner party. Hope your weekend is amazing and we see you again on Sunday!