Slow Cooker Pot Roast With Beer
Need a slow cooker meal for Winter? This Slow Cooker Pot Roast with Beer checks all the boxes! Comforting, hearty, and set it and forget it. The perfect low stress meal you and your family will make over and over again. The leftovers are versatile too!
Best Slow Cooker Pot Roast With Beer
My household is often busy with sports, activities, and a host of other things. Sometimes, I have to let the slow cooker do the work for me if I am going to get a meal on the table.
If you’re a meat lover and appreciate the rich, deep flavors of slow-cooked dishes, then this pot roast recipe with beer is one I think you will love. This easy recipe combines melt-in-your-mouth tender beef with the robust taste of beer, resulting in a dish that is both hearty and satisfying.
The alcohol in the beer cooks off, leaving behind flavors that really go well with the beef.
Beer Pot Roast Ingredients
Beer- It wouldn’t be pot roast with beer if it didn’t have beer am I right? In the next section, I will talk about the best beer to use for this recipe.
Onions- I like yellow onions here. Their sugar content makes them caramelize nicely, and they hold up to the long cook time really well. Be sure to use a lot of them. Not only do they provide wonderful flavor, but they act as a topping for the meat as well!
Bay Leaf- I love bay leaves! They have an aroma and flavor that at least for me, are synonymous with Fall and Winter. You can use fresh or dried.
Fresh Thyme- I like using fresh thyme in this recipe, and I have a few tips for you down in the recipe card about how to use it in this dish!
Salt and Pepper- You only need to salt and pepper the roast itself. Don’t worry about adding it to the beer or onions.
What Beer Should I Use For Pot Roast?
I like Amber or Brown Ale for this recipe. A Blonde, Lager, or other lighter beers don’t have the depth of flavor needed to play well with the beef.
I also do not recommend an IPA here, in my opinion they are too sour. If you love IPAs and want to give that a try, I won’t stop you!
You can also try a Red Ale or even a Porter. Just make sure it is something full bodied with a smoother flavor.
What Is The Best Cut Of Meat For Pot Roast?
I like either a cross rib roast or chuck roast for this recipe. Both are great for slow cooking, and produce tender meat.
You want a roast that is not too fatty, but has some marbling to it.
I love getting my roasts from a local farm when they are available. The meat is high quality and small family owned businesses are supported! If you don’t have a local farm that sells beef in your area, try to get the best quality roast you can find at your local grocery store.
How To Make Slow Cooker Beer Pot Roast
This is a really easy beer braised pot roast recipe! Just a few steps, then into the slow cooker it goes while you go about your day, and it’s ready in time for dinner!
- Season and brown the roast.
- Saute the onions.
- Simmer and reduce the beer.
- Add the roast and the onions to the slow cooker and cook until ready.
Be sure to see the recipe card for complete instructions and notes!
Should I Brown Pot Roast Before Slow Cooking?
Absolutely you should! Here’s why: It adds so much more flavor than just adding the unbrowned roast to the slow cooker.
When browning meat, the proteins and sugars react with each other, creating more complex flavors that are deeper and richer. Who doesn’t want that, right? Brown food tastes great, and it only takes a few minutes to sear the roast before adding it to the slow cooker.
How Long Does It Take To Cook A Pot Roast In A Slow Cooker On Low?
Over the years, I have found that 8 hours makes for a tender roast. If your roast is particularly large, you could do longer than that and be fine.
If you want to cook your roast on high, I have notes for that included in the recipe card.
How To Store Slow Cooker Pot Roast
Your pot roast will store just fine in a plastic or glass container with a lid for up to one week. To reheat, simply microwave it after breaking it up into portions until warm.
Can You Freeze Pot Roast?
Yes you can! Be sure to completely cool the meat first. You can do this by refrigerating it until cool. Then, place the meat in a freezer bag with a good seal. It will keep for about three months.
To thaw, move the meat to the refrigerator at least a day or two before you want to reheat it.
What To Do With Leftover Pot Roast
Leftover pot roast is great over buttered noodles, made into a shepherd’s pie, or turned into sandwiches. You can also add it to vegetable soup or lasagna.
Recipe Variations
As you may have noticed, there are no vegetables added to the slow cooker in this recipe, with the exception of the onions. As a personal preference, I like to cook my vegetables separately in the last hour or so of the roast cooking in the slow cooker.
Why? I find the texture of slow cooked carrots a bit mushy, and the potatoes are not as flavorful cooked in the slow cooker. If you want to add carrots and potatoes to this pot roast, feel free to do so!
Thank you for stopping by The Copper Table. If you tried this slow cooker pot roast with beer, I’d love to hear how it turned out! Just leave a rating or comment below.
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Slow Cooker Pot Roast with Beer
This Slow Cooker Pot Roast with Beer is an easy dinner for busy weeknights, and it is full of robust flavor from the beer and caramelized onions. You'll make this one over and over again!
- Total Time: 8 hours 20 minutes
- Yield: 10 Servings 1x
Ingredients
- 1 boneless Chuck or Cross Rib Roast, about 3 pounds
- 2 tsp of Salt
- 1 Tsp of Black Pepper
- 3 Tbsp of Oil
- 2 Large Yellow Onions
- 1 large bunch of Fresh Thyme
- 2 Bay leaves, fresh or dried
- 2 cups of Amber or Brown Ale
Instructions
- Start by browning the roast. Season it all over with the 2 tsp of salt and 1 tsp of pepper.
- In a large skillet on medium high heat, add 2 Tbsp of the oil and brown the roast for about 5 minutes on each side.
- While the roast is browning, thinly slice the 2 large onions.
- Once the roast has browned, place it on a plate.
- Add the remaining Tbsp of oil and the onions to the skillet and saute until lightly browned, about 10 minutes. It may take a little longer than 10 minutes, but you want the onions slightly browned to add extra flavor.
- Once the onions are nice and golden, add the bunch of fresh thyme, the bay leaves, and the 2 cups of beer to the skillet. Use a wooden spoon or spatula to scrape the brown bits up from the pan, and let the mixture simmer for about 5 minutes to reduce slightly and cook off the alcohol in the beer.
- Pour part of the onion mixture into the slow cooker. Place the roast on top of the onions. Add the remaining onion mixture to the slow cooker, putting the onions on top of the roast.
- Place the lid on the slow cooker and turn it on low and cook the roast for 8 hours. Remove the thyme stems and bey leaves before serving and enjoy!
Notes
If you don't have 8 hours for cook time, you can cook the roast on high for 4 hours.
You can add other fresh herbs to the slow cooker if you like! Try fresh rosemary or marjoram.
Brown or Red Ales are great for this recipe. You can also try a Porter or other darker beer.
You will need at least a 4 quart slow cooker, 6 quart is ideal.
You can add some chopped potato or carrots to the slow cooker if you want your vegetables to cook with the meat.
To use the fresh thyme, don't worry about puling the leaves off the stems. Just add the whole bunch stem and all to the skillet with the onions! As everything cooks, the thyme leaves will naturally fall off the stems.
- Prep Time: 20 minutes
- Additional Time: 0 hours
- Cook Time: 8 hours
- Category: Main Dishes and Sandwiches
- Cuisine: American
Nutrition
- Serving Size: 1
- Calories: 86
- Sugar: 1
- Sodium: 478
- Fat: 6
- Saturated Fat: 1
- Unsaturated Fat: 5
- Trans Fat: 0
- Carbohydrates: 3
- Fiber: 0
- Protein: 5
- Cholesterol: 15
This looks so good; we were just talking about making pot roast for next week! It’s such a wonderful winter meal.
I agree, it is one of the best meals in the cold weather!
You had me at slow cooker, Lol. I’m not the greatest cook but, I have the best cooking results using my slow cooker. This sounds fantastic!
Thank you so much for sharing this recipe with Sweet Tea & Friends this month dear friend.
This sounds like a great recipe. And I do love a good pot roast!
So do I Donna! I hope you give this a try!
This looks delicious!! Thanks for sharing at the What’s for Dinner party.
There is something about cooking a meal in a slow cooker – it’s always tasty and easy! Thanks for sharing the recipe at #UltimateLinkUpParty!
You’re right Antoinette, it is always easy in the slow cooker!
This looks delicious! We currently have snow outside so this would be a perfect winter warming dinner!
Thanks so much for joining in with #MMBC. Hope to see you next week. 🙂