Pot Roast

Recipe courtesy Alton Brown

Show: Good EatsEpisode: A Chuck for Chuck

Rated: 5 stars out of 5Rate itRead users' reviews (238)

RECIPE
COMMENTS & REVIEWS(238)

Cook Time:
4 hr 0 min
Level:
--
Yield:
3 to 6 servings

Times:

Prep: 30 min
Inactive Prep: --
Cook: 4 hr 0 min
Total:: 4 hr 30 min

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Ingredients

1 (2-pound) blade cut chuck roast
2 teaspoons kosher salt
2 teaspoons cumin
Vegetable oil
1 medium onion, chopped
5 to 6 cloves garlic, smashed
1 cup tomato juice
1/3 cup balsamic vinegar
1 cup cocktail olives, drained and broken
1/2 cup dark raisins

Directions

Preheat the oven to 190-200 degrees F. Place a wide, heavy skillet or fry pan over high heat for 2 minutes. Meanwhile, rub both sides of meat with the salt and cumin. When the pan is hot (really hot) brown meat on both sides and remove from pan. Add just enough vegetable oil to cover the bottom of the pan then add the onion and garlic. Stir constantly until onion is softened. Add the tomato juice, vinegar, olives, and raisins. Bring to a boil and reduce the liquid by half. Create a pouch with wide, heavy duty aluminum foil. Place half the reduced liquid/chunk mixture on the foil, add the roast, and then top with the remaining mixture. Close the pouch, and wrap tightly in another complete layer of foil. Cook for 3 to 3 1/2 hours or until a fork pushes easily into the meat. Remove from oven and rest (still wrapped) for at least 1/2 hour. Snip off 1 corner of the foil pouch and drain the liquid into a bowl or measuring cup. Add some of the "chunkies" and puree with an immersion blender. Slice meat thinly, or pull apart with a fork. Serve with sauce.

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Comments & Reviews

recipe Pot Roast
Christopher Peoria, IL 11-03-2009
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Couldn't get better....
Rated: 5 stars out of 5

My wife craves this recipe. I love making it. I don't use the olives or raisins either. And I use white wine vinegar instead... of the balsamic vin, than I just add some more tomato juice. I never, ever go wrong using this recipe. Read more
recipe Pot Roast
Steve Copley, OH 10-30-2009
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Good but ....
Rated: 4 stars out of 5

My minor twist was to add a cup of wine and cook in a dutch oven. I'd normally stay clear of a meat recipe with so much sugar... (raisins), but I have a lot of faith in Alton. I should have seen it in advance - the tomato, vinegar raisins, spices, onion, salt add up to a very intersting sweet, salty, spicey tomato sauce, without being derogatory, almost a catsup variant.. I'll be using the sauce leftovers on burgers.Read more
recipe Pot Roast
Taunya Douglasville, GA 10-28-2009
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Surprisingly Good!!
Rated: 4 stars out of 5

I was kinda skeptical about the ingredients (olives, and raisins) but they added depth and sweetness to the roast. It was so... tender and good. My kids loved it! I will make this again!Read more
recipe Pot Roast
Art Greenville, IN 10-15-2009
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Best pot roast recipie I have ever tried
Rated: 5 stars out of 5

Since I never follow a recipe to the letter and always find shortcuts, even in Alton's recipes, I don't bother with the saute... step. I use tomato paste, stir the chunkies, paste and vinegar (and a bit of sriracha) together and apply the paste to the top of the chuck roast. I also use black olives rather than green as a personal preference, and omit the raisins for the same reason. But that's the great thing about Alton's recipes, they're enough to get you the know-how to make your own masterpiece.Read more
recipe Pot Roast
Karen Westerville, OH 10-13-2009
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Not a keeper for me!
Rated: 3 stars out of 5

I had great expectations for this recipe, based on the reviews that I read. I seared the roast on high as directed and it... seemed to burn quickly (or at least the salt and cumin did). I looked at the directions again to see if they called for oil in the pan before searing, but they did not. I used a cast iron dutch oven, so that was probably the problem. I don't have much experience with it and I don't think those are meant to be on the stove at a high temperature. I scraped the burned crumbles out of the pot after searing and continued the instructions at a lower temperature. Maybe it was my imagination (because of what I just described) or maybe it was the vinegar, but I thought it had a bit of a burnt taste when it was done. My husband liked it, but he's not hard to please. I'll probably find a different roast recipe next time. Read more
recipe Pot Roast
Kathy Montara, CA 10-11-2009
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Amazed
Rated: 5 stars out of 5

Just fantastic. Served with roasted root vegetables. Strange combination of ingredients proves to be delicious! Did use Dutch... oven. Nice way to start off the winter menu season.Read more