Prep Once, Use Three Ways: Pot Roast

Guarantee easy mealtimes by prepping one big-batch pot roast and putting the meat to work multiple ways.
By: Foodlets
Perfect Pot Roast

Photo by: Marshall Troy ©2012, Television Food Network, G.P. All Rights Reserved.

Marshall Troy, 2012, Television Food Network, G.P. All Rights Reserved.

Need a faster way to get dinner on the table? Give yourself a head start by cooking one hearty pot roast, then transform the leftovers into two more dinners, each with totally different flavors, later in the week.

Dinner #1: Start with Ree Drummond’s Perfect Pot Roast (pictured above). This easy recipe has more than 470 user reviews and a 5-star rating; how can you go wrong? It’ll take a few hours to make, but in that time your house will smell amazing. Bonus: If you tease your family with the delicious scent of dinner for this long, you can practically guarantee excited kids at the table when that roast is finally ready.

Dinner #2: Cottage Pie with Mashed Sweet Potatoes. (Know why it’s not shepherd’s pie? That is made with lamb, while cottage pie is traditionally filled with beef.) Saute a large onion, then combine with 2 cups of shredded pot roast and place in a casserole dish. Layer on mashed sweet potatoes, which have a little more nutritional heft than white potatoes, and bake!

Dinner #3: Pot Roast-Grilled Cheese Sandwiches. Make a regular grilled cheese sandwich heartier by adding the last bits of that pot roast, plus a thin layer of mustard, and top it off with a few hamburger pickles. Serve on whole-wheat bread or hoagie rolls, toasted in the pan.

Charity Curley Mathews is the founder of Foodlets.com, and feeds four rascals dinner nearly every night.

Next Up

One Recipe, Two Meals: Pasta with Butter and Peas for the Kids, and a Veggie-Packed Primavera for You

We're having our pasta and eating it too! Here's one simple version for your kiddos, and one giant, glorious version for you.

How to Put Your Freezer to Work, Plus Frozen Meals Made Fresh

Learn how to safely freeze food, plus find Food Network Kitchens' easy recipes for kid-friendly dinners that can be made ahead, frozen and baked later.

One Recipe, Two Meals: Summery Pasta Salad

Pasta salad: always a winner, always a fan.

Load Up the Kids' Lunchboxes for Back-to-School

Food Network’s guide to kid-approved lunches and locker-friendly foods makes cafeteria glee an everyday affair.

9 Easy, Kid-Tested Side Dishes for Fall

One mom shares the seasonal side dishes she relies on for family dinnertime.

6 Essential Pantry Ingredients and 3 Surprising Ways to Use Them

One mom shares her six pantry must-haves, plus her favorite recipes for putting those goods to work.

15-Minute Pasta Dinners the Whole Family Will Love

Each of these dinners will hit the table in a hurry, and every one of them is kid-tested, totally approved.