Ultimate Pot Roast and Creamy Northern Beans
Pot roast is a mainstay of Southern dinners, for good reason. It’s a comfort food that can feed a crowd! A well cooked roast melts in your mouth, the seasonings infusing the meat with their flavors. And a bed of creamy Northern beans or roasted potatoes rounds it out perfectly.
Memories of Strong Southern Women
Pot roast features in one of my most vivid childhood memories of my strong, capable, energetic, hard-working mom. Here it is as shared in my cookbook and memoir, Love Language of the South:
When I was 6 years old, right before a dance recital, an instructor informed my mom that I would not be performing because I hadn’t attended a rehearsal that the instructor had misdated…Upon the instructor’s news that I wouldn’t be performing, the tiger in my mom was beginning to emerge. There was no way we were walking out of there without me performing in a recital for which I’d worked all year. The entire recital stopped, and you could hear a pin drop as my mom and the instructor “worked things out.” As I got on stage, it seemed like the entire crowd went wild. They loved my mom getting justice. I will say if it truly had been unjust that I perform, she would have been the first to admit it and acquiesce. There’s nothing that brings out Southern hot-headed fierceness like the loyalty of a mother, or injustice executed on the innocent.
After the stress of that day, how she managed to get a roast and perfectly roasted potatoes on the table, I’ll never know. She never claimed to be the best cook, or even a good cook, but by gosh, we had dinner on the table every night. This is another example of the relentless loyalty and care placed on her number one priority: her family.
—from my book Love Language of the South
Ingredients for Pot Roast and Beans
I love fresh herbs, especially home grown. The earthy taste of thyme is a natural for pot roast, but you also could add fresh rosemary if you want.
Like with my Venison/Beef Bourguignon recipe, red wine both adds flavor and tenderizes the meat. A rich Burgundy is ideal.
Shortcuts: I strongly recommend using fresh garlic and homemade beef stock for this recipe, but if you’re in a hurry, I suppose you could substitute garlic powder and beef bouillon.
Ingredients:
- olive oil for browning
- 3 pounds chuck roast or venison hindquarter
- kosher salt and freshly ground pepper
- all-purpose flour
- 5 medium-sized carrots chopped
- 5 stalks celery chopped
- 2 Vidalia or yellow onions chopped
- 4 garlic cloves peeled and minced
- ½ cup red wine such as Burgundy or Cabernet Sauvignon
- 1½ cups beef stock or beef broth
- 2 tablespoons Worcestershire sauce
- 6 fresh thyme sprigs
- 24 ounce jar of Northern white beans drained or rinsed
- 1 teaspoon red pepper flakes
- 2 tablespoons fresh chopped parsley to serve
What is the secret to a good pot roast?
This recipe is fairly simple but requires patience. Even if you take some shortcuts with the ingredients, one thing I would not cheat on is the slow cooking method. It’s essential to give the flavors time to blend and the chuck roast time to tenderize.
Due to the “slow and low” cooking method, many people opt to cook their pot roast in a crock pot / slow cooker overnight.
Storing the Leftover Roast
Store leftovers in the refrigerator in an airtight container. Pot roast should keep in the fridge for about 3 days.
Ultimate Pot Roast and Creamy Northern Beans
Ingredients
- olive oil for browning
- 3 pounds chuck roast or venison hindquarter
- kosher salt and freshly ground pepper
- all-purpose flour
- 5 medium-sized carrots chopped
- 5 stalks celery chopped
- 2 Vidalia or yellow onions chopped
- 4 garlic cloves peeled, minced, divided
- ½ cup red wine such as Burgundy or Cabernet Sauvignon
- 1½ cups beef stock or beef broth
- 2 tablespoons Worcestershire sauce
- 6 fresh thyme sprigs
- 24 ounce jar of Northern white beans drained or rinsed
- 1 teaspoon red pepper flakes
- 2 tablespoons fresh chopped parsley to serve
Instructions
For the Roast
- Preheat the oven to 325°F.
- Heat oil in a Dutch oven over medium-high heat on the stovetop. Dry the roast with a paper towel and season liberally with salt and pepper. Dredge the roast in the flour. Once the oil in the Dutch oven is shimmering, add the roast and sear on all sides, about 4-5 minutes on each side. Once the meat is browned, remove the roast to a large plate.
- Add 3 tablespoons of olive oil to the Dutch oven. Add carrots, celery, and onions to the Dutch oven and sauté for about 5 minutes over medium heat. Add 3/4 of the minced garlic and cook for about 1 minute. Add 1 tablespoon Kosher salt and 2 teaspoons freshly ground pepper. Add wine, stock, and Worcestershire sauce to deglaze the pan.
- Add the roast back to the Dutch oven. Place a few thyme sprigs on top of the roast and the remainder of the sprigs in the liquid. Cover and bake at 325°F for about 2 1/2 hours or until the roast is fork tender. If most of the liquid has been absorbed, add another cup of broth. Turn the heat down to 250°F for about an hour.
- When the roast is almost done, make the beans. In a medium saucepan add olive oil, the remaining garlic and red pepper flakes and cook over medium high heat for about 30 seconds. Add beans to the saucepan, bring to a boil, then reduce to a simmer for about 15 minutes. Season with salt and pepper.
- Remove the roast from the oven and allow to rest for about 10 minutes, then slice the meat or shred it with two forks.
- To serve, ladle the beans into shallow bowls or plate. Spoon some of the roast and vegetables over the beans. Garnish with parsley and red chiles and serve with the squash relish.
Notes
Nutrition
Click for all my Venison Recipes, grouped by cut of meat.
Sorry, I haven’t made this yet. I am looking for the garlic split in your instructions for the roast and beans. It calls for 3 cloves, but the instructions don’t say what the amounts of garlic are for the roast and the beans. I am assuming it would be 2 cloves for the meat and 1 for the beans, but don’t know if this is a correct assumption. Would you please clarify?
Hi Susan!! So glad you asked this question. I updated the recipe! Let me know if you have any more questions. I added 4 cloves of garlic, adding 3/4 to the roast and the remaining to the beans. Hope you enjoy the recipe. It is truly one of my favorite simple comfort foods.
ty so much!!!