Southern Style Pot Roast

This Southern Style Pot Roast is a classic comfort food that is easy to make. Savory, hearty, and filling, this is the best pot roast recipe the whole family will love.

Jump to:

• ℹ️ What Makes This Recipe Work
• Cooking Methods
• 🥩 Best Cuts of Meat
• House Seasoning
• 🛒 Ingredients You'll Need
• 📋 Step-by-Step Recipe Instructions
• 🥕 Adding Vegetables
• 💭 Expert Tips and FAQs
• 🥘 Perfect Pairings
• Southern Style pot Roast

This is my all time favorite pot roast recipe. And that is a hard statement to make because between this recipe, my Smoked Chuck Roast my Pot Roast with Balsamic and Dijon, it's just so hard to choose which one I love more so I just end up rotating between these beef chuck roast recipes. 

This oven baked chuck roast recipe is savory and full of flavor, and it's a Paula Deen original! I found this one back in 2008, tried it, and literally fell head over heels in love. The taste is just out of this world! This is the best pot roast recipe!

My family loves this tender, melt in your mouth beef dinner. It's a BIG winner in our house and just like a Mississippi pot roast, you will often see this on our table on Sunday evenings.

Cooking Methods

There are many ways to cook a roast and there is no right or wrong way. It's all about preference. For this recipe, I'm going to focus on how to make pot roast in the oven. But you can also make pot roast in a slow cooker. And as long as you sear the meat first, you can make this in the crock pot.

🥩 Best Cuts of Meat

The best meat for pot roast is a boneless chuck roast. Even though it's a tougher cut of meat, the marbling contributes to the juiciness and when it's slow cooked, it becomes incredibly tender. The grade of chuck matters and so does where you buy it. I always recommend buying from a local butcher due to the meat typically being a higher quality. Costco and Sam's Club also have good quality cuts, but buying at a local grocery store is always an option, as well.

Some people use beef brisket which is also excellent choice. Brisket has an abundant amount of fat which works well when slow cooking in this recipe. You can also use a flat cut, beef brisket flat half, or a beef brisket point half.

You can also use a bottom round roast. It comes from the rear part of the cow and is a bit leaner than brisket or chuck. This cut can also be called rump roast or London broil.

House Seasoning

This pot roast seasoning is essential to this slow roast beef. And the the ingredients are so simple! It's a combination of 1 cup of salt, ¼ cup of black pepper, and ¼ cup of garlic powder.

To prepare this roast seasoning, simply mix these 3 ingredients together in a container with an airtight lid and shake well. You'll only use about 1 Tablespoon on the meat and you can save the rest for future use.

🛒 Ingredients You'll Need

Making this beef chuck roast is easy! You'll need a 3-5 pound boneless chuck roast covered in the house seasoning. From there, you're pan sear the meat in olive oil.

Then you'll combine the rest of the ingredients with a little bit of water, pour it over the meat, and then let it slow cook until it's falling apart. The process for how to make a tender roast beef in the oven is simple!

📋 Step-by-Step Recipe Instructions

First, season the meat with 1 Tablespoon of the House Seasoning. Expert Tip: Use your hands to ensure the rub is spread out evenly on all sides. You want to massage the meat with the seasoning.

Once that's done and after you wash your hands, you can start making the pot roast gravy. This gravy consists of cream of mushroom soup, Worcestershire sauce, a beef bouillon cube or beef granules, water, and a splash of red wine. Whisk all the ingredients together in a bowl until well combined. Set the bowl aside.

Next, heat the olive oil in a large skillet on top of the stove over medium-high heat. Sear the meat for 4-5 minutes on each side until golden brown. Expert Tip: Don't skip this step as this is what provides so much flavor.

From there, remove the seared meat from the skillet and place in a dutch oven, 13x9 pyrex dish, or a deep roasting pan. Using the same skillet, add a little more olive oil and when hot, saute the sliced onion and garlic.

Once the onions and garlic start to slightly caramelize, remove them from the skillet and place on top of the meat in the pyrex dish. Expert Tip: Make sure to scrape the bottom of the skillet to remove all the browning left over from the searing and saute process. That's where a lot of flavor is!

Take the gravy that was set aside and pour it on top of the chuck roast topped with sauteed onions and garlic. Then, add the bay leaves to the dish.

After the oven has preheated to 325°F, cover the dish with aluminum foil and cook the pot roast in oven for 2 hours. Expert Tip: Place the aluminum foil with the shiny side down to help trap in the heat.

🥕 Adding Vegetables

If you like carrots, potatoes, celery, or any other vegetables cooked with your pot roast, you'll want to add them in this step. The 2 hour mark is the perfect time to add in any raw vegetables you want to include. I love adding in multi-colored carrots and potatoes. Expert Tip: Leave the peelings on your vegetables so you can get extra nutritional value!

Add the aluminum foil back to the dish and continue to cook for another 1-2 hours. You'll know it's done when you can stick a fork in the meat and with a slight turn, the meat easily separates. If there is any pull at all, the roast needs to cook longer.

Once done, remove the foil. Slice and drizzle on some of the gravy it was cooked with, and serve with the potatoes and carrots. Get ready to enjoy the best oven baked chuck roast recipe you've ever tasted in your life!

💭 Expert Tips and FAQs

• Boneless chuck roast is the most common meat used to make pot roast. I always buy my meat from my local butcher. You can buy it at your local grocery, but the tenderness and quality of the cut is so much more profound when you buy it from the butcher.
• This recipe can be made gluten free if you use a gluten free cream of mushroom soup and bouillon granules. Pacifico Cream of Mushroom Condensed Soup is gluten free and delicious. I've also had great luck with these gluten free beef granules. Worcestershire is gluten free.
• I typically don't stick to a time when making this recipe. I do the fork test around hour 4. To do the fork test, place a fork in the center of the meat and turn. If the meat is falling apart, your roast is done.
• If you choose to add carrots and potatoes to your roast, leave the peelings on. The peelings house a ton of nutrients.
• Leftover pot roast is excellent the next day on sandwiches. Or, use the leftover meat for a lunch bowl! Add some cooked rice and steamed vegetables with a little bit of gravy and you've got yourself an amazing lunch or dinner!

🥘 Perfect Pairings

There are so many great side dishes to serve with this roast, like my Roasted Parmesan Green Beans. These are the perfect southern side dish to go with this southern comfort classic. And if you like cabbage, you'll love my fun little twist on this version of Steamed Cabbage and Okra. And you just can't go wrong with Slow Cooker Pinto Beans. Whip up a batch of cornbread and you will have yourself the most amazing dinner!

Update Notes: This post was originally published in April 2014, but was re-published with updated step-by-step instructions, pictures, and tips in July 2021.