This Merlot Pot Roast is made in the slow cooker and served with vegetables and horseradish smashed potatoes.
The slow cooker is the perfect option for a pot roast because the long cooking time ensures that it’s going to be nice and tender. I also appreciate the low-stress nature of slow cooking. While your Merlot Pot Roast is cooking for several hours, that frees you up to do other things!
This recipe is an all-in-one dinner. You’ve got an amazing main dish of the pot roast that is served with sauce drizzled over. The vegetables are cooked with the pot roast in the slow cooker, and those can be served alongside the meat. I like to make one additional veggie- these Green Beans with Caramelized Shallots. And the potatoes are cooked toward the end of cooking time for the roast. That’s one perfectly balanced dinner!
How to make Merlot Pot Roast:
You’ll begin by browning a boneless beef tied chuck roast in a pan with a little bit of hot oil in it. Carrots, onion, celery and spices are then placed into the slow cooker with the browned roast placed on top. Red wine and tomato paste are combined and poured on top of the meat and veggies. Merlot is the suggested red wine to use, but you can use any dry red wine.
The roast is then cooked 8 hours on low in the slow cooker. At the end of the cooking time, you’ll remove the roast from the pan and skim the fat. To make the sauce, you’ll stir cornstarch into the juices in the slow cooker and cook this mixture on high for a few minutes until it thickens up a bit.
How to make Horseradish Smashed Potatoes:
The smashed potatoes are a simple mix of cooked russet potatoes mashed and mixed with cream, butter and prepared horseradish. You can add as little or as much horseradish as you’d like, depending on how spicy you like things! And technically, you could leave it out entirely if you would just like to have plain mashed potatoes.
This is a good recipe to have for a Sunday night dinner. It can cook all day on Sunday, and you can enjoy it as a family on Sunday evening. And it’s a nice one to have on Christmas Day too. It doesn’t require a ton of prep time, and the result is so satisfying and delicious. Enjoy!
Here are a few more recipes using red wine that you might like to try:
- Roasted Beef Tenderloin with Merlot Shallot Sauce
- The Best Red Wine Sangria Recipe
- Red Wine Mushrooms
- Red Wine Turkey
- Prime Rib Roast with Red Wine Au Jus
- Mahogany Beef Stew with Red Wine and Hoisin Sauce
- Red Wine Short Ribs
- Red Wine Truffles
Merlot Pot Roast with Horseradish Smashed Potatoes
Recipe Details
Ingredients
POT ROAST:
- One 3½-pound tied, fat-trimmed boned beef chuck roast
- freshly ground black pepper
- 1 tablespoon butter or olive oil
- 3 large carrots, peeled
- 1 medium onion, chopped
- ⅔ cup chopped celery
- 3 medium garlic cloves, minced
- ½ teaspoon dried thyme
- ¼ teaspoon black peppercorns
- 1 whole dried bay leaf
- 1 cup Merlot or other dry red wine
- ⅓ cup canned tomato paste
- 1½ tablespoons cornstarch
POTATOES:
- 3½ pounds russet potatoes
- 1 to 1½ cups half and half cream
- 2 tablespoons butter
- salt and pepper, to taste
- 1 to 2 tablespoons prepared horseradish
- chopped fresh Italian parsley
Instructions
PREPARE THE POT ROAST:
- Rinse the roast, pat dry and sprinkle generously all over with pepper. Melt the butter in a 10 to 12-inch nonstick frying pan over high heat. When hot, add the roast and brown it well on all sides, 6 to 8 minutes total.
- Meanwhile, cut the carrots into sticks about 3/8? thick and 2-inches long. In a 4.5 quart or larger slow cooker, combine the carrots, onion, celery, garlic, thyme, peppercorns, and bay leaf. Set the roast on top of the vegetables; add the drippings. In a small bowl, stir together the wine and the tomato paste; pour over the meat and vegetables.
- Cover and cook until the roast is very tender when pierced, 8 to 9 hours on low, or 5 to 6 hours on high. If possible, turn the meat over halfway through cooking.
- With 2 slotted spoons, transfer the meat to a platter; keep warm. Skim and discard any fat from the cooking liquid. Turn the slow cooker to high. In a small bowl, blend the cornstarch with 1 ½ tablespoons of water; pour into the slow cooker and stir often until the sauce is bubbling, 10 to 15 minutes.
PREPARE THE POTATOES:
- Scrub and peel the potatoes; cut into 1½-inch chunks. Bring the potatoes to boil in a large pot of water; reduce the heat, cover and simmer until the potatoes mash easily when pressed, 20 to 25 minutes. When the potatoes are done, heat the cream and butter in a microwave-safe container just until steaming (don’t boil), 1 to 3 minutes. While the cream is heating, drain the potatoes and mash in the pan with a mixer or potato masher until almost smooth. Add the cream, a portion at a time, and mix until the potatoes have the consistency desired. Stir in salt, pepper and desired amount of horseradish to taste.
- With a slotted spoon, lift the vegetables from the slow cooker and arrange them on a platter beside the meat. Spoon the horseradish smashed potatoes onto the platter; sprinkle with parsley. Spoon the sauce over meat.
- Slice the meat and serve with the vegetables, potatoes and sauce, adding salt to taste- as desired.
Notes
- *If watching calories, substitute fat-free chicken broth for the cream in the smashed potatoes.
Ok so I know this is recipe *girl.com but i made this pot roast in my slow cooker and it was awesome. My girlfriend who hates meat loved it so woo-hoo for the merlot 🙂