Recipe Background
Grandma found a way to make classic American pot roast (already a celebration for the taste buds) appropriately holiday-tastic! Grandma's Christmas Cranberry Pot Roast takes the rich, savory, beefy chuck roast and slow cooks it in the oven for maximum juiciness, with tender vegetables and floral herbs. But this time, she added the secret ingredients — cranberries and honey. This adds sweetness, tartness, and seasonal verve to the dish, making it so much more tantalizing! Deck the table with Grandma's Christmas Cranberry Pot Roast and let the holiday cheer roll through you!
Grandma found a way to make classic American pot roast (already a celebration for the taste buds) appropriately holiday-tastic! Grandma's Christmas Cranberry Pot Roast takes the rich, savory, beefy chuck roast and slow cooks it in the oven for maximum juiciness, with tender vegetables and floral herbs. But this time, she added the secret ingredients — cranberries and honey. This adds sweetness, tartness, and seasonal verve to the dish, making it so much more tantalizing! Deck the table with Grandma's Christmas Cranberry Pot Roast and let the holiday cheer roll through you!
Ingredients
- 1 (4-5-pound) beef chuck roast
- salt to taste
- black pepper to taste
- 2 tablespoons olive oil divided
- 1 onion quartered
- 6 carrots chopped
- 1 cup red wine can substitute beef broth
- 2 cups low-sodium beef broth plus more, optional, to taste
- 2 tablespoons Worcestershire sauce
- 2 tablespoons balsamic vinegar
- 1 (8-ounce) package cremini mushrooms sliced
- 3 sprigs fresh thyme
- 1 sprig fresh rosemary
- 1 (12-ounce) package fresh cranberries
- 2 tablespoons honey
- mashed potatoes optional, to taste, cooked and hot, for serving
Directions
- Preheat the oven to 275 degrees F.
- Season the chuck roast liberally with the salt and the black pepper.
- In a large Dutch oven over high heat, add 1 tablespoon of the olive oil.
- Add the onions and the carrots to the hot oil and cook, while stirring only occasionally, until the vegetables are just slightly browned on the edges but are not soft, about 5 minutes.
- Transfer the vegetable mixture to a plate.
- Add the remaining olive oil to the Dutch oven and allow it to heat.
- Add the chuck roast to the hot oil and sear it on all sides, about 3-4 minutes per side.
- Transfer the seared chuck roast to a plate.
- Add the wine to the Dutch oven and scrape the bottom of the pan to release the browned bits.
- Transfer the Dutch oven from the heat.
- Add the seared chuck roast, 2 cups of the beef broth, the Worcestershire sauce, the balsamic vinegar, the mushrooms, the vegetable mixture, the thyme, the rosemary, the cranberries, and the honey to the Dutch oven. The liquid should come at least halfway up the roast. If it does not, add the extra beef broth to achieve this depth.
- Cover the Dutch oven and roast until the beef is completely cooked through and is very tender, about 3-4 hours.
- Serve with the mashed potatoes.
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