This recipe is a riff on Wicked Noodle’s Chuck Roast with Balsamic and Dijon. It was originally posted on this site back in 2015, but has been updated in 2022.
I’m not a super huge thyme fan so I went with garlic, but you can do whatever makes you happy. I know I said three cloves in the recipe, but that’s for the moderate garlic lovers out there… we tend to be much more heavy handed in our home.
You could even do both garlic and thyme or you could use fresh rosemary. This recipe is safe to play with.
If you’re looking for a traditional pot roast, you can try this back-to-basics recipe or this wine-braised version. We have pot roast at least once a month and rotate through these versions.
Recipe for Pot Roast with Balsamic Gravy
**Yes, on the counter, You can check with Jeff Potter if you doubt me.
Balsamic Pot Roast
Wonderful dinner for cooler fall and winter nights.
Ingredients
- 4 pounds bone-in chuck roast*
- 1 generous pinch of kosher salt
- 3 strips thick-cut bacon, uncooked, chopped
- 1 medium to large yellow onion, sliced thinly
- 1/3 cup balsamic vinegar
- 3 tablespoons Dijon mustard
- 3 cloves garlic, minced
- 2 cups beef or mushroom stock
- 10 carrots -not mutant giant ones, just normal average carrots
- 2.5 - 3 pounds small potatoes, look for new potatoes or red potatoes (purple would be good, too)
- 1/4 cup flour (I used a GF mix as there's a wheat allergy in our house)
- Fresh ground pepper
Instructions
- Unwrap the roast, sprinkle it with kosher salt on both sides. Set it on a plate**, let it rest for a bit.
- Preheat the oven to 300℉. Set a large (6qt-ish) dutch oven on the stove on medium heat.
- Begin heating the bacon until the fat begins to render. While this happens, slice your onions thinly.
- Just let the bacon cook until you start to see some browning, the goal is not to cook it to the crisp stage. Remove it from the pot and set it aside.
- Place the pot roast in the dutch oven and sear for 2 minutes on each side. Remove the roast from the pot. Add the bacon back and stir in the onions.
- Cook just until they begin to soften, add the garlic.
- Whisk in the 1/3 cup of balsamic and 3 tablespoons dijon mustard.
- Scrape up any browned bits, a wooden spoon with a flat side works well for this.
- Slowly stir in the 2 cups of beef or mushroom stock.
- Lay a few carrots in the bottom of the dutch oven and then set the roast on them. Pile the rest of the carrots on top of the roast.
- Cover and place the dutch oven in the oven for 2.5 hours. Add the potatoes and return to the oven. Cook for another hour or until the pot roast is fork-tender. Remember roasts are individual and depend on several factors, exact time will vary.
- Remove from the oven and put the roast, carrots, and potatoes in a serving dish. Pour most of the drippings into a container. Leave just enough to cover the bottom of the pot.
- Place the pot on a burner over medium-low heat.
- Whisk the flour into the pot until smooth. Stir until the mixture just begins to darken—this gets rid of any raw flour flavor.
- Slowly whisk the remaining drippings into the gravy until it's the thickness you like.
- Add fresh ground pepper to taste.
