Crockpot French Onion Pot Roast (Printable version)

Slow-cooked beef chuck roast with sweet caramelized onions and rich gravy, served over buttery egg noodles for ultimate comfort.

# What you need:

→ Beef & Aromatics

01 - 3 lb beef chuck roast
02 - 2 large yellow onions, thinly sliced
03 - 4 cloves garlic, minced
04 - 2 tablespoons olive oil
05 - 1 teaspoon kosher salt
06 - 1/2 teaspoon black pepper

→ Broth & Flavorings

07 - 1 cup beef broth
08 - 1/2 cup dry white wine, optional
09 - 2 tablespoons Worcestershire sauce
10 - 1 tablespoon tomato paste
11 - 1 teaspoon dried thyme
12 - 1/2 teaspoon dried rosemary
13 - 1 bay leaf

→ For Serving

14 - 12 ounces wide egg noodles
15 - 3 tablespoons unsalted butter
16 - 1/2 cup grated Gruyère or Swiss cheese, optional
17 - 2 tablespoons fresh parsley, chopped, optional

# Steps to follow:

01 - Season the beef roast generously with salt and pepper on all sides.
02 - In a large skillet over medium-high heat, heat olive oil. Sear the roast on all sides until browned, approximately 2-3 minutes per side. Transfer to the slow cooker.
03 - Add onions to the same skillet. Sauté for 5-7 minutes until softened and beginning to caramelize. Add garlic and cook for 1 minute more.
04 - Transfer onions and garlic to the slow cooker, spreading them over the roast.
05 - In a bowl, whisk together beef broth, wine, Worcestershire sauce, tomato paste, thyme, rosemary, and bay leaf. Pour over the beef and onions in the slow cooker.
06 - Cover and cook on LOW for 8 hours, or HIGH for 4-5 hours, until the beef is fork-tender and shreds easily.
07 - Discard the bay leaf. Remove the beef, shred with two forks, and return to the slow cooker, mixing with the onion gravy.
08 - Cook the egg noodles according to package instructions. Drain and toss with butter.
09 - Ladle the shredded beef and onion gravy over buttered noodles. Garnish with grated Gruyère and parsley if desired.

# Expert tips:

01 -
  • The beef becomes impossibly tender without any fussing or special techniques, just time and heat doing the work.
  • Those caramelized onions transform into a gravy so rich and deeply flavored that people swear you added stock from scratch.
  • It's genuinely forgiving if you're not a confident cook, because the slow cooker handles almost everything.
02 -
  • Don't skip the searing step, even though the slow cooker will cook the beef all day anyway, because that brown crust adds a depth of flavor you literally cannot get any other way.
  • If your gravy seems too thin at the end, mix a tablespoon of cornstarch with two tablespoons of water into a smooth paste, stir it into the slow cooker, and let everything simmer for another 10 minutes.
03 -
  • If your slow cooker runs hot, start checking the beef around the 6-hour mark because every cooker is different, and you want fork-tender, not mushy.
  • Don't waste money on expensive wine for cooking, but do use something you'd actually drink, because cooking concentrates flavors both good and bad.
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