Many of us grew up enjoying the fragrance of Mom’s pot roasts in the oven on Sunday afternoons. It was a weekly routine. I myself even carried the tradition on with my own kids. But guess what? One day, my son came to me and pleaded, “Mom, can we pleeeeeeeease have something different for dinner on Sunday?” Yep, my kids had grown a bit weary of the same boring roast, surrounded by pieces of carrots, onions, and potatoes. I needed a new plan of attack. But what other way is there to prepare a pot roast? I gave the kids a break for a few weeks, and then literally spiced up a tired meal. Enter the rubbed beef roast.
Preparing a rub for a roast is extremely easy. Choosing the correct cut of beef for your roast is the only thinking required! It’s real easy to get confused when you head to the meat counter in the grocery store. Hmmm, should you use an eye of round roast? How about a rump roast? What’s a brisket? Overwhelming, huh?
Our recommendation for a delicious rubbed roast is a chuck roast. They are well marbled, which adds flavor and makes some great gravy. Sizes vary, so it’s easy to pick one to suit your family’s needs. The key to a tasty melt-in-your-mouth, fall-off-the-bone roast is in the slow cooking.
One of the reasons why Mom’s roast smelled so wonderful all afternoon is because she didn’t try to have it from oven to table in 30 minutes. She roasted it for several hours. If you would like to prepare a delectably-different rubbed pot roast, just follow these simple steps.
Choose a well-marbled chuck roast. Allow about ½ lb. per person. A roast loses some of its mass as it cooks, so even though many people don’t eat ½ lb. of beef in one sitting, that is the easiest way to gauge what size roast to buy.
Prepare your rub.
Here’s our favorite:
- 2 tsp. parsley
- 2 tsp. marjoram
- 1 Tbsp. basil
- 2 ½ tsp. garlic powder
- 1 tsp. thyme leaves
- 1 tsp. rosemary leaves, crushed
- 1 tsp. oregano
Mix spices together in a small bowl. Rub all sides of the roast. Place in refrigerator and let sit for a couple
of hours. No need to turn.
Melt about 2 Tbsp. butter in a roasting pan or a Dutch oven over medium-high heat. Be careful not to burn
the butter. Quickly sear the roast on all sides. Remove from heat.
Cover roast, and place in a preheated, 300 degree F. oven. Set the timer for one hour.
After one hour, turn oven temperature back to 200 degrees F. Leave oven door open until it’s cooled down.
Let roast slow-roast for at least 4 hours. To prevent the top of the roast from drying out, spoon some of the juices over top occasionally.
Remove from oven and let sit for about 10 minutes before carving. Serve immediately with your chosen side dishes. But hey….don’t forget the mashed potatoes!
We’ve made this roast with several cuts of beef, but our favorite is the chuck roast. But no matter how you prepare it, slow-cooking beef can turn an inexpensive cut of beef into a mouth-watering meal.
The Author:
Melissa Good is co-owner of Meal Planning Made Easy a web-based dinnerplanning service.