Delicious French Onion Pot Roast & Living On The Edge

I got a chuckle from this on Facebook.

I love caramelized onions so when the name of a dish begins with the words “French Onion,” it immediately grabs my attention especially since I’ve been wanting to make a pot roast.  This recipe for French Onion Pot Roast was recently posted by Trish on her “Mom On Timeout” blog.  Her comments about it are “This French Onion Pot Roast is hearty, comforting and full of flavor! Tender, juicy beef braised in a rich broth with caramelized onions, topped with gooey cheese and served with toasted bread – irresistible! This cozy family dinner has all the flavor of French onion soup combined with the comforting heartiness of your favorite pot roast. Perfect for Sunday dinners and holidays!”  I followed the recipe except added carrots at Bev’s request and doubled the amount of cornstarch but you can check out Trish’s blog (link above) for some good how-to and finished pics.

French Onion Pot Roast

Ingredients:

For the Roast

3 pounds chuck roast – Note 1

fine sea salt to taste

fresh ground black pepper to taste

2 tablespoons avocado oil or other neutral cooking oil

2 tablespoons unsalted butter

3 large yellow onions thinly sliced (about 6-7 cups sliced)

4 cloves garlic minced

3 cups beef broth low sodium or beef stock

2 tablespoons Worcestershire sauce

2 bay leaves

2 teaspoons dried thyme

1 teaspoon dried oregano

6 tablespoons cornstarch

8 tablespoons water for the cornstarch slurry

Optional Cheese Topping (Larry omitted)

2 cups provolone or Gruyere, shredded

Note: Bev bought a chuck tender roast which I had never seen before.

Instructions:

Pat the chuck roast completely dry with paper towels. Season generously on all sides with salt and pepper.

Heat the oil in your Dutch oven over medium-high heat.

Place the roast in the hot pot and sear for 4-5 minutes per side, until browned all over. 

Remove from the pot and set aside on a plate.  Look at all that flavor in the pan.

Reduce the heat to medium-low. Add the butter to the Dutch oven. Once melted, add the onions.

(I’ve made French onion soup several times and the good recipes always begin by covering the onions for the first part of the cooking so I did that for about 30 minutes to begin the caramelization process.)

Cook slowly, stirring occasionally, until the onions are caramelized and soft. This takes patience – allow at least 30-45 minutes.

Add the minced garlic during the last 30 seconds of cooking the onions, stirring until fragrant.

Increase the heat to medium-high. Pour in the beef broth, Worcestershire sauce, bay leaves, dried thyme and dried oregano.

Bring the mixture to a simmer. Taste and add salt and pepper as needed.

Return the chuck roast and any accumulated juices from the plate to the pot with the simmering liquid. Bring the liquid back to a gentle simmer on the stovetop.

Reduce heat to low, cover with a tight-fitting lid, and simmer gently on the stovetop or in a 300°F oven for 3½ to 4 hours, or until the beef is fork-tender. Check occasionally to make sure the liquid is just simmering gently and not boiling; add a bit of water or broth if necessary to maintain liquid level.  Add the carrots when one hour of cooking is left.

When the beef is tender, carefully remove the roast from the pot to a large plate or bowl. Remove and discard the bay leaves.  Shred the beef on a cutting board.

In a small bowl, whisk together cornstarch and water to make a slurry. Slowly whisk the slurry into the liquid. Continue to cook and whisk for 1-2 minutes until the sauce thickens.

Return the roast to the pot with the thickened sauce mixing gently to combine the meat evenly with the sauce.

We served it with hand-mashed skin-on potatoes and the carrots.

Verdict:

It was delicious and worth the time to caramelize the onions.  The chuck tender roast worked very well and had much less fat than the usual chuck roast.  I would definitely make this dish again and think it would work well using mushrooms.  The gravy still was not thick enough so I've adjusted the recipe above for triple the original cornstarch.

The Verdict:

Photos can be slightly enlarged by clicking on them and the blue words are links.

Have a great day and thanks for stopping by Almost Heaven South.

Larry

10/5/25 event date