Tender, juicy, and packed with flavor, this butter-herb pot roast and gravy is divine. A delicious and simple slow cooker recipe that will wow your taste buds.
Jump to Recipe
Hello friends! Today I’m posting the third slow cooker pot roast recipe on my site. And I just want to take a second to tell you why I love each one.
Two years ago I posted the first pot roast recipe — this Easy Roast Beef. I love it for it’s quick, no-brainer, no-fuss, qualities. It’s simple, takes just a few ingredient but still delights the taste buds. We often serve it with roasted vegetables on the side (these garlic roasted sweet potatoes are amazing).
Then almost exactly a year later I posted this Slow Cooker Roast Beef with Vegetables and Gravy. We’ve been making variations of this pot roast for many, many years. It’s a great all-in-one pot meal where the roast cooks together with the veggies and the gravy and everything tastes amazing.
That brings me to today’s recipe. This butter-herb pot roast is tender and flavorful, thanks to the butter-herb spread that goes on top. I normally make these easy cream mashed potatoes to go with it because the gravy just screams, “give me some mashed potatoes”. The butter-herb flavor of that gravy will knock your socks off. I normally serve it with these green beans for a complete and amazing meal.
Can you see that I like options? Haha.
My daughter does too. She always asks me “What are my options?” It’s so cute.
If you’re like me, you’ll want to try all of the above options. They are all delicious.
But if you forced me to choose a favorite, this butter-herb pot roast would probably be it. At least today.
What cut of roast to use?
If you’re completely lost when it comes to beef cuts, chuck roast is always a safe bet. But I normally just buy whatever is on sale.
The nice thing about this slow cooker roast recipe is that even the cheaper cuts come out tender. You may need to adjust the cooking time depending on the cut of beef you use. Just keep an eye on it during the last hour or so of cooking and when a fork inserted in the center goes in and comes out easily, you know it’s tender enough.
Prepping the roast
First, pat the roast dry with paper towels. Trim any excess fat, as desired. I don’t trim it unless there’s a huge amount because I think that cooking the roast with the fat makes it more tender.
Make sure your butter is softened a little but not melted. Warm room temp is perfect. Then use a fork to mix the flour + minced garlic + herbs in with the butter. A fork makes it super easy to get it all smooth and spreadable. I think any kind of flour (including gluten free) will work just fine here.
Spread the herb butter on the top side of the roast. A butter knife works good.
Don’t worry too much if the butter herb spread is peeling away from the roast a little. Just spread it on the roast as best as you can. I’ve found it’s better to just get it on there instead of taking too much time with particulars. The more you try and fix it, the more problematic it becomes.
Then place it on top of the beef broth in the slow cooker butter-herb side up. I have a oval 7-quart slow cooker, but I think any medium/large cooker will work.
Cook on LOW for 5-6 hours until roast is tender and cooked through.
Making the gravy
The gravy is super easy to finish off.
Strain the roast drippings from the slow cooker through a fine mesh strainer into a saucepan.
Heat drippings on stove top over medium heat until bubbles form around edges.
In a small cup or bowl, whisk together water and cornstarch until it is smooth. Then slowly pour in cornstarch mixer into saucepan, whisking constantly. Continue heating and whisking until gravy is heated through and thickened.
We love to serve this roast and gravy with mashed potatoes and green beans. I’m pretty sure you won’t find a tastier comfort food meal around.
Butter-Herb Pot Roast and Gravy {Slow Cooker Recipe}
Tender, juicy pot roast cooked in the slow cooker with a simple gravy.
Ingredients
For Roast:
- 3 ½ to 4 pound beef pot roast see note
- 2 cups beef broth see note
- 3 tablespoons softened butter
- 2 tablespoons flour see note
- 3 cloves garlic minced
- ½ tablespoon salt
- ½ tablespoon ground black pepper
- 1 teaspoon dried rosemary
- 1 teaspoon dried thyme
For Gravy:
- ¼ cup water
- 2 tablespoons cornstarch
Instructions
For Roast:
-
Pat roast dry with paper towels and set aside. Pour beef broth in the bottom of slow cooker.
-
In a small bowl, combine softened butter, flour, minced garlic, salt, pepper, rosemary & thyme. Mash together with a fork until it comes together into a paste. Spread herb butter evenly over top side of roast with a butter knife.
-
Place roast in slow cooker with herb butter on top. Cook on LOW for 5-6 hours until roast is tender and cooked through. Remove roast and place on serving patter. Tent with foil until ready to serve.
For Gravy:
-
Strain roast drippings through a fine mesh strainer into a saucepan. Heat drippings on stove top over medium heat until bubbles form around edges.
-
In a small cup or bowl, whisk together water and cornstarch until it is smooth. Slowly pour in cornstarch mixer into saucepan, whisking constantly. Continue heating and whisking until gravy is heated through and thickened. Taste and add additional salt, if needed. Pour into serving container.
-
We love to serve this roast and gravy with mashed potatoes and green beans.
Recipe Notes
1. I’ve made this pot roast with several different types of beef cuts. I normally go with the cheaper cuts in this recipe because the slow cooker tenderizes them nicely. Chuck roast is always a safe bet if you need specifics.
2. For the beef broth, I often use water + 1 tsp of this homemade vegetable bouillon substitute.
3. Any type of flour should work fine in this recipe including gluten free.
Recipe Source: Heather @ The Cook’s Treat
All images and text ©The Cook’s Treat
Disclaimer: post contains affiliate links for items on Amazon.
If you do not want gravy… just the seasoned meat… can you just put the rub on and cook it? Do you have to have the beef stock?
I haven’t tried it this way, but I’d probably add at least 1/2 cup of water or beef stock so that the beef doesn’t dry out too much before the drippings come
What is the purpose of the flour that’s mixed with the butter?
Hi Kelly, good question. It’s used to help thicken the gravy. You could probably experiment with leaving it out when you are coating the beef and just add more cornstarch later if you are gluten intolerant. That’s probably what I would do or just use a gluten free flour. 🙂