Daniel’s Favorite Slow Cooker Pot Roast

1. Rinse the roast and coat top, bottom and sides with Montreal steak seasoning, pressing down to make sure the seasoning sticks well. The amount listed is approximate as I have never measured it. I just sprinkle enough to create a good crust on all surfaces.

2. Heat olive in a skillet on high heat, then sear all sides of the roast. I find using two pairs of tongs makes holding the roast up to sear the sides pretty easy.

3. Place seared roast in the bottom of your slow cooker. Mine is oval shaped, and I believe it’s 5-quarts.

4. Sprinkle the pack of onion soup mix on top of the roast, then pour the beef broth around the sides. The amount of broth is approximate. Use enough to bring the level almost all the way up the side of the roast, but not completely covering it or the soup mix will float off.

5. Layer the baby carrots on top of the roast, then layer the potatoes on top of the carrots. I use a lot of potatoes because they’re my husband’s favorite part, so you may choose to use less. I also cut my potatoes fairly small since my husband doesn’t like them to taste too “potato-ey”. Yes, he actually said that.

6. Place the lid on your slow cooker and cook on low for 8 to 10 hours. Don’t worry if you have to cook it a little longer because of your work schedule. The beauty of a slow cooker is that an extra hour or two probably isn’t going to ruin your meal. My slow cooker is awesome because it has a digital timer and temp control that automatically changes to its warm setting once the cook time is through.

7. When there is still about 30 minutes left of the cook time, I go ahead and get my pot of rice started. Cook according to package instructions.

8. Once the roast and vegetables are done, transfer the carrots and potatoes into a bowl with a lid. Then transfer the roast to another lidded dish and pour just enough of the broth over the roast to moisten it. Make sure you put the lids on both dishes so nothing dries out while you’re making the gravy. You could put all three into the same dish if you have one large enough to do so. I separate them because I pull the roast apart and remove any fat before serving.

9. Pour the can of cream of mushroom soup into a medium sized pot. Now comes the most difficult part in my opinion. Using a wire mesh strainer placed on top of the pot containing the soup, slowly and carefully pour the broth from the slow cooker into the pot. You will need to use oven mitts, as the slow cooker ceramic will still be hot. I recommend pouring in a little at a time and stirring with a whisk between additions. Whether or not you’ll use all of the broth will depend on how thick or thin you like your gravy. So you may not add use all of the broth.

*Note: The straining is needed to remove most of the Montreal steak seasoning. You could try skipping this step if you’d like, but do so at your own risk, as your gravy will likely be super peppery if you do.

10. Stir the soup and broth together until well mixed. Heat the pot on medium heat until the gravy is heated through, stirring occasionally.

11. Since my husband is very picky, I also go ahead and remove any visible fat from the roast while the gravy is heating. However, please feel free to let each person handle doing that for their own serving if you’d like.

12. Serve the roast and vegetables with the rice and gravy and enjoy. My husband only puts the gravy on the rice, but I drown everything in it.