Why You’ll Love this French Onion Pot Roast
When the weather cools down, I love prepping this roast in the morning and letting the slow cooker fill the house with rich, caramelized onion aroma all day. By dinnertime, it tastes like the coziest cross between pot roast and French onion soup!
Here’s what makes it special:
- Comfort meets nutrition: A single 3-oz serving of cooked beef offers 25g of high-quality protein. It also delivers 10 essential nutrients like iron, zinc, niacin, and B vitamins.
- Make-ahead friendly: You can prep it before work and come home to a ready-to-serve meal.
- Crowd-pleasing: The cheesy bread topping soaks up all the broth, just like French onion soup.
- Freezer-friendly: Leftovers freeze beautifully or prep and freeze before cooking.
My Top Tips Before You Start…
- Slice onions thinly so they caramelize faster.
- Slice the onions while the beef is searing to save prep time.
- Don’t skip searing the beef. The crispy brown outside adds a ton of flavor to the beef and the onion when you caramelize them in the brown bits.
- The beef should shred easily with a fork. Mine shred easily at the 8 hour mark on low.
Ingredients You’ll Need
- Chuck Roast: it’s well marbled and perfect for cooking down low and slow. Beef offers incredible nutrient density, which is why we love a fall beef crock pot meal. Dishes like this slow-cooked roast aren’t just comforting, they’re nourishing and balanced too.
- Onions: 4 onions may seem like a lot but they cook down significantly.
- Balsamic vinegar: I love the flavor it brings to the onions. And bonus, balsamic vinegar helps them caramelize faster!
- White wine: to add the flavor to the onions and deglaze the brown bits from the pan.
- Broth and herbs: beef broth, fresh thyme, and bay leaves all go in the crock pot for added flavor.
- Cornstarch: this helps thicken the juices that the beef releases as it cooks down so you have a rich and dish rather than a brothy soup.
- Toppings: sliced baguette and gruyere cheese make it like authentic French onion soup.
How to Make French Onion Pot Roast
Welcome to my kitchen! Let me show you how to make this French onion pot roast recipe. There’s about 30 minutes of prep work and cooking before it all goes into the oven, but after that it’s totally hands off!
Step 1. Sear the beef: Season the chuck roast generously with salt and pepper then sear both sides until deeply golden brown. It adds tons of flavor!
Step 2. Slice the onions: I want to show you how I thinly slice onions because it makes the caramelizing a lot faster. Cut the onion from root to stem, remove the skin, lay it on the flat cut side then thinly slice into half rings.
Step 3. Caramelize the onions: melt butter in the same pan and cook the onions until golden and soft. Add garlic and balsamic and cook down further then finish with white wine. Simmer until it reduces the whine liquid is cooked off.
Step 4. Slow cook on low: Transfer onions and liquid to slow cooker with beef, broth, thyme, and bay leaves. Cover and cook until beef shreds easily, 8-10 hours.
Step 5. Shred the beef: Shred beef in the slow cooker with two forks.
Step 6. Thicken & finish: Stir in a cornstarch slurry. Top with toasted bread and shredded cheese. Cook on high until the sauce thickens and cheese melts.
Ingredient Substitution FAQ
- Can I make this dairy-free? Yes, use plant based butter or olive oil for cooking the onions and skip the cheese.
- Is this gluten-free? The bulk of this recipe is gluten-free naturally! Just make sure your broth is gluten-free and skip out on the bread topping.
- What if I don’t want to cook with wine? You can skip the wine in the onions altogether. It’s just added for flavor!
- Do I have to use balsamic vinegar? This is another ingredient that deepens the flavor and helps the onions caramelize, but can be left out if absolutely needed.
How to Store and Freeze this Pot Roast
In the fridge: Store cooked beef for 3–4 days in an airtight container.
In the freezer: Cooked french onion pot roast keeps well for 2-3 months. Thaw overnight in the fridge before reheating.
Prep this as a freezer meal (before cooking): Sear and cool the beef then caramelize the onions. Combine them in a freezer bag with the remaining ingredients. Remove as much air as possible, label and date the bag then freeze flat for easy stacking. Thaw overnight in the fridge then dump everything into the slow cooker in the morning.
This post is sponsored by The Ohio Beef Council. Visit www.OhioBeef.org, and follow the Ohio Beef Council on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram for beef nutrition facts, cooking tips, recipes and to meet Ohio’s beef farming families.
More Recipes with Chuck Roast
French Onion Pot Roast
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Ingredients
- 3-4 lb chuck roast
- Kosher salt and pepper to taste
- 3 Tablespoons butter or coconut oil
- 4 large yellow onions halved through root end and thinly sliced
- 4 cloves garlic minced
- 2 Tablespoons balsamic vinegar
- 2/3 cup dry white wine I used Pinot Grigio
- 3/4 cup low sodium beef broth
- 3 sprigs fresh thyme
- 2 bay leaves
- 2 Tablespoons cornstach
- 2 Tablespoons water
- 8 oz French baguette sliced (optional)
- 4 oz gruyere cheese optional
Instructions
- Sear the beef (10 min): Heat the olive oil in a large skillet over high-heat. Generously season both sides of the chuck roast with salt and pepper. Sear both sides of the roast undisturbed for 4-5 minutes on each side, until deeply golden brown. Transfer to the crock pot.3-4 lb chuck roast, Kosher salt and pepper
- Caramelize the onions (20 min): Reduce heat to medium and melt the butter in the same pan (without cleaning). Add the sliced onions and cook to caramelize for 15 minutes. Add the balsamic and garlic and continue to cook for 5 minutes. Pour in the wine and cook until it's reduced, 5 minutes. The onion should be very soft with a golden brown color (they'll continue to cook down in the crock pot).3 Tablespoons butter, 4 large yellow onions, 4 cloves garlic, 2 Tablespoons balsamic vinegar, 2/3 cup dry white wine
- Slow cook (8-10 hours): Transfer the onions to the crock pot with the beef. Pour in the broth and add the thyme and bay leaves. Close the lid and slow cook on low for 8-10 hours, until the beef easily falls apart with a fork.3/4 cup low sodium beef broth, 3 sprigs fresh thyme, 2 bay leaves
- Toast the bread (5 min, optional): If using the baguette, preheat the oven to 500°F just before beef is ready. Drizzle with olive oil and bake on a sheet pan until golden brown, 5 minutes.8 oz French baguette
- Thicken and finish (10 min): When the beef is done, open the lid, remove the thyme and bay leaves, and shred the beef it with two forks. Stir together the cornstarch and water and stir it into the beef. Top with the toasted bread and sprinkle generously with cheese. Close the lid and cook on high for 5-10 minutes, until the cheese is melted and the beef is thickened.2 Tablespoons cornstach, 2 Tablespoons water, 4 oz gruyere cheese
Notes
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
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