When it comes to making an easy meal, using a slow cooker is one of the easiest options there is. If you work a busy schedule, all you have to do is throw your ingredients in in the morning, close it up, set it and come back at the end of the day to eat it. We’ve probably all done every kind of chili dish imaginable at this point and while they can be delicious, sometimes it’s better to mix it up with something a little fancier.
Fortunately, we have a great recipe for you to try out today that you may not have tried before. That’s because today, we’re making a delicious, red wine pot roast that should take your slow cooking game up a notch. Like any other dish, all you have to do is throw the ingredients together and wait for them to be done. Still, the end result is a cut above some of the dishes you might be used to. So let’s get started.
Here’s what you’ll need:
- 3 pound chuck roast cut into big cubes
- 3 cups of red wine
- 3 chopped carrots
- 3 chopped celery stalks
- 1 large onion, diced
- 7 cloves of garlic, smashed
- 2 sprigs of fresh rosemary
- 1 tablespoon of fresh thyme, chopped
- 2 tablespoons of tomato paste
- 2 tablespoons of vegetable oil
- 2 tablespoons of butter
- 1 1/2 teaspoons of salt
- 1/4 teaspoon of pepper
Here’s what you do:
1. To get started, get a large sauté pan and set it over high heat. Add your oil and let it heat just to its smoke point before adding in your cubes of beef to brown them. If your pan is too small to accommodate all the meat comfortably, cook the cubes in batches rather than all at once.
2. When all the meat is well-browned but not cooked all the way through, transfer it all into your slow cooker. Using your same pan, add your butter and tomato paste into it. Cook it up for two minutes while stirring it up and then add all your red wine to deglaze the pan, scraping all the browned bits at the bottom into the sauce. At that stage, turn the heat down to medium-high and let it all reduce for 10 minutes.
3. Next, pour your red wine mixture into your slow cooker as well along with all the other ingredients in the list above. Mix everything up so it’s evenly combined and close the slow cooker, letting it cook on high for six hours.
4. When the time is up, make sure the beef chunks are cooked all the way through and serve with a side of mashed potatoes or polenta!
While this recipe does use a pan to do some of the prep work, the end result is a truly amazing slow cooker meal with lots of flavor and plenty of texture to it. While the additional steps at the beginning do add a lot of zest, you can also skip them if you’re in a rush. If you’re doing that, cut the wine down to only two cups and throw everything in the slow cooker together right off the bat, including the raw meat (cooking it all for the same amount of time). No matter how you do it, give this recipe a whirl and let us know how it all turns out.
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