Easy Slow Cooker Beef

Ah, the bleak Midwinter. Valentine’s Day is over, spring break seems light years away, and we have had snow day after snow day here in St. Louis. One thing to look forward to on cold winter days is a warm and comforting meal. We are working on revamping some of the recipes from our archives and decided this one needed to be revisited. The word “easy” is in the title for a reason. It’s so super simple to make and the beef can be used as an entree, in salads, or tacos. We hope you enjoy this easy recipe!

Easy Slow Cooker Beef

Prep Time: 24 hours (includes rest time) Cook Time: 6-7 hours

Ingredients:

2 lb chuck roast

1 onion, quartered

1 teaspoon onion powder

1 teaspoon garlic powder

2 tablespoons vegetable flavored Better Than Bouillon paste

Kosher salt

Preparation:

The day before you plan to cook, place the roast on a sheet tray and liberally salt all sides. Place the roast in your fridge uncovered. The next day, remove the roast from the fridge and season all sides with the onion powder and garlic powder. Sear it on all sides in your slow cooker on high heat until deeply browned. If your slow cooker doesn’t have a sauté feature, you can do this in a pan on the stove top. This should take about 15 minutes total.

Once you finish the browning process, remove the roast and add the quartered onion to the slow cooker (pan if you’re using) and sear until some color develops on the outside. Add in the Better Than Bouillon paste to the onions and stir together and cook for another minute. If you’re doing this in a pan, add about a cup of water and deglaze. Add the roast and the onions to the slow cooker and add enough water to come up half way up the side of the roast. Bring to a boil and cover. Set your slow cooker on low and cook for about 6 hours. You can flip the roast halfway through the cooking process if you wish.

Once the roast easily tears apart with two forks, turn off your slow cooker and transfer the roast to a cutting board. Let it rest for 15 minutes and you can either shred the meat or cut it into slices with a serrated knife. The remaining cooking liquid makes a great beef stock for future use. Transfer the cooking liquid through a fine mesh strainer into a large container. Let the liquid cool down and put it in your fridge or freezer for another time. Alternatively, put some of the cooking liquid into a pot over the stove on medium high and reduce the liquid on by half and use it as an au jus for dipping. Serve your roast alongside mashed potatoes or polenta.