Easy Pot Roast

Tender beef with potatoes and carrots. If you have time, sear it on all sides first in a little oil. But it'll turn out fine (tender and tasty) even if you don't sear it. You can cook it in a slow cooker all day, or in the oven for a few hours.

1 beef chuck roast, 2-3 pounds, excess fat trimmed off

2 packets Lipton's Beefy Onion soup mix (or the regular onion soup mix, but the beefy is better)

2 pounds carrots, peeled and cut into bite-sized chunks

1 bag small potatoes, cut into bite-sized chunks

1 cup water or broth or beer 

Here are instructions on how to sear it, if you decide to do that: How to Sear Pot Roast

If cooking in a crockpot or slow cooker:  Dump the carrots and potatoes in the slow cooker, however much of each that you want. Try other vegetables if you want. Put the chuck roast on top of the vegetables. Sprinkle the onion soup mix all over both sides of the roast. Pour in the cup of water or broth or beer (this is plenty of liquid, in my experience). Turn the slow cooker to "low", put the lid on, and allow it to cook for 8-10 hours. I usually cook it for 10 hours and it's falling-apart tender by then.

If cooking in the oven:  Preheat the oven to 400 degrees. Sprinkle the onion soup mix all over the roast, then put the roast in a large baking dish (one that has a lid). Add a cup of water or broth or beer. Cover the dish and put it in the oven for 15 minutes. Then lower heat to 325 and cook for 3-4 hours. Put carrots and potatoes in with it in the last hour and a half of cooking.

NOTES:

You can use whatever kind of potatoes you want but I like to get the really small potatoes (baby Dutch yellow or whatever) - they're so small all you have to do is rinse them and throw them in.

If you want to experiment with different seasonings, here are some ideas: soy sauce, chili powder, cumin, oregano, whole peppercorns, worcestershire sauce, garlic, red wine, beer, thyme, rosemary, etc.