Slow Cooker Balsamic Pot Roast with a rich balsamic glaze and tender fall apart beef, you’ll LOVE this whole meat in one pot!
This Slow Cooker Balsamic Pot Roast is full of flavor from the balsamic vinegar, red wine and my secret flavor enhancing beef base. I use Better Than Bouillon for my bases and they add a ton of flavor to dishes. I use them in anything where there is a sauce that requires a stock. This adds the same flavor without having to cook the stock down.
Best practices for Slow Cooker Pot Roasts:
- Season your pot roasts aggressively. It adds a ton of flavor to the roast and will also season your sauce.
- Brown the roasts very well on both sides. Since we are adding liquids to the slow cooker it won’t have an opportunity to brown in there.
- Try to keep the liquids minimal as the meat will also release quite a lot of liquids. This also makes for more flavorful sauces.
- Let the meat rest for 10 minutes once you take it out of the slow cooker, this also gives you time to reduce the liquids to a thicker glaze/sauce.
- If you have room in the slow cooker add vegetables to make this a truly easy meal. I add carrots and potatoes as they hold up well in slow cookers.
Looking for more slow cooker roast recipes?
- Slow Cooker Roast Beef (Sliceable!)
- Ultimate Slow Cooker Pot Roast
- Ultimate Slow Cooker French Dip Sandwiches
- Slow Cooker Jalapeno Pineapple Pork
- Crispy Slow Cooker Corned Beef
Tools used in the making of this Slow Cooker Balsamic Pot Roast:
Slow Cooker: Love this slow cooker and how programmable it is, it has been a workhorse for me… until…
My New Slow Cooker: This recipe was made in this slow cooker. For larger roasts I also brown the meat in the insert and not lose a bunch of the flavor by transferring the meat and leaving the browned bits behind. If you’re thinking of a new slow cooker, consider it if your budget is open.
Better Than Bouillon: I almost never buy boxes of broth because I keep the beef, chicken and vegetable version of this Better Than Bouillon.
Balsamic Vinegar: I love cooking with balsamic vinegar as it adds a ton of flavor. I love this brand and the Trader Joe’s brand as well.
Slow Cooker Balsamic Pot Roast
Ingredients
- 2 tablespoons canola oil
- 4 pound chuck roast boneless
- 1 1/2 teaspoons kosher salt
- 1/2 teaspoon ground black pepper
- 1 yellow onion diced
- 3 cloves garlic minced
- 1/2 teaspoon dried thyme
- 1 bay leaf
- 1/3 cup balsamic vinegar
- 1 tablespoon beef base (totally optional but it is awesome)
- 1/2 cup red wine
- 1/4 cup brown sugar
- 3 carrots chopped into 1? pieces (if you have room)
- 12 baby gold potatoes (if you have room)
Instructions
- In a large pot or skillet add 2 tablespoons of canola oil oh high heat.
- Season the pot roast with the salt and pepper.
Add the pot roast to the pan and brown on both sides, 3-5 minutes on each side.
- Add the meat to the slow cooker.
Add the onions into the pan you browned the beef in and cook for 1-2 minutes.
- If you have space around the meat in the slow cooker add in some small potatoes and carrots.
- Top the beef with the onions, garlic, thyme and bay leaf.
- In a small cup add the beef base (if using) to the balsamic vinegar and whisk.
- Top the beef with the balsamic mixture, red wine and brown sugar.
Cook on low for 6 to 8 hours.
- Remove bay leaf before serving.
- To make the sauce into a glaze, strain the liquid out after it is done cooking.
- Spoon off the fat and discard.
Add the remaining sauce to a small pan and cook in a saucepan on medium heat until thickened, about 8-10 minutes.
- If you want a stronger balsamic flavor, add in another 2 tablespoons of balsamic vinegar to the sauce before cooking it down in the saucepan.
Made Slow Cooker Balsamic Pot Roast last night and WOW! Fantastic! My son gave you his “you could sell this” rating. Positively excellent! Added small whole carrots an hour before done cooking as not fans of mushy carrots. Made salt and vinegar mashed potatoes to go with the wonderful gravy this recipe makes. Great Recipe.
Salt and Vinegar mashed potatoes sound like the perfect side to this! Thanks for the 5 stars, Mary.
This is officially my perfect recipe. I’ve tried so many of the slow cooker beef roasts and I’m just not a fan of the tomato base. This has a perfect balance of tart and sweet that compliments the beef perfectly. I substituted a bit of beef stock for the red wine because I’m in the middle of moving with two very small kids and all wine needs to be saved for drinking purposes 😉
I look forward to trying the recipe again with the wine, but for now, it hit the spot and made enough for two additional freezer meals at the new house. We paired it with creamy mashed potatoes and skillet garlic green beans. Delicious!
You just made my day, Laura! I’m glad you love it so much. Good luck with the move.
Could I use baby potatoes and I cznt wait to try!!!!
Sure 🙂
Enjoy!
This is now my go to pot roast, it is so delicious and the smell while its cooking , amazing!
Just want to say I have been using this recipe for a couple of years now and nothing beats it! Have all my stuff to get this into the crock tomorrow morning now that it’s getting colder. Thanks for the family favorite!
Thanks, Laurel.
Do you mix the balsamic with the wine and brown sugar?
Or is it:
1) balsamic mixture separately
2) wine and brown sugar separately
Just couldn’t tell from the instructions-sorry
(My first time using a balsamic vinegar also)
You can either layer it or mix it all together. 🙂 Enjoy!
Do you know how long this would take to cook in an Instant Pot?
I’ve never tested it using an instant pot. If you decide to try, I’d love to know what worked out for you.
Made Slow Cooker Balsamic Pot Roast last night and WOW! Fantastic! My son gave you his “you could sell this” rating. Positively excellent! Added small whole carrots an hour before done cooking as not fans of mushy carrots. Made salt and vinegar mashed potatoes to go with the wonderful gravy this recipe makes. Great Recipe.
This is amazing easy recipe to put together. I did add couple of things to the process. I only used five small Yukon gold potatoes, I cut them in half and browned in the skillet first.
I cut five slits in the beef, and used five small garlic cloves in each (one clove per) different slits. I put 1/2 cup of flour in a gallon baggie after salt and peppering the beef. I add the beef to the bag and shook the beef. Once lightly floured, I browned the beef as directed by the recipe.
I did everything else per the recipe. It’s in my 6qt slow cooker now. My home smell amazing.
I just finished eating my delicious dinner. This was the best pot roast I have ever made (I have made many pot roast). This one has so much wonderful flavor. This will be my go to pot roast recipe. Thank you much for sharing this recipe. I can’t wait until, I can have guest over for dinner again. My friend and family will love this pot roast.
Clean up was a snap. I used a slow cooker liner in my Crockpot.
Made this tonight. It was delicious and the house smelled wonderful all day. Thank you for sharing!
You’re welcome, Sharon!
Turned out amazing!!! This is definitely going into a monthly rotation!!!
Yay!! I take that as a huge compliment, Ty.
this is one I will make again!
Yay!
It’s just after midnight on Christmas Morning. I’ve finally finished all my food prep for the special Christmas meal and, for the second year running, this amazing recipe will be centrepiece. Everyone loves it! I have ME, and hosting Christmas dinner for six can be a real challenge, but this recipe takes all the stress out of the main dish. Merry Christmas from our little island of Stronsay, Orkney ?
Thank you so much for letting me know, Miriam. Happy holidays!
I don’t see a slider tool??
If you go to the recipe card and hover over the serving amount (it’s in green), the slider tool with show up and you can adjust from there. Hope this helps!
Made this in my slow cooker and it was great! Gonna try in the instant pot tonight! Fingers crossed!
Enjoy!
I’m a dork…?
I followed this recipe, but thought it was for Pork! ?
Sooooo….. I now have this 2.84lb Pork Shoulder in the Slow-Cooker on low. Crossing my fingers!????
Uh oh! How did it turn out?
If I could give this recipe 10 stars I would. Absolutely the best pot roast I have ever made. The recipe is perfect as written, no need to change a thing. So tender, flavorful. What can I say but AWESOME!!!
I really appreciate that, thank you so much!
It’s in the slow cooker now! I’m excited!!!
How did it turn out for you? Hope you enjoyed!
Hi.
Silly question maybe. But do you have this recipe to make a smaller batch. Or can I just half everything ?
Have to sat cant wait to cook this. Looks gorgeous.
Terry.
Yes, you can use the slider tool to adjust the ingredient list to whatever number of servings you’re looking for. The only recommendation I have would be to use a smaller slow cooker. If there’s too much space, it may not cook it properly and dry it out. Enjoy!
This will be our second time to make this recipe. It was delicious the first time! Just got everything in the slow cooker. My mouth will be watering all day!!
Yay! So glad you love it so much.
I made this last night and just enjoyed it for dinner. Wow, I love the red wine balsamic flavor. I used a 2lb roast and cooked it on low for 5 hours. I kept the liquid measurements the same and added a splash of extra wine for personal preference. Thank you for the recipe!
Thanks for dropping by to let me know! I’m so glad you enjoyed it!