Easy Crock Pot Roast with Potatoes and Carrots

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This recipe for Crock Pot Roast with Potatoes and Carrots creates delicious, fall-apart meat with tender vegetables and a savory gravy. It’s one of the easiest pot roast recipes out there and only has 9 ingredients!

$28.42 per recipe / $3.55 per serving

Close up of platter with Crock Pot roast, potatoes, carrots, and onion.

Pot roast is a classic, comfort food that almost everyone enjoys.

In all of my years as a home cook, I’ve just recently started making a good pot roast, and the secret is all in the Crock Pot you use!

This recipe works because it’s:

Incredibly easy. You’ll save yourself some time by using baby carrots and packet gravy to make this pot roast.
Absolutely delicious. Even though this recipe is low on ingredients, it’s big on flavor!
Tried and tested. I’ve made this recipe enough times to know what NOT to do. So you’ll benefit from my mistakes.
Great for a large family! Even though a big piece of beef can be a little expensive, you’ll make up the cost with affordable vegetables and gravy.

Step-by-Step Instructions

Various Crock Pot roast ingredients on table including potatoes, onion, and beef broth.

Peel and slice 5-6 small potatoes into even-sized chunks. Slice 1 onion into rings.

Layer the potato chunks, 1 pound of baby carrots, and the onion rings in a 6-8 quart Crock Pot.

Raw onion rings and baby carrots in white Crock Pot insert with other ingredients nearby.

Season a 3-4 pound roast with 1½ teaspoons of salt and 1/2 teaspoon of pepper.

Raw roast on tan plate seasoned with salt and pepper all on white table.

Heat 1 tablespoon of olive oil in a large frying pan over medium heat. Brown both sides of the roast for 3-4 minutes.

Browned roast in black frying pan with tongs and white Crock Pot insert nearby.

Place the roast on top of the vegetables in the Crock Pot and pour 1½ cups of beef broth over everything.

Browned roast in Crock Pot with raw onion, carrots and potato chunks all on white table.

Cover and cook on low for 8-10 hours until the meat is falling apart and the vegetables are tender.

Remove the meat and vegetables to a platter to rest and cover with foil.

Remove 1 cup of the liquid from the Crock Pot and strain out any large pieces of meat or vegetables.

Add 1 packet of brown gravy to a small saucepan and slowly whisk in the beef broth.

Small sauce pan with powdered gravy and glass measuring cup of beef broth on white table.

Cook the gravy on medium heat until it comes to a boil. Reduce the heat and simmer for 1 minute adding more water if it is too thick.

Serve the hot gravy with the roast and vegetables.

Recipe Tips and Substitutions

Pieces of pot roast, carrots, potatoes, and gravy on wood plate, which is on white table.

The size of slow cooker you use will make the biggest difference in cooking a successful Crock Pot roast. If you use a Crock Pot that’s too small, the meat may not get cooked through and will be tough. That’s why I recommend a 6-8 quart slow cooker. It’s big enough to hold all of the ingredients and allow the heat to circulate through.

You can use any cut of roast you’d like for this recipe, just make sure it has the word chuck, round, or rump in it. These cuts of meat are tough and the high amount of collagen in the meat will break down over the long cook time, making the meat tender and succulent.

If you find that your vegetables are cooking faster than the meat, you may need to remove them and store them in the refrigerator while the meat continues to cook. Add them back to the Crock Pot for the last hour of cook time so they can reheat.

I have a very powerful Crock Pot (affiliate link). If you have a similar model and want to avoid the vegetables cooking faster than the meat, you can put the meat on the bottom and the vegetables on top. Or you can add the vegetables in for the last half of the cook time.

Pot roasts take a long time to cook. To save time in the morning, you can prep everything and place the Crock Pot insert and lid in the refrigerator overnight. Then all you’ll need to do the next day is place the insert in the base and turn on the heat!

If your Crock Pot is less than halfway full with all of the ingredients added, the meat and vegetables may cook faster than 8 hours and could potentially burn. So keep an eye on it! The ideal capacity for even cooking in a Crock Pot is 1/2 -3/4 full.

More Like This

White platter with pieces of slow cooker pot roast, carrots, and potatoes with gold utensils and bowl of brown gravy nearby.

Looking for more delicious Crock Pot dinners? Try these!

Recipe Costs

This recipe costs $28.42 to make which is $3.55 a serving. It’s on the expensive side and that’s just do the cut of meat. So if you want to save money, just get your roast when it’s on sale and this dinner will cost closer to $20 or $25.

Russet potatoes – $2.37
Onion – $0.60
Baby carrots – $1.39
Roast – $20.97 (you can find roast for $4.98/pound at Sam’s Club)
Salt – $0.10
Pepper – $0.05
Olive oil – $0.20
Beef broth – $0.75
Powdered brown gravy – $1.99

FAQs

Close up of Crock Pot roast with carrots, potatoes, and gravy on wood plate.

Should you rinse a roast before cooking it?

No!

Contrary to what other pot roast recipes may recommend, the USDA advises against washing any kind of raw meat before cooking.

When should I add vegetables to a Crock Pot roast?

It depends on what kind of Crock Pot you’re using.

If you have a smaller Crock Pot that isn’t as powerful, you’ll want to add the vegetables to the Crock Pot at the beginning of cook time.

If you have a larger, more powerful Crock Pot, you should probably add the vegetables halfway through the cook time, or place them on top of the meat so they don’t turn into mush.

How much water do you put in a Crock Pot when cooking a roast?

You’ll want to have at least 1/4 cup of liquid in a Crock Pot when cooking a roast, but you can add up to 1½ cups.

This recipe calls for 1½ cups of beef broth, which creates a very tender roast and vegetables.

Is it better to cook a roast on high or low in a Crock Pot?

Always cook your pot roast on low!

The meat will be much more tender and fall-apart if you cook it on low. I’m not even listing a cook time on high for this recipe because it just won’t turn out as well.

Follow my tip listed above for saving time in the morning if you’re worried about getting the roast cooking in time for dinner.

I hope your family loves this Crock Pot roast with potatoes and carrots! If you make it, be sure to take a picture and tag me on Instagram with @ashcroftfamilytable and use the hashtag #ashcroftfamilytable!

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