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Slow Cooker Roast is one of our favorite Sunday dinners. Savory roast beef with tender carrots and potatoes is a classic meal all done in the slow cooker!
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A Slow Cooker Roast and Vegetables is one of those meals that instantly transports me back to my childhood. Even before the days of slow cookers, my grandmother and mother would roast vegetables and meat it in the oven. I loved coming in from church on a Sunday to the smell of fragrant meat, carrots and potatoes. Of course you can still use the oven for this recipe, but it requires the oven being on for hours and heating up the house. Plus, it’s so easy to just toss all the ingredients into the Crockpot and let it slowly cook all day. Dinner is ready with minimal effort with a crock pot roast and it’s always a crowd pleaser!
The recipe that I have mostly used for cooking a roast over the years was simply sprinkling salt and pepper and a packet of Lipton Onion Soup mix over the roast and cut-up vegetables. But I recently tried a version of a pot roast recipe by my friend, Liz Edmunds, also known as the Food Nanny I loved the extra flavors of brown sugar, soy sauce, and the cider vinegar. So yummy!
Ingredients in Slow Cooker Roast Beef
- Beef sirloin roast
- Vegetable oil
- Brown sugar – packed
- Apple cider vinegar
- Soy sauce
- Worcestershire sauce
- Condensed cream of mushroom soup – try our homemade version
- Dry onion soup mix divided
- Beef broth
- Carrots
- Red potatoes
- Salt and pepper
Additional Spices and Seasonings
Mix up the flavor and make it your own by subbing out or adding additional ingredients to your roast. Here are a few favorites to try.
- minced garlic
- other veggies like bell peppers, asparagus, or Brussels sprouts
- fresh thyme
- parsley – in the dish or for garnish
- bay leaves
- oregano
- balsamic vinegar
Tips for Cooking Meat in the Crockpot
- Bring the meat to room temperature. Take it out of the fridge and let it relax a little before searing.
- Always sear the outside of your meat in oil in a large skillet over the stove top (medium-high heat) before putting it into the Crockpot. This keeps juices locked inside the meat while it’s cooking, plus it creates a delicious crust on the outside. It really is the best way to get that tender, fall apart beef that tastes so yummy.
- For tantalizing fall-apart meat remember these two words: LOW and SLOW. Simmering at a lower heat for a longer period of time will give even tougher types of meat that tender texture your family will die over! The crockpot is ideal for this.
- Make sure your meat never gets dry in the crockpot. Keep it covered in its natural juices and beef broth for maximum juicy tenderness.
- Plate roast onto a large serving platter and surround it with the cooked veggies. Optional: garnish with a little parsley.
- Use the drippings and browned bits to make our delicious Beef Gravy!
Best Roast Cuts for the Slow Cooker
Choosing a cut of meat can seem confusing, but it doesn’t have to be. With the low and slow method of a slow cooker beef recipe, most any cut can be cooked to tender perfection. Here are a few options to look for at the grocery store:
- Chuck Roast – Shoulder Pot Roast
- Rib Roast
- Ribeye Roast
- Tenderloin Roast
- Tri-Tip Roast
- Round Tip Roast
- Bottom Round Roast
- Eye Round Steak
Frequently Asked Questions
You don’t have to but we definitely recommend it. This helps seal in the natural juices to give the beef a more rich flavor and texture.
It doesn’t need to be covered but you definitely want liquid in the slow cooker with the roast. We like to use beef broth.
Store leftovers in an airtight container in the refrigerator or freezer.
Beef is high in protein, iron, and vitamin B. The added veggies add fiber and more vitamins.
Read Next: Sunday Dinner Ideas
More Roast Beef Recipes
We have so many more delicious beef recipes on our site. Be sure to put some of these on your list to try next!
Slow Cooker Roast
Video
Equipment
Ingredients
- 4-5 pounds beef sirloin roast
- 3 tablespoons oil
- 1/3 cup brown sugar packed
- 3 tablespoons apple cider vinegar
- 1 tablespoons soy sauce
- 1 tablespoons Worcestershire sauce
- 10 ounces cream of mushroom soup
- 1 envelope dry onion soup mix divided
- 1 cup beef broth
- 6 carrots peeled and cut into 1 inch pieces
- 8 red potatoes scrubbed and quartered
Instructions
- Heat 3 tablespoons of oil in a large frying pan. Sear roast on all sides in the frying pan. This seals in the juices and flavor of the meat and gives it a deep brown color on the edges.
- Place the roast in the crockpot.
- In a mixing bowl, combine brown sugar, vinegar, soy sauce, Worcestershire sauce, mushroom soup, half of the onion soup mix, and broth. Mix well and pour over the roast.
- Wash and slice carrots and potatoes into bite size chunks.
- Put the carrots and potatoes in a resealable plastic bag. Sprinkle the remaining half of the dry onion soup mix over the vegetables and shake the bag until they are coated.
- Add the vegetables to the roast in the crock pot half way through the cooking time.
- Place lid on the slow cooker and cook on high heat for 5-6 hours, or on low heat for 8-10 hours.
Notes
Recipe Tips:
- Bring the meat to room temperature. Take it out of the fridge and let it relax a little before searing.
- Always sear the outside of your meat in oil on the stove top before putting it into the Crockpot. This keeps juices locked inside the meat while it’s cooking, plus it creates a delicious crust on the outside. It really is the best way to get that tender, fall apart beef that tastes so yummy.
- For tantalizing fall-apart meat remember these two words: LOW and SLOW. Simmering at a lower heat for a longer period of time will give even tougher types of meat that tender texture your family will die over! The crockpot is ideal for this.
- Make sure your meat never gets dry in the crockpot. Keep it covered in its natural juices and beef broth for maximum juicy tenderness.
- To reduce the sodium in this recipe, replace the Lipton onion soup mix with a sliced onion. Water can also replace beef broth.
- Next level this dinner by using the drippings to make our delicious Beef Gravy!
Perfect every time- easy and delicious. Requested every week
It is usually just my husband and I now, since we are empty nester with a small apartment. Our roast is 2.87 pounds. Have to do quite a bit of math to figure out ingredients. Hope it turns out okay.
No need to do any math, you don’t need to change any of the other ingredients it you don’t want to! You will just have more sauce for gravy. Hope this helps!
This was a very delishes meal. Trying to minimize the Sodium content I used fresh onions and a splash of red wine instead of the onion soup mix and sodium free veg broth instead of beef broth and Sodium free cream of mushroom soup.
Definitely make this again.
Oh I love a good roast and veggies in the crock pot. YUM
Hearty & comforting!! This is such a crowd pleasing meal, so tender & delicious!
Comfort food at it’s finest! I love how Worcestershire sauce brings out the flavor of the beef.
This is always a favorite family meal. Thanks!
This is definitely easy and a hearty meal. Love! My mom actually makes a similar version.
In step 2 it says to add the onion soup mix to the broth mixture, but in step 3 it also says to coat the vegetables in the onion soup mix. Am I using two packets, or splitting it in half, or not using it in one of the steps?
Thank you for catching this error in the recipe! I have corrected it. You just need 1 dry onion soup mix, half is added to the mixture that goes over the roast. The other half is sprinkled over the vegetables to give them a little extra seasoning when added to the roast.
Bit confused about the potatoes and carrots, says to add when you add the beef then later says halfway through cooking?
Whoops! You add them halfway through. I corrected the recipe. Thanks for catching that!
Could you use this recipe in the Instant Pot?
We actually have an Instant Pot recipe for Pot Roast here: https://www.favfamilyrecipes.com/sunday-pot-roast-instant-pot-recipe/
Awesome recipe. Didn’t use the mushroom soup and traded the onion soup for actual onions as the notes said. Really good!! ++ recipe.
My wife was allergic to mushrooms and always substituted cream of celery soup. Since she passed in 2016, I’ve been cooking for one and trying to downsize recipes. Roast beef was always one of my favorites.