Paleo Pot Roast with Gravy
Whole30 and Paleo Pot Roast with Gravy, cooked in the oven low and slow in a dutch oven with carrots and onions. The most flavorful, tender, fall apart meat you don’t even need a knife to cut! Paleo, gluten free, dairy free, Whole30, low carb.
This is my absolute favorite part of winter.
Juicy, tender pot roast cooked low and slow all day long in my oven on a Sunday, while we have a cozy family day and smell the delicious dinner cooking away.
It is such an easy dinner to throw together, and one of the most flavorful and mouthwatering dinners I make.
My birthday is in February, and I would often request my moms famous pot roast as my birthday dinner. Served with her buttery mashed potatoes and thick gravy.
I’ve tweaked the recipe just a tad, and now it is completely diet friendly! Paleo, Whole30, gluten free, dairy free and low carb. But just as delicious as ever. All you taste is succulent beef cooked in carrots, onions, beef broth and fresh herbs low and slow for 5 hours.
There are a few tips I have found that really make a huge difference in the perfect paleo pot roast.
First, you want to pick out a chuck roast that is well marbled with fat. You don’t want just one, huge fat line down the center and the rest is just straight meat. Try and find one that has a lot of spidered off fat lines throughout the meat. This meat will turn out more juicy and flavorful after cooking.
I like to brown my pot roast really well so it gets a nice golden brown crust. Then when I add in the beef stock braising liquid, I stop pouring it in to leave the top 1/2″ of the pot roast out. This way, the top of the pot roast keeps it’s crust and doesn’t get completely “mushy”. The resulting pot roast is almost completely tender, with the top of it still crusty and seared off. The best texture combination.
I’ve tried making this pot roast in a slow cooker, but I don’t like it as much. It tastes much better cooked in the oven in my dutch oven. I think the dutch oven holds the heat much better, and the meat comes out more structured. When I make it in the slow cooker I find it is just a tad more “mushy”, as if it has been steamed more than braised. It’s still good in the slow cooker, but I really prefer it in the dutch oven. Plus, I use my dutch oven to sear it off anyway, so I might as well cook the whole thing in it!
A lot of pot roast recipes call for you to cook it for 4 hours, but I like cooking mine for 5 hours. I find that extra hour makes the pot roast even more tender, but not so tender it is falling apart. When I’ve cooked it for 4 hours, it still has a little more chew to it than I would like. But after 5 hours, the meat is so wonderfully tender I don’t even need a knife to cut it. It just melts in my mouth.
If your oven tends to run really hot, keep an eye on it starting at hour 4. If too much of the braising liquid has cooked away, add in another cup. By the time I have taken mine out at 5 hours, I usually am left with just about an inch or two of braising liquid, just 1.5 cups.
To add more depth of flavor to the beef and the resulting braising liquid, I add in 1 tablespoon of tomato paste. It makes all the difference! Between the garlic, tomato paste, fresh herbs, carrots and onions – the beef and the gravy made from its braising liquid is mouth watering.
And yes, you absolutely must make the gravy! I’m sure you recognized this pot roast from the Whole30 and Paleo Gravy post I just shared. After finally perfecting that gravy, I knew I could fully enjoy pot roast while eating Whole30 / Paleo. Because what good is pot roast without the gravy?
I serve the pot roast with the carrots and onions that cooked with it (the onions are my FAVORITE PART!), along with my paleo and Whole30 friendly dairy free mashed potatoes, all topped with the paleo gravy. It is the perfect healthy comfort meal for winter.
PrintPaleo Pot Roast with Gravy
- Prep Time: 30 mins
- Cook Time: 4 hours
- Total Time: 4 hours 30 mins
- Yield: 4-6 people 1x
Ingredients
Paleo Pot Roast
- 1 boneless 4 pound chuck roast, well marbled with fat (I get my beef from ButcherBox, which I highly recommend)
- 2 tablespoons olive oil
- 1 tablespoon salt
- 2 whole onions, skins removed, cut in quarters
- 8 medium carrots, scrubbed, cut in 2″ slices
- 4 whole cloves of garlic
- 1 tablespoon tomato paste
- 1 teaspoon pepper
- 4 or 5 cups beef broth, plus more may be needed for gravy
- 2 sprigs of fresh rosemary
- 2 sprigs of fresh thyme
- 1 bay leaf
Paleo Gravy
- 2 tablespoons ghee (or high quality grass fed butter if diet allows)
- 2 tablespoons tapioca flour (also called tapioca starch)
- 2 cups of the pot roast braising liquid, fat removed (add more beef broth to make it to cups if necessary)
- salt and pepper to taste
Instructions
Paleo Pot Roast
- Preheat oven to 325 degrees with the oven rack in the bottom third. Heat a dutch oven over medium high heat.
- Pat the pot roast dry with a paper towel, then season all sides with salt. (I don’t season the meat with pepper because I find that browning it at this high heat gives the pepper a bitter taste.)
- Add the olive oil to the dutch oven, then brown the meat on all sides until it is golden brown, about 4 minutes per side.
- Remove the meat from the dutch oven and transfer to a plate. Add in half the carrots, the garlic, the tomato paste, pepper, and 1 cup of the beef broth. Scrape up all the brown bits from the bottom of the dutch oven. Add the meat back on top of the carrots, nestle the onion, remaining carrots, rosemary, thyme and bay leaf around the pot roast. Pour in enough beef broth to come up 1/2″ from the way up to the meat, 4 or 5 cups.
- Cover the dutch oven with its lid, and cook in the oven for 5 hours.
- Remove from the oven. With a large spatula, lift the pot roast out from the dutch oven and transfer to a cutting board to rest. Careful! It’s super tender and falls apart easily! With a slotted spoon, transfer the carrots and onions to a serving platter and tent with foil to keep warm.
- Strain the pot roast braising liquid in to a fat separator, discard any solids and the herbs. After the fat settles, separate the beef braising liquid from the fat. If there are not 2 cups, add more beef broth to make it 2 cups. (I’m usually left with about 1.5 cups)
Paleo Gravy
- Heat a medium size sauce pan over medium heat.
- Melt the ghee. Add in the tapioca flour and whisk vigorously until combined and there are no lumps. Cook for 30 seconds.
- While whisking constantly, slowly pour in the beef braising liquid. Cook for 1-2 minutes until thickened, whisking every few seconds.
- Season with salt and pepper to taste.
Serving
- Shred the pot roast with 2 forks in to large chunks.
- Serve the pot roast warm with the carrots and onions, topped with the gravy. Best served with my Paleo Dairy Free Mashed Potatoes.
- Leftovers will keep refrigerated in an airtight container for 5 days.
Notes
Slow Cooker Instructions: After step 4, transfer all of the ingredients to your slow cooker. Cook on LOW for 8 hours, or HIGH for 4 hours. Follow the rest of the recipe as described.
More Paleo Beef Dinners
Skirt Steak with Chimichurri Sauce
New York Steak with Cilantro Onion Dredge
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20 Comments on “Paleo Pot Roast with Gravy”
YESSS to pot roast! It is the ultimate comfort food for me! It reminds me of my Grandma, she made the best pot roasts! And I agree with you, I love making dishes like this on lazy Sundays, nothing better than that, especially in the winter! Your pot roast is making my mouth water…pinning this beauty!
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This recipe is fantastic! Thank you for sharing it!
★★★★
Thank you Erika! So glad you liked it!
THIS POT ROAST WAS PERFECT! I love how mnay other WHole30 recipes you have.
★★★★★
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This was the best pot roast I have ever made! So easy but came out so good I usually use the pressure cooker or crock pot but the Dutch oven for the win!! Never going back thank you for this wonderful recipe can’t wait to try more!!!
★★★★★
I am so happy to hear that Kayla! Thank you so so so much! It’s one of my absolute favorite dinners. Thanks for taking the time to let me know you liked my recipe, you made my day!
Have you tried this in the instant pot?
Hi Alex – I haven’t tried the pot roast in the instant pot. I’ll be working on that soon!
Delicious! My 17 month old devours this!
★★★★★
I am so thrilled to hear that your little one devours this pot roast Karen. Isn’t that just the best feeling watching them gobble up healthy food?
Perfect Sunday Roast! You are spot on about the dutch oven versus the crock pot. The long cook time leaves the carrots very soft so might just use the thick ends for this. The onions are delicious and there are dozens of ways to use the extras. Tonight I am making a ragu for pasta (or spaghetti squash) with the leftovers. This recipe is a keeper.
★★★★★
I am so happy you liked my pot roast Leanne! I do love slow cooking it in the dutch oven, everything becomes so tender and flavorful. I just love that you are making a ragu with the leftovers, that is a fantastic idea!
Made this two nights ago; ate it tonight with the gravy! OMG!!!!!
I am going to serve to guests the first chance I get. It is a show stopper!
Thanks so much for sharing this recipe!
Next time I would cook the roast for 2 hours then add the veggies. After cooking the veggies for 5 hours they were a little too mushy for me. I had 3 cups liquid at the to make gravy, amazing! We buy from Butcher Box; also amazing!!! I also added turnips and extra garlic. 6 stars out of 5!
★★★★★
I am so glad you liked my pot roast Tom! I love that it was a show stopper good enough for company. I just love that description! Isn’t Butcher Box amazing? I like your addition of turnips and extra garlic. That sounds fantastic.
Excellent! We love this recipe. We were surprised at how good this dish was. Making it again today!!
★★★★★
I am so glad you liked my pot roast Olga! That is fantastic that you are making it again today. I sure hope it turned out great!
This came out perfect! Will definitely make again. If I only use 2 lbs of chuck, can I cook it for 2.5 hours?
★★★★★
I am so glad you liked my pot roast and will be making it again Suja. Yes, if you cook a 2 pound roast cook it for about 2.5 hours. Enjoy!