Imagine we are in my childhood kitchen with the avocado green range and wall oven. It was a period when casseroles were all the rage, and people actually served jello molds and it seemed normal.
It was a time when cooking with Campbell’s condensed soups was a common kitchen habit, and this one calls for Campbell’s Golden Mushroom Soup.
Honestly, there aren’t many recipes from that late 1960’s period in our family’s life that my Mom continued to make into my adulthood. When we moved to New Orleans in 1975, her culinary skills rose to a whole new level, and her repertoire of dishes expanded and changed significantly.
But this pot roast recipe was good enough to “make the grade” in my Mom’s new kitchen, and it’s as wonderful now as it was then. Ask my daughter! Nana’s pot roast is a hit!
What is the secret to melt in your mouth pot roast? A very, very slow cooking temperature. The two most common cooking temps for pot roast are 300° and 275°. I’ve seen one recipe calling for a cooking heat of 250°. Oh, and then there was the one idiot asking whether she could cook a pot roast at 400° for an hour. You can imagine how that series of comments went! So — my preferred temperature is 275°. I typically make pot roast on a day I plan to be around the house. I get it going early enough that I think it will be ready about an hour before I plan to serve it. That way if it needs to cook a little longer, it’s not a big deal. And if it is done before dinner time, I just drop the oven temp done to warm to hold it. How do you know it’s done? It should be fork tender and falling apart.
Mom’s Pot Roast
- 3 – 4 lbs. chuck roast, (choose size of roast on your family, AND the size of your Dutch oven!)
- 2 medium yellow onions, (cut into large chunks)
- 6 red or Yukon gold potatoes, ( cut into large chunks)
- 6 stalks celery, (cut into 2 inch pieces)
- 1 lb. carrots, (cut into 2 inch pieces)
- 4 Tbsp. olive oil
- 4 Tbsp. worcestershire sauce
- 1 to 1.5 cans Campbell’s Golden Mushroom Soup
- 1 cup chardonnay
- 1 to 1.5 cans water, (I use the empty soup can for this)
- 1 to 1.5 cans chicken broth
- all purpose flour, (to dredge roast in before searing)
- 3 Tbsp. Wondra flour, (to thicken gravy later. You can substitute all purpose flour.)
- Lawry’s salt to taste, (or your preferred seasoning salt)
- freshly ground black pepper, (to taste)
- Preheat oven to 400°.
- Wash veggies thoroughly, cut into large pieces, and set to the side.
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Season chuck roast with Lawry’s salt and pepper, and dredge in flour. Heat olive oil in your Dutch oven over medium high heat. When the oil is very hot, sear the chuck roast on all sides — approximately 4 minutes per side. Do not rush this step. When you finish, remove the roast to a plate and set to the side.
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Use a spatula to loosen any brown bits from the bottom of the pot. Place a few veggies into the Dutch oven, and set the roast on top of them. Put all the rest of the vegetables into your pot around and on top of the roast.
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Sprinkle Worcestershire sauce around pot. Pour in (shake out really) the Golden Mushroom soup around the pot (this is pretty gloppy stuff). Pour water, chicken stock, and wine in — around and over the whole pot. Liquid should come at least 3/4 of the way up on the roast in your pot. (Add additional liquid if necessary — which is why I list all liquids above in ranges so that depending on the size of your pot, you have enough).
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Place your roast into the 400° oven. Cook at this temperature for 30 minutes (since this is a large pot of food, starting at the high temp helps the pot to reach cooking levels faster. You still want to cook this roast on a low heat, or it will be tough). Then drop the oven temperature to 275°.
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Cooking time will vary depending on size of roast. My chuck roast was a over 3 lbs., and I cooked it for 4.5 hours (which includes the first 30 minutes at 400°). If you’ve got a 4 – 5 lb. roast, plan on 5 to 6 hours. You want to test the meat about thirty minutes before you think it’s finished. It should be fork tender and ready to fall apart. If it’s done, you can always drop the oven temp to 225° and hold it in that warm oven.
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Once your roast is done, you’ll want to thicken the cooking liquid. Put your Dutch oven on a stove burner, remove the roast, set it to the side. Remove most of the vegetables to a bowl — doesn’t need to be all of them. In fact, if you have plenty of potatoes, I like to leave of few of them in the liquid and mash them against the sides of the pot — gives the gravy even more body.
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Take the flour, and put in a bowl with 1/3 cup of room temperature water and whisk well. Then gradually whisk the flour/water mixture into your pot, and over medium high heat, bring the pot roast liquid to a boil, then reduce heat and simmer until liquid thickens.
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Put roast and all veggies back into the pot and return to oven on a warming temperature until ready to serve.
Note on sizes and quantities: understand that the size roast and quantities of veggies that you can cook will OF COURSE depend on the size of your Dutch oven. I use an 8.5 quart Dutch oven when I make pot roast because I want LOTS of carrots, potatoes, and liquid. The vegetable quantities listed above are for my large pot. Anyway, the big thing here is to consider the size of your pot before you make your grocery list.
NO, you CANNOT substitute Campbell’s Cream of Mushroom soup!! It isn’t the same thing, and it would taste awful — the cream in it would not work well with a pot roast at all. The Golden Mushroom soup contains no dairy, and is made with beef broth, tomato puree, and the tiniest bit of sauterne wine.
Food allergies notes: Campbell’s Golden Mushroom Soup contains gluten and since it lists vegetable oil as an ingredient, likely also contains soy. Link to Campbell’s for a full list of ingredients.
