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French Onion Pot Roast (Slow Cooker Recipe)

Julie Deily · 58 Comments

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French Onion Pot Roast (Slow Cooker Recipe) from thelittlekitchen.net

This recipe was originally published on July 27, 2011, I recently updated it along with the photos. We love this recipe and make it all the time during the winter months, I know you'll enjoy it!

I love my slow cooker. Lately, it's been my most favorite appliance because it's so nice to come home with dinner almost ready. On really busy nights and nights I work late, the slow cooker is my friend.

This French onion pot roast recipe is something I have been making for at least a couple of years now. I have adapted the original recipe and changed it up several times but this is how I make it now. My favorite cut of beef for this recipe is a boneless chuck roast that my grocery store calls a California roast. I love adding celery, carrots and onions and even using them as a side dish when serving it.

So easy to make and the whole family will enjoy! French Onion Pot Roast (Slow Cooker Recipe) from thelittlekitchen.netFrench Onion Pot Roast (Slow Cooker Recipe) from thelittlekitchen.net

Add the vegetables to the bottom of your slow cooker.

French Onion Pot Roast (Slow Cooker Recipe) from thelittlekitchen.net
This is what a California roast looks like. It's flat unlike the chuck roast. I trim some of the fat off from the edges and pat it dry with a paper towel.

French Onion Pot Roast (Slow Cooker Recipe) from thelittlekitchen.net
Cover the roast in flour, salt and pepper.

French Onion Pot Roast (Slow Cooker Recipe) from thelittlekitchen.net

Add to a dutch oven on  brown in a pan 2-4 minutes on each side at medium to medium high heat.

French Onion Pot Roast (Slow Cooker Recipe) from thelittlekitchen.net

I use tongs to stand the roast on its ends to sear the ends too!

French Onion Pot Roast (Slow Cooker Recipe) from thelittlekitchen.net

Place the roast in the slow cooker and add the french onion soup along with water. After 5 hours on high or 10 hours on low, you'll have a wonderfully moist and tender roast. I like to serve it in chunks and then shred it up on my plate. If you prefer, you can shred up the meat and put back into the slow cooker. I use the sauce from the slow cooker and serve it over the meat as well as my potatoes.

I'm a huge fan of comfort food, can you tell? This is a great dish for an easy Sunday dinner or just a quick weeknight meal and it's not too heavy for a summer dinner.

The original photo from when this post was published in July 2011.

French Onion Pot Roast (Slow Cooker Recipe) from thelittlekitchen.netAren't these plates so lovely? They are from Ree (The Pioneer Woman's new collection). You can buy them here.

 

We love this recipe…our family and friends do too! I just love being able to have a little bit of prep and dinner is ready in the evening. When I make this French onion pot roast recipe…when Curtis comes home and opens the garage door, he can usually smell it all the way in the garage…he gets so excited!

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French Onion Pot Roast (Slow Cooker Recipe) from thelittlekitchen.net
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French Onion Pot Roast (Slow Cooker Recipe)

Prep Time 20 minutes
Cook Time 9 hours
Total Time 9 hours 20 minutes
Servings 6 to 8

Ingredients

  • 3 celery stalks trimmed & cut into 3-inch pieces
  • 4 large carrots washed, ends trimmed & cut into thirds (if really thick, cut in half length-wise)
  • 1 large onion thinly sliced
  • 1 teaspoon salt
  • 1/2 teaspoon pepper
  • 3 to 4 pound boneless beef chuck roast also known as a California roast
  • 3 Tablespoons unbleached all-purpose flour
  • 1 to 2 Tablespoons vegetable or olive oil
  • homemade or canned french onion soup if using condensed, use 10.5-ounce can or 3 cups non-condensed

Instructions

  • Add carrots, celery and onions to the bottom of the slow cooker.
  • Mix flour, salt and pepper together in a small bowl.
  • (Optional) Trim any fat on the sides off of the roast and rinse with water.
  • Pat the beef dry with paper towels. Using your fingers, add flour mixture to cover the roast. (My roast this time was taller than I usually get it and it was tied for me. You can tie yours with kitchen twine if you want.)
  • Heat 1-2 tablespoons of oil in a large dutch oven on medium to medium high heat for  to 4 minutes. Add roast to heated pan and heat to sear for 2 to 4 minutes on each side. (Add more oil if needed and lower heat if necessary.) Use tongs to flip the roast and to hold the roast on its ends and sear for one minute.
  • Add the seared beef roast on top of the vegetables. Add french onion soup to the slow cooker. (If using condensed soup, add 1 cup of water to the slow cooker.)
  • Cook roast in slow cooker on low for 8 to 9 hours or high for 5 hours.
  • Serve with vegetables from the slow cooker and mashed potatoes or noodles.
French Onion Pot Roast (Slow Cooker Recipe) from thelittlekitchen.net
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French Onion Pot Roast (Slow Cooker Recipe) from thelittlekitchen.net

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Categories: Beef, Main Dishes, Recipes, Slow Cooker Tags: beef, carrots, celery, onions Posted: November 16, 2015 Updated: February 1, 2022

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Julie of The Little Kitchen

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Welcome to The Little Kitchen! I'm Julie and I love to cook, bake, eat and share (not necessarily in that order). I share easy recipes, stories about my family (which includes my pets) and my travels. And I actually do have a little kitchen.

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    1. Mittie says

      November 25, 2017 at 1:01 pm

      Thanks for talking about French Onion Pot Roast. Loved it!

      Reply
    2. Samah says

      August 27, 2017 at 4:42 pm

      Can i sear the roast the night before and just throw everything in the slow cooker next morning before leaving to work?

      Reply
    3. Chris says

      November 22, 2016 at 6:29 pm

      Hi Julie,

      Do you have a particular brand of canned onion soup that you use that is not too salty?

      Thanks! 

      Reply
    4. Cressett says

      October 3, 2016 at 5:26 am

      I use leftovers from this for soup. What sets my soup apart are the use of tomato juice for part or all of the soup liquid and the use of cabbage. You can throw just about anything in, but here is how I do it: Chop and saute in butter or butter and olive oil or just live oil for three minutes each in rough order: onions, carrots, celery, green beans, zucchini, and potatoes. Chop and add cabbage. Add tomato juice (and broth if you like), a can of tomatoes, chopped meat from the roast, and some of the juices from the roast and simmer for awhile. Then add a can of beans (cannellini or garbanzos are my picks) and a small can of corn niblets. Simmer a little while longer. You can also make this without the roast for a vegetarian version, and you can add pasta if you like. This is a cross between a minestrone and the soup my Mom used to make for her students on a potbelly stove when she taught in a one-room school in the mountains. Each student who could brought a vegetable, and Mom provided the meat or meat bone and canned tomato juice her mother had “put up” from their garden. They moved to their farm during the Depression and ate very well off the land. We call this “Mama Faye Soup,”

      Reply
      • Geebus says

        January 8, 2017 at 1:59 pm

        That soup sounds depressing

        Reply
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    Hi there, friend!

    Welcome to The Little Kitchen! I'm Julie and I love to cook, bake, eat and share (not necessarily in that order). I share easy recipes, stories about my family (which includes my pets) and my travels. And I actually do have a little kitchen.

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