Pot roast is not just a Sunday dinner. This fall apart tender pot roast cooked in the oven can be made anytime of the week. Your family is going to love this tender pot roast recipe, too. It’s an easy recipe that is so simple to make and tastes fork tender delicious.
Mashed potatoes or boiled baby potatoes with butter are a great option to serve with pot roast instead of putting the potatoes in the roasting pot with the roast.
🍴 Key Ingredients
- About a 3 pound roast – top round roast, London broil, or boneless chuck roast
- 6 russet potatoes
- 2 cans of corn – 15.25 ounces each
- 2 cans of diced carrots – 14.5 ounces each – or raw baby carrots
- 2 cans of green beans – 14.5 ounces each
- 1 raw onion
- 1/2 teaspoon Lawry’s seasoned salt
- 1/2 teaspoon of table salt
- 1/2 teaspoon of ground black pepper
- Water to cover the bottom of the roasting pan
🥩 How to Make Pot Roast in the Oven
These step-by-step instructions are accompanied by detailed photos for enhanced clarity and guidance.
Step 1. Turn on the Oven
Preheat the oven to 325 degrees Fahrenheit.
Step 2. Prepare the Onions and Potatoes
Wash six potatoes under cold running water, then cut the potatoes in half lengthwise. We did not peel the potatoes, but you can if you prefer. Place the potatoes in a dish of cold water so they won’t turn brown. Set aside for now.
After you are finished with the potatoes, remove the scaly leaves that cover the onion, then using a sharp knife, cut the onion in thin slices.
Tip: The number of family members or guests who will be joining you for dinner, and also, the size of the potatoes, will determine how many potatoes you will need to prepare. I figure one medium-sized russet potato per person, and then I throw in a couple more for the hungry Jack. 😉
Step 3. Prepare the Cut of Meat in the Roasting Pan
Put the pot roast into the roasting pan. Pour water in the bottom of the pan until it covers the sides of the beef. Then, sprinkle 1/2 teaspoon of Lawry’s seasoned salt, 1/2 teaspoon of regular table salt, and 1/2 teaspoon of pepper on the roast and in the water too.
Step 4. Put the Onions in the Roasting Pan
Scatter the sliced raw onions all around in the roasting pan so they lay on the top of the pot roast and water.
Step 5. Put the Roast in the Oven
When the oven reaches 325 degrees Fahrenheit, put the pot roast and onions in the oven for about 2 hours. Cover the roasting pan with the lid that came with it. If you don’t have a lid, you can use aluminum foil.
After the pot roast has been baking in the oven for a couple of hours, use heat-resistant oven mitts to remove it from the oven. There should still be liquid in the pan. If not, add some more water.
Step 6. Add the Potatoes
Lay the potatoes in the roasting pan all around the roast. Bake the potatoes with the pot roast for about one more hour.
Note: If you decide to use raw baby carrots, not the canned carrots, add them to the roasting pan at this time, too. Lay the raw carrots all around in the roasting pan next to all the potatoes.
Step 7. Pour in the Canned Green Beans, Canned Carrots, and Canned Corn
About 20 minutes before the pot roast and potatoes are done, add the two cans of green beans, the two cans of carrots, and the two cans of corn. Putting the canned green beans, canned carrots, and canned corn in the roasting pan for a long time will make them turn into mush, so we put them in with the roast and potatoes during the last 20 minutes of cooking time.
After the green beans, carrots, and corn are heated through, this tender beef roast is now ready to serve. You have the option to dish up your plate right out of the roasting pan, or put everything on a platter, then serve.
Tip: Need to thicken the juices that are left in the roasting pan for gravy? The best way, and easiest way to do that is to put one tablespoon of cornstarch or flour in a small bowl with one tablespoon of water (or a little bit of beef broth) to create a paste, also known as a slurry. Mix it all together until you have a smooth run-off-the-spoon consistency. Keep adding a little bit of cornstarch or flour and water to achieve this consistency. After that, slowly pour the slurry into the hot liquid in the roasting pan while stirring. Repeat the process if you want the liquid to be thicker. We pour the pan juices on our potatoes.
⭐️ Recipe Variations for Fall Apart Pot Roast
- Add any of your favorite fresh herbs to the roast before baking, such as fresh rosemary or fresh thyme.
- You can use kosher salt instead of table salt.
- If you don’t want to put the potatoes in with the roast, you can make mashed potatoes instead. Mashed potatoes taste fantastic with pot roast.
- Add extra seasonings like garlic powder, or Worcestershire sauce.
- There are different cuts of roast to choose from, for example, rump roast, beef chuck roast, and sirloin tip roast, just to name a few. You can use whatever cut of beef is your favorite for this recipe.
- I usually make the whole cut of roast if the kids are coming over for dinner, or if my husband and I want roast beef sandwiches for a few days. If there are only two of you for dinner, or just yourself, you can always cut the beef roast in half before baking it in the oven, and still have plenty of leftovers for the next day.
- I’ve actually made this recipe many times without an onion when I realized that I didn’t have one in the kitchen. If, by any chance, you don’t have an onion, don’t worry, the pot roast will taste fine without it.
- If you prefer, you can toss in a couple bay leaves to the roasting pot, or some peeled garlic cloves.
☝️ FAQs for Fall Apart Pot Roast
Leave the pot roast, onions, potatoes, carrots, green beans, and corn in the roasting pan and put it in the refrigerator. For the next two nights, you can reheat it in the oven until hot.
Yes, you can freeze any leftover pot roast. I do it all the time. However, if there are any leftover onions, potatoes, carrots, green beans, and corn, I do not freeze them.
I break the roast beef apart into smaller pieces, then I put it in a freezer safe bag, or an airtight container and put it in the freezer. When I feel like having roast beef sandwiches for lunch or dinner, I take some out of the freezer bag and let it thaw in the refrigerator overnight. It’s great and so convenient when you want a quick meal without cooking anything.
If you are a spontaneous person like me and want a roast beef sandwich right now, the roast beef thaws in no time on the countertop. But keep an eye on it while it is on the countertop, you don’t want it to thaw and lay there very long without eating it.
✏️ Final Thoughts
Our oven pot roast recipe is a classic recipe that goes way back in time. My mother made her pot roast dinner this way, and we have continued to make this our go-to roast recipe for many years now. It’s a great recipe, with hearty flavor, and minimal time and work in the kitchen.
There are many variations for this one pot meal. You can add dry red wine, or turnips, and celery. You can also use a crock pot, instant pot, or a large Dutch oven on medium-high heat with a couple tablespoons of olive oil to sear the meat first. The cooking time can also vary, depending on the size of the roast you buy.
🗂️ Recipe Card
Fall Apart Pot Roast Cooked in the Oven
🫕 Equipment
🧂 Ingredients
- 1 medium size beef top round roast (about 3 pounds)
- 6 raw potatoes
- 2 cans whole kernel corn (15.25 ounces each)
- 2 cans sliced carrots (14.5 ounces each or raw baby carrots)
- 2 cans cut green beans (14.5 ounces each)
- 1 raw onion (sliced)
- 1/2 tsp Lawry's seasoned salt
- 1/2 tsp table salt
- 1/2 tsp ground black pepper
- Enough water to cover up the sides of the beef roast in the roasting pan
👩🍳 Instructions
- Pre-heat oven to 325 degrees Fahrenheit.
- Wash the potatoes under cold running water. Cut the potatoes in half lengthwise. Place the potatoes in a bowl of cold water so they won’t turn brown. Set aside for now. With a sharp knife, slice the onions.
- Put the pot roast in the roasting pan.
- Add enough water to cover up the sides of the pot roast.
- Sprinkle Lawry's seasoned salt, regular table salt, and black pepper on the roast and in the water.
- Toss the slices of raw onion in the roasting pan and on the top of the roast.
- Using the heat-resistant oven mitts, put the roasting pan in the oven for about 2 hours.
- After 2 hours, add the cut up potatoes to the roasting pan. Bake about 1 more hour. (If you are using raw baby carrots, add them at this time.)
- About 20 minutes before the pot roast and potatoes are done, add the canned green beans, canned carrots, and canned corn.
*️⃣ Recipe Notes
- You can use whatever pot roast meat you like the best.
- Depending on how many people will be eating dinner with you will determine how many potatoes you will need. Figure about one potato per person.
- If you are using raw baby carrots, add them at the same time you add the potatoes.
❤️ More Recipes You Will Love
- We have a tender pulled pork recipe you are going to love. The flavor is superb! It is cooked in the instant pot, and is great for pulled pork sandwiches with potato salad as a side.
- Use any leftover pulled pork to make this amazing pulled pork nachos recipe.
A wife, a mother to a son and a daughter, and a grandmother to three granddaughters. Flo loves sharing recipes passed down from her own mother, her mother-in-law, and her grandmother as well as new recipes created with her daughter, Tamara Ray.
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