Why is it necessary to add can broth to a roast accompanied by vegetables and seasonings? I’m still trying to figure that one out, but in the mean time I’m making my own version of flavorful roast with homemade ranch seasoning and lots of fresh garlic. Vegetables like celery and onion give the broth a power packed flavor without adding any store-bought broth. In fact, I didn’t even brown the roast, shhhh, I won’t share it with my guests if you won’t
I first sprinkle three heaping tablespoons of my homemade ranch dressing mix found here on top of my three pound roast. Then I press about five cloves of fresh garlic. I cover with water and crock on high for about four hours. Then I add all my fresh vegetables: celery, onion, carrots and potato. I happen to have red potatoes on hand, but any kind will work. I also included the celery tops as you can see, but I don’t plan to eat the leaves. I was running low on celery and the leaves provide lots of flavor. The combination of garlic, onion, carrots and celery is a must. I crock this for another three to four hours until the potatoes are nice and tender. Low or high temperature can work depending on how long you are away.
After I serve this once and pack leftovers for hubby, I cool the crock pot ingredients for two hours and refrigerate. The next day I bag the leftovers including broth for future french dip subs which I’ll share tomorrow. The leftovers are stowed in the freezer until we crave a french dip.
Ingredients
- 2-4 pound roast (chuck, bottom round, or stew meat)
- 1 Tablespoon dry homemade ranch dressing per pound
- 4-5 garlic cloves, pressed
- salt and pepper to taste (~1 Tablespoon Kosher salt, 1/2 tsp. pepper)
- 2-4 celery stalks, cut up
- 2-4 carrots, cut up
- 1 large onion, cut into pieces
- 3-5 potatoes, cut into large pieces
Instructions
- Generously sprinkle dry ranch dressing mix on top of meat.
- Press garlic cloves on top.
- Salt and pepper to taste.
- Cover meat with water and crock on high for 3-4 hours.
- Add vegetables on top and season with salt and pepperand crock another 2-4 hours on low or high.
- Cut the vegetables smaller if you’re crocking on the shorter time and larger on the longer time.
- All crock pots vary in temperatures, so adjust cooking times as necessary to ensure tenderness.
The moral of this frugal recipe is to crock once and eat twice or maybe even three times thanks to your freezer. The third night I made vegetable beef soup with the minimal beef we had left from the subs.
Do you cook once and eat twice?
