Balsamic Glazed Pot Roast, Slow Cooker or Pressure Cooker Style

This Balsamic Glazed Pot Roast, made in a slow cooker, is incredibly tender and bursting with flavor. The balsamic vinegar gives a perfect balance of sweet and tart. This is comfort food at its best.

Pot roast is high up on my list as comfort food.  It’s one of those meals that I get a craving for, especially on a cold and rainy day (we don’t get snow in my part of California). I have a popular recipe for a Perfect Pot Roast that is made with red wine, tomato paste, beef broth and plenty of herbs.  It’s one that I especially enjoy making in a Dutch oven, braising it for hours until the meat is fall-apart tender.  I’ve made it numerous times, and it’s always perfect in flavor and texture.

Balsamic vinegar is an ingredient that I don’t use often enough, with the exception of making a Balsamic Vinaigrette.  I really like the subtle tang from Balsamic Vinegar.  I also don’t use my slow cooker enough, because I love my Instant Pot a lot.  (I’ve been pressure cooking for at least 20 years, now.)  You can easily adapt this recipe for the pressure cooker. Today, I needed to spend time in the kitchen focusing on Christmas cookies. I figured a slower cooker meal would ensure that we wouldn’t go hungry after washing sink load after sink load of baking bowls, dishes and pans.

I bought a 4 pound chuck roast from my local butcher, and seasoned it well with salt and pepper.  You can “chuck” (pun intended) the meat directly into the slow cooker if you wish. However, I take the time to heat a pan with avocado oil (has a high smoke point) to be nice and brown on each side. I love all that brown “fond” that’s on the bottom of the pan– and it adds so much flavor to the roast.

Next, I removed the chuck roast, and placed it into the slow cooker.  In the same pan, I sauteed a sliced onion until it became golden brown (from the fond of the meat) and it had softened. Last, I added some red pepper flakes and plenty of garlic and placed that on top of the beef.  I nestled some carrots and red potatoes around the beef.

In the same pan, I added beef broth, brown sugar, Balsamic vinegar, Worcestershire sauce and a little low-sodium soy sauce and gave it a good stir.  I poured the sauce over the beef and vegetables, put the lid on and I was finished. Easy.

Have you ever tried Reynolds  Slow Cooker liners? I’ve been using them for several years, and so appreciate the easy cleanup.  No more scrubbing baked in food! Just toss it, wipe out the slow cooker and you’re good to go.

I turned the slow cooker to high and went on with my day, knowing that in six hours I’d have dinner ready.

There it is, and the aroma is so delicious!  All I had left to do was to remove the beef and vegetables.  I strained the sauce into a sauce pan, made a corn starch slurry until it thickened.  Dinner is ready!

TASTING NOTES: You could shred the beef, but I prefer to slice it against the grain.  I liked this different version of pot roast, because the balsamic glaze is the star of the sauce. It’s slightly tangy in just the right way.   This is the kind of meal you could prep the night before and refrigerate, and then turn on the slow cooker before you head off to work. I don’t see how you could overcook it! The potatoes were perfectly cooked and tender and I really liked that the carrots weren’t mushy.  Mushrooms would be a nice addition (if only my husband liked them as much as I do).

INSTANT POT:  To adapt this recipe to an Instant Pot, simply sear the beef with the saute option and then remove and set aside. Add the onion, scraping the pot until softened; add the garlic and red pepper flakes. Add the remaining sauce ingredients, return the beef and vegetables to the pot. Lock the lid and set for 50 minutes.  Empty the pot, except for the sauce. Make the cornstarch slurry, and whisk to thicken using the saute function.