Nothing screams hearty meal more than a delicious chuck roast. It’s savory, beefy, filling and delicious! Forget the old school method of making a pot roast in a crock pot. My Easy Smoked Pot Roast Dinner will change your game. The added smokey flavors make this the perfect comfort food.

If you like savory dishes as much as I do and want to try more, check out my smoked cowboy casserole or smoked venison red curry. Don’t like or have venison, replace it with beef and make the recipe. You don’t want to miss out on the amazing flavor combo.

What is the secret to a good pot roast?

Pot roast for dinner is nothing new. We’ve been eating and making it for decades. You probably remember mom throwing a bunch of ingredients in a crockpot, leaving it on all day and coming home to the delicious fragrance of beefy goodness.

The reason that pot roast cooks all day while we are at work, school or running errands is because the secret to a great pot roast is the low and slow cooking process.

Pot roast also known as chuck roast is made using, well, a beef chuck roast. This cut of meat comes from the shoulder or neck of the cow. It’s tough with a lot of connective tissue which requires a long time to break down and tenderize.

One of the great benefits of a chuck roast is the strong beefy flavors and fattiness compared to other parts of the cow. By roasting or smoking the chuck and braising it, allows the tissue to slowly break down, the fat to melt resulting in super tender, shreddable beef that is full of flavor.

Pair it with some root veggies, a delicious thick gravy like broth and you have the perfect hearty meal.

Ingredient List for an Easy Smoked Pot Roast Dinner.

Ingredients are simple and customizable depending on your likes. Make it your own.

• Beef: traditionally a pot roast is made using a chuck roast. It’s the ideal cut of beef for this recipe.

• Veggies: I used simple veggies: carrots, potatoes, celery and onion. Use what you have in the fridge. Root veggies are great in this recipe.

• Herbs: fresh garlic and thyme is what I used for the nutty, earthy flavors that make a dish hearty.

• Broth: I used low sodium beef broth for the braising part of the recipe.

• Wine: a dry red wine adds acidity to the rich and beefy dish.

• Seasoning: I used a mix of an all purpose rub and steak seasoning. This mix provides the perfect balance of salty, savory flavors as well as herby, buttery notes.

How to prep a chuck roast for smoking.

Since this easy smoked pot roast dinner requires smoked beef, start by prepping the chuck roast. The smoking process is the longest step.

When shopping for the meat, make sure to get a decent size chuck roast with good marbling. I picked up a 3 lb. roast which will feed my family of 4 and still have leftovers.

Apply a binder on the meat. This will help hold the seasoning. The flavor of the binder of choice will not impact the flavor of the meat, unless you go with something spicy like a hot sauce which will give it a little kick. For this recipe, I used Worcestershire sauce.

Next, season with an equal mix of Dad’s All Purpose rub and Dad’s Steak Seasoning. The AP rub provides the traditional BBQ flavors of salt, pepper and paprika, while the steak seasoning adds herby flavors and butter similar to a basted steak.

Make sure to season generously on all sides. This is a large cut of meat and will be on the smoker for hours. Some of the seasoning will fall or burn off during the smoking process.

I smoked the beef in my Weber Searwood smoker. If you do not have one, or it’s too cold to go outside to use the grill, you can quickly sear all sides of the chuck roast in a cast iron skillet 2 minutes per side and move on to the braising phase of the recipe.

How to smoke a chuck roast.

This easy smoked pot roast dinner is one of those set and forget it recipes. Only 2 cooking steps but each take a lot of time. So plan ahead when making this dish.

Preheat the smoker to 225 degrees. If you are using a charcoal or gas grill, make sure to set up the grill for indirect heat.

Place the seasoned roast on the grates and let it smoke for 4 hours. There is no exact internal temperature required in during this process. The meat will be infused with the natural smokey flavor adding another layer of taste to the dish. The beef will also build a beautiful dark smoked bark around the outside of the meat.

Prep the veggies.

While the chuck roast is on the smoker, prep the veggies. I used traditional starchy veggies, but feel free to use what you like most. Any root vegetable will work in this recipe.

Cube up yellow potatoes and onion. Thinly slice celery and cloves of garlic and add in whole baby carrots. If you prefer using a regular carrot, make sure to chop it up into bigger than bite size chunks.

Season the vegetables for an all purpose rub for flavor and mix everything together.

Braising the easy smoked pot roast dinner.

After 4 hours of smoking the chuck roast on the smoker, it’s time for the braise. This process will tenderize the meat and make it soft, flavorful and shreddable.

Place the smoked chuck roast on a bed of chopped and seasoned veggies. Add beef broth and red wine. Add enough liquid to touch the bottom of the roast. You don’t want to boil the beef!

Add a few sprigs of thyme and bay leaves, close the lid and back on the grill goes the easy smoked pot roast dinner.

The braising process will take anywhere from 2-4 hours. It all depends on how quickly the chuck roast gets fork tender.

Increase the temperature of the grill to 300 degrees. This is also the perfect time to place the pot roast on the stove top or oven to cook. The grill adds no additional cooking value at this point. No more smoke will penetrate the dish so it’s OK to cook inside.

Shred the braised chuck roast.

After 3 hours of braising the easy smoked pot roast dinner, the chuck roast should be fork tender. The best method to check is placing a fork in different parts of the meat. It should go in without any hesitation, like a hot knife through butter.

Remove the meat and herbs out of the pot roast. Toss the thyme and bay leaves.

Carefully, start shredding the chuck roast. It will be very hot, I highly recommend using heat resistant gloves!

When shredding, discard any fatty pieces, you don’t want a spoonful of that when enjoying the easy smoked pot roast dinner.

How to thicken braising liquid.

There are different ways to thicken braising liquid. The most common one is making a slurry out of water and corn starch. Mix equal parts of the ingredients together and mix into the broth.

Or you can make a beurre manié which is equal parts room temperature butter and flour. This is what I used to make my easy smoked pot roast recipe. Mix the butter and flour together creating a paste. Drop that into the braising liquid and mix. After a few minutes that sauce will thicken and color will become slightly lighter.

Finally add the shredded smoked and braised chuck roast back to the pot.

For a final check, taste the smoked pot roast. Does it have enough salt, pepper, acidity? For flavor add more seasoning or salt. For acidity add a few more splashes of red wine vinegar.

Serve this delicious and savory easy smoked pot roast dinner is a bowl topped with some freshly chopped parsley and enjoy!

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Easy Smoked Pot Roast Dinner

My easy smoked pot roast dinner is savory, beefy, filling and delicious! The added smokey flavors make this the perfect comfort food.

Course Main Course

Cuisine American

Prep Time 15 minutes minutes

Cook Time 6 hours hours

Servings 6 People

Calories 522kcal

Author Maciek Zurawski

Ingredients

Smoked Chuck Roast Ingredients

• 3 lbs Chuck roast
• 1 tbsp Worcestershire sauce
• 2 tbsp All purpose rub
• 2 tbsp Steak seasoning

Pot Roast Ingredients

• 5 Yellow potatoes
• 1/2 bag Baby carrots
• 3 sticks Celery
• 1/2 Yellow onion
• 4 Garlic Cloves
• 2 Bay leaves
• 3 sprigs Thyme
• 2 cups Beef broth
• 1 cup Red wine
• 2 tbsp Butter
• 2 tbsp All purpose flour
• 1 tbsp Red wine vinegar
• 1 tbsp All purpose rub
• Handful of chopped parsley

Instructions

• Apply the Worcestershire sauce as the binder on the chuck roast.
• Season with an equal mix of all purpose and steak seasoning. Make sure to season generously on all sides.
• Preheat the smoker to 225 degrees. If you are using a charcoal or gas grill, make sure to set up the grill for indirect heat.
• Place the seasoned roast on the grates and let it smoke for 4 hours.
• Cube up yellow potatoes and onion. Thinly slice celery and cloves of garlic and use whole baby carrots. If you prefer using a regular carrot, make sure to chop it up into bigger than bite size chunks. Place all the veggies into a large dutch oven.
• Season the vegetables for an all purpose rub for flavor and mix everything together.
• After 4 hours on the smoker, the chuck roast should have a nice dark bark on the outside. Move it from the grill and place it on top of the the veggies in the dutch oven.
• Add beef broth and red wine. Add enough liquid to touch the bottom of the roast.
• Add a few sprigs of thyme and bay leaves, close the lid and place it back on the grill for 2-3 hours.
• Increase the temperature of the grill to 300 degrees. This is also the perfect time to place the pot roast on the stove top or oven to cook.
• Once the chuck roast is fork tender it's time to remove it from the grill.
• Using heat resistant gloves or 2 forks, carefully, start shredding the chuck roast. Throw away any fatty chucks.
• To thicken the sauce mix the room temperature butter and flour together creating a paste. Drop that into the braising liquid and mix. After a few minutes the sauce will thicken and color will become slightly lighter. Add the shredded meat back into the roast.
• For a final check, taste the smoked pot roast. Does it have enough salt, pepper, acidity? For flavor add more seasoning or salt. For acidity add a few more splashes of red wine vinegar.
• Serve the easy smoked pot roast dinner in a bowl with freshly chopped parsley and enjoy!

Notes

Use a binder that works for you. Binders may include hot sauce, yellow mustard or olive oil. None will leave any taste in the meat except for the hot sauce that may leave a little heat.

Avoid chopping veggies into small bite size chunks. Once they soften during the braise, they will fall apart and become a big mush.

You want some substance and larger cuts to make this a true hearty meal.

If you want to avoid wine in this recipe, just add more broth and a tablespoon of red wine vinegar for the acidity.

Nutrition

Calories: 522kcal | Carbohydrates: 22g | Protein: 47g | Fat: 27g | Saturated Fat: 12g | Polyunsaturated Fat: 2g | Monounsaturated Fat: 13g | Trans Fat: 2g | Cholesterol: 156mg | Sodium: 543mg | Potassium: 1151mg | Fiber: 3g | Sugar: 3g | Vitamin A: 388IU | Vitamin C: 13mg | Calcium: 165mg | Iron: 9mg