My mom’s famous red wine pot roast recipe takes a chuck roast and braises it in red wine until tender with carrots, celery, and potatoes.
I’ve shared a few of my Mom’s recipes here over the years. Her easy carrot cake is a reader favorite as is her stroganoff recipe .
This is the roast my family makes on Christmas almost every year. It’s always a total show-stopper, and it’s my favorite pot roast recipe in the entire world because it is ridiculously good and ridiculously easy to make.
You take a chuck roast, fill it with slices of garlic, and then braise it low and slow in a mixture of red wine and tomato sauce until it is incredibly tender.
It makes your house smell delicious and best of all, once your roast is seared and simmering, the rest of the cooking is mostly hands-off.
Check on it once in a while and add the vegetables halfway through, but otherwise, the work is basically done. Time to tidy up the kitchen (or make someone else handle that) and relax.
Ingredient Notes
- 3½ to 4 pound chuck roast: If you’re having trouble finding a 3+ pound roast, try asking at the butcher counter (that’s what I had to do for the roast in the photos). I’ve also resorted to just using two 2-pound roasts a couple of times in the past, and that worked fine.
- Dry red wine: Cabernet Sauvignon is my go-to for this dish, but any dry red wine will work.
- Prepared horseradish: There’s only a small amount of horseradish in this dish, but I think it’s worth it to grab a jar at the store if you don’t keep it stocked at home since it’s a fairly inexpensive ingredient (around $2).
- Mustard: Regular yellow mustard or Dijon will both work fine.
- Small-to-medium red potatoes: Pick potatoes that are around 2½ inches to 2¾ inches max. If you’re using really large potatoes, cut them in half.
How to Make (the Best!) Red Wine Pot Roast
Make sauce: In a small bowl, combine tomato sauce, brown sugar, oregano, horseradish, and mustard. Stir until well-mixed and set aside.
Add garlic slices: Use a paring knife to poke small cuts about 1½ inches deep all over your roast and insert sliced garlic into the slits. This step seems fiddly and unnecessary, but it really helps the garlic flavor penetrate the meat, and when you get a bite of one of the slow roasted garlic pieces, you’ll be so glad you took the extra time for this step.
Dredge the roast in flour: Place the roast in a large bowl or plastic bag and sprinkle with flour, salt, and pepper. Rotate the roast as needed until all sides are well-coated.
Sear: In a large Dutch oven, heat oil over medium-high heat. Once hot, add roast to the pot and brown on all sides. Be very careful when you’re turning the roast not to let it fall too quickly and splash hot oil out of the pan.
Add red wine and tomato sauce: Add onions to the pot and pour red wine over the top. Pour tomato sauce mixture over the roast, cover the pot and bring the liquid to a simmer. Yes, this is all the liquid you will add, no this is not a problem. The roast will release a lot of liquid as it cooks.
Simmer: Once simmering, reduce the heat to keep it just at a simmer, and cook for 2 1/2 hours. Check on the roast occasionally to make sure it’s maintaining that nice easy simmer, but otherwise, it’s hands off for the next couple hours.
Add vegetables: Flip the roast over (so both sides cook evenly) and then nestle the vegetables around the meat, making sure they’re mostly submerged.
Finish cooking: Place the lid back on the pot, bring the liquid back up to a simmer, and cook for 1 hour more, until the vegetables and meat are tender. You should be able to pierce both the potatoes and the meat easily with a sharp knife.
Optional skim the fat: Between the cooking oil and the fat released from the roast, there will be a thin layer of fat over the top of the cooking liquid. If you would like to skim it off, transfer the roast to a cutting board and use a slotted spoon or spider skimmer to transfer the vegetables to a serving bowl. Let the liquid settle for two minutes, and then use a large spoon to skim the fat from the surface.
If you’re making the roast a day ahead, you can also just refrigerate everything and scrape the solidified fat from the top in the morning.
- Dish and eat: Taste the sauce, and add salt and pepper as needed. Serve the roast cut into large chunks alongside the cooked vegetables, with sauce spooned over the top and enjoy!
What is a good red wine to cook with beef?
A nice cabernet sauvignon is my favorite wine to use in beef recipes, but pinot noir and merlot are also great options.
Can I make a smaller roast with this recipe?
Yes. If your roast is less than 3 pounds, you can still follow the recipe exactly as written, but it might not need the full hour of cooking time after you’ve added the vegetables.
If you find that the roast is tender (you can pierce the meat easily with a sharp knife) before the vegetables are done cooking, simply remove the roast and transfer it to the cutting board tented with foil to keep it warm.
When the vegetables are done, if the roast has cooled too much, cut it into pieces and briefly return it to the simmering cooking liquid to reheat before serving.
Can you freeze pot roast?
Yes! Pot roast beef freezes exceptionally well. The carrots, celery, and onions will be softer after freezing and reheating, but freeze okay.
I’m not a huge fan of freezing potatoes because they become slightly mealy after being frozen, so I typically don’t freeze the potatoes and serve the roast over mashed potatoes when I reheat the leftovers.
That being said, if you want to freeze the potatoes, go for it. Most of the rest of my family does, and they don’t mind the texture change.
To freeze the roast: Portion servings of the beef and vegetables along with the sauce in airtight freezer bags, remove as much of the air as possible, and freeze for up to 3 months. Defrost overnight in the refrigerator and reheat in the microwave. (Do not try to thaw the roast in the microwave. It will turn the vegetables to mush.)
More Favorite Beef Recipes
- Easy Short Ribs
- Homemade Carne Asada
- Slow Cooker Beef Ribs
- Roasted Tri-Tip
- Easy Beef Pasties
Red Wine Pot Roast Recipe Notes
- Prepping the vegetables: You don’t need to start prepping your carrots, celery, and potatoes until the roast is simmering. If you’re prepping the potatoes early in the cooking time, place the peeled potatoes in a large bowl and cover them with cold water so they don’t turn brown while they’re waiting to be added to the roast.
Equipment
- Large Dutch oven with a lid
Ingredients
- ▢ 1 8-ounce can tomato sauce
- ▢ 1 tablespoon brown sugar
- ▢ 1 teaspoon dried oregano
- ▢ 1 teaspoon prepared horseradish
- ▢ 1 teaspoon mustard *
- ▢ 3½ to 4 pound boneless chuck roast
- ▢ 2 large garlic cloves thinly sliced
- ▢ ¼ cup all-purpose flour
- ▢ ½ teaspoon salt
- ▢ ½ teaspoon pepper
- ▢ ⅓ cup olive oil
- ▢ 1 medium onion cut in half root to tip and sliced into half moons.
- ▢ 1 cup dry red wine *
- ▢ 1 bay leaf
- ▢ 8 small-to-medium red potatoes peeled*
- ▢ 6 medium carrots peeled and cut into 2-inch pieces
- ▢ 4 celery ribs cut into 2-inch pieces
Instructions
- In a small bowl, combine tomato sauce, brown sugar, oregano, horseradish, and mustard. Stir until well-mixed and set aside.
- Use a paring knife to poke small cuts about 1½ inches deep all over your roast and insert sliced garlic into the slits.
- Place roast in a large bowl or plastic bag and sprinkle with flour, salt, and pepper. Rotate the roast as needed until all sides are well-coated.
- In a large Dutch oven with a lid, heat oil over medium-high heat. Once hot, add roast to the pot and brown on all sides.
- Add onions to the pot around the roast and pour red wine over the top. Pour tomato sauce mixture over the roast and add the bay leaf. Cover the pot and bring the liquid to a simmer.
- Once simmering, reduce the heat to keep the liquid at just a simmer and cook for 2½ hours.
- Flip the roast over and then nestle the potatoes, carrots, and celery around the meat, making sure they’re mostly submerged.
- Place the lid back on the pot, bring the liquid back up to a simmer, and cook for 1 hour more, until the vegetables and meat are tender. (You should be able to pierce both the potatoes and the meat easily with a sharp knife.)
- (Optional) If you would like to skim the fat from the top of the sauce, transfer the roast to a cutting board and use a slotted spoon or spider skimmer to transfer the vegetables to a serving bowl. Let the liquid settle for 2 to 3 minutes, and then use a large spoon to skim the fat from the surface.
- Taste the sauce, and add salt and pepper as needed. Serve the meat cut into chunks with sauce spooned over the meat and vegetables* and enjoy!
Notes
Recipe from Southern Living Five-Star Recipe Collection (appears to be out of print) via my mom 😉
Chocolate whipped cream is a fun twist on classic whipped cream that is so good spooned over hot chocolate, coffee, and your favorite desserts.
One of my favorite things about making whipped cream at home instead of getting it from a spray can is that you can control everything about it, the texture, the sweetness level, and best of all, you can customize the flavor any way you want.
Not quite feeling classic vanilla whipped cream today? Add a little cocoa powder and make that whipped cream into chocolate whipped cream.
Chocolate whipped cream is such a fun (and ridiculously good) twist on classic whipped cream.
It feels decadent enough to eat with a spoon and call it dessert, but it’s especially good spooned over hot chocolate , coffee, or your favorite desserts to add a little boost of chocolate flavor.
Best of all, it’s just as easy to make at home as regular whipped cream. The process is exactly the same, you’ll just add a bit of cocoa powder to the mix to get this chocolate version.
Ingredient Notes
- Heavy cream/heavy whipping cream: Both heavy cream (30–36% milk fat) and heavy (whipping) cream (36%+ milk fat) work just fine for whipped cream, so use whichever one you have on hand. Have leftover heavy cream? Check out my post What to Do With Leftover Whipping Cream for ideas for using up the leftovers. (I recommend using it to make a cute little batch of cream scones .)
- Granulated or powdered sugar: You can use granulated or powdered sugar when making whipped cream, but I prefer to use powdered sugar because it contains cornstarch which helps stabilize the whipped cream.
- Cocoa powder: Both natural and Dutch-process cocoa powder will work for this recipe. Experiment and see which cocoa flavor you prefer (I go back and forth on which is my favorite).
A note on sugar choice: When adding sugar, keep in mind that by weight, 1 tablespoon of granulated sugar is almost twice as much sugar as 1 tablespoon of powdered sugar, so whipped cream made with the same volume of granulated sugar will be much sweeter than whipped cream made with powdered sugar.
How to Make Chocolate Whipped Cream
If whipping the cream by hand, chill your bowl in the freezer for 15 minutes before starting. This will help your cream whip up a little faster and more easily.
In your chilled bowl or the bowl of your stand mixer, combine heavy cream, vanilla, sugar, and cocoa powder. I recommend using a fine-mesh strainer to sift the cocoa powder into the bowl. You can skip the extra step if you want, but you might end up with a few cocoa powder lumps in the finished whipped cream.
Use a whisk, handheld electric mixer, or the whisk attachment of your stand mixer to whisk the cream until it reaches your desired consistency (soft peaks for spooning over drinks, stiff peaks for piping).
Serve and enjoy!
Where to Use Chocolate Whipped Cream
- Hot Chocolate
- Homemade Mocha
- The BEST Crockpot Hot Chocolate
- Chocolate Chip Waffles
- Chocolate Milkshake
- Strawberries!!
How do you store chocolate whipped cream?
Whipped cream is best when made right before serving, but you can store the leftovers in a covered container in the refrigerator for 48 hours.
Can I use this as frosting/can it be piped?
You can absolutely pipe chocolate whipped cream and use it as a frosting. It pairs best with light desserts like fruit or angel food cupcakes .
I should note, while you can frost cakes with whipped cream, it’s considerably more challenging to work with than regular buttercream and not nearly as stable.
If you plan on making whipped cream to pipe, be sure to whisk it to stiff peaks so it’s able to hold its shape once piped.
Can you freeze leftover whipped cream?
You can, but I find whipped cream to be extra susceptible to freezer burn and “off” freezer flavors, so you’ll want to use it within a few weeks of freezing.
To freeze the whipped cream, pipe or spoon dollops onto a parchment paper-lined plate or baking sheet and freeze until solid. Once frozen, cut the parchment paper into squares and transfer the whipped cream (still on the parchment paper) to a freezer bag for storage.
When you’re ready to use one of the dollops, remove it from the bag and place it in a warm drink and serve immediately or give it 15 to 20 minutes to defrost and serve it over a dessert.
For more information on freezing whipped cream, check out my post, Can You Freeze Whipped Cream?
More Chocolate Desserts
- Small Chocolate Cake
- Chocolate Souffles for Two With Creme Anglaise
- Small-batch Chocolate Chip Cookies
- Decadent Frosted Brownies
Ingredients
Full Batch
- ▢ 1 cup heavy cream
- ▢ ½ teaspoon vanilla extract optional
- ▢ 2 tablespoons to ¼ cup (15-30g ) powdered sugar*
- ▢ 3 tablespoons ( 15g ) unsweetened cocoa powder sifted
Single Serving
- ▢ 2 tablespoons heavy cream
- ▢ A couple drops vanilla extract optional
- ▢ 1 to 2 teaspoons ( 3-5g ) powdered sugar*
- ▢ 1 teaspoon ( 2g ) unsweetened cocoa powder sifted
Instructions
- In a large bowl* or the bowl of your stand mixer, combine heavy cream, vanilla, sugar, and cocoa powder.
- Use a whisk, handheld electric mixer, or the whisk attachment of your stand mixer to whisk the cream until it reaches your desired consistency (soft peaks for spooning over drinks, stiff peaks for piping).
- Serve and enjoy!
Notes
These cream biscuits can be on your table in about 20 minutes. With buttery, lightly crispy outsides and soft, fluffy interiors, they’re a quick and crowd-pleasing side dish.
Everyone should have a good biscuit recipe up their sleeve.
And for nights when you have a pot of soup simmering on the stove and need a quick and easy side dish to serve alongside, you couldn’t ask for a better biscuit recipe than this one.
Quick and Easy Biscuits
These biscuits can be mixed, baked, and on your table slathered in butter and honey in about 20 minutes.
Unlike traditional buttermilk biscuits which require you to rub chilled butter into flour, cream biscuits are made with heavy cream, so all you have to do is whisk together 4 ingredients and then stir in cream.
Once the dough is cut out, the biscuits are brushed with melted butter, so they bake up perfectly soft and fluffy with buttery, slightly crispy exteriors and are completely irresistible.
Ingredient Notes
- All-purpose flour: Proper flour measurement is fairly important in this recipe (too much flour and your dough isn’t going to come together), so be sure to follow the measuring instructions in the recipe.
- Heavy cream: This recipe won’t use up an entire carton of heavy cream. Check out my post What to Do With Leftover Heavy Cream for storage tips and recipe ideas for the leftovers.
- Melted butter: The biscuits are brushed lightly with melted butter before baking to help a bit with browning and then again after they come out of the oven so you get plenty of buttery flavor. Salted or unsalted butter will work fine here.
How to Make Cream Biscuits
Mix the dry ingredients: In a large bowl, combine flour, baking powder, and salt. Whisk together until well combined.
Stir in the cream: Switch to a wooden spoon or silicone spatula and stir in the cream until a shaggy dough forms. Try not to over-mix, you just want to get to the point where no dry flour remains at the bottom of the bowl.
- Cut out the biscuits: Pat the dough out to about 3/4-inch thick. Use a 2-to-3-inch biscuit cutter to cut the dough into rounds. Do not twist the biscuit cutter as this can seal the edges of the biscuits causing them not to rise to their full height.
After the first cutting, gather the scraps repeat to get 1 or 2 more biscuits out of the dough.
5: Brush with butter: Transfer the biscuits to your prepared baking sheet and brush the tops lightly with melted butter (reserve remaining melted butter).
Don’t go too heavy with the butter. You don’t want it to pool at the bottom edges of the biscuit because the milk solids in the butter can burn (you can actually see where I got a little too enthusiastic about the butter in the photo above). Stick to a thin layer on the top to help with browning.
- Bake: Bake on the center rack of your oven for 11 to 14 minutes, until the biscuits are golden brown.
Transfer the biscuits to a cooling rack and brush them with the remaining butter. Serve and enjoy!
Can I make a small batch of cream biscuits?
Yes! A half-batch of these biscuits is my very favorite way to make small-batch biscuits. Just cut the recipe in half (to change the recipe yield, hover over the serving size in the recipe card below or click if you’re on mobile, and slide the slider) and it will make 4 perfect biscuits.
To make things even quicker, instead of using a biscuit cutter, shape the dough into a square that is 3/4-inch thick, and then use a sharp knife to cut the dough into 4 even pieces. Transfer the biscuits to your baking sheet and they’re ready to go!
I don’t have a biscuit cutter. What can I use instead?
If you’re really attached to the idea of having round biscuits, you can use a 2 to 3-inch cup to punch out your rounds, but since cups don’t have a sharp edge, they can actually seal the edges of your biscuit so they don’t rise as high as they should.
What I recommend instead is using the method I described above for small batches, and just shaping your dough into a rectangle and using a sharp knife to cut your biscuits into squares. This way there’s no wasted dough and you get tall and fluffy biscuits.
What to serve with cream biscuits?
Cream biscuits pair perfectly with soup. Some of my favorites are:
- Chicken Pot Pie Soup
- Creamy Chicken Noodle Soup
- Sausage Potato Soup
- Broccoli Potato Soup
Can these be made ahead of time?
Cream biscuits are best hot out of the oven, but can be reheated gently in the microwave or oven.
You can also make the dough up to 24 hours in advance. Store the cut-out biscuits tightly wrapped in the refrigerator. When you’re ready to bake them, the biscuits can go straight from the fridge to the oven.
Recipe Notes
- Yield: This will make approximately 10 2-inch biscuits or 6 to 7 3-inch biscuits.
- Parchment paper: Most parchment paper is only recommended for use up to 425°F. This is because above that, parchment paper can become brittle. That’s not really an issue with this recipe since it’s not cooking long enough for that to happen, but if you don’t feel comfortable using parchment paper at this temperature, you can also lightly grease your baking sheet with cooking spray instead. Biscuit cutters: Use 2 to 3-inch biscuit cutters for this recipe. I used a 3-inch cutter for the biscuits in the photos.
Equipment
- 2-to-3-inch biscuit cutter
Ingredients
- ▢ 2 cups ( 260g ) all-purpose flour plus more for dusting, measured by weight or using the spoon and sweep method*
- ▢ 2½ teaspoons baking powder
- ▢ 1 tablespoon ( 12g ) granulated sugar
- ▢ ¾ teaspoon salt
- ▢ 1½ cups heavy cream
- ▢ 2 tablespoons melted butter optional
Instructions
- Preheat your oven to 475°F and line a baking sheet with parchment paper.
- In a large bowl, combine flour, baking powder, sugar, and salt. Whisk together until well combined.
- Switch to a wooden spoon or silicone spatula and stir in the cream until a shaggy dough forms and no dry flour remains at the bottom of the bowl.
- Turn the dough out on a lightly floured surface and knead the dough, folding it over on itself 5 or 6 times until the dough comes together, adding more flour if needed.
- Pat the dough out to about ¾-inch thick. Use a 2-to-3 inch biscuit cutter to cut the dough into rounds. After the first cutting, gather the scraps and repeat to get 1 or 2 more biscuits out of the dough.
- Transfer the biscuits to your prepared baking sheet and brush the tops lightly with melted butter (reserve remaining melted butter).
- Bake on the center rack of your oven for 11 to 14 minutes, until the tops of the biscuits are golden brown.
- Transfer the biscuits to a cooling rack and brush them with the remaining butter. Serve and enjoy!
Notes
Mom’s Famous Red Wine Pot Roast
Equipment
- Large Dutch oven with a lid
Ingredients
- 1 8-ounce can tomato sauce
- 1 tablespoon brown sugar
- 1 teaspoon dried oregano
- 1 teaspoon prepared horseradish
- 1 teaspoon mustard *
- 3½ to 4 pound boneless chuck roast
- 2 large garlic cloves thinly sliced
- ¼ cup all-purpose flour
- ½ teaspoon salt
- ½ teaspoon pepper
- ⅓ cup olive oil
- 1 medium onion cut in half root to tip and sliced into half moons.
- 1 cup dry red wine *
- 1 bay leaf
- 8 small-to-medium red potatoes peeled*
- 6 medium carrots peeled and cut into 2-inch pieces
- 4 celery ribs cut into 2-inch pieces
Instructions
- In a small bowl, combine tomato sauce, brown sugar, oregano, horseradish, and mustard. Stir until well-mixed and set aside.
- Use a paring knife to poke small cuts about 1½ inches deep all over your roast and insert sliced garlic into the slits.
- Place roast in a large bowl or plastic bag and sprinkle with flour, salt, and pepper. Rotate the roast as needed until all sides are well-coated.
- In a large Dutch oven with a lid, heat oil over medium-high heat. Once hot, add roast to the pot and brown on all sides.
- Add onions to the pot around the roast and pour red wine over the top. Pour tomato sauce mixture over the roast and add the bay leaf. Cover the pot and bring the liquid to a simmer.
- Once simmering, reduce the heat to keep the liquid at just a simmer and cook for 2½ hours.
- Flip the roast over and then nestle the potatoes, carrots, and celery around the meat, making sure they’re mostly submerged.
- Place the lid back on the pot, bring the liquid back up to a simmer, and cook for 1 hour more, until the vegetables and meat are tender. (You should be able to pierce both the potatoes and the meat easily with a sharp knife.)
- (Optional) If you would like to skim the fat from the top of the sauce, transfer the roast to a cutting board and use a slotted spoon or spider skimmer to transfer the vegetables to a serving bowl. Let the liquid settle for 2 to 3 minutes, and then use a large spoon to skim the fat from the surface.
- Taste the sauce, and add salt and pepper as needed. Serve the meat cut into chunks with sauce spooned over the meat and vegetables* and enjoy!
