To be honest, there are days when I don’t want to cook. At all. The prepping, the doing, the clean up. Ugh. There are days when I wish everyone would be satisfied with cold cereal for every meal. It’s on days like these when the crock pot is the best friend anyone could ask for.
This Italian Roast Beef is one of our favorite recipes for the crock pot. It’s a meal I’ve eaten since my childhood, a recipe found by my mom. I remember coming home after practice during the winter and walking into our warm house filled with the aroma of this roast. It was mouthwatering.
The meat is tender and juicy, the veggies are cooked and flavorful and the au jus dip is delicious. We liked to serve up the beef on crusty rolls to dip in the au jus. I’ve been unable to find similar crusty rolls so now, we use Rhodes rolls freshly baked in the oven. It is a perfect union.
In addition to being all around delicious, it’s a rather inexpensive meal. For us, it supplies a meal plus a few leftover meals as well. (Leftovers are a second best friend next to the crock pot.) So this meal scores point in all the important categories. It’s easy and doesn’t require much work. It’s tasty and filling and warm plus, it makes the whole house smell delicious. People will think you slaved all day making this meal. And don’t you tell them any different.
Ingredients
- • 1 4-5lb beef roast - an inexpensive cut is fine
- • 1 pkg Good Seasons Italian dressing mix
- • 1 pkg McCormick Au Jus Gravy mix
- • 3 cups water
- • 2-4 tsp Wylers Beef Granules, for instant bouillon
- • bay leave
- • 1 clove of garlic, minced
- • 1 tsp oregano
- • 1/2 tsp basil
- • good dash Worchestershire sauce
- • Optional - carrots, potatoes (at least halved), onions and mushrooms
Instructions
- Put all ingredients in crock pot, including carrots and potatoes, and cook on low for at least 6 hours.
- Add optional onions and mushrooms towards the end of the cooking time.
- Serve on hard rolls
Notes
May be cooked the day before, then shredded or cut and warmed in a crock pot the next day.
Take care.
I’m with you all the way on the love of the trusty crock pot! I’ve even seen a few crock pot bloggers who wrap chicken in foil and cook it and then later in the day for foods that require less cooking time, they’ll wrap them and add them near the end. Some people will wrap potatoes and have baked potatoes, too. It’s not the one pot meal we grew up with anymore! There are so many things I love in my crock pot but this one is one of my faves!
At what point do you usually add the potatoes and carrots??
Great question, Crystal. I’m not sure why I didn’t add that in the first place. I have now edited the recipe to reflect when the carrots and potatoes should be added. Enjoy!