Crock Pot Italian Beef is a one-pot roast meal that can be enjoyed as a Sunday dinner or used in various other weekday recipes that call for fork-tender juicy beef such as Italian beef sandwiches, tacos, wraps, soups, and stews!
Serve this flavor-loaded Italian pot roast over mashed potatoes, rice, or alongside roasted or grilled vegetables for a wholesome and hearty meal that’s ultra comforting and effortless!
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❤️ Why you'll love this recipe
- Dress up this crock pot Italian beef for a special dinner or dress it down as a casual weeknight family meal!
- Leftovers can easily be incorporated into other hearty meals such as soups, stews, pasta dishes, or used to create scrumptious sandwiches.
- It’s a set-and-forget one-pot recipe that you can assemble at the beginning of the day and have ready for you and the family in time for dinner.
If that’s not enough, you’re certainly going to love the juicy fork tenderness from cooking your Italian beef in the slow cooker!
🛒 Ingredients
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Note: The full list of this Italian beef recipe ingredients with their amounts and options are listed in the recipe card below.
- Beef Chuck Roast
- Onion
- Butter
- Peperoncini
- Ranch Dressing Mix
- Au Jus Gravy Mix
🗒 Instructions
Note: This is an overview of the instructions. The full instructions are in the recipe card below.
- Line the bottom of the slow cooker with the sliced onions.
- Place the chuck roast on top of these onion slices.
- Pour pepperoncini juice over the roast and sprinkle the ranch dressing and Au Jus gravy mix evenly over the roast.
- Slice the butter and place on top of the seasoned roast.
- Top with 6-8 pepperoncini peppers.
- Cover the roast in liquid and cook on high for 8 hours or 10 hours on low.
- After cooking time is finished you should be able to thinly slice or pull apart the roast with two forks.
- Serve over mashed potatoes, rice, bread, or make into sandwiches.
🔪 Equipment
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You’ll need the following items to make this recipe successfully.
🤔 FAQs
Collagen in the meat needs to break down sufficiently in order for this Italian beef to become fork tender. If it’s tough, it’s an indication that the meat requires additional cooking time. You should also ensure that there’s a good amount of liquid in the pot to assist the tenderness of the cooked meat.
You’ll know you’ve overcooked Italian beef roast if it’s either mushy or quite tough. Thankfully, newer slow cooker models automatically switch to the warming setting to prevent food overcooking. If you have an older model without this function then you’ll need to keep this in mind.
This depends on the type and the cut of meat cooked. Cuts of meat with collagen require longer cook times on low heat to break down the collagen. That being said, I’ve given you the option of cooking on high or low and you can always adjust the cooking time if necessary.
For fattier kinds of meat, it won’t matter as much whether you submerge the meat in liquid to simmer or braise the meat without any liquid. I’ve used beef chuck which is considered a leaner cut of beef and have therefore added liquid to the pot to prevent the meat from drying out.
👩🏻🍳 Tips
- You are welcome to brown your beef in a skillet before adding it to the slow cooker as this can intensify the delicious flavor of the dish but is a completely optional step.
- Any brand of beef roast labeled as chuck will be suitable for this Italian beef roast.
- Leftover shredded roast is great in sandwiches, wraps, pasta, or tacos and will make for incredibly easy and quick meals.
- Reheat any leftover Italian beef in a baking dish with some remaining cooking liquid. Cover the dish with aluminum foil, for about 15-20 minutes at 350℉ in the oven.
📚 Variations
- You can make this Italian Beef Recipe in an Instant Pot. Cook for 1 hour and 20 minutes.
- If you enjoy heat in your food, add some chili sauce, cayenne pepper or red chili flakes into the slow cooker.
- Easily create a delicious gravy for your Italian pot roast by making a corn slurry with remaining cooking liquid in a saucepan. Mix a teaspoon or two of cornstarch with equal parts of water. Add to the pan and simmer until you achieve the thickness you want.
🥫 Storage
Italian Pot Roast stores well in the refrigerator for up to 4 days or for up to 3 months in the freezer. It’s best to store some remaining liquid with the stored beef for reheating later on.
📗 Related Recipes
If you love Sunday roasts, then try other meaty roast favorites such as Roast Boneless Leg of Lamb, Perfect Roast Turkey, or Italian Pork Roast.
Looking for ways to use up leftover chuck roast? This Roasted Mushroom Steak Soup with Baby Spinach and Kale or Rustic Italian Vegetable Beef Stew are great options!
🍽 Serve with
Serve this Crock Pot Italian Beef as a Sunday dinner or special holiday meal when paired with Potatoes Au Gratin With Gruyere Cheese, Grilled Vegetables, and Quick Dinner Rolls.
What's new? Check out my All Our Way Store on Amazon. We'll be adding more items we love and use or wish we had to make cooking fun and easy.
📝 Recipe Card
Enjoy the ease of this one-pot Italian beef roast that’s fork-tender. It's perfect for Sunday dinners or weekday light meals such as sandwiches, wraps, and soups! Make it for game day -- the gang will love it.
If you love this recipe please give it 5 stars ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️.
📖 Recipe
Slow Cooker Italian Pot Roast | Sunday Dinner or Italian Beef Sandwich
Equipment Needed
Ingredients
- 1 Onion sliced
- 4 pound Beef chuck roast
- 1 Package Ranch Dressing Mix
- 1 Package au Jus Gravy Mix
- ¼ cup Butter unsalted
- 16 ounces Peperoncini you choice of heat (keep ¼ cup juice for placing over roast).
Instructions
- Line the bottom of the slow cooker with the sliced onions.
- Place the chuck roast on top of these onion slices.
- Pour the peperoncini juice over the roast.
- Sprinkle the ranch dressing and Au Jus gravy mix evenly over the roast.
- Slice the butter and put on top of the seasoned roast.
- Top with 6-8 peperoncini peppers.
- Cover and cook on high for 8 hours on high or 10 hours on low.
- After cooking time is finished you should be able to thinly slice or pull apart the roast with two forks.
- Serve over mashed potatoes, rice, bread, or make into sandwiches.
Nutrition
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