Slow cookers are a great small appliance for any kitchen. I love being able to put a meal together in the morning and pretty much walk away until it’s time for dinner. In my home, any excuse is a good excuse to use the slow cooker. During the cold months, we say we want a comforting meal. In the heat and humidity, we say we don’t want to heat up the oven.
If you “This is Us” fans have put away you slow cooker because a highly publicized episode, it’s time to either get it back out or update to a more current model. Simply said, you need to make this Mississippi Pot Roast recipe!
The Mississippi Pot Roast recipe is all over Pinterest and the rest of the internet and has been viral for a long time. Even as accessible as it is, I’m still surprised by the number of friends who don’t know about it.
I did a little bit of searching around to find out where this delicious recipe came from. Turns out, about 16 years ago, a lady by the name of Robin Chapman from Mississippi tweaked a recipe that belonged to her aunt. She swapped out the package of Italian Dressing called for in the recipe for a Ranch Dressing mix. After that, Robin’s friend, Karen Farese, put it into her church’s cookbook. From there, the congregation was no longer only spreading “The Good Word”, they also started spreading good words about the roast. It started hitting blog and recipe sites and continued to spread from there.
I don’t remember if my girlfriend Tara or I found the recipe first, but both of us knew we wanted to try it once we discovered it. She was concerned the pepperoncini would make it too spicy for her. I was wondering where the heck the liquid usually used in slower cooker recipes was. When Chuck Roast went on sale (we usually get them when they go on sale for 2.99lb. or so in our area), we decided that weekend we were making the roast.
Mississippi Pot Roast now hits the dinner table about once a month. It is currently our favorite slow cooker recipe for Chuck Roast. It goes great with potatoes, noodles or rice, and a side of my Easy Sautéed Green Beans.
The recipe is pretty forgiving but there are a few things I like to do when making mine. If you do yours a little differently, don’t worry. It’s still going to be tasty!
My Tips:
- Use the one stick of butter called for in the recipe. DON’T SKIMP ON IT. You’re not eating the stick of butter and it needs the liquid to cook in.
- I like to sear my roast before putting it into the slow cooker. I sprinkle the roast with salt and pepper. Then sear it on all sides in some olive oil until browned.
- While it’s not necessary, I choose to melt my butter and then whisk the brown gravy and ranch packets into the melted butter before pouring it over the seared roast. I feel it gets out all the lumps and jump starts the flavoring process a little. If you don’t want to do this, skip the step. Put your roast in the slow cooker, sprinkle on the packet mixes, and lay the unmelted butter on top of the roast.
- The recipes I found online kept saying to use 4-6 pepperoncini. As stated above, Tara doesn’t like anything too spicy, while I like the heat. She wasn’t in the kitchen when I first made this, so I put in about 9 pepperoncini and a splash or two of the juice (insert evil laugh). Tara thought it was great and it wasn’t until we were packing up the leftovers that I told her what I had done. She gave me a dirty look, but I’ve been making it that way ever since and have had no complaints. The pepperoncini do not add spicy heat to the finished roast.
- Don’t toss the gravy from the roast. I like to put the remaining gravy into a container and refrigerate overnight. The next day, I remove the butter and fat that has solidified on the top. I freeze the reserved gravy and use it when making a batch of beef stew. It gives it great flavor and heartiness without adding thickeners.
Mississippi Pot Roast
Ingredients
- 1 3 – 5lbs. Chuck Roast
- 1 Packet of Ranch Dressing Mix. We use Hidden Valley Ranch for Gluten Free but read your ingredients
- 1 Packet of Brown Gravy or Au Jus Mix. Gluten Free Brown Gravy Mix for G Free
- 1 Stick of Butter
- 8 or 9 Pepperoncini plus a few Tablespoons of the juice
- Olive Oil
- Salt, and Pepper for searing the roast
Instructions
- Season Roast on all sides with Salt and Pepper.
- Sear the Roast on the stovetop over medium high heat until browned on all sides, then place into slow cooker.
- Melt butter in a microwave safe bowl or small saucepan on the stove.
- Whisk in the Dressing and Gravy mixes along with the pepperoncini juice.
- Pour mixture over the top of the roast. Top with pepperoncini.
- Cover and Cook on low for 8-10 hours.
- Remove from slow cooker and cut/shred.
