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Cider Braised Pot Roast with Crispy Sage Butter Potatoes. Slow-cooked beef pot roast with caramelized onions, shallots, apple butter, wine, and fresh thyme. If thereâs one comforting fall and winter meal you need to be making, itâs this pot roast. Serve it alongside extra crispy sage brown butter smashed potatoes. This is a one-pot roast and potato dinner that’s the easiest dish you’ll make all week. And also one of the most delicious. A quintessential family dinner for a cold night in. Time to cozy up!
Believe it or not, this is only the second pot roast recipe I’ve shared on this site. Cranberry pot roast is the other. Shockingly, this is my favorite recipe I’ve shared in a while. I’ll share why below, but I really can’t wait to dive into more roast recipes over the next couple of months. Family-style dinners like this one-pot, pot roast are perfect for this busy time of year. Not to mention, they’re great for entertaining.
As a lot of you know, I love to cook the most for the people around me. When my oldest brother suggested a pot roast, I turned my head far away from the idea. But after some begging on his end, I caved and I’m the one who is most happy about it.
This recipe is not only mouth-watering, comforting, and delicious, it makes getting a slow-cooked dinner on the table almost effortless.
Once I decided I was committed to making a pot roast recipe, I also committed to making it the simplest recipe it could be.
I didn’t want to mess with anything fussy. The beauty of a pot roast is, of course, its simplicity. My goal was no fuss yet crazy delicious.
What started out as a recipe I wasn’t sure I wanted to do, ended up being one I’m most excited to share!
It wasnât easy to capture all the deliciousness of this pot roast but I did my best. The recipe is so yummy!
Step 1: season the pot roast
Before you begin, season the roast well with salt and pepper. Then rub the roast all over with flour.
The flour will thicken the gravy over time so donât skip it. If needed, feel free to use gluten-free flour.
Step 2: the onions
Now that you took care of the pot roast, start the onions. The key here is to slice them and use A LOT.
Toss the onions in a large Dutch oven that you can transfer to the oven. Let them cook along with the shallots in a little butter. You just want to get the cooking started but donât fully cook the onions.
Step 3: roast the pot roast
The rest of this process is so easy. Put the roast on top of the onions and rub the top of the pot roast with apple butter.
You can use homemade or store-bought apple butter. The apple butter is important. It adds a sweet, spiced autumn touch that’s delicious with all the onions and shallots. The apple butter will also help the roast caramelize in the oven. Itâs wonderful.
Pour over the apple cider, add the wine, or feel free to use bone or chicken broth. Then add fresh thyme.
I chose not to sear the pot roast. It cooks beautifully in the oven atop the onions and I found it to be perfect.
Step 4: the potatoes
Before you slide the pot roast into the oven, place 6 to 8 small to medium potatoes around the pot roast. I love to use buttery Yukon gold potatoes, but use your favorite, or what you have on hand.
Cover the pot roast, and start cooking. If you’re using the oven, this takes around three hours.
The potatoes cook at the very same time, and all in one pot! Woohoo!
Step 5: finish the potatoes
I will not deny it, these potatoes are reason enough to make this recipe. Because they’re slow-cooked in with the cider, their flavor and texture are most delicious.
Pull the potatoes off the roast and place them onto a baking sheet. Smash them down with a potato masher. Add pats of butter on and around the potatoes, then garlic powder and fresh sage.
Roast the smashed potatoes until they are very crispy. The butter naturally browns around each potato. Itâs almost magical and most definitely the yummiest!!
Step 6: finish the roast
While the potatoes cook, cook the pot roast. This time leave uncovered until the roast is deeply caramelized on top. The potatoes and pot roast will both be ready around the same time!
Step 7: serve and enjoy
Finally, serve the roast, which should be tender and falling apart into the gravy and onions in the pot.
Serve up those crispy salty potatoes on the side.
The most perfect family dinner, so hands off too.
Of course, I served this with beer bread and a big salad! Great for Sunday nights all fall and winter long.
I know I already said this, but this really is my favorite recipe right now. Itâs so effortless and the potatoes really make the recipe perfect. I’m so excited for you all to make this soon!!
Lastly, if you make this Cider Braised Pot Roast with Crispy Sage Butter Potatoes, be sure to leave a comment and/or give this recipe a rating! Above all, I love to hear from you guys and always do my best to respond to each and every comment. And of course, if you do make this recipe, donât forget to tag me on Instagram! Looking through the photos of recipes you all have made is my favorite!
Nutritional information is only an estimate. The accuracy of the nutritional information for any recipe on this site is not guaranteed.
Made tonight and agree with the comments, it definitely has a sweeter flavor profile but we loved it! I cooked some carrots in the broth toward the end and only used 1 cup cider 1 cup chicken broth (per other comments) and we still had extra liquid so I would agree that this does not need the 4 cups total of liquid for cooking. Will make again, thanks for sharing.
Hi Allie,
Fantastic! I’m so glad you enjoyed this recipe and appreciate you making it! Have a great week! xxT
The best roast I’ve ever had!
Thank you so much, Emily:) Love to hear you enjoyed this recipe, I appreciate you making it! xx
This was INCREDIBLE. The only thing I did different was to brown the meat first. The whole family devoured this. SO GOOD!
Hi Danielle,
Happy New Year!𥳠Thanks so much for trying this recipe and sharing your feedback, love to hear it turned out well for you! xx
Making this tonight! I read back in the comments and sometimes you mention a 7 qt Dutch oven is needed and in other place you say at least 6 qts. I only have a 6 qt Dutch oven. Is that ok? I also noticed that there was a lot of liquid which didnât seem right (it covered the top of the meat), so I removed some which cut it down by about half. Hopefully it comes out ok!
Hi Kelly,
A 6 quart dutch oven will be just fine for you to use for this recipe. I would say the liquid goes up to about half the meat. I hope you love this recipe! xx
The directions state to slather the roast with apple butter but apple butter is not in the list of ingredients. What should I do?
Hi Nicole,
The recipe calls for 2 tablespoons of apple butter, you can follow the instructions as written:) I hope you love this dish! xx
Hi there! I made this for my family and it was divine! I know people have asked something similar but I am hosting 15 people for a holiday party and am wondering how I might alter this recipe to accommodate. How would you adjust the roast size and cook time?
Hi Willa,
So glad to hear your family enjoyed this recipe! For best results, I would double this recipe in 2 pots, that should be plenty for 15 people especially if you do a side salad:) I hope this helps! xT
With that much liquid, it was more like a roast soup. Something didn’t seem correct. It was not good at all.
Can you clarify the chicken broth vs. the white wine? The ingredients list says âorâ implying one or the other. But when reading through the steps it sounds like itâs both. Can you clarify which it is and if itâs both m, how much of each? Hoping to make this for Christmas dinner for my family!! It looks yummy! Thanks!!
Hi Danielle,
It is broth or white wine, both work great in this recipe:) I hope this helps! Please let me know if you have any other questions! xT
I would love to try this recipe but I have 7 adults coming. Can I do a 5-6 pound roast and add 1.5lbs potatoes in a 7 quarts Dutch oven? How do I change the recipe since I donât have two ovens.
Hi Dawn,
This recipe makes enough for 6, so honestly I think if you did just that and then a side salad and crusty bread for serving, this would easily feed 7 people. Otherwise, yes, you could do a 5-6 pound roast with extra potatoes in a 7 quart pot. I would do 5 hours in the oven. I hope this helps! xx