Slow Cooker Roast Beef in Red Wine

Roast beef in red wine cooked in a slow cooker alongside smashed potatoes.

This is another recipe from the Recipe Box section of my Cooking Club magazine. I chose it because the picture was pretty and recipe submitter Stacy Ann Hornung of Kansas raises Black Angus and should have a pretty slammin' beef recipe.

The only thing I did different from the original recipe was to use a 3.5 lb rather than a 2.5-3 lb roast.

Slow Cooker Roast Beef with Red Wine

3.5 lb beef chuck roast

1.5 c red wine, I used Merlot
22 oz beef broth

1.5 c frozen pearl onions

8 oz mushrooms, sliced

10 bacon slices, chopped
1/2 c all-purpose flour
3/4 tsp pepper
1/2 tsp onion powder
1/2 tsp garlic powder
1 tsp dried thyme

Cut roast into 2" pieces and place in a 1 gallon Ziploc bag.

Add red wine; place in refrigerator up to 24 hours, turning bag occasionally.


Remove beef from marinade, reserving marinade; place on paper towel and pat dry.

Heat slow cooker to high. Add broth, onions and mushrooms.

Cook chopped bacon in large skillet over medium heat 3-5 minutes or until browned. Drain on paper towel, reserving drippings in skillet. Add bacon to slow cooker.

Combine flour, pepper, onion and garlic powders in large bag. Add beef in batches, shaking to coat after each addition.

Brown beef in bacon drippings in batches over medium-high heat 3-5 minutes until browned on all sides. Place beef in slow cooker.

Add any remaining flour mixture (I didn't have any) to drippings in skillet; cook and stir over medium heat 1 minute. Add 1 cup of the reserved wine marinade; bring to a boil, stirring to scrape up browned bits from skillet. Pour into slow cooker.

Add remaining marinade and thyme to slow cooker.

Cook over low heat 7-9 hours or until beef is tender.


Remove beef and vegetables.

Pour liquid into large skillet; boil over high heat 3 minutes or until slightly thickened.

Pour over beef and vegetables.

Rodney decided straight away that this was worthy of becoming the latest induction to Rodney's picks.  I've tried about 200 different recipes so far and less than 10% have been named worthy of such labeling.  The dude is picky!

As for me, the beef was very tender and certainly flavorful.  Unfortunately, the wine part was a bit much.  I wonder if that was due to the Merlot, which I'd never had before.  Could a Cabernet Sauvignon or Chianti been a better choice?  It's tough for me to tell.  Rodney won't mind if I try it with those wines, I'm sure. 

Also, it was a bit saucier than I prefer.  There was a lot of sauce, maybe because I didn't have enough flour mixture to thicken initially (my roast was up to 1 lb too large) and I didn't reduce it enough at the end.  I'll consider these points when I make it next time.  Additionally, to reduce waste, I'll drain the beef in a colander rather than place the pieces on a huge pile of paper towel.  

Cost:

• chuck roast: $7.08
• red wine: $4.49
• pearl onions: $0.60
• mushrooms: $2.49
• bacon: $1.50

Total: $16.16 or $2.69 for each of six servings.

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