This Vietnamese Slow Cooker Pot Roast was inspired by an article in the Wall Street Journal’s weekend Eating and Drinking section by Andrea Nguyen. The recipe was for a beef stew and the tastes were amazing: lemon grass, star anise, Chinese five-spice powder, fish sauce, ginger, garlic – it’s so well balanced and has so many wonderful layers of flavor.
Here we’ve taken similar seasonings and developed a slow cooker pot roast that’s just divine! Better yet, you can throw it together the night before, let it cook while you’re at work and come home to a satisfying party for your palate!
We use a chuck roast and it comes out fall apart tender. Diced sweet potatoes cook to super tenderness and then are mashed to give the broth extra body. The original recipe called for a sprinkle of Thai basil on top, but we opt for cilantro (easier to find and equally good if not better) – you could do either according to your taste. Either way the fresh herbs augment the aromatic flavors of the broth beautifully.
Fall and cooler weather are upon us – the perfect time to use the slow cooker. Warm up to this hearty, fragrant Vietnamese inspired Slow Cooker Pot Roast for a meal you won’t forget!
- About 2 lbs beef chuck roast
- 2 stalks lemongrass
- 2 large cloves garlic, minced
- 1 inch piece of fresh ginger, peeled and finely chopped
- 1 yellow onion, chopped
- 2 small or 1 large sweet potato, peeled and chopped into about ½ inch cubes (about 1 lb)
- 4 oz white mushrooms, sliced
- 2 carrots, peeled and sliced
- Salt
- 1 ½ tsp Chinese five-spice powder
- 1 ½ tsp brown sugar
- 1 bay leaf
- 2 whole star anise
- 1 ¾ cup beef stock
- 1 ¾ cup water
- 3 Tbsp fish sauce
- ¼ cup apple cider vinegar
- 3 Tbsp chopped fresh cilantro
- Sprinkle meat on both sides with salt and let sit 40 min to 1 hour.
- Trim ends from lemon grass and cut into thirds.
- Beat lemon grass to bruise it and break through outer layers.
- Place meat in bottom of slow cooker.
- Surround/cover with vegetables.
- Add all remaining ingredients except cilantro.
- Cover slow cooker and cook on low for 7 or more hours.
- Tilt lid, turn on high and cook another 30 minutes.
- Remove roast and slice. It will be fall apart tender.
- Smash sweet potatoes against side of cooker with a spoon and stir into broth.
- Return meat to slow cooker.
- To serve ladle portions into shallow bowls and sprinkle with cilantro.
This soup its easy to make & tastes HEAVENLY! 😍
Could you cook this in a Dutch oven? If so what would be the temperature and time? Thanks!
Yes, this is classically done in a Dutch oven. You would brown the meat, then cook the onions, put everything in except the carrots and sweet potatoes and simmer covered about 1 1/4 hour, then add carrots and sweet potatoes and simmer another 1/2 hour uncovered.