By Cody is on day five hundred and fifty-seven. Week five of the writing program was Wednesday. The fifty-eighth Saturday visit was Saturday morning. He has 113 days remaining, which is just under sixteen weeks.
The recipe Sunday was slow cooker shredded beef — a chuck roast slow-cooked eight hours with onion, garlic, beef broth, and Worcestershire sauce until shreddable. The recipe is the kind of Sunday-set-and-go that becomes four different dinners across the week. Monday: tacos. Tuesday: shredded beef sandwiches. Wednesday: shredded beef over rice with the pan jus. Thursday: leftover-beef quesadillas.
The math: a 2.5-pound chuck roast on the markdown rack $7.84, beef broth from bouillon, an onion, garlic, Worcestershire sauce. Total: about $9.40 for four dinners.
The technique is the slow-cook-and-shred. Brown the chuck roast in a hot skillet (the brown adds flavor; do not skip). Transfer to slow cooker with two cups of beef broth, an onion quartered, four cloves of smashed garlic, two tablespoons of Worcestershire sauce, salt, pepper. Cook on low eight hours. Shred with two forks in the cooking liquid.
The pirate cake is on schedule for Saturday. Two more catering inquiries this week. The summer schedule is genuinely full now.
The recipe is below. The trick is the brown-the-roast-first step.
Slow Cooker Shredded Beef
Prep Time: 10 minutes | Cook Time: 8 hours | Total Time: 8 hours 10 minutes | Servings: 6
Ingredients
- 3 to 3 1/2 lbs boneless chuck roast
- 1 packet (1 oz) ranch seasoning mix
- 1 packet (1 oz) au jus gravy mix
- 4 tablespoons unsalted butter, cut into slices
- 6 to 8 pepperoncini peppers
- 1/2 cup beef broth
- 1 lb baby potatoes, halved
- 3 medium carrots, cut into 2-inch pieces
- 1 medium yellow onion, quartered
- Salt and black pepper, to taste
Instructions
- Season the roast. Pat the chuck roast dry with paper towels and season lightly with salt and black pepper on all sides.
- Layer the vegetables. Place the potatoes, carrots, and onion in the bottom of a 6-quart slow cooker in an even layer.
- Add the beef. Set the seasoned chuck roast on top of the vegetables.
- Add seasonings and butter. Sprinkle the ranch seasoning mix and au jus gravy mix evenly over the top of the roast. Lay the butter slices over the roast and scatter the pepperoncini peppers around it.
- Add liquid. Pour the beef broth around the sides of the roast, not over the top, to preserve the seasoning coating.
- Cook low and slow. Cover and cook on LOW for 8 hours, until the beef is fall-apart tender and the vegetables are soft.
- Shred and serve. Use two forks to shred the beef directly in the slow cooker, stirring it through the juices. Taste and adjust salt if needed. Serve over or alongside the vegetables with the pan juices spooned on top.
Nutrition (per serving)
Calories: 480 | Protein: 42g | Fat: 24g | Carbs: 18g | Fiber: 3g | Sodium: 820mg