Tender Marinated Chuck Roast

I made taco soup on Monday and froze five bags of it, because taco soup is the patron saint of Larson dinners and I will not apologize for the repetition. The week was a summer week, the kind where the light through the kitchen window arrives at a particular angle and the freezer hums in a different register depending on the temperature in the garage. I made notes in my prep notebook on Sunday afternoon, the way I always do: meal name, ingredient list, cost per serving, prep time, freezer instructions. Twenty-eight bags. Two hours and eleven minutes. A little slow this week, by my standards, but Brandon was helping and the conversation was good, and I have learned, slowly and against my own grain, that the conversation is sometimes the point and the time is sometimes a courtesy I extend to my husband for being willing to chop onions on a Sunday afternoon.

The recipe of the week was dutch oven peach cobbler, which I have made some specific number of times in my life and have refined to a system that I now hand to other people in printed form. The version I made this week fed eight, cost under fifteen dollars, and required twenty-six minutes of active prep, which is within my requirements and not a coincidence. Three of the bags I pulled out this week were dated nine months ago and they were perfect, because labeling is theology in my house. I have stopped explaining the freezer-meal philosophy to people who already follow my work, and I have stopped apologizing for it to people who do not. The philosophy is simple: tomorrow is coming whether you are ready or not. You can either be ready or not. I pick ready.

Brandon called me at lunch on Tuesday for no particular reason and I knew without him saying so that he was thinking about Grace. Twenty-some years in, I can hear the silences. We have been married a long time. The arithmetic of it is the arithmetic of my whole life. There were years we missed each other in the same room, and there are years we find each other in the silences, and this is one of the latter, and I am old enough now to know that the latter is the achievement and the former was the cost.

The accountant in me keeps a private ledger of how old Grace would be. I do not consult it. It is automatic. I do not write about her every week. I do not avoid her either. She is in the kitchen the way the kitchen is in the kitchen — woven into the structure, not announcing herself, present. The photograph above the stove is the only one of her smiling, and it has watched me batch-prep more freezer meals than I can count, and I have stopped feeling strange about the parasocial relationship I have with a four-month-old who has been gone for years. She is my daughter. The photograph is what I have. I look. I keep cooking.

I'm Michelle. The freezer is full. Talk to you next week.

The cobbler is for Sunday nights when Brandon deserves something warm and I want to feel like I earned the week — but the chuck roast is what carries us through it. This is the one I come back to when I need something that will hold up in the freezer for months, thaw without complaint, and taste like I planned it on purpose. I made it the same week as the taco soup, two dutch oven runs back to back, and I will tell you honestly that the smell of it braising while I labeled bags is one of my favorite smells in the world.

Prep Time: 15 min (plus 4–8 hrs marinating) | Cook Time: 3 hrs 30 min | Total Time: 3 hrs 45 min active | Servings: 8

Ingredients

3 to 4 lbs boneless beef chuck roast
1/4 cup soy sauce
1/4 cup Worcestershire sauce
2 tablespoons olive oil
3 cloves garlic, minced
1 tablespoon Dijon mustard
1 teaspoon onion powder
1 teaspoon smoked paprika
1/2 teaspoon black pepper
1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
1 cup beef broth
1 large onion, sliced into rings
3 medium carrots, cut into 2-inch pieces
3 stalks celery, cut into 2-inch pieces
2 tablespoons vegetable oil (for searing)
Fresh parsley, chopped, for serving

Instructions

Make the marinade. In a bowl or large zip-lock bag, combine soy sauce, Worcestershire sauce, olive oil, garlic, Dijon mustard, onion powder, smoked paprika, salt, and pepper. Whisk to combine.
Marinate the roast. Place the chuck roast in the bag or a shallow dish, coat thoroughly in the marinade, seal, and refrigerate for at least 4 hours or overnight. The longer it sits, the deeper the flavor.
Sear the roast. Remove the roast from the marinade and pat it lightly dry; reserve the marinade. Heat vegetable oil in a large dutch oven over medium-high heat until shimmering. Sear the roast 3–4 minutes per side until a deep brown crust forms. Do not rush this step.
Build the braise. Remove the roast and set aside. Add the sliced onion to the dutch oven and cook 2 minutes, scraping up any browned bits. Add the carrots and celery, stir, then nestle the roast back on top of the vegetables.
Add liquid and braise. Pour the reserved marinade and beef broth around the roast. The liquid should come about one-third of the way up the meat. Bring to a simmer, cover tightly, and transfer to an oven preheated to 325°F. Braise for 3 to 3 1/2 hours, until the meat is fork-tender and pulling apart easily.
Rest and serve. Remove the roast from the dutch oven and let it rest 10 minutes before slicing or pulling. Spoon the braising liquid and vegetables over the top. Garnish with fresh parsley.
Freezer instructions. Cool completely, then portion into freezer bags with vegetables and braising liquid. Label with the date. Freezes well up to 3 months. Thaw overnight in the refrigerator and reheat gently on the stovetop or in the oven at 300°F covered.

Nutrition (per serving)

Tender Marinated Chuck Roast — The Freezer Is Full and So Is the Heart