The Most Succulent Moist Oven Pot Roast Ever

There is nothing like coming home, opening the front door, and being hit in the face by... POT ROAST?  What?  That's right Pot Roast.  Nothing says Sunday Dinner quite like it.  If you're part of my generation you probably were weaned on pot roast.  It's the ubiquitous Sunday dinner.  This one has Coke (you won't recognize it in the roast but it will tenderize your meat), carrots/your choice of veggies, and a little bit of beef broth for flavor.  It's the perfect one pot meal.  Next week is for Turkey; let's eat beef.


Pull out your pan, some pantry items and you're on your way to a relaxing Sunday dinner.  Go on; put your feet up, enjoy your family, and wait until dinner is ready.  Then dig in.


I have a tip for you that you won't believe... until you try it, that is. 

Plastic wrapped Pyrex pan after cooking in a 350 degree oven.

Did you know that you can put plastic wrap in the oven?  I know someone who once cooked a frozen pizza in their oven, still wrapped in the plastic-covered cardboard box.  Guess what?  It started on fire.


 This is not the same thing.  This works!!!  I've done it many, many times.  I think I first got the idea from America's Test Kitchen many years ago.

My Dad's home-grown purple carrots

Here's what you do:  Put your ingredients in a Pyrex pan.  Add a bit of liquid in the bottom to provide steam.  Tightly cover the pan with Cling/plastic wrap about 1/2-inch from the top of the pan.  Now cover the plastic wrap tightly with aluminum foil.  Make sure all of the plastic wrap is covered by foil.  You can now bake up to about 375 degrees F.  This method seals in juices like you wouldn't believe.  Your roasts will be pull-apart tender.  Try it....it works.

Perfect Pot Roast

Large (3-4 lb.) chuck roast or any cut of pot roast, trimmed of fat

2 tablespoons of oil

1 12-oz. can of Coca-Cola

8-oz. of beef broth

Handful of carrots, peeled and cut into 3-inch pieces (if you happen to have some of your father's purple home-grown carrots, even better.  Aren't they pretty?)

Potatoes, peeled and cut into chunks about the same size as your carrots

1 medium yellow onion, quartered and separated into chunks

3 cloves of garlic, slightly smashed and peeled

Preheat the oven to 325 degrees F.   Salt and pepper your roast.

In a dutch oven or cast iron pan, heat the oil until it shimmers and is hot.  Over medium-high heat, brown the roast on all sides.  Remove it from the pan and set it aside.

Add the onions to the pan and cook them down until they are caramelized, scraping up any browned bits of meat (fond) from the bottom of the pan.  Remove the onions and set them aside.  Add the broth to the pan and reduce the broth slightly.  

In most pot roast recipes this is the point that you put all of the ingredients back in the cast iron pan.  Don't do it.

Put your roast and it's reserved juices into a 9 by 13-inch Pyrex pan.  Spoon the onions and the whole garlic cloves over the meat.  Pour the heated broth and the Coke around the roast.  Cover the pan tightly with plastic wrap, stopping about 1-inch below the rim.  Completely cover the plastic wrap with aluminum foil.  Crimp it tightly around the pan, making sure that no wrap is showing.

Put the roast into the hot oven and roast for 3 hours. Remove the pan from the oven.  Carefully peel back the foil and even more carefully remove the plastic wrap from the hot pan.  It will come right off if you have covered it completely with the foil.  Add the carrots, potatoes, and any other veggies you might like around the roast.  Cover the pan again with more foil.  Put the roast back into the oven for one more hour, or until the vegetables are browned and tender.  Add water if necessary to keep the juices from burning and baste the roast with the pan juices occasionally during the last hour.

Pull the roast apart with two forks and serve the juices and veggies on the side.