My family’s favorite pot roast recipe, this easy Mississippi Pot Roast recipe is the set it and forget it dinner of your dreams. Tender, juicy, melt in your mouth beef is simmered low and slow in a beef broth kicked up with pepperoncini peppers, carrots and onions. Made completely from scratch and so insanely easy. 

Mississippi Pot Roast on a pile of mashed potatoes on a white plate with green beans.


Mississippi Pot Roast

Gimme all the comfort food! This easy Mississippi Pot Roast recipe is seriously amazing. If you’ve never had Mississippi Pot Roast before you are in for a real treat. I’ve been making it for a few years now, it’s made with simple ingredients you can easily find at the grocery store.

I don’t know why I’m just now sharing it with all of you. I found the recipe first in an old newspaper clipping stashed away in my recipe box and remembered how amazing the melt in your mouth pot roast tastes but the original has so much sodium.

The original Mississippi Roast recipe is made with a packet of ranch dressing mix, a packet of au jus gravy mix, a packet of onion soup mix, lots of butter and pepperoncini peppers with their juices. Sodium city! I decided there was a better way to get all that flavor with ingredients you have stashed in your pantry and fridge but cutting way back on the sodium and other artificial flavors. And it was a huge win.

It’s a great twist on traditional pot roast without much more work and makes a delicious dinner any night of the week.

Ingredients For Mississippi Pot Roast

  • Boneless Chuck Roast – Beef Chuck roast has a lot of marbling making it perfect for braising. A rump roast can be used as a substitution.
  • Olive oil – You can use another neutral oil as a substitute if you prefer.
  • Garlic – Fresh minced garlic is my go-to but you can use jarred minced garlic in a pinch.
  • Seasoning – Homemade Ranch Seasoning is a staple for us and is super easy to make. You can use a package of ranch dressing mix, if you prefer.
  • Beef Stock – While homemade beef stock is great, we usually use our favorite store brand. This is used so you don’t need the au jus packet.
  • Pepperoncini – The pickle flavor really makes this dish iconic. You can substitute with banana peppers, if you prefer.
  • Worcestershire Sauce – Lends a great umami flavor, you can substitute with soy sauce, coconut aminos or fish sauce.
  • Vegetables – Carrots, celery and onion are staples in stew and this one is no exception. To save time, we use baby carrots, on occasion.
  • Butter – Adds richness to the gravy. You can use salted butter or unsalted butter.
  • Cornstarch – Gluten free gravy thickener, cornstarch is my go-to but you can substitute with all-purpose flour.

It looks like a lot of ingredients but most of the items come from your pantry or are the usual kitchen staples. If you can’t find dry buttermilk (it’s in the bakery aisle of most grocery stores alongside the dry milk) you can add a bit of low fat buttermilk at the end when you whisk in the cornstarch mixture.

The tanginess of the buttermilk makes it taste more like ranch than if you skip it altogether. But it IS still amazingly tasty if you decide to skip it altogether.

For the full ingredient list and instructions, see the recipe card below.

Mississippi Pot Roast on a white plate with mashed potatoes and gravy.

How To Make Mississippi Pot Roast

This Slow Cooker Mississippi Pot Roast recipe is super simple to make in your Crock Pot, slow cooker or Instant Pot! Simply follow these steps to pot roast perfection.

  1. Pat dry the chuck roast and season liberally on all sides with salt and pepper.
  2. Brown the chuck roast on all sides in a skillet until a golden brown crust has formed. (You can skip this step if in a hurry but there’s a ton of flavor being developed if you have the time to brown your beef.)
  3. Transfer the beef roast to the slow cooker and add the onions to the pan.
  4. Cook the onions, carrots and garlic for 3-4 minutes. Add to the slow cooker.
  5. Whisk together the onion powder, garlic powder, pepper, salt, buttermilk, dill, chives and italian seasoning. Sprinkle the spice mixture evenly on top of the roast.
  6. Add the beef stock, peppers, bay leaf, worcestershire sauce and 1/4 cup of the pepperoncini juice to the slow cooker and stir to combine.
  7. Cover and cook on high heat for 4-5 hours or low heat for 6-7 hours.
  8. Mix the cornstarch into the room temperature butter to form a paste. 
  9. Remove the pot roast from the pot and cover to keep warm. Using a ladle, skim the fat from the broth or transfer the broth to a fat separator with a spout and remove the fat that way.
  10. Make the gravy. Stir the cornstarch mixture into the broth and cook for about 10 minutes or until slightly thickened. 
  11. Shred the pot roast and add back with the gravy., if desired. (We like to break off big hunks of meat and serve it that way.)
  12. Serve immediately with the gravy over egg noodles, mashed potatoes or jasmine rice.

You can make Mississippi roast in a dutch oven, as well. After cooking everything in a skillet, transfer to the dutch oven and cover with a lid.

Transfer to a 300˚F oven and roast for 2-3 hours or until tender fork tender and the pot roast is easy to shred with a fork.

We love this programmable slow cooker with auto warm setting by CrockPot! It’s a great way to make dinners easy and keep them warm until you’re ready to eat. We pull this one out at least once a week and the price can’t be beat!

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Mississippi Pot Roast slice with garlic on a bed of mashed potatoes with green beans in the background.

What is Mississippi Roast?

Mississippi Pot Roast was created by Robin Chapman and was an adaptation of one she received in the 90’s. Her friend, later, published the recipe for Mississippi Pot Roast in their church cookbook and that’s when bloggers found this heavenly dinner recipe.

The recipe made it’s rounds on various food blogs and was pinned millions of times when it was later picked up by the New York Times and heralded as “the roast that owns the internet!” 

How’s that for a viral recipe. The problem is….for me, at least….that the recipe is made with a whole stick of butter, a packet of ranch dressing mix and a whole packet of au jus mix. We can do better….and without adding much more effort to the task.

To create a little “healthier” recipe, I reached for my favorite ranch spices to add to the mix and bumped up the flavor with a bit of dry buttermilk. 

Plate with Mississippi pot roast on mashed potatoes with green beans on a white plate.

What is the best roast for Pot Roast?

Whenever I’m making any type of Crock Pot pot roast recipe I reach for a boneless chuck roast. It’s perfect for long braising since it’s heavily marbled with fat making it somewhat forgiving to low and slow braising without drying out.

In fact, chuck roast is perfect for soaking up all those zesty flavors of the braising liquid and turning into a tender, melt-in-your-mouth roast recipe.

Mississippi Pot roast on mashed potatoes with a blue and white striped fork.

How to Store Leftovers

Transfer any leftover crockpot Mississippi pot roast to an airtight container and refrigerate for up to 3 days.

You can freeze leftover Mississippi roast in a freezer-safe container for up to 3 months.

What to Serve with Crock Pot Mississippi Pot Roast

Tender mississippi pot roast on a white platter with peppers, onions and carrots.

More easy Slow Cooker Recipes

If you have an Instant Pot, make this Instant Pot Pot Roast Recipe.

Looking for a bit of recipe inspiration? Follow us over on Instagram!

Mississippi Pot Roast on a pile of mashed potatoes on a white plate with green beans.

Get the Recipe: Mississippi Pot Roast Recipe

Yield: 8
Prep Time: 15 minutes
Cook Time: 8 hours
10 minutes
Total Time: 8 hours 15 minutes
Tender, tangy, melt-in-your-mouth Mississippi Pot Roast recipe is made in your slow cooker or crock pot for the ultimate comfort dinner.
5 from 8 votes
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Ingredients

  • 3 lb Boneless Chuck Roast
  • 1 tbsp Olive oil
  • 1 1/2 cups Carrots
  • 1 Onions
  • 3 Garlic cloves
  • 1 tbsp Onion Powder
  • 1 tsp Garlic Powder
  • 1/2 tsp Salt
  • 1/2 tsp Pepper
  • 1 tbsp Dry Dill
  • 1 tsp Dry Chives
  • 1 tbsp Italian Seasoning
  • 3 tbsp Dry Buttermilk
  • 4 cups Beef Stock
  • 1 cup Pepperoncini
  • 1/4 cup pepperoncini juice
  • 1 tbsp Worcestershire Sauce
  • 1 Bay Leaf
  • 4 tbsp Butter
  • 3 tbsp Cornstarch

Equipment

Instructions 

  • Pat dry the chuck roast and season liberally on all sides with salt and pepper.
  • Heat oil in a skillet over medium heat and brown the chuck roast on all sides until a golden brown crust has formed. (You can skip this step if in a hurry but there’s a ton of flavor being developed if you have the time to brown your beef.)
  • Transfer the roast to the slow cooker. Add the onions and carrots to the pan.
  • Cook the onions and carrots for 3-4 minutes. Stir in the garlic and cook for 1 minute. Transfer to the slow cooker.
  • In a small bowl, whisk together the onion powder, garlic powder, pepper, salt, pepper, buttermilk, dill, chives and italian seasoning.
  • Sprinkle the spice mixture over the beef evenly.
  • Add the beef stock, peppers, bay leaf, worcestershire sauce and 1/4 cup of the pepperoncini juice to the slow cooker and stir to combine.
  • Cover and cook on high for 4-5 hours or low for 6-7 hours.
  • Mix the cornstarch into the room temperature butter to form a paste.
  • Remove the pot roast from the pot and cover to keep warm. Using a ladle, skim the fat from the broth or transfer the broth to a fat separator with a spout and remove the fat that way.
  • Stir the cornstarch mixture into the broth and cook for about 10 minutes or until slightly thickened.
  • Return the pot roast to the slow cooker with the gravy and shred with a fork, if desired. (We like to break off big hunks of meat and serve it that way.)
  • Serve immediately with the gravy over noodles, mashed potatoes or rice.

Video

YouTube video

Notes

Mississippi Pot Roast can be made up to 24 hours in advance. Store in the refrigerator and reheat either in the oven or slow cooker until hot.
Calories: 440kcal, Carbohydrates: 13g, Protein: 37g, Fat: 27g, Saturated Fat: 13g, Polyunsaturated Fat: 2g, Monounsaturated Fat: 13g, Trans Fat: 1g, Cholesterol: 134mg, Sodium: 627mg, Potassium: 1036mg, Fiber: 2g, Sugar: 4g, Vitamin A: 4720IU, Vitamin C: 20mg, Calcium: 111mg, Iron: 5mg
Author: Kellie
Course: Dinner
Cuisine: American, Southern