Cash Conscious Pot Roast

I'm really not into recipe blogging (though I like reading them), but every once in a while I make something that is different enough from the recipe that inspired me that I know I won't be able to repeat it without writing it down. And, oh my gosh, this was such a delicious and affordable dinner so it is getting written down right away! My inspiration was from this youtube video but I changed it up enough that I won't remember the details. Steven got me a Crofton (Aldi brand) enameled dutch oven for Christmas so I've been trying out new recipes. This, by far, was my favorite. I'm sure you could make it in a crockpot pretty easily, but I can't promise it'll be as amazing.

Cash Conscious Pot Roast

3 lb pork roast

olive oil

salt and pepper to season

1 yellow onion

1 lb bag of carrots

2 medium sized potatoes 

1-2 cloves garlic (I used minced in the glass jar)

beer of your choice (I used a porter)

broth or stock of your choice (I had chicken stock on hand)

Season your pork roast with salt and pepper.

Add enough oil to the bottom of the dutch oven to cover it and heat the oil on medium. 

When it's nice and hot, use tongs to put your roast in and brown all sides. This step probably took me about 10 minutes. Cut up your veggies into large pieces while you're waiting.

Put the pork roast on a plate and put the veggies in to saute. Add the garlic. 

Place the pork roast back in with the veggies and then add the beer and enough stock to cover 2/3 to 3/4 of the meat. 

Put the dutch oven's lid on and cook at 350 for 2.5 hours, turning the pork roast once. At that point, I tasted the sauce and added a bit more salt.

Let the pork roast sit for 15 minutes. Cut and serve, adding veggies and sauce to the plate.


I love how versatile this dish is. I basically combined two different recipes with what I had on hand and it was so delicious that I think it's probably a very forgiving meal based on what you've got available. The original recipe used mushrooms and onions. We don't eat mushrooms so I picked what we like. I am guessing there are quite a few veggies that would work well. The meat was tender, the sauce was delicious, and the veggies were cooked to perfection. I put it all on the plate, drizzled sauce over it, and served it with a fluffy dinner roll. We ended up having enough meat and veggies leftover to have it another night this week, plus I froze enough meat for a post baby meal for 2. Cheap, fairly easy, and a tasty meal! Thankfully Felicity was performing the rare act of entertaining herself while I was doing the chopping and browning, but none of that took very long and, once it was in the oven I had 2.5 hours to do whatever I wanted while supper cooked! When I was done packing up the leftovers, I had enough sauce to fill a mason jar. I'll put that in the freezer and we'll use it for something like cooking rice.... yum. We will definitely be making this again!