Pot roasted beef with savory herb rub is an awesome way to cook a secondary cut of beef. We’re using beef chuck, which has some excellent flavor. Chuck is interconnects to the ribeye (scotch) and has intermuscular fat. This is where the savory beef flavor is hidden.

We are doing something a little different. Diverse flavors and textures complement the beef. Parsnip puree, slow roasted shallots, fondant thyme potatoes, and zucchini Parisienne. (Zucchini cut into round shapes using a melon baller or Parisienne cutter).

All tied together with sauce Espagnole. We are taking a chef’s approach to the presentation and plate design. This is something you can do at home.

This pot roasted beef with savory herb rub is a showstopper. The fusion of textures, flavors, and plating design comes together. Creating a culinary masterpiece that will impress the in-laws. There is a little bit of work involved, yet it is well worth it.

All The Ingredients You Will Need For Pot Roasted Beef With Savory Herb Rub

Beef Pot Roast

• 1.5kg (3.3lb) Whole beef chuck.
• Sea salt (I’m using Himalayan pink, my favorite).
• 5 Garlic cloves.
• Dried porcini mushrooms.
• 1 ½ cups of Water
• 1 ½ cups of Red wine (Cab Sauv or Merlot).

Savory Herb Rub

• 3 Sprigs of fresh thyme.
• 3 Sprigs of fresh rosemary.
• 3 Sprigs of fresh sage.

Vegetables

• 6 Agria potatoes.
• 4 Parsnips.
• 2 zucchinis.
• 8 Shallots.
• 10 Garlic cloves.

Vegetable Condiments

• 50g (1.76oz) Butter.
• ¼ – ½ cup of Cream.
• Rice bran oil.
• Himalayan pink salt. Freshly ground black pepper.

Sauce Espagnole

• 50g (1.76oz) Butter salted.
• 3.5 tablespoons Flour strong or plain.
• 2 cups Pot roast cooking juices or beef stock.
• ½ teaspoon Salt Himalayan pink.
• ¼ teaspoon Pepper ground white.

Garnish

• Fresh Thyme and sage leaves.
• Extra virgin olive oil.

• Beef Chuck – Known for its rich marbling and deeply savory flavor. It benefits from long, slow cooking. Which breaks down tough connective tissues, resulting in tender, flavorful meat. Look for well-marbled meat and a generous amount of fat.

• Savory Herb Rub — To infuse the beef with flavor, we created a savory herb rub. By combining three aromatic herbs: thyme, rosemary, and sage. These herbs impart herbaceous notes to the meat. With their fragrant oils and harmonious blend of warm, earthy, and savory notes. Use fresh herbs where possible. If you only have dried available, use ½ teaspoon for every teaspoon of fresh.

• Parsnips — Sweet and earthy, parsnips bring a unique flavor profile to our pot roast. They add texture, depth, and complexity. Complementing the pot roasted beef with a savory herb rub. Source firm creamy colored parsnips.
• Zucchini — Mild and slightly sweet tasting balances the richness of the dish. It adds vibrant color and a touch of subtle freshness. Look for dark green zucchini that are shiny and firm.

• Shallots — With their delicate flavor, they lend a hint of sweetness and moisture to the overall flavor and texture profile. They enhance the aroma and bring a touch of elegance to the dish.
• Garlic — No culinary masterpiece is complete without the aromatic allure of roasted garlic. Its sweet, pungent flavor when roasted adds a robust undertone that elevates the entire dish. Look for locally grown garlic for the best flavor.
• Agria Potatoes — When it comes to the perfect accompaniment for pot roasted beef with savory herb rub. Agria potatoes are it. One of the beauties of Agria potatoes is their ability to adapt to a variety of flavor profiles. This makes them perfect for potato fondant. Look for unwashed potatoes.

• Sauce Espagnole – To go with our pot roasted beef with savory herb rub, we serve it with a classic Sauce Espagnole. This rich, velvety sauce is made by cooking a brown roux. Whisking in brown beef stock and simmering for 30-40 minutes. This amplifies the dish’s flavors and adds a luxurious touch to every bite.

The Recipe For Pot Roasted Beef With Savory Herb Rub

• Preheat your oven to 130°C (266°F). For a convection oven, 110°C (230°F).

Preparing The Beef

1. Preparing The Beef — Let the beef sit covered for 30 minutes at room temperature. Lay some plastic wrap on the bench (for easy cleanup). Rub the salt over the entire surface of the beef chuck. Followed by half the savory herbs.

2. Porcini Mushrooms — Place the dried porcini mushrooms into a dish and cover with boiling water. Let the mushrooms sit for 10 minutes.

Beef Caramelization

3. Caramelizing The Beef — Heat a Dutch oven, casserole dish, or deep skillet with a lid. Add a drizzle of rice bran oil and sear the beef on all sides. Caramelizing the beef and sealing in all those delicious flavors and juices.
   • Deglaze with 1 cup of water and 1 cup of red wine. Place the remaining fresh herbs into the dish. Also with the garlic cloves, rehydrated mushrooms, and mushroom liquid.
   • Place the lid securely on the dish and transfer it to the preheated oven for 2 ½ hours. After 2 ½ hours have elapsed, carefully take out the covered dish from the oven. Remove the beef from the dish and proceed to cover it with aluminum foil. Allow it to rest for 30 minutes.

Seasoning food is an art that combines creativity, intuition, and a deep understanding of flavors. That transforms ordinary ingredients into extraordinary culinary masterpieces.

Strain the roasting liquid. This flavorful pot roasting liquid is chef’s gold. This can be used to make the sauce Espagnole.

Amazing Fondant Potatoes

4. Fondant Potatoes — Peel the potatoes and cut them into rectangular shapes. Heat a cast-iron pan and drizzle in the rice bran oil. Season the potatoes, add them to the pan, and caramelize them. Add the butter and fresh sprigs of thyme. Place the potatoes into the oven for 20-30 minutes.

• You can cut the potatoes into any shape you like. I like rectangles for the plating design.

Roasting Shallots And Garlic

5. Shallots and Garlic — Peel the shallots and garlic. Place them into aluminum and add salt and pepper and a drizzle of oil. Wrap them up and place them into the oven for 20 minutes. When they’re done remove from the oven and let them rest in the foil.

Silky Smooth Parsnip Puree

6. Parsnip Puree — Peel the parsnips, and cut them into evenly sized pieces. Place them in a pot, cover with water, add salt, and simmer until tender. Drain the parsnips, and heat the cream in the same pot. Place the parsnips and cream in a blender and blend until smooth.

Zucchini

7. Zucchini — Using a Parisienne cutter. Cut round shapes from the zucchini. Bring seasoned water to a boil. Blanch the zucchini. Do this just before plating. Once blanched, season the zucchini and drizzle with extra virgin olive oil.

Making The Sauce Espagnole

• The detailed Sauce Espagnole Recipe is available here.

Plating Pot Roast Beef With Savory Herb Rub

8. Plating To Impress — Plating your pot roasted beef with savory herb rub is easy. You can follow my design or create your own. Cut the pot roasted beef into even-sized pieces. (I cut them into rectangular shapes). However, you can do slices if you prefer. Next, the parsnip puree is spread on the plates.

9. Place the potato fondant and beef on top of the puree. Next, add the sweet roasted shallots and garlic. And the zucchini, spooned over the Espagnole sauce, followed by the fresh thyme and sage leaves. You can drizzle extra-virgin olive oil (optional).

Your Questions Answered: Pot Roasted Beef with Savory Herb Rub

How To Jazz Up A Pot Roast?

This is how you jazz up a pot roast. These tips will help you to cook the perfect pot roasted beef.

• Choose The Right Cut — Opt for cheaper, tougher cuts of beef with good marbling. Such as chuck roast, brisket, or bottom round.
• Season Generously — Season the beef generously with sea salt. Rub fresh herbs like thyme, rosemary, and sage into the meat as well.
• Sear For Flavor — Searing the beef in a hot pan with a little oil creates a caramelized crust on the meat’s surface. Adding depth of flavor to the final dish.
• Deglazing For Flavor — After searing, deglaze with the wine, stock, or water. This will create a flavorful base for pot roasting the beef.
• Low and Slow — Pot roasting is all about gentle, slow cooking. Use low heat to maintain a simmer and prevent boiling. This can toughen the meat.
• Baste and Turn — Halfway through cooking, turn the beef. Occasionally, baste with the cooking liquid.
• Watch the Liquid Level — Ensure that there is enough liquid in the pot. This will keep the beef from drying out. Add more liquid if needed.
• Rest Before Slicing — After cooking, allow the pot roasted beef to rest for at least 15-20 minutes before slicing. This allows the meat to relax and the juices to redistribute.
• Strain the Sauce — Strain the cooking liquid to remove any solids. This makes a great base when making the sauce.

What Herb Is Best With Roast Beef?

Rosemary, thyme, and sage are the three herbs I reach for with roast beef, and they work as well together as they do individually. All three have an earthy, robust character that stands up to the deep savouriness of beef without being overwhelmed by it, which is exactly what you need with a long, slow roast. Rosemary brings an assertive, piney intensity; thyme adds a more subtle, slightly floral depth; and sage contributes a warm, peppery note that rounds out the trio beautifully.

Fresh is always the preference; the flavor is brighter and more aromatic, and the herbs hold up well during a long roast. If you’re working with dried, use roughly half the quantity you would with fresh, as the drying process concentrates the flavor significantly.

About half a teaspoon of each dried herb is a solid starting point. Whether fresh or dried, the best approach is to work them into a paste with crushed garlic and olive oil and rub it directly onto the surface of the beef before cooking. That direct contact ensures the flavor infuses into the outer crust as it roasts rather than simply sitting in the pan around it.

Should Beef Be Seasoned Before Roasting?

Yes, and not just before roasting, but properly before roasting. Seasoning beef in advance gives the salt time to penetrate beyond the surface and into the meat, which produces a fundamentally more flavourful result than seasoning immediately before it hits the pan.

A light sprinkle right before cooking seasons only the crust. Salt applied earlier works its way into the muscle fibers, drawing out moisture initially and then reabsorbing it as a seasoned liquid that carries flavor through the meat as it cooks.

For a pot roast, I season generously with freshly ground Himalayan pink salt and black pepper, then add the herb rub: rosemary, thyme, sage, and crushed garlic, and let it sit for at least an hour before searing. If you have the time, season the night before and leave it uncovered in the fridge.

The surface dries out overnight, which gives you a significantly better sear when it hits the hot pan and gives the seasoning maximum time to do its work. Searing the seasoned beef before it goes into the pot is a non-negotiable step; that caramelized crust is where much of the dish’s flavor comes from, and it only develops properly on a dry, well-seasoned surface.

Cooking Is A Science And A Skill

Cooking is a science and a skill that requires a deep understanding of both the technical and creative aspects. Cooking is also a matter of precise measurements and ratios.

For example, baking is particularly sensitive to accurate measurements and temperatures. A slight deviation in the amount of an ingredient or cooking degrees can result in a completely different outcome. So, to help you, here is a handy little unit converter tool for cooking without guesswork.

Pot Roasted Beef With Savory Herb Rub A Culinary Showstopper

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PREP TIME: | 30 minutes mins

COOK TIME: | 2 hours hrs 30 minutes mins

RESTING TIME: | 20 minutes mins

TOTAL TIME: | 3 hours hrs 20 minutes mins

SERVINGS: | 6 people

AUTHOR: | Shannon The Helpful Chef

PIN PRINT RECIPE

DESCRIPTION

DISH SUMMARY

Pot roasted beef with savory herb rub. Discover the magic of our culinary creation. A showstopper, sure to steal the spotlight! An old classic, given a facelift.

Equipment

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  Cookware
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  Kitchen Gadgets
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  Kitchen Knives

Ingredients

1x2x3x

US CUSTOMARYMETRIC

Beef Pot Roast

• ▢ 1.5 kg Beef chuck whole
• ▢ 1 tbsp Sea salt Himalayan pink
• ▢ 2 tbsp Oil rice bran
• ▢ 5 Garlic cloves
• ▢ ¼ cup Porcini mushrooms dried
• ▢ 1½ cups Water
• ▢ 1½ cups Red wine Cab Sauv or Merlot

Savory Herb Rub

• ▢ 3 sprigs Thyme fresh
• ▢ 3 sprigs Rosemary fresh
• ▢ 3 sprigs Sage fresh

Vegetables

• ▢ 6 medium Potatoes Agria
• ▢ 4 Parsnips
• ▢ 2 Zucchini
• ▢ 8 Shallots
• ▢ 10 Garlic cloves

Vegetable Condiments

• ▢ 50 g Butter unsalted
• ▢ ¼-½ cup Cream
• ▢ 2 tbsp Oil rice bran
• ▢ Himalayan pink salt. Freshly ground black pepper

Sauce Espagnole

• ▢ 50 g Butter salted
• ▢ 3.5 tbsp Flour plain
• ▢ 2 cups Pot roast cooking juices or beef stock
• ▢ ½ tsp Sea salt Himalayan pink
• ▢ ½ tsp Pepper White ground

Instructions

SHOWHIDE

• Preheat your oven to 130 °C. For a convection oven 110 °C.

  Preparing The Beef – Let the beef sit covered for 30 minutes at room temperature. Lay some plastic wrap on the bench (for easy cleanup). Rub the salt over the entire surface of the beef chuck. Followed by half the savory herbs.
  
• Porcini Mushrooms – Place the dried porcini mushrooms into a dish and cover with boiling water. Let the mushrooms sit for 10 minutes.
  
• Caramelizing The Beef – Heat a Dutch oven, casserole dish, or deep skillet with a lid. Add a drizzle of rice bran oil and sear the beef on all sides. Caramelizing the beef and sealing in all those delicious flavors and juices. Deglaze with 1 cup of water and 1 cup of red wine. Place the rest of the fresh herbs into the dish. Also with the garlic cloves, rehydrated mushrooms, and mushroom liquid.

  Place the lid securely on the dish and transfer it to the preheated oven for 2 ½ hours. After 2 ½ hours has elapsed carefully take out the covered dish from the oven. Remove the beef from the dish and proceed to cover it with aluminum foil. Allowing it to rest for 30 minutes.

  Strain the roasting liquid. This flavorful pot roasting liquid is chef’s gold. This can be used to make the sauce Espagnole.
  
• Fondant Potatoes – Peel the potatoes and cut them into rectangular shapes. Heat a cast iron pan and drizzle in the rice bran oil. Season the potatoes, add the potatoes to the pan, and caramelize the potatoes. Add the butter and fresh sprigs of thyme. Place the potatoes into the oven for 20-30 minutes.
  
• Shallots and Garlic – Peel the shallots and garlic. Place them into aluminum and add salt and pepper and a drizzle of oil. Wrap them up and place them into the oven for 20 minutes. When they’re done remove from the oven and let them rest in the foil.
  
• Parsnip Puree – Peel the parsnips, and cut them into evenly sized pieces. Place them into a pot cover with water, add salt, and simmer until soft. Drain the parsnips, and heat the cream in the same pot. Place the parsnips and cream into a blender and blend to a smooth puree.

  Zucchini – Using a Parisienne cutter. Cut round shapes from the zucchini. Bring seasoned water to a boil. Blanch the zucchini do this just before platting. Once blanched season the zucchini and drizzle over extra virgin olive oil.
  
• Making Sauce Espagnole This rich, velvety sauce is made by cooking a brown roux. Whisking in brown beef stock, and simmering for 30-40 minutes. This amplifies the flavors of the dish and adds a luxurious touch to every bite.
  
• Plating To Impress – Plating your pot roasted beef with savory herb rub is easy. You can follow my design or create your own. Cut the pot roasted beef into even-sized pieces. (I cut them into rectangular shapes). However, you can do slices if you prefer. Next, the parsnip puree spread on the plates.

  Place the potato fondant and beef on top of the puree. Next, add the sweet roasted shallots and garlic. And the zucchini and spoon over the Espagnole sauce, followed by the fresh thyme and sage leaves. You can drizzle over extra virgin olive oil (this is optional).
  

Video

Chef Tips

1. Chefs Tip: The dried porcini mushrooms and the rehydrating liquid will add an umami flavor. Umami adds an intense savoriness to the pot roasting stock.
2. Chefs Tip: Halfway through the cooking process turn the beef. Monitor the liquid level and if it gets too low add more water or stock.
3. Chefs Tip: By wrapping the shallots and garlic in the foil you’re creating a steam chamber. The vegetables become tender and sweet.

Pot roasting beef is a culinary art that requires patience, skill, and attention to detail. Here are some detailed tips to help you achieve a perfect pot roasted beef with savory herb rub.

1. Choose The Right Cut – Opt for cheaper tougher cuts of beef with good marbling. Such as chuck roast, brisket, or bottom round. These cuts when slow cooked yield beautiful flavor with a tender succulent texture.
2. Season Generously – Season the beef generously with sea salt. rub fresh herbs like thyme, rosemary, and sage into the meat. This will create a savory herb rub. You can also rub garlic onto the surface of the meat.
3. Sear For Flavor – Searing the beef in a hot pan with a little oil creates a caramelized crust on the meat’s surface. Adding depth of flavor to the final dish. It also locks in the juices, resulting in a moist and tender pot roast.
4. Deglazing For Flavor – After searing deglaze with the wine and stock or water. This will dissolve the flavorful browned bits stuck to the bottom of the pan. To create a flavorful base for pot roasting the beef.
5. Use Aromatics – Adding aromatic vegetables like garlic, or onions. Adding fresh herbs like thyme, rosemary, and sage to the pot enhances the overall flavor.
6. Low And Slow – Pot roasting is all about gentle, slow cooking. Use low heat to maintain a simmer and prevent boiling. Which can toughen the meat. The oven is the perfect tool for this. As it provides consistent indirect even heat distribution.
7. Baste And Turn – Halfway through the cooking process turn the beef. Occasionally bast the beef with the cooking liquid or pan juices. This helps to keep it moist and flavorful.
8. Watch The Liquid Level – Ensure that there is enough liquid in the pot. This will keep the beef from drying out during cooking. Add more liquid if needed.
9. Rest Before Slicing – After cooking, allow the pot roasted beef to rest for at least 15-20 minutes before slicing. This allows the meat to relax and the juices to redistribute throughout the meat. Resulting in a juicier and more tender roast.
10. Strain The Sauce – Strain the cooking liquid through a fine mesh sieve to remove any solids. This makes a great base when making the sauce for your pot roasted beef with savory herb rub.

COURSE:

Main Course

CUISINE:

New Zealand

KEYWORD:

Herb Rub

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Pot Roast

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Roasted Beef

NUTRITIONAL INFORMATION

Serving: 1serve | Calories: 761kcal | Carbohydrates: 54g | Protein: 44g | Fat: 42g | Saturated Fat: 18g | Polyunsaturated Fat: 4g | Monounsaturated Fat: 19g | Trans Fat: 2g | Cholesterol: 165mg | Sodium: 1547mg | Potassium: 1978mg | Fiber: 9g | Sugar: 9g | Vitamin A: 568IU | Vitamin C: 58mg | Calcium: 127mg | Iron: 7mg

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