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Balsamic and Onion Pot Roast is a delicious low-carb dinner from the Crockpot, and this post has tips for Making Pot Roast in a Slow Cooker.

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Balsamic and Onion Pot Roast finished dish on serving plate

When my friend Bonnie told me she had made this Balsamic and Onion Pot Roastand liked it, I immediately realized I wanted to make it again just so I could take better photos! Bonnie was kind enough to say that she didn't think the old photos were that bad, but trust me, these updated photos give you a much better idea of what a tasty recipe this is!

This pot roast is just the thing to cook on low all day in the slow cooker while you're doing something else, and dinner will be ready when you want it. Check out Ten Low-Carb and Keto Slow Cooker Recipes with Beef for more ideas for more delicious slow cooker dinners!

What ingredients do you need for this recipe?

  • boneless chuck roast, fat trimmed
  • Szeged Steak Rub (affiliate link) or your favorite steak rub
  • black pepper to taste
  • olive oil
  • onions
  • beef stock or canned beer broth
  • balsamic vinegar
  • tomato sauce

More Beef in the Slow Cooker:

If you're a slow cooker fan, check out Low-Carb and Keto Slow Cooker Recipes with Beef to find more tasty beef recipes like this one.

Tips for Making Pot Roast in the Slow Cooker:

I'm not a pot roast expert, but I've made pot roast in the Crockpot enough times to have strong opinions about how it should be done. There are three things I think are important to remember. I'm using all those tricks in this pot roast recipe. If you use a slow cooker to make pot roast, chime in with comments about your own tips for making pot roast in the Crockpot.

  1. First, Brown the meat well before you put it in the Crockpot because browning creates flavor.
  2. Second, don't use too much liquid for any crockpot cooking, but especially for pot roast.
  3. Third, be sure there is plenty of flavor in the liquids you're using. All day cooking can make foods bland if there isn't a flavorful liquid.

Balsamic and Onion Pot Roast process shots collage

How to make this recipe:

(Scroll down for complete recipe including nutritional information.)

  1. I used a very thick chuck roast from Costco; here's how my roast looked after I trimmed it. (I had to cut it to get the pockets of fat and get it to fit in my Crockpot.) I save all the scraps in a container which goes in the freezer, and then use them to make beef stock.
  2. Rub meat on both sides with steak seasoning and black pepper, then brown the roast well.
  3. In a small saucepan, reduce 1 cup beef stock to 1/2 cup.
  4. While the meat browns, cut the onions and put them in the Crockpot.
  5. When the meat is brown put it in slow cooker on top of the onions, then deglaze the pan with 1/4 cup water, scraping off all browned bits, and add to reduced beef stock. Add balsamic vinegar and tomato sauce to beef stock and pour over pot roast.
  6. Cook on low 6-8 hours, until meat is tender.
  7. I drained all the liquid from the Crockpot and used a fat separator to remove the fat. After the fat is removed, reduce the liquid by about 1/3 by simmer it on the stove to make a sauce. You could thicken it, but I didn't think it needed it.
  8. You might think they'd be too done from being in the Crockpot all that time, but the onions were delicious as well as the meat.

Make it a Low-Carb Meal:

This would taste great with Pureed Cauliflower with Garlic, Parmesan, and Goat Cheese for a low-carb meal.

More Tasty Beef Recipes for the Slow Cooker or Instant Pot:

Instant Pot Barbacoa Beef ~ Taste and Tell
Low-Carb Stuffed Peppers with Beef, Sausage, and Cabbage ~ Kalyn's Kitchen
Instant Pot Beef Short Ribs ~ That Skinny Chick Can Bake
Green Chile Shredded Beef Cabbage Bowl ~ Kalyn's Kitchen

Weekend Food Prep:

This recipe has been added to a new category called Weekend Food Prep  to help you find recipes you can prep or cook on the weekend and eat during the week!

Ingredients

  • 4 pound boneless chuck roast, fat trimmed
  • 1 T steak rub (see notes)
  • black pepper to taste
  • 1 T olive oil (depends on your pan)
  • 1/4 cup water to deglaze pan
  • 2 large onions, peeled and thickly sliced
  • 1 cup beef stock, reduced to 1/2 cup (see notes)
  • 1/2 cup balsamic vinegar (see notes)
  • 1/2 cup tomato sauce

Instructions

  1. Trim as much fat as you can from roast, and cut if necessary to fit into Crockpot.
  2. Rub meat well with steak seasoning and black pepper.
  3. Heat pan with small amount of olive oil and brown roast well on both sides. This will take a few minutes; don't rush the browning step.
  4. While roast browns put 1 cup beef stock in saucepan, bring to a boil and cook until reduced to 1/2 cup.
  5. While the meat browns, cut the onions and put them in the Crockpot.
  6. When the meat is brown put it in slow cooker on top of the onions, then deglaze the pan with 1/4 cup water, scraping off all browned bits, and add to reduced beef stock. Add balsamic vinegar and tomato sauce to beef stock and pour over pot roast.
  7. (Or you could stop at this point and refrigerate browned roast, cut onions and mixed sauce ingredients and then put them in the Crockpot when you go to work in the morning. Don't refrigerate them in the crockery liner. Having the meat start out cold will add several hours to the cooking time, which will be good if you're cooking it all day while you're away.)
  8. Set Crockpot to low and cook 6-8 hours, until beef is tender. The meat might be partly submerged in liquid after this much time. (If I am home, I might turn the meat once or twice.)
  9. Remove meat from crockpot and cover with foil to keep warm.
  10. Drain liquid from Crockpot and remove as much of the fat as you can with fat separator or skimmer. Cook down liquid by about 1/3 by simmering in a small pan on the stove, and serve sauce with meat and onions.

Notes

I used a standard 3 1/2 quart Crockpot (affiliate link) for this recipe.

I used Szeged Steak Rub and Fini Balsamic Vinegar but there are many good brands. (affiliate links) You can use one cup from a can of beef broth for this recipe, but be sure to reduce it by simmering until it's reduced to 1/2 cup.

Nutritional information is calculated using the entire amount of balsamic vinegar and tomato sauce that goes into the slow cooker, but you're probably not eating every bit of the sauce, so actual carb counts are slightly lower.

This recipe created by Kalyn, and it's been hugely popular on the site!

Nutrition Information:

Yield:

6

Serving Size:

1
Amount Per Serving: Calories: 786 Total Fat: 49g Saturated Fat: 20g Trans Fat: 3g Unsaturated Fat: 26g Cholesterol: 253mg Sodium: 374mg Carbohydrates: 10g Fiber: 1g Sugar: 6g Protein: 76g

Nutrition information is automatically calculated by the Recipe Plug-In I am using. I am not a nutritionist and cannot guarantee 100% accuracy, since many variables affect those calculations.

Low-Carb Balsamic and Onion Pot Roast found on KalynsKitchen.com

Low-Carb Diet / Low-Glycemic Diet / South Beach Diet Suggestions:
With the fat trimmed well and served with the onions, this Low-Carb Balsamic and Onion Pot Roast is suitable for any phase of the original South Beach Diet, and it would also be suitable for most other low-carb eating plans, which may not care about trimming the fat! Balsamic vinegar and onions both have some carbs, so concentrate on the meat and go easy on the sauce if you're making this for a low-carb diet.

Find More Recipes Like This One:
Use Slow Cooker Recipes to find more recipes like this one. Use the Diet Type photo index pages to find more recipes suitable for a specific eating plan. You can also Follow Kalyn's Kitchen on Pinterest to see all the good recipes I'm sharing there. Click for Slow Cooker / Pressure Cooker Recipes on my other site!

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