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Cider Braised Pot Roast with Crispy Sage Butter Potatoes. Slow-cooked beef pot roast with caramelized onions, shallots, apple butter, wine, and fresh thyme. If thereโs one comforting fall and winter meal you need to be making, itโs this pot roast. Serve it alongside extra crispy sage brown butter smashed potatoes. This is a one-pot roast and potato dinner that’s the easiest dish you’ll make all week. And also one of the most delicious. A quintessential family dinner for a cold night in. Time to cozy up!
Believe it or not, this is only the second pot roast recipe I’ve shared on this site. Cranberry pot roast is the other. Shockingly, this is my favorite recipe I’ve shared in a while. I’ll share why below, but I really can’t wait to dive into more roast recipes over the next couple of months. Family-style dinners like this one-pot, pot roast are perfect for this busy time of year. Not to mention, they’re great for entertaining.
As a lot of you know, I love to cook the most for the people around me. When my oldest brother suggested a pot roast, I turned my head far away from the idea. But after some begging on his end, I caved and I’m the one who is most happy about it.
This recipe is not only mouth-watering, comforting, and delicious, it makes getting a slow-cooked dinner on the table almost effortless.
Once I decided I was committed to making a pot roast recipe, I also committed to making it the simplest recipe it could be.
I didn’t want to mess with anything fussy. The beauty of a pot roast is, of course, its simplicity. My goal was no fuss yet crazy delicious.
What started out as a recipe I wasn’t sure I wanted to do, ended up being one I’m most excited to share!
It wasnโt easy to capture all the deliciousness of this pot roast but I did my best. The recipe is so yummy!
Step 1: season the pot roast
Before you begin, season the roast well with salt and pepper. Then rub the roast all over with flour.
The flour will thicken the gravy over time so donโt skip it. If needed, feel free to use gluten-free flour.
Step 2: the onions
Now that you took care of the pot roast, start the onions. The key here is to slice them and use A LOT.
Toss the onions in a large Dutch oven that you can transfer to the oven. Let them cook along with the shallots in a little butter. You just want to get the cooking started but donโt fully cook the onions.
Step 3: roast the pot roast
The rest of this process is so easy. Put the roast on top of the onions and rub the top of the pot roast with apple butter.
You can use homemade or store-bought apple butter. The apple butter is important. It adds a sweet, spiced autumn touch that’s delicious with all the onions and shallots. The apple butter will also help the roast caramelize in the oven. Itโs wonderful.
Pour over the apple cider, add the wine, or feel free to use bone or chicken broth. Then add fresh thyme.
I chose not to sear the pot roast. It cooks beautifully in the oven atop the onions and I found it to be perfect.
Step 4: the potatoes
Before you slide the pot roast into the oven, place 6 to 8 small to medium potatoes around the pot roast. I love to use buttery Yukon gold potatoes, but use your favorite, or what you have on hand.
Cover the pot roast, and start cooking. If you’re using the oven, this takes around three hours.
The potatoes cook at the very same time, and all in one pot! Woohoo!
Step 5: finish the potatoes
I will not deny it, these potatoes are reason enough to make this recipe. Because they’re slow-cooked in with the cider, their flavor and texture are most delicious.
Pull the potatoes off the roast and place them onto a baking sheet. Smash them down with a potato masher. Add pats of butter on and around the potatoes, then garlic powder and fresh sage.
Roast the smashed potatoes until they are very crispy. The butter naturally browns around each potato. Itโs almost magical and most definitely the yummiest!!
Step 6: finish the roast
While the potatoes cook, cook the pot roast. This time leave uncovered until the roast is deeply caramelized on top. The potatoes and pot roast will both be ready around the same time!
Step 7: serve and enjoy
Finally, serve the roast, which should be tender and falling apart into the gravy and onions in the pot.
Serve up those crispy salty potatoes on the side.
The most perfect family dinner, so hands off too.
Of course, I served this with beer bread and a big salad! Great for Sunday nights all fall and winter long.
I know I already said this, but this really is my favorite recipe right now. Itโs so effortless and the potatoes really make the recipe perfect. I’m so excited for you all to make this soon!!
Lastly, if you make this Cider Braised Pot Roast with Crispy Sage Butter Potatoes, be sure to leave a comment and/or give this recipe a rating! Above all, I love to hear from you guys and always do my best to respond to each and every comment. And of course, if you do make this recipe, donโt forget to tag me on Instagram! Looking through the photos of recipes you all have made is my favorite!
Nutritional information is only an estimate. The accuracy of the nutritional information for any recipe on this site is not guaranteed.
Delish! I wasnโt going to go the extra mile and roast the potatoes with butter and sage but I am so glad I did. The family raved all during dinner about how good this was. Couldnโt find apple butter, didnโt miss it.
Hey Jennifer,
Awesome!! Love to hear this recipe turned out nicely for you, thanks for making it! Hope you are enjoying fall! XxT
Holy moly. Iโm a bit of a pot roast snob. Theyโre all just OK. But this was rich and so tasty! The cider, white wine and apple butter is brilliant! I loved, especially how easy this was. Perfect Christmas dinner!
Lol thank you so much, Suzy! So glad you enjoyed this dish:) xx
Just put the roast in the oven. I started to add the liquids but didnโt think I should cover up the top of the roast otherwise the apple butter would be washed off and the meat would be submerged by a good bit of liquid. Are the roast and apple butter supposed to be under liquid.
Hey Bonnie,
Thanks for making this recipe! The entire roast is not fully submerged, you could view the video above for more of a reference. I hope this helps! xT
Making this AGAIN tonight… so delicious and flavorful and easy to put together. I use the crock pot as I will be away all day
Hi Mary Ann,
So glad to hear this recipe turned out well for you, I appreciate you making it! Have a great fall Friday! xT
Memorable dish!
Thanks so much, Sherie! I appreciate you trying this recipe and your feedback, so glad it turned out well! Xx
Was very attracted to the no sear method, and did not miss that step one bit!!!! Holy moly a big winner. Made in a Dutch oven in the oven. Only mistake I made was that I put the 5T of butter in to sautรฉ the onions ๐ a very happy accident ๐ ALSO omitted the apple butter because I didnโt have it. Sprinkled some brown sugar over top of the roasts (had 2 2.2lb roasts, kept the recipe the same though)
Hey Jess,
Awesome! Thanks so much for trying this recipe and your comment! Glad to hear it was enjoyed. Have a great week! x
This is amazing! I seared my meat also added and apple. Served it with egg noodles. We ate the potato on another night they were incredible! Loved the sage and brown butter. The apple butter really made it.
Hey JoJo,
Yay! So glad to hear you enjoyed this recipe, thanks for giving it a try! Happy fall weekend! xT
Iโm an avid HBH follower but Iโm so sad to say this recipe just didnโt turn out as planned, at all ๐ the meat was not as tender as Iโd had hoped, we needed to cut it with a knife. The liquid didnโt thicken at all either. It just didnโt seem like a pot roast. I slow cooked in the crockpot on low for 6 hours. Iโm not sure what I could have done wrong. That being said it wasnโt bad, it tasted good but was a bit of a let down. Would love to give it another shot if I figure out what I did wrong.
Hey Deanna,
Thanks so much for making this dish and sharing your feedback! So very sorry to hear it didn’t turn out as good as you would have liked. I wonder if you would have better results using the oven method next time! Let me know:) xT
Hi! I suspect that it might need to slow cook for 8 hours instead of 6 like the recipe says. At least thatโs what most roast recipes say. Also, I donโt think the sauce will thicken without whisking in some corn starch. Iโm trying both of these tomorrow when I make it.
I wasnโt sure how I would feel about the beef/apple combo, but this recipe was absolutely fantastic. Will definitely be making this again.
Hey Taryn,
Wonderful! So glad to hear this recipe was enjoyed, thanks for making it! Have a great Monday! x
This was so good! I made it in a le creuset pot and it turned out perfectly! We have a local orchard so I could get fresh cider! Thank you for such a delicious recipe! It was perfect for a rainy night!!
Hey Lynda,
Happy Monday! So glad to hear this recipe turned out well for you, thanks for making it! xT