Cola Pot Roast

Beef

Nov 27

This is one of my favorite pot roasts! Loaded with flavor from the overnight marinade, veggies, and slow cooked beef, what could be better? I love making it for family and friends, especially during the holidays. It’s such a comforting meal that leaves you full and happy! Serve over buttered noodles with a nice red wine and you’ve got a classic Sunday dinner that looks just as spectacular as it tastes.

How long can you marinade the beef? Ideally overnight, however anywhere from 8 hours - 24 hours for best results. Marinading the beef helps break down the muscle fibers, making for a more tender and flavorful roast. You do not want to over marinade it, as your beef will start to lose its texture after 24 hours, making the meat mushy

Why use cola? The cola soda is used to help tenderize the meat, yielding a roast that is super tender and practically falls apart as you cut it. I haven’t tried using diet cola yet, but I don’t think I would recommend it. For the reason that the ingredients used to make the cola diet could produce a different taste in the finished roast

Do you have to blend in some potatoes and carrots into the gravy? No, you do not. It’s up to you, but I personally like the flavor and texture it adds. Plus the starch from the potatoes and carrots help thicken up the gravy, which in turn uses less cornstarch to do so

Why use foil and the dutch oven lid? This helps keep all the steam in the dutch oven as the roast cooks. Most lids still let out a little steam out the sides, so to ensure most steams stays inside adding a layer of foil to the top and tightly securing around the sides of the pan before placing the lid on top, helps with this

Ingredients

3 1/2 - 4 lbs boneless chuck eye roast or sirloin tip roast, trimmed
1 onion, chopped
10 garlic cloves, minced
3/4 cup soy sauce
1 - 12 ounce can of cola soda
4 tbsp olive oil, divided
1 tbsp lemon juice
1 lb baby carrots
5 potatoes, peeled and cubed
2 celery ribs, chopped
1 1/2 tbsp cornstarch
Salt & Pepper to taste

Instructions:

In a gallon size zip lock bag add beef, onion, garlic, soy sauce, cola, 2 tbsp olive oil and lemon juice. Remove air and seal bag. Refrigerate beef overnight, making sure to turn occasionally so all areas of the beef is fully marinaded
Preheat oven to 300 degrees F. Heat a dutch oven over medium high heat and add in remaining 2 tbsp olive oil. Once oil is hot, add in beef, searing on all sides until browned. Pour marinade from the zip lock bag into the dutch oven and stir, scraping the bottom of the pan with a wooden spoon to loosen the browned bits (this will give you lots of flavor!). Bring the marinade to a boil and cover the dutch oven with a sheet of foil and securing it tightly around the sides. Place the lid on top and put the roast into preheated oven. Bake for 2 1/2 - 3 hours
Remove roast from oven. Turn the roast and add in carrots, potatoes, and celery. Place the lid back on and bake for another 2 hours or until beef and vegetables are fork tender. Transfer beef and 3/4th of vegetables to a serving platter or large shallow bowl
Skim the fat from the remaining juices in the pan. In a small bowl, mix together cornstarch and 1/4 cup of the juices together. Place the dutch oven over medium heat and add in the cornstarch slurry. Using an immersion blender, purée the vegetables while mixing the cornstarch and juices together until the gravy is thickened. Pour some over the roast and serve the remaining gravy on the side with buttered noodles