Slow Cooker Pot Roast and Leftover Cheese Steak Sandwiches

So, first up is the pot roast. I love how pot roast turns out in the crock pot, always tender and full of flavor. The house was smelling so good all day while this was cooking. I didn’t have celery in the house when I was making this so I used sliced onions instead. Don’t eat both roasts for dinner…save one for your sandwiches.

Slow Cooker Pot Roast
Recipe from Southern Living

2 (2 1/4- to 2 1/2-lb.) eye-of-round roasts, trimmed
2 teaspoons salt
1 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
1 tablespoon vegetable oil
1 (1-lb.) package baby carrots
1 (14.5-oz.) can petite diced tomatoes
1 cup chopped celery
1 cup beef broth
1/2 cup dry red wine
4 garlic cloves, chopped
1 teaspoon dried thyme leaves
1/2 teaspoon dried marjoram

1. Rub roasts evenly with 2 tsp. salt and 1 tsp. pepper.

2. Brown roasts on all sides in hot oil in a Dutch oven over medium-high heat (about 10 minutes). Place roasts, side by side, in a 6-qt. slow cooker. Add carrots and remaining ingredients.

3. Cook, covered, on LOW 10 to 12 hours or until tender. Remove roasts from slow cooker; shred 1 roast, and serve with 2 cups vegetable-and-gravy mixture. Shred remaining roast. Store remaining roast and 2 cups vegetable-and-gravy mixture in separate airtight containers in refrigerator up to 3 days or freeze up to 2 months.

Slow-cooker Chuck Roast: Substitute 1 (3 1/4- to 3 3/4-lb.) chuck roast, trimmed, for eye-of-round roasts; reduce salt to 1 tsp; dried thyme leaves to 1/2 tsp.; and dried marjoram to 1/4 tsp. Prepare recipe as directed through Step 2. Cook, covered, on LOW 10 to 12 hours or until tender. Remove roast and vegetables, and shred meat. Pour gravy mixture from slow cooker into a 4-cup measuring cup or fat strainer, and let stand 15 minutes. Spoon or pour fat out of gravy mixture in cup or fat strainer, and discard. Serve gravy with shredded roast and carrots.

Next up is Cheesesteak-Style Sandwiches using the leftover meat from your roast. Cooking up a double batch up front makes this second dinner a breeze. Just saute up some onions and peppers, put everything on some rolls and throw them under the broiler for a few minutes for some great sandwiches that everyone will love.

Cheesesteak-Style Sandwiches
Recipe from Southern Living

1 medium-size sweet onion, sliced
1 small red bell pepper, sliced (Instead of bell peppers, I used Cubanelles and Poblanos)
1 small green bell pepper, sliced
1/2 teaspoon vegetable oil
1/2 teaspoon Creole seasoning
1 tablespoon Worcestershire sauce
1 cooked and shredded slow cooker pot roast
5 (6-inch) hoagie rolls, split
10 provolone cheese slices (about 6 oz.)
2 cups slow cooker pot roast gravy

1. Sauté first 3 ingredients in hot oil in a large nonstick skillet over medium-high heat 15 minutes or until golden brown. Sprinkle with Creole seasoning and Worcestershire sauce.

2. Spoon shredded pot roast and bell pepper mixture evenly onto bottoms of split rolls, and top with provolone cheese; replace tops of split rolls. Place sandwiches on a baking sheet.

3. Broil 6 inches from heat 2 to 3 minutes or until cheese is melted and top of rolls are toasted.

4. Microwave Slow-cooker Pot Roast gravy in a glass measuring cup at HIGH 1 to 1 1/2 minutes or until thoroughly heated. Serve sandwiches with gravy for dipping and potato chips. Garnish, if desired.

Remember the Grilled Sweet Potato Salad I made a couple of weeks ago? Well, I wasn’t in the mood to grill the other night so I roasted the potatoes instead and served them the same way. They came out great and it was actually a lot easier!