I have to admit that my easy slow cooker roast recipe was inspired by my own mother. When I was a kid, Sundays meant we had a delicious roast for lunch with leftovers for dinner. Before we left for church my mom put a beef roast in the slow cooker, threw in some potatoes, pearl onions and carrots and set the slow cooker on low. By the time we left Sunday services and arrived home, the whole house was filled with the comforting smell of a traditional Sunday roast.
As a girl, I assumed that this classic comfort food was difficult to prepare. When I made my first roast – by boiling it – I was unhappy with the dry, chewy results and didn’t try to make roast again for a few years.
When I finally remembered that my mom had always used the slow cooker to make our Sunday roast, I tried to make roast again. And boy am I ever glad I did! Slow cooker roast is one of the easiest, most delicious recipes I make for my family.
Tender Slow Cooker Roast Recipe
One of my family’s favorite dinners is slow cooker roast with a side of creamy mashed potatoes. It is filling and always provides leftovers for the next day, which I usually eat with over-easy eggs for breakfast.
I also like to make roast with carrots, potatoes and onions just like my mom used to make.
When we purchase grass-fed beef from our local farmers, I find cooking it in the slow cooker is the best way to prepare it for a tender, flavorful roast. (Find out why I buy grass fed beef and which cuts our farmer included in a quarter-cow purchase.)
With fall weather just around the bend (okay, not for us here in the South, but for my readers who are further up the map) be sure to add this roast recipe to your meal plan.
If you don’t have a meal plan, check out PlanToEat.com. You can add this recipe right to your recipe box via the bookmark feature.

Easy Slow Cooker Roast
Ingredients
- 3-4 lb roast
- 3 tsp salt
- 3 tsp garlic powder
- 3 tsp onion powder
- 4 Tbs butter
- Optional:
- 1 large onion diced (or a bag of frozen pearl onions)
- 1 cup baby carrots
- 1 container of sliced mushrooms
- 2 large or 3 medium russet potatoes chopped
- This roast is also delicious with sprigs of rosemary thyme and a few bay leaves placed in the slow cooker, too. They are completely optional, but worth it.
Instructions
- Place roast in the slow cooker.
- Sprinkle with salt, garlic powder and onion powder.
- If you're adding vegetables, put them on top of the roast.
- Add butter.
- Cook on low for 6 hours.
