French Onion Pot Roast

A classic winter soup meets a comforting braised dinner in this French Onion Pot Roast recipe mash-up. It’s a delicious one-pot meal from the pantry that is full of flavour, and freezer friendly, too.

After the bustle of the holidays, it’s time to sit back and embrace slow cooking with big, luscious flavours. In this recipe, a trusty food processor does most of the work, while the oven transforms the pot roast into a meltingly tender beef dinner

My French onion pot roast has a rather East Coast spin, with our beloved pure maple syrup enhancing the caramelized onions and a generous pour of (homemade) red wine bolstering the broth. The result is a robustly flavoured comfort food meal that’s extremely satisfying on a freezing winter night.

Friends have asked me for this recipe for far too long, as it’s one of my entertaining go-to’s. January feels like the right time to share it with you. So go ahead, stock up on onions, and potatoes too.

French Onion Pot Roast Recipe

Cooking from the pantry is vital in January. We have our favourites, like these 20 Recipes from the Whole Foods Pantry, but I love the way this dish leans heavily on onions…and more onions. Here are a few more reasons we are obsessed with this recipe…

If you love a cozy meal that’s impossible to mess up, this is the dish for you. Oh, and it feeds the whole family with the most delicious leftovers. More tips below on how to transform them into a second dinner.

Another bonus? This recipe is dairy-free and gluten-free (using a mere tablespoon of gf flour). As I am increasingly cooking for friends and family with special diets, each GF/DF recipe is like an ace up my sleeve.

Is this recipe simple? Aside from the onion work, it really is. I love the feeling of sliding the Dutch oven into the stove, knowing that the dish will transform into something sensational over the next three and a half hours.

Ingredients for French Onion Pot Roast

Here’s a breakdown of the ingredients and common substitutions.

• Onions, garlic – just simple yellow onions are required
• Boneless Pot Roast – Chuck roast, one of the easiest cuts of beef to prepare. No home butchery required, just season, sear and send to the oven. Don’t worry if the roast isn’t exactly 3 lbs. A little more or less is a-ok.
• Beef broth – I’ve made my own brown stock, but in this season, I’m reaching for a carton of low-sodium beef broth.
• Wine – this can be optional if you’re doing dry January, although the alcohol does cook off. Just swap out the wine for beef broth. You can also use white wine (traditional in French Onion Soup). I drink mostly red in winter, and so that is what always gets tipped into my braises!
• Flour – this thickens the broth into a luscious gravy. Use all-purpose flour or all-purpose gluten free flour.
• Seasonings – these are your basics: salt, pepper, rosemary and bay leaf. Thyme is more traditional in FO soup but I always have rosemary around and it’s delicious with beef. I tend to use my homemade rosemary salt.
• Maple Syrup – just enough to bring a touch of sweetness and enhance the caramelization on the onions. You can substitute brown sugar if needed.

Caramelizing Onions 101

January is the perfect season to dedicate the time to cook onions slowly, slowly, down to a compote. This cooking method takes patience, but the payoff is well worth the effort.

While I’ve already given you a recipe for caramelized onions, here’s a reminder of the basics, plus a few tips.

• Slice onions very thin. Let a food processor do the work if you can.
• Use a large pot so the onions are not crowded and can cook evenly.
• I use only olive oil (about 2T per 8 onions) as I want to keep the onions dairy-free, but a pat of butter will increase the onions browning.
• Hit them with salt early on, as this helps the onions to release water.
• Cook down for at least 25 -30 minutes. Stirring occasionally.
• Finish with a little maple syrup or brown sugar to help speed up the caramelization.

Using Caramelized Onions

Once you have a batch of caramelized onions, they will keep for days in the fridge or months in the freezer.Here’s what to do with them:

• Pair with eggs: tuck them into quiche or mini quiche. Fold into an omelette. Bake into a frittata.
• Layer them onto focaccia or winter pizza.
• Slather them on burgers and melt cheese on top.
• Use them to help build a better sandwich
• Make a quick pasta with onions and cream.
• Add them to a Ham & Egg breakfast sandwich
• Enhance beef & bean burritos

Chef’s Tip: caramelized onions are an important building block in vegan/vegetarian cooking. They help to build up ‘meaty’ flavours in rustic stews and winter comfort foods. Laura’s French Onion Shepherd’s Pie is a perfect example.

The French Onion Soup Connection

If you really want the dish to be reminiscent of French Onion Soup, try adding a handful of grated Emmental or Gruyere cheese to the mashed potatoes. Serve with quick pickled red onions – trust me on this one. The acidity works well with the rich one pot dinner.

A great do-ahead meal is to assemble the shredded French Onion pot roast into a casserole, then top with mashed potatoes (a layer of peas is always a good option). Finish with a deep layer of both Gruyere and Fontina cheese, grated fine. Bake until bubbly and stretchy; serve with love.

Batch Cooking and Make Ahead

This is one dish that’s even better when made in advance. It’s great for on dinner both busy weeknights and casual weekend gatherings with friends.

Make it, refrigerate it, and reheat gently. The flavours have time to mingle and marry, with delicious results.

If you have a Dutch oven big enough, make a double batch and freeze half. It’s not much more effort.

Pot Roast as Leftovers Repurposed

This recipe serves 6-8 adults, or a family of four, twice. For us it leaves 2-3 cups of juicy beef in onion gravy that is perfect for a pasta dish – and everyone loves that meal even better than the original!

Here’s what I do: Fully shred the French onion pot roast. Gently heat it in a saucepan with 1/2 cup of heavy cream. Add 1 cup of peas, if desired. Boil pasta (fusilli, tagliatelle, etc) and reserve 1/2 cup of the cooking water.

Toss cooked pasta in the creamy beef sauce. Add a handful of chopped parsley. Taste for seasoning. Finish with a squeeze of lemon zest and juice. Serve at once.

Serving French Onion Pot Roast

if you ask my teen boys, mashed potatoes is the best accompaniment for this pot roast. We use my method for the very best mashed potatoes, of course, and the kid pitch in for the peeling and mashing. Change up the flavours when you swap out the mashed potatoes for my whipped sweet potatoes.

Personally, I adore this braised beef served over creamy polenta, with a heap of bold vegetable sides. Bitter broccoli cuts through the richness, as do roasted Brussels sprouts. The most simple is my Lemony Broccoli from Simple Charred Broccoli Three Ways. The lemon adds a welcome hit of acidity to the plate.

If I were to round out this menu for a dinner party, my mind goes to sides of garlicky Butter Roasted Mushrooms and Honey Glazed Brussels Sprouts.