Mississippi Pot Roast is juicy, tender and full of flavor after slow cooking in a ranch and au jus seasoning mix with pepperoncini peppers! Just 6 ingredients and 10 minutes of prep!
Like the rest of the world, I’m obsessed with Mississippi Pot Roast! It is one of the easiest ways to get a tender, flavorful roast on the table and it’s a foolproof recipe that you really can’t mess up!
We’ve shared our Mississippi Chicken before, but we’d never gotten around to sharing this classic, mostly because you’ll find it on just about every other website out there. But, we decided it didn’t matter – this Mississippi pot roast recipe is too good to not have a permanent home here on Buns In My Oven!
We love making this in the slow cooker. It turns out so tender and flavorful, the meat just falls apart when it’s done, and your house will smell amazing. We’ve also made Instant Pot Mississippi Pot Roast, if you’re in a hurry though!
This is delicious served over a pile of mashed potaotes, but we also have a recipe for Mississippi Pot Roast Sliders and Mississippi Beef and Noodles!
Table of Contents
Why is it called Mississippi Roast?
If you are wondering why it is called Mississippi pot roast the answer is pretty much what you’d expect. A person in Mississippi came up with the recipe, it became really popular, and the rest is history!
And the best part is the combination of Au Jus mix and ranch seasoning can be used with more than just chuck roast. Mississippi pork roast and Mississippi chicken are just as good!
Ingredient Notes:
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Chuck Roast – You’ll need about a 3 to 4 pound chuck roast. Look for a well marbled roast at your favorite meat market or butcher shop!
Ranch Seasoning Mix – Be sure to use ranch seasoning mix and not ranch dip mix. They both come in little packets, but the dip mix has a lot more sodium and will make for a saltier roast.
Au Jus Gravy Mix – This is a little packet of seasonings that adds loads of savory flavor to the roast.
Butter – We like to top the roast off with some butter and the pepperoncini. It’ll melt and add flavor to the meat, and to the savory juice, which is perfect for spooning over the pot roast when serving!
Jarred Pepperoncini – Don’t skip these! The pot roast itself won’t be spicy. You can choose to serve the peppers or discard them after cooking, but don’t skip them because they do add something special to the recipe.
Pepperoncini Juice – You’ll get this from the jar of peppers. Add half a cup of the juice with the roast to add moisture, and most of all, flavor!
Crockpot Recommendation!
In the market for a new slow cooker? We love this 7 quart Crockpot. It’s simple to use, cooks evenly, and is very budget friendly. Plus, it has a 4 1/2 star rating with over 5,000 reviews on Amazon!
What We Love About This Recipe:
- It’s nice to just add everything to the slow cooker and let it go to work cooking dinner while you go about your day.
- You can easily switch it up and make this same recipe in an Instant Pot or the oven. See below for more details.
- This savory beef is so tender and flavorful. Perfect over mashed potatoes or rice, or give it a try on a bun as a sandwich.
Karly’s Tips for Perfect Pot Roast:
Don’t skip these simple steps. They’re the key to a tender and flavorful roast!
- Sear – The low slow cooking of the crockpot isn’t enough to sear the meat. Toss it in a skillet on high heat and sear each side to lock in all that flavor!
- Low & Slow – Keep your crockpot on low and cook for 8 hours for perfectly tender chuck roast!
- Gravy – It’s optional but why not turn all that juice into a savory gravy? Add a cornstarch slurry to thicken up the juices in the crockpot. Just mix 2 tablespoons of water with 2 tablespoons of cornstarch and then stir it into the slow cooker. Let cook for 30 minutes or so to thicken up.
How to Make Mississippi Pot Roast:
Sear: Searing the beef in a bit of oil before adding it to the crockpot will add extra flavor. This step can be skipped if you’re in a rush, but we like to take the time when possible.
My Favorite Skillet!
Cast iron skillets are my favorite! They heat so evenly, get piping hot for searing, and nothing is better than bacon fried in a cast iron skillet.
Season: After you’ve seared the chuck roast place it into your crockpot and then sprinkle on the ranch seasoning and au jus gravy mix! Top with pieces of butter.
Peppers: Place the peppers over the top and pour in some of the juice from the jar.
Helpful Tip!
The peppers in this recipe after slow cooking are only mildly spicy and it really cooks out and just leaves a little pop of flavor. If you’re worried about spiciness you don’t have to add as many. They add lots of flavor though, so if you like that kind of thing use plenty!
Slow Cook: Cover the crockpot and cook on high for 4-6 hours or low for 8-10 hours. That should be plenty of time to get it perfectly fork tender, but you can let it cook longer if it isn’t tender yet!
Serve: When the Mississippi pot roast has finished slow cooking and the meat is fork tender you can remove it from the crockpot and shred it up or slice it! All that juice left in the crockpot is perfect for serving over the roast.
I’d also recommend trying this roast with the juice served over my baked mashed potatoes or Instant Pot mashed potatoes with a side of air fryer carrots!
Additional Cooking Methods:
I love the crockpot because it always makes perfectly fork tender and juicy meals! But it can take awhile. There are a couple of other methods that’ll work just as well with this recipe!
Instant Pot Mississippi Pot Roast – This recipe works the same way in the Instant Pot, just a lot faster! It’ll take about an hour on high pressure with a 15 minute release. I’ve linked to a keto recipe that is similar!
My Favorite Instant Pot!
I absolutely love my Instant Pot! It’s great for recipes quick pot roast recipes, to cook perfect rice, cook chicken to shred (the best!), and so much more.
Mississippi Pot Roast in the Oven – This will take a bit longer than the Instant Pot but it’s still a little quicker than a slow cooker. I’d recommend roasting this in a Dutch oven at 275 degrees for 3-4 hours or until it is fork tender.
I think that slow cooker pot roast is a little more forgiving and usually results in tender and juicy roast. There is a bit more risk of the roast drying out and not being fork tender when you bake it in the oven.
My Favorite Dutch Oven!
This gorgeous Dutch oven is perfect for making soup, pot roast, and more. It goes from stove to oven as needed and looks pretty enough to leave out on your stovetop as decoration.
Love veggies? Try our Mississippi Pot Roast with potatoes and carrots!
Too Salty?
If you’re watching your sodium intake you’ll want to choose carefully the seasonings that are used in this recipe. There are some lower sodium options available!
Au Jus Mix / Brown Gravy Mix – I like the Au Jus seasoning mix for this recipe but brown gravy mix is similar and it generally has a lower sodium content! Check the back of the packages and choose the one with the least amount of sodium.
Ranch Seasoning / Ranch Dip Mix – I’m using ranch seasoning mix and that’s what you’ll want to use too. Ranch dip mix has a much higher sodium content than the seasoning. If you’re really watching sodium, use a homemade ranch seasoning instead.
Leftover Hack!
You can turn leftover Mississippi pot roast into all kinds of wonderful leftover meals! Make tacos, quesadillas, sliders, or sandwiches with your leftover roast.
FAQs:
Yep! It should last 4-5 days in a sealed container in the fridge. Reheat in the microwave or on the stove.
We use and love chuck roast for our Mississippi pot roast recipe. It’s so tender and flavorful after slow cooking in our mix of seasonings all day.
MORE CROCKPOT RECIPES!
- Mississippi Pork Roast
- Crockpot Apple Butter
- Slow Cooker Pork Chops
- Crockpot Lasagna
- Crockpot Ribs
- Crock Pot Vegetable Beef Soup
Mississippi Pot Roast
Ingredients
- 3-4 pounds chuck roast
- 1 tablespoon oil
- 1 packet ranch seasoning mix
- 1 packet au jus seasoning
- ¼ cup butter
- 6 pepperoncini peppers plus ½ cup juice from jar
Instructions
- Heat the oil in a large, heavy bottomed skillet, such as cast iron and then add the roast and sear on all sides.
- Place the roast in a 6 quart crockpot and sprinkle on the ranch and au jus seasoning.
- Slice the butter into 4 pieces and arrange over the pot roast. Top with the peppers and pour the juice from the jar into the bottom of the crockpot.
- Cover and cook on high for 4 hours or low for 8 hours. Continue cooking until pot roast easily shreds apart with a fork – this may take more or less time depending on how hot your crockpot runs.
- Remove the pot roast from the slow cooker and shred or slice. Spoon juices from the crockpot over the roast before serving.
Melanie says
I loved the flavor, but it came out very greasy. The cut I used was labeled chuck roast, but I’m wondering what I should be looking for in a good roast. Maybe I should trim some of the fat? I love red meat, but I’m not knowledgible about it!
Karly says
Hi Melanie! Chuck roast does have quite a bit of fat on it. You can trim it if you don’t like that or try a leaner cut of beef, such as round roast.
Megba says
I have this in the crockpot now, only I added diced red potatoes and baby carrots. Can’t wait to dig in!
Karly says
Enjoy!
Jeanne says
Can this be made with a pork roast?
Karly says
Yep, it sure can! Just use a similar weight. 🙂
Kathy says
This is one of my favorite slow cooker recipes. I use the sliced peppers instead of the whole ones and then put on them on mashed potatoes with the juice. For an extra kick, I add about a 1/3 of a cup of the brine from the pepperoncini peppers. Delicious!!!
Karly says
Yum!! Sounds perfect!
Deron says
One of the best crockpot recipes I have ever had. The flavor of the meat was great, and had a little bit of spice from the pepperoncini (which i removed before I shredded the meat). Perfect compliment to my mashed potatoes.
Karly says
So glad you enjoyed the recipe! Thanks for the review!
Jenn F says
I don’t have any pepperoncini but I do have spicy banana pepper rings. Do you think they would work?
Karly says
Yep, those should work just fine!
rick reed says
Do people in Mississippi know this is their recipe? Its very good
Karly says
I have no idea. Haha!
Cat and DOG Chat With Caren says
I have made this recipe before and it IS delicious!!! Lots of sodium in it (for those like me who have to watch), but it IS extremely flavorful and delicious! (my recipe came from another website)