Coke Pot Roast is a chuck roast seared in butter, then slow cooked in a can of cola with Worcestershire sauce, onion soup mix, brown gravy mix and garlic, with baby potatoes and carrots all around it. After 8 hours on low, the beef falls apart with a fork and the cola has cooked down into a savory, slightly sweet gravy. It serves 4.
How to make it: Season the roast with a simple spice rub and sear both sides in a hot skillet. Move it to the slow cooker with the potatoes, carrots and onion, pour over a sauce of cola, Worcestershire, soup mix, gravy mix and garlic, and cook on low for 8 hours or high for 6.
Why You’ll Love It
- Fall-apart tender: a long, slow cook turns an inexpensive chuck roast soft enough to shred.
- Gravy made for you: the cola, soup mix and gravy mix cook into a rich sauce for the meat and potatoes.
- A whole dinner in one pot: the potatoes and carrots cook right alongside the roast.
- 10 minutes of work: season, sear, stir the sauce, and the slow cooker does the rest.
Ingredient Notes
Chuck roast: A 3-pound boneless chuck roast, fully thawed. Chuck is the best cut for this, but any beef roast works.
Cola: One 12-ounce can of regular cola. Don’t use diet: the sugar in regular cola is what the recipe counts on to tenderize the meat.
Spice rub: A teaspoon each of salt, black pepper, smoked paprika, onion powder and garlic powder, rubbed on both sides.
Sauce: Two tablespoons of Worcestershire sauce, a 1-ounce packet of beefy onion soup mix, a 1-ounce packet of brown gravy mix and 4 cloves of minced garlic, whisked into the cola.
Vegetables: A pound and a half of baby potatoes, halved, 4 carrots cut into pieces and a sliced onion.
Butter: Two tablespoons for searing. Oil works too.
Ingredients
- 3 pounds boneless beef chuck roast, thawed in the refrigerator
- 2 tablespoons butter (salted or unsalted; oil also works)
- 1 1/2 pounds baby potatoes, halved
- 4 carrots, cut into pieces
- 1 onion, sliced
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 1 teaspoon black pepper
- 1 teaspoon smoked paprika
- 1 teaspoon onion powder
- 1 teaspoon garlic powder
- 12 ounces cola (1 can, regular, not diet)
- 2 tablespoons Worcestershire sauce
- 1 ounce beefy onion soup mix (1 packet)
- 1 ounce brown gravy mix (1 packet)
- 4 cloves garlic, minced
- Fresh parsley, chopped, for garnish (optional)
How to Make Coke Pot Roast
1. Mix the rub. Stir the salt, black pepper, smoked paprika, onion powder and garlic powder together in a small bowl. Season both sides of the chuck roast with all of it.
2. Sear the roast. Melt the butter in a large skillet over medium-high heat. Add the roast and sear until brown, then flip it and brown the other side. You are not cooking it through, just building color and flavor. Turn off the heat and move the roast to a 5- to 6-quart slow cooker.
3. Add the vegetables. Place the baby potatoes, carrots and sliced onion around the roast.
4. Mix the sauce. In a separate bowl, whisk together the cola, Worcestershire sauce, onion soup mix, gravy mix and garlic. The cola will fizz, so mix it slowly. Pour the sauce over the roast and vegetables.
5. Slow cook. Cover and cook on low for 8 hours or on high for 6 hours, until the meat is tender and falls apart. Keep the lid on while it cooks. When the time is up, check that the roast has reached at least 145°F on a food thermometer.
6. Rest and shred. Let the roast rest for at least 3 minutes, then shred it a little with two forks. Top with chopped parsley if you like and serve with the vegetables and sauce.
What Cola Does to a Pot Roast
A pot roast using Coke sounds like a gimmick, but the soda does two jobs here.
It helps tenderize the beef. Recipes for this roast rely on the cola to make the meat tender, and the long, low cook finishes the job. That’s why the soda has to be regular, full-sugar cola: it’s the sugar that does the work, so a diet cola won’t give you the same roast.
It flavors the gravy. As the roast cooks, the cola’s sugars cook down and blend with the Worcestershire, onion and garlic. The result is a savory sauce with a subtle, caramelized sweetness. It doesn’t taste like soda.
| Do | Why |
|---|---|
| Use regular cola | Its sugars are what tenderize the meat |
| Whisk the sauce slowly | The cola fizzes up when you stir in the mixes |
| Sear both sides first | The browning builds flavor; don’t rush it |
| Keep the lid on | Opening it lets out steam, so the roast takes longer and turns out less tender |
| Check 145°F, then rest 3 minutes | USDA FSIS minimum for beef roasts; then cook on until it pulls apart |
Tips for Success
Thaw the roast first
Always thaw meat completely before it goes into a slow cooker. USDA FSIS says to thaw it in the refrigerator, which takes a day or two for a roast this size, so plan ahead.
Give it the full time
The longer it cooks, the more tender the meat gets. If it doesn’t shred easily when the time is up, it needs more time, not less.
Skim the gravy
The cooking liquid has a layer of fat on top. Spoon it off before serving, or chill the liquid overnight and lift off the hardened fat. You can simmer the liquid in a saucepan to thicken it, or serve it as it is.
Variations
- Creamy: sprinkle a packet of dry onion soup mix over the roast, then pour over a can of cream of mushroom soup mixed with a 12-ounce can of cola, and cook with the potatoes and carrots around it on low for 6 to 8 hours. Cream of chicken, cream of celery or cream of onion soup work too.
- In the oven: sear the roast, put it in a large roasting pan with the vegetables around it, pour the sauce over, cover and cook at 350°F for 4 to 5 hours, until it pulls apart. That timing is for a 5-pound roast, so start checking a smaller one sooner.
- Dutch oven, with broth: brown a 4-pound chuck roast in a Dutch oven, add 2 cups of beef broth, 12 ounces of cola, garlic, sautéed onion and rosemary, stir in 2 tablespoons of tomato paste, and cook covered at 325°F for 3 1/2 hours. Keep the liquid at least a third of the way up the roast, adding more broth if needed.
- Stew meat: use beef stew meat in place of the roast.
Storage & Reheating
Cut leftover roast into smaller pieces so it cools quickly, and refrigerate it within 2 hours in shallow covered containers. USDA FSIS says leftovers keep 3 to 4 days in the refrigerator or 3 to 4 months in the freezer. Thaw frozen roast in the refrigerator.
Reheat the meat and vegetables to 165°F on the stove, in the microwave or in the oven, and bring the gravy to a rolling boil. Don’t reheat leftovers in a slow cooker.
What to Serve With It
Spoon the roast and gravy over mashed potatoes, or serve them with warm butter biscuits for mopping up the sauce. Garlic Parmesan mashed potato cups make a fun side for company. For more slow-cooked beef, try a slow cooker pot roast with gravy, a slow cooker Amish pot roast, a 3-ingredient dark beer beef roast or a slow-cooked balsamic chuck roast.
Frequently Asked Questions
What does adding Coke to a roast do?
It helps tenderize the beef, and its sugars cook down into the gravy, giving it a subtle caramelized sweetness that blends with the savory seasonings.
Can I use diet cola?
No. The sugar in regular cola is what tenderizes the meat, so use full-sugar cola.
Can I put a frozen roast in the slow cooker?
No. Thaw it completely in the refrigerator first. A frozen roast stays too long at unsafe temperatures in a slow cooker.
What’s the best cut for Coke pot roast?
A boneless chuck roast. It gets tender and shreds easily after a long, slow cook. Any beef roast works, and so does beef stew meat.
Can I make it in the oven?
Yes. Sear the roast, put it in a covered roasting pan with the vegetables and sauce, and cook at 350°F until it pulls apart, 4 to 5 hours for a 5-pound roast.
Final Notes
Set the roast to thaw in the refrigerator a day or two ahead, and the morning of, it only takes 10 minutes to get it going. If you make it, tell me in the comments what you served it with.
Coke Pot Roast
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Ingredients
- 3 pounds beef chuck roast boneless, thawed in the refrigerator
- 2 tablespoons butter salted or unsalted; oil also works
- 1 1/2 pounds baby potatoes halved
- 4 carrots cut into pieces
- 1 onion sliced
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 1 teaspoon black pepper
- 1 teaspoon smoked paprika
- 1 teaspoon onion powder
- 1 teaspoon garlic powder
- 12 ounces cola 1 can, regular, not diet
- 2 tablespoons Worcestershire sauce
- 1 ounce beefy onion soup mix 1 packet
- 1 ounce brown gravy mix 1 packet
- 4 cloves garlic minced
- fresh parsley chopped, for garnish, optional
Instructions
- Stir the salt, black pepper, smoked paprika, onion powder and garlic powder together in a small bowl. Season both sides of the chuck roast with all of it.
- Melt the butter in a large skillet over medium-high heat. Add the roast and sear until brown, then flip it and brown the other side. You are not cooking it through, just building color and flavor. Turn off the heat and move the roast to a 5- to 6-quart slow cooker.
- Place the baby potatoes, carrots and sliced onion around the roast.
- In a separate bowl, whisk together the cola, Worcestershire sauce, onion soup mix, gravy mix and garlic. The cola will fizz, so mix it slowly. Pour the sauce over the roast and vegetables.
- Cover and cook on low for 8 hours or on high for 6 hours, until the meat is tender and falls apart. Keep the lid on while it cooks. When the time is up, check that the roast has reached at least 145°F on a food thermometer.
- Let the roast rest for at least 3 minutes, then shred it a little with two forks. Top with chopped parsley if you like and serve with the vegetables and sauce.
Notes
Nutrition
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