Mississippi Pot Roast will be your new favorite crockpot meal! Just add beef, seasoning packets, butter, and pepperoncini peppers to the slow cooker. Let it cook, and you’ll get tender meat in a rich gravy.
What Is Mississippi Pot Roast?
Think — your favorite pot roast, but with a unique twist! This roast begins (like most others) with a beef chuck roast and is then seasoned with two seasoning packets — ranch and au jus. We add a little butter on top, some pepperoncini peppers, and a little liquid from the jar. And that’s it!
Set the slow cooker to cook and before you know it you’ll be rewarded with deeply flavorful and ridiculously tender meat. This may just be your new favorite meal!
By the way: when we use the term ‘crockpot,’ we’re referring generically to slow cookers. Crock-pot is a registered trademark of the Rival Corporation, but has entered into our language as a word that describes any and all slow cookers.
Mississippi Pot Roast FAQs
What does Mississippi Pot Roast taste like?
The meat is tender and salty with a slight tang from the pepperoncini, which balances the rich beef. This tasty pot roast is a fun twist on the usual potatoes-and-carrots crockpot roast.
Why is my Mississippi Pot Roast tough?
The roast likely needs more time to cook. Cook until the meat shreds easily with two forks.
Also, use the right cut of meat—chuck works best, while other roasts may not.
What can you substitute for pepperoncini peppers in Mississippi Pot Roast?
Banana peppers are a great substitute!
They add acidity, and their brine helps tenderize the meat, so don’t leave them out.
Can I cook Mississippi Pot Roast on high?
You can, but the meat doesn’t turn out as tender and succulent.
How To Make Mississippi Pot Roast
The full recipe card is below; here are our top tips for this recipe:
- Don’t skip searing the beef. This adds a nice crust which will create a much deeper flavor and yield a better texture of meat.
- In our humble opinion, a beef chuck roast — especially a well-marbled one–is the best roast for this recipe! The beef cooks to be so tender, it literally falls apart.
- Use good seasoning mixes. We like Hidden Valley Ranch®’s seasoning mix best (not sponsored) and have found other ranch packets to lack flavor or be too salty. McCormick® makes our favorite au jus seasoning packet.
Quick Tip
To Make As Mississippi Pot Roast Instant Pot Version, try this recipe
What To Serve With Mississippi Pot Roast
- Potatoes. Probably the most traditional way is with Mashed Potatoes (or try these Crockpot Mashed Potatoes), but you can’t go wrong with potatoes in any form — these Smashed Potatoes and these Roasted Potatoes are excellent sides. Or whip up a Baked Potato, mash the insides a little, and spoon the meat and juices right on top!
- Roasted veggies. The meat is very rich, so it’s nice to offset that a bit with some color and crunch. Try one of the following on the side: Roasted Broccoli, Roasted Carrots, Roasted Asparagus, Roasted Green Beans, or Roasted Cauliflower.
- Salad. Some crunchy lettuce with fresh veggies is another welcome side to offset the meat’s richness. Try our favorite Caesar salad, Italian Salad, Garden Salad, or Olive Garden Salad.
- Crusty buttered bread. Crusty bread or warmed Dinner Rolls are the best to sop up the extra sauce from this Mississippi Pot Roast recipe!
Our Favorite Way To Use Leftovers
Similar to this French Dip Sandwich recipe, we love piling the leftover meat on a buttered bun, topping it with Provolone cheese, and broiling it in the oven until toasty and cheese is melted. Dip the sandwich in the juices left behind in the crockpot. You’ve got to give these Mississippi Pot Roast Sandwiches a try — they’re a favorite in our home!
More Easy Crockpot Recipes
- Crockpot Cajun Chicken with loads of veggies
- Crockpot BBQ Pulled Pork with the best chipotle-honey BBQ sauce
- Taco Chili with ranch seasoning mix
- Crockpot Sloppy Joes with loads of “hidden” veggies
- Crockpot Cowboy Casserole with potatoes and kidney beans
Mississippi Pot Roast
Equipment
- 6-quart or larger slow cooker
Ingredients
- 2 tablespoons olive oil
- 1 (3 lbs.) boneless beef chuck roast
- 1 (1 oz) Ranch salad dressing & seasoning mix see note 1
- 1 (1 oz) Au Jus gravy mix
- 4 tablespoons unsalted butter
- 10 pepperoncini peppers (plus 1/2 cup of brine/surrounding liquid)
- For serving: mashed potatoes or crusty sandwich rolls and Provolone cheese
Instructions
- PREP BEEF: Remove beef from packaging and pat all over with a paper towel to thoroughly dry. We don't need to season the meat here because there is so much salt in the seasoning mixes!
- CHAR BEEF: See Note 2. Warm 2 tablespoons of olive oil in a large Dutch oven (or oven-safe, heavy-bottomed pot) over medium-high heat. Once you can feel the heat when you hold your hand 6 inches above the pot, load in the beef. Brown for about 5 minutes or until you get a nice crust and it releases easily from the pan when lifted. Flip and brown for another 5 minutes. Don't skip this step-- we are adding layers of flavor here. Once the beef is nicely seared with a good crust, remove it from the Dutch oven and place it in the slow cooker. Reduce heat to low and pour 1/2 cup pepperoncini brine into the Dutch oven. Stir and scrape off any browned bits left behind (loads of flavor!), and then scrape every bit into the slow cooker.
- SEASON: In the slow cooker, sprinkle the entire packages of ranch and au jus seasoning mixes right over the beef.
- FINISH: Add the 4 tablespoons butter (cut into 1 tablespoon pieces) and 10-12 pepperoncini peppers. No need to add any extra liquid beyond this.
- COOK: Cover and cook on LOW for 7-9 hours or until beef is very tender and succulent. Alternatively, cook on high for 5-7 hours. (we don't find the beef as tender when cooked on high, but it works.)
- SHRED: Use tongs to remove the roast to a plate. Shred with two forks, discarding any fatty bits, and then return shredded meat to the liquid. Mix through. Serve the pot roast over mashed potatoes or pile onto rolls and top with Provolone cheese. (Note 3)
Video
Recipe Notes
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
Oh. My. Goodness. I can NOT get enough of
this recipe! It is absolutely my all time favorite thing to eat on top of garlic mashed
potato’s. I try to make it as much as I can
without having my boyfriend getting tired of it (he eats his with egg noodles). I also found a MIssisppi Chicken Soup that had sliced
pepperonis and that turned out amazing as well!! You MUST try this!!
I am so thrilled to hear this! Thanks so much Sheena! 🙂
This was delicious and very easy to make. I left out the butter for the slow cooker portion and it still turned out great! We served it with sourdough bread – any leftovers were quickly eaten the next day.
Yay! I am so thrilled you enjoyed! It really is so simple! Thanks Sarah! 🙂
Wonderful recipe and so easy!
I am so happy to hear this! Thanks! 🙂