2024 the best crock pot roast recipe review

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With one simple, mostly hands-off technique, you'll unlock deep flavors in meat, poultry, seafood, and even vegetables in this authoritative guide of 200 foolproof, unique recipes.

Braises are far from just stews! The treasured technique of cooking food slowly and gently in liquid is a pillar of cuisines around the world, and How to Braise Everything is a modern master class. You'll learn that a pot roast cooks much in the same way as a warm-spiced Moroccan lamb tagine, savory Spanish stewed chickpeas, or even a pot full of hearty bacon-enhanced collard greens. The elemental method is simple: Combine your main ingredient with a flavorful liquid, cook (usually) at a low temperature, and you're left with superbly tender meat or vegetables and a flavorful sauce or broth, both parts benefitting from an exchange of flavors. But this simplicity doesn't mean there's not a right and a wrong way to braise. When should you sear your meat before its bath? Should you presoak your beans? What's better for braising: the oven or the stove? You'll discover tricks to coax out as much flavor as possible from braised subjects in streamlined recipes. We cover comforting favorites like Old-Fashioned Pot Roast and classics like Chicken Cacciatore while also bringing the technique up to date, exploring international dishes with vibrant flavors like Mexican Chicken with Pumpkin Seed Sauce and Hake in Saffron Broth with Chorizo and Potatoes. Verdant vegetable sides like Braised Spring Vegetables with Tarragon and hearty bean dishes like Curried Lentils with Golden Raisins complete the meal.

From the Publisher

Why braise?

Tender meat. One-pot meals. Hands-off cooking.

Chicken Vesuvio

Braising Gear

When braising meat in the test kitchen, we almost always reach for our trusty Dutch oven. The sturdy, roomy pot conducts heat well, so the meat gets a good sear. It’s also outfitted with a tight-fitting lid.

Let's Braise

Braise the roof!

Braising is a pillar of cuisines around the world but is not quite as familiar in the United States. That’s changing as more home cooks discover how steady, moderate heat can coax the best flavor out of meat, poultry, seafood, and even vegetables. With braising, the raw, often-tough ingredients go into the pan and emerge tender and with a luscious sauce. How to Braise Everything is the definitive guide to braising quick weeknight meals and laid-back weekend feasts.

A look in the braising pot:

Aromatics: Braises benefit from a base of aromatic flavor for complexity. Common Examples: Onion, carrot, celery, bell pepper, garlic, shallot, ginger, chiles, hardy herbs Beefy Boosters: Umami-rich ingredients increase the perception of meatiness. Common Examples: Tomato paste, anchovies, soy sauce, mushrooms, parmesan cheese rind Liquid: The braising liquid coaxes out and transfers flavors. Common Examples: Chicken broth, beef broth, wine, canned tomatoes, bottled clam juice Main Event: All these ingredients come together to braise something. Common Examples: Beef, pork, lamb, sausages, poultry, fish and shellfish, beans, legumes, vegetables Finishing Touches: Use a bright flavor touch at the end to provide textural contrast. Common Examples: Fresh herbs, lemon juice, vinegar, nuts, gremolata, rouille or chutney

French-Style Pot Roast

This elegant dish traditionally calls for marinating the beef in red wine before cooking and adding collagen-rich veal and pork parts for body. We found easier, quicker ways to generate the same flavor and texture with fewer steps and ingredients. We recommend a medium-bodied, fruity red wine, such as Côtes du Rhône or Pinot Noir, for this recipe.

Southern-Styled Smothered Chicken

Since chicken is relatively mild in flavor, most chicken dishes taste like whatever else is in the dish rather than the chicken itself. Smothered chicken is designed to coax out as much chicken flavor as possible and then bolster it with supporting—not distracting—ingredients, in this case garlic and dried sage. A splash of cider vinegar brightens the sauce just before serving.

Spanish Shellfish Stew (Zarzuela)

Chock-full of shellfish like lobsters, clams, and mussels, this tomato-based stew is seasoned with saffron and paprika and thickened with a picada, a flavorful mixture of ground almonds, bread crumbs, and olive oil. The shellfish release their rich liquors into the pot as they cook to provide the broth with clean, fresh seafood flavor.

Leg of Lamb en Cocotte with Garlic and Rosemary

Fall-apart meat is great, but a roast cut into tender slices is also desirable—and you can get it with braising if you use the en cocotte method. No liquid is added to the pot here; instead, the flavorful lamb cooks in its own juices. Since the meat’s gamey flavor comes mostly from the fat, trim as much as possible before browning the roast then braise the lamb with sprigs of rosemary and a handful of sliced garlic cloves. In just an hour you’ll have a simple, beautifully flavored main.

Publisher ‏ : ‎ America's Test Kitchen (February 12, 2019)
Language ‏ : ‎ English
Hardcover ‏ : ‎ 408 pages
ISBN-10 ‏ : ‎ 1945256710
ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 978-1945256714
Item Weight ‏ : ‎ 3.3 pounds
Dimensions ‏ : ‎ 9 x 1.2 x 10.3 inches
Reviewer: I Do The Speed Limit
Rating: 5.0 out of 5 stars
Title: This book will help you finesse, perfect your braising techniques; give you a few radical ideas, too
Review: I love to braise. I love everything about the technique: The smells that waif through the house, the complex flavors that can result from (fairly) minimal ingredients and effort. The dawdle of the cooking process. Give me a free afternoon, and my top choice of cooking style will be a braise.I saw this book coming, and I had to have it. I pre-ordered it and waited impatiently. I have done that before with other cook books, but never for an ATK book. This has been an exception, and oh! What a wonderful exception—ah, I mean book--this is! I just wish it had come out last Fall rather than coming now as we roll into Spring. But I have it in my hands now, and I will over-use it until my love of grilling overwhelms me.I need to confess this, considering that I’ve just said that I love braises and braising: Except for a few long-time treasured recipes that I know by heart, most of my past braises have lacked—let me call it—“finesse”. Maybe I would get lucky and what all I tossed into my braise would result in something spectacular. But more often, the main ingredient ended up too well done, or maybe too tough, or maybe the pieces were cut too small and it all fell apart, almost disintegrating. Or, maybe the sauce was underwhelming, or the flavor too over-the-top, too overwhelming. Or it was just missing something, (which I usually fixed by adding a touch of vinegar, a sweet something, or a bouillon cube, and then it ended up tasting too much like the last braise I concocted.)**So, this book is becoming indispensable to me: It gives me spot-on, detailed information that make my braises turn out perfectly. (Usually I balk at the specifics that ATK recipes “lecture” me about, (know what I mean?), but in this book I embrace those specifics. I now have tricks and tips. I have info to pair the right cut of meat; with the right weight, thickness, or cube size; with the proper amount of liquid; with the optimal sequence for adding ingredients, and the proper cooking temperature and time.**I think my braising technique developed decades ago, after I bought my first Crock Pot. Then I got my first Dutch oven. Then I got into braising, and I thought the technique was simply cooking with a minimum of liquid, under a cover, and I “concocted” the ingredient mix. I, think I basically shuffled my slow-cooker mentality over to my braises. Now, if my experience sounds familiar, you will greatly appreciate this book from ATK.Here is one of the Radical Ideas I mention in the title to my review. I expect Rancho Gordo’s Steve Sando will come to attention at this one: Brine your dry beans before cooking. (Sorry, can’t confirm or deny that advice. I’m either hesitant to ruin a bag of great beans, or find out that my own personal technique is not the perfection I thought it was. I will say that ATK’s advice does not discuss the age of the beans they use, or where they get their beans from, and they do not call out heirloom beans.Another Radical Idea: Mentioned early-on in a discussion of the reasoning behind browning/searing ingredients: Searing meats does NOT seal in juices. Browning does create more flavor. I’m still mulling that over. But mentioning some of the radical ideas does suggest to you that there is plenty of information to savor here—whether you swallow it or eventually spit it out does not negate the savor.This book has so many fabulous recipes in it—using familiar ingredients that are easy to find—that it may very well earn a permanent place on your kitchen counter. (My book is actually firmly ensconced next to the drink coaster on the table next to my reading chair.) If you planned on making a few braises a week, you could cook from this book for years to come, and not do the same one twice.There are so many great recipes in here that one of your problems will be deciding which to try first. I am particularly happy with the abundance of pork recipes. (Which pork cuts, which pork chops work best?) And there are so many chicken (mostly thigh) recipes, you won’t know where to start. There are plenty of beef recipes, bean recipes, seafood recipes and vegetable recipes. (I’m determined to find a 4 pound octopus, but not having any luck….) There are some lamb and veal dishes, too. What’s missing? No recipes for turkey or duck thighs, no recipes for offal or “overlooked” cuts continue to be overlooked in this book.Definitely take a browse through the “Look Inside” feature on this product page. It will provide much insight. As always, this is another ATK book that has clear instructions, detailed ingredient lists, plenty of pictures (both how-to and completed dishes), equipment recommendations and a great index. This book also contains 6 pages of charts detailing the nutritional information for all of the included recipes. It’s a good-sized, hard-bound book that looks like it will stand the test of time. I highly recommend this ATK book. In my opinion, it’s the best one they’ve ever put together.Let me know, by commenting below, what you think of those “Radical Ideas” I mentioned above. I’m curious!

Reviewer: Wynne
Rating: 5.0 out of 5 stars
Title: Wow! Good stuff!
Review: Made the French Pork Stew. Only variations from the published recipe: I used Better Than Bullion Ham Base with water in place of the chicken stock, and I cut the kale and kielbasa. The pot was so full at that point, saw no need to add more. I prepared this in my enamel 6 qt Dutch oven, and put it in a 300 degree oven for 2 1/2 hours. The result was pure deliciousness!

Reviewer: Ocean at Bay
Rating: 4.0 out of 5 stars
Title: Great ideas
Review: The vegetable section caught my attention the most. What a way to eat vegetarian. I try to put 3 vegetarian dishes on my p!ate each meal to keep well-rounded nutrition that's not always beans-included.

Reviewer: Becky at the beach
Rating: 5.0 out of 5 stars
Title: How to braise everything
Review: I have two other books on braising. Ruhlman's How to braise, which is excellent, and All about Braising, the art of uncomplicated cooking, by Molly Stevens, which, despite the rather lengthy title, was complicated, with 2-3 pages of instructionsBeing both a fan of braising, and ATK, I decided to buy this book. I am so glad I did. I'm a sauce person and braising usually has a lovely flavorful sauce, a punch of flavor, and juicy meat.The book is laid out with the "why this works" discussion, which I personally enjoy, the ingredients, most of which are common and easily attainable at a regular grocery store, and the easy to follow directions. The pictures of the finished product are enticing.It's well worth the time to read pages 4-33. I know it's tempting to skip the how to and why fore and get right into the braising, but there is a lot of really good information that will help when making the recipes.There are a lot of old favorites here, chicken with 40 cloves of garlic, osso buco, stews, the braising almost everyone is familiar with even if they don't call it braising. There are also great new ideas like potato vindaloo and braised tofu.

Reviewer: C. Taylor
Rating: 5.0 out of 5 stars
Title: Very comprehensive!
Review: The recipes are tried and true. In the tradition of America’s Test Kitchens,an explanation is given for each recipe as to “why this works” making it very helpful. I have only tried a few recipes so far but they are delicious and easy to follow.

Reviewer: gobluekuz
Rating: 5.0 out of 5 stars
Title: Outstanding Cookbook!
Review: This has become my all time favorite cookbook! I never knew that you could make so many delicious recipes in a Dutch oven. The authors of this book, America's Test Kitchen, have perfected each recipe by successful trial of many different methods to arrive at the best way to make each one. And the best feature is that they explain why they did each recipe the way it is finally presented to you for cooking. The Dutch oven method they use makes the result so much more delicious than just throwing all the ingredients into a slow cooker or crockpot and cooking them to death!

Reviewer: JBL
Rating: 5.0 out of 5 stars
Title: Wow, super fast delivery!
Review: Super fast delivery. The product as described - clean text. Thank you!

Reviewer: EricJM
Rating: 4.0 out of 5 stars
Title: ATK is Always a reliable cookbook source
Review: Braising is not complicated, but ATK always gives those extra tips for a very delicious outcome. If you own a Dutch Oven or Braiser, this is the best companion book.

Reviewer: Dave MacDonald
Rating: 5.0 out of 5 stars
Title:
Review: Cooks Illustrated don't take advertising revenue and we find that their reviews and recipes are spot on when you follow the steps and techniques laid out in their cookbooks.

Reviewer: Amazon Customer
Rating: 5.0 out of 5 stars
Title:
Review: Ótimo. Super técnico para um assunto com pouca bibliografia.

Reviewer: Alexandra
Rating: 5.0 out of 5 stars
Title:
Review: I love braising food; this cookbook gives ideas that make braising more accessible to cooks.

Reviewer: David Little
Rating: 4.0 out of 5 stars
Title:
Review: The book is interesting. I have identified some initial recipes to try using lamb and beef (the Moroccan lamb is scheduled for tomorrow - though I might reduce the quantity of navy beans suggested). Although the recipes take quite long, for the two of us, they will last for at least a couple of days. I am also looking forward to trying some of the chicken recipes, using thighs, which are my favourite cut.Many of the beef recipes use chuck. In Canada we often call this blade.

Reviewer: Anne
Rating: 5.0 out of 5 stars
Title:
Review: Great collection of mouth-watering recipes, especially fall and winter deep comfort food. Very helpful discussion of why each recipe works, what each cooking step is intended to achieve. The season being summer we've so far done some of the excellent "en cocotte" fish recipes -- so good we've kept repeating known ones -- there are others we just have to try too. Excellent background material, for instance on ingredients (such as meat cuts, etc), and on braising generally. Outstanding book, highly recommended.