Jalapeño Pot Roast

This recipe came to me from Stephanie O'Dea's book Make It Fast, Cook It slow. This book is the first that I purchased after receiving my slow cooker about 2 years ago. I have never regretted my purchase and I invite you to check out her blog where she keeps her recipes. I have to say that some recipes were a total disaster, but not the one that follows!

I made this recipe on our anniversary which I had totally forgotten until my boyfriend mentioned it on the morning walk to work. I had planned leftovers for that night and figured that our anniversary deserved better. I rummaged through my freezer and found an expensive cut that I had purchased a few weeks ago when it was on sale. I usually cook my roast beef  in the oven and cringed at the idea of throwing it in the slow cooker, like some cheap piece of meat. But I had no time to defrost, so in there it went, still frozen. So here it goes.


 The Recipe

3 pound chuck roast ( or whatever you have and it can be frozen)
1 (10 ounces) can of cream of something soup (I added 2 cans of cream of mushroom)
2 to 4 tablespoons of jarred jalapeño slices
1 (15 ounce) can of black beans, drained and rinsed (I added red kidney beans)
1 yellow onion, sliced in rings
1 to 2 cups of plain yoghurt or sour cream( I added Greek-style plain yoghurt)


1. Use a 4 qt slow cooker. Put in the meat and add your cream-of whatever soup, the jalapeños, the black beans, as well as the onion slices. Cover and cook on low for 8 to 10 hours.

2. After the meat has cooked, remove it using tongs. Scoop out a cup of the liquid and put it into a mixing bowl with the yoghurt or sour cream. Mix well. Pour the mixture back into the crock and stir to completely dissolve the yoghurt or sour cream. Slice the meat , return to crock and proceed to serve.


The Results


This is a nice alternative to the traditional slow cooker roast. It has a nice spiciness but you can easily choose the spice factor with  the amount of jalapeños and yoghurt that you add. My boyfriend really liked it, as well as my two year old that ate all his meat for the first time in his life.

I enjoyed that all the ingredients were in my pantry and fridge. I keep jarred jalapeños for the days when I feel like making nachos or sandwiches and this was a new way to enjoy them. As for cream-of-something, it is a staple that most people keep on hand. If you prefer home-made, the author suggests to use two cups of your own cream-of-whatever. I must add that my second can of cream of mushroom soup was not necessary. When I was preparing the dish, I thought it looked a bit naked so I just threw an extra one, but one simple can would have suffice.

However, the can of black beans was unnecessary. Sure if you are looking to add beans in your diet, it can be interesting, but I didn't think that it belonged in the dish. It just felt like she had an extra can of beans which she added. So if you don't have beans on hand, or your family doesn't enjoy them, feel free to omit.

I will make this again, but with a cheaper cut so I feel less guilty. We had the leftover in a sandwich on onion bread, it was great!