Alton Brown's Pot Roast Calls For Some Unexpected Ingredients

Alton Brown is known for giving us classic dishes made with delicious twists. From pouring beer into pot roast recipes to cooking up super tender pot roasts made with figs, we've learned to listen to his creative culinary approaches to this traditional, comforting favorite. Such is the case with his instructions to dump cocktail olives and raisins into a pot generously seasoned with cumin and garlic. Perhaps not ingredients we'd instinctually reach for when cooking pot roast, but the results speak for themselves.

Not only is the resulting recipe, which Brown shared on his website, packed with waves of flavor, but Brown also sneaks tomato juice and balsamic vinegar into the sauce to make this roast. His adventurous approach yields a dish that is full of zingy umami flavor that makes for a delicious pot roast meal and builds a recipe that is well worth repeating on days in which roast is on the menu. Plus, for aspiring chefs intimidated by the many vessels and pots available for cooking projects, Brown's recipe can be conveniently prepared in a big foil pouch or an oven bag to make cleaning up that much easier.

You will need to check your pot roast for that idyllic tender cut throughout the cooking process, however, as it may take as many as five hours for that juicy touch that gives way to utensils. Should you find the flavor to be leaning too heavily on the raisins, customize your pot roast recipes to suit your palate by adding more tomato juice or V8 for a less sweet dish. Alternatively, if you appreciate meal bathing in a smoother sauce on your plate, add more of the braising liquid and drench your roast as you see fit. 

Though Brown's pot roast may take several hours to bake and put together, the melt-in-your-mouth meat that can be portioned out onto plates makes every minute spent in the kitchen worth your while. Once cooked, this pot roast is a sweet, spicy dish that delivers not only texture from olives but sweetness from plump, juicy raisins that are balanced out by the acidity of the tomato juice and briny presence of the olives. It's a win across the board and requires little else beyond mashed potatoes to make up a completely satisfying meal.