The Canned Soup You Need For A Creamy Pot Roast

Pot roast will forever be the go-to meal when we're in need of something hearty and hands-off. It simmers away in the slow cooker or Dutch oven for hours, revealing a dish with tender, juicy meat and a velvety sauce at the end. We're always looking for simple ways to make pot roast even more delectable, and adding canned cream of mushroom soup is exactly how to do that.

Aside from the inherent beefy flavor from the meat, pot roast gets its rich touch from the red wine, tomato paste, and beef broth it cooks in. As the chuck roast cooks, the collagen from the muscle fibers slip away into the broth, giving it that silky texture that makes for a good pot roast. To build on that texture, canned cream of mushroom soup will do the trick. The cream and cornstarch in the soup thicken the broth, making it even more luscious. Best of all, the soup gives pot roast an even more mouthwatering flavor, providing a welcome dose of umami. Canned soups are often made with portobello and cremini mushrooms, bringing an earthiness that blends in with the thyme, rosemary, and carrots that make up pot roast.

After browning the chuck roast, add it to your slow cooker or Dutch oven along with the sliced onions, carrots, and potatoes. Mix the beef broth and wine with a can of cream of mushroom soup before pouring the sauce on top of the beef.

Adding the savory soup to classic pot roast is one of the best ways to use canned cream of mushroom soup. Adding it to pot roast with its own special flair, however, is an even better way to use it. When we make an instant pot roast, we like to use a small amount of rehydrated porcini mushrooms in the broth, giving the dish an earthy flavor. The addition of the soup to the already existing mushrooms turns the pot roast into a more fungi-forward dish, making the umami taste from the plants as impactful as the beef itself.

Cream of mushroom soup can also elevate a bulked-up version of pot roast that features pearl barley. The chewy pieces of barley taste incredible alongside the tender chunks of mushroom, making the pot roast heartier overall. Pearl barley has a mild flavor, so you can further bring out its nuttiness with a head of roasted garlic. If that's not your preferred allium, then Mississippi roast may be for you. It features a packet of dry onion soup mix, bringing a caramelized, pungent flavor to the classic dish. The sweet onions heighten the umami of the mushrooms, but if it all gets a little intense, the pepperoncini peppers bring a pleasant tang to simmer it down.