The Sauce That Instantly Gives Pot Roast More Flavor (It's Not Worcestershire)

It's pot roast season right now, which is a trick sentence because it's always pot roast season for people who love pot roast. While you're working on getting the timing down for a perfectly tender roast, it's also important to consider what you put into your sauce. Those flavors will imbue the meat during the long cooking process and give it its delicious taste, after all, so you should aim for something truly divine. Worcestershire sauce is the oft-overlooked ingredient that adds umami and a zesty tang to your pot roast, but it's not the crucial missing link we're talking about today. We're here to talk about hoisin sauce.

If you aren't familiar, hoisin sauce is a staple in Asian kitchens and cuisines. You can make your own at home or go out to the store to buy some at a fairly low cost. It's easy to incorporate it into all kinds of different sauces and marinades.

When you're adding it to pot roast, you ideally want to aim for 1 cup of hoisin sauce per 4 to 5 pounds of beef chuck roast. Just mix it in with your usual sauce ingredients, dump it into your slow cooker, and let the magic happen.

To answer this question, we first have to break down the flavor profile of hoisin sauce. It's often called "Chinese barbecue sauce," but the taste has its noted differences. It leans less on the tang and goes a little more forward with the salty, umami hits, with just a pinch of sugar to round the flavors out. Its rich and distinct savoriness comes from the fermented soybeans, and it often has notes of five-spice powder and garlic to add even more complexity and depth to the taste.

When added to pot roast, not only do these components pair well with beef, but the consistency of hoisin sauce also shines. It's already a luxurious ingredient on its own, and when it's cooked low and slow, it creates a delicious, thick sauce that coats every bite of meat and veggies you fish out of the pot. So if you want to really enjoy what's potentially the best pot roast you'll have made to date, grab your best pot, toss in a nice hunk of beef, and definitely don't forget to grab a bottle of hoisin sauce.