The Old-School Ingredient That Makes Your Pot Roast Richer And Darker

We like to think of our favorite, old-school recipes from previous generations as fresher and simpler, but people have been using prepackaged shortcuts for pot roasts almost as long as they've been making them. While modern cooks often consider processed and packaged ingredients as subpar, or even unhealthy, older generations were more than happy to take advantage of the convenience they offered. If you could make a dish taste better with a few dashes of some magical ingredient that took no extra effort, who cares if it wasn't fresh or had preservatives? And one of the best classic additions to savory, saucy meat dishes like pot roast that you can still use today is browning sauce.

If you've never used it, you've still probably seen browning sauce sitting on the shelf at the grocery store with other premade products like gravy mixes, but never gave it a second thought. The most common brands in the U.S. are Kitchen Bouquet and Gravy Master, and both are made with vegetables, spices, seasonings, and caramel coloring. As its name would imply, browning sauce was originally intended to give sauces a darker hue, hence the caramel coloring. But it also has an umami taste that can add a lot of extra depth to a dish. Browning sauce is similar to, but not the same as, other savory liquid seasonings like Bragg Liquid Aminos or Maggi Seasoning. That said, each has its own unique flavor profile, and browning sauces tend to have a more bitter, yet sweet and smoky taste like molasses.

As a secret ingredient, browning sauce couldn't be easier to use. In recipes like our super tender herb and fig pot roast, all you have to do is add a bit to the braising liquid along with the broth and other seasonings. Since browning sauce can be intense, you want to use it with a light hand. For a full pot roast with several cups of braising liquid, a tablepoon will do. If you aren't used to the flavor, you may want to start with just a few dashes to sample the effect it has on the recipe. You aren't trying to transform your pot roast, it's just there to add a pleasantly deeper color and a little something extra that your diners can sense, but can't quite put their fingers on.

If you don't want to buy a bottle just for one recipe, you can always use a browning sauce substitute like molasses, liquid smoke, or Worcestershire sauce to add similar flavors to your pot roast. However, the best choice might be homemade browning sauce as it's quite simple to make. All you need to do is heat brown sugar in a non-stick pot over medium heat. Over the course of five to eight minutes it should liquify, which is when you should start stirring. Then, it will darken. Once it's almost black, take the pot off of the heat and stir in an equal amount of water. Let it rest until cool — just like that, you have browning sauce.