Reach For This Seasoning To Enjoy An Effortlessly Flavorful Pot Roast

We may receive a commission on purchases made from links.

Just because a beef pot roast takes a while to cook, doesn't mean it requires tremendous effort. There's an easy way to whip up a flavorful pot roast with a single seasoning. As one home cook shared on Reddit, "One of my favourite ways to make a roast is to cover it with butter and Montreal steak spice! ... I get compliments on this all of the time and it's so easy to make!" The hands-off version of this hack is like the Redditor described, and involves coating beef with Montreal steak seasoning and topping with butter to melt and infuse flavor over the course of the roast. A higher-effort, higher-reward approach is to thoroughly coat the meat in the seasoning, then sear it to develop greater depth of flavor before starting the slow roast.

Montreal steak seasoning is a spice mix characterized by its coarsely ground pepper and dried garlic, along with other spices. This coarseness gives the seasoning a punchier pepper heat and forms a flavorsome crust when meat is seared. McCormick, one of the best-known producers, is transparent about including black and red pepper, garlic, and onion in its McCormick Grill Mates Montreal Steak Seasoning, but is a little vague about the other spices. 

Home recipes for the spice blend often mention paprika, red pepper flakes, coriander, and dill seeds as ingredients in the mix. The black pepper, coriander, and garlic in the seasoning are all classic beef flavorings, so introducing those to the pot is a no-brainer. The powerful complexity of this spice mix helps to enrich a pot roast over several hours, resulting in beef that's tender, deeply savory, and full-flavored.

A pot roast enhanced with Montreal steak seasoning can all be done in a slow cooker, or a large Dutch oven if you're hoping to brown the meat first. The best cuts for a roast include the popular option of chuck roast, but even brisket and top round can work well. These cuts comprise connective tissue and tougher muscle fibers that benefit from low and slow cooking, while being fatty enough to deliver rich, beefy flavor that complements the spices in the steak seasoning.

When the collagen in the connective tissue eventually melts into gelatine over several hours of low-temperature cooking, this simultaneously tenderizes the meat, while adding viscosity and flavor to the Montreal steak seasoning-infused braising liquid. The aforementioned Redditor even recommends using this broth as a beef dip, which sounds like a heavenly idea.

Other ingredients that can bubble away in this braising liquid for added flavor are classic roast accompaniments. Potatoes, carrots, mushrooms, and while we're at it, a whole clove or two of extra garlic never hurt anybody. Parsnips are also an oft-overlooked pot roast vegetable, so don't be afraid to add a few of those. There are seemingly countless ways to customize a pot roast, but when convenience is a consideration, Montreal steak seasoning seems to do a lot of heavy lifting.