Roast beef is comfort food.  It reminds me of my childhood Sundays.  I remember my mom putting a roast in the oven before church almost every Sunday.  We would have a large Sunday dinner but it was at lunch time.  Is this a good time to talk about what to call the meals in a day?  Is it breakfast, dinner and supper or breakfast, lunch and dinner?  In my early years, we called it the former but somewhere along the way, I started referring to it as the latter.  Either way, roast beef is a comfort meal!

This particular recipe is the way I learned how to make it many years ago from my Home Ec teacher.  Do they still teach Home Ec?  Anyway, it’s been tried and tested many many times and always a favorite.  Quite simple too!

For me the best roast is an eye of round roast.  They are very lean and as I have mentioned before I prefer lean.  You can use a chuck roast which is also a fav for many people.  It has more marbling so will create more juices so you may need a couple cans of soup if using a chuck roast.  I use a small roasting pan with lid for roast.  Place the roast in the pan and season with salt and pepper.

Next, slice up an onion and toss it over the roast.  Add a little water and you are ready to go!

Cover pan and place in the oven for about 3 hours.

About every hour, I check the roast to make sure there is enough liquid.  Because I use the lean meat, it can happen that you need to add additional water if using chuck, most likely no need to worry or to even turn the roast if you don’t want.  I turn the roast so it doesn’t over brown on one side.  The juices and onions start combine for a wonderful flavor.

At the 2 1/2 hour mark, I open it back up and here’s where some magic happens.

Take the roast out of the pan and set aside for just a bit.  You will add a can (or two) depending on how much juice you have.  For me, it’s usually one can because the eye of round roast doesn’t have all the marbling as a chuck roast.  If using chuck roast, you may need to add an extra can of soup because it produces a lot more juice.  Be sure to whisk the soup in so there are no lumps, other than the mushrooms or onions.

See how it makes a nice gravy.  Yummy!  This is the part where if you want, add carrots and potatoes.  I usually add baby carrots and potatoes but didn’t this day because I decided to serve over mashed potatoes.

Once the veggies are done (if you put any in) or about 3 hours after you placed the roast in the oven, pull it out and shred or slice it.

Then return the meat to the pan and stir it into the gravy.

I served over mashed red potatoes and made a side glazed carrots.  Trust me, this will call the family home!

Leftovers are great for roast beef sandwiches.  If you have leftovers.

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Roast Beef and Vegetables with Mushroom Gravy

Course Main Course

Cuisine American

Keyword beef, roast

Prep Time 5 minutes

Cook Time 3 hours

Total Time 3 hours 5 minutes

Ingredients

• 2 lb eye of round roast
• 1/2 cup water
• 1 onion sliced
• salt and pepper to taste
• 1 can cream of mushroom soup
• 1/2 bag baby carrots if using
• 4-5 red potatoes quartered (if using)

Instructions

1. Place roast in a small roasting pan with lid.  Season with salt and pepper.  Add sliced onions and water to pan. Cover and bake at 350 degrees for a total of 3 hours. 

2. Check every hour to make sure there is still juice in pan. If not, add little more water. Also turn roast over so it browns evenly on all sides.  

   
   

3. After about 2 1/2 hours, add the soup and whisk until pan juices and soup are combined and smooth.   

   *If using vegetables, add them in at this time. 
   

4. After 3 hours, remove roast from oven and shred or slice it and return to the pan to mix in with the gravy. 

5. **Shredded roast goes really well over mashed potatoes. Just omit potatoes in recipe above and make separate side of mashed potatoes.

   **Use two cans of cream of mushroom to make extra gravy or if using a chuck roast.