How to start a slow cooker beef roast from frozen. Dinner can’t get any easier!
For many Christmases my in-laws gave us an eighth of a cow, which enabled us to stock our basement freezer chest with meat for most of the year.
Score!
I love practical gifts.
The ground beef and steaks are easy to use on a whim, only taking a little while to thaw.
But for the life of me, I can never remember to thaw a whole roast in the right time-frame to eat it.
Finding myself in this very predicament a few years ago, a friend of mine shared a recipe that she uses.
And get this … it started with a frozen roast!
That right folks, there’s actually a great recipe that not only uses a frozen roast, it also requires a slow cooker.
How much easier can it get?
Not much.
(Except maybe with an Instant Pot, but I haven’t tried that conversion yet!)
I love a hearty slow cooker beef and potatoes meal.
Here’s my favorite.
Slow Cooker Roast-It Starts Frozen!
How to start a slow cooker beef roast from frozen. Dinner can't get any easier!
Ingredients
- 1 2.5-4 lb frozen beef roast*
- 4 to 6 medium potatoes, cut in 2″ cubes
- 2 medium onions, sliced
- 2 large carrots, chopped
- 3 cloves garlic, smashed
- 1 can cream of mushroom condensed soup
- 1 can cream of celery condensed soup
- 1 packet onion soup mix
- 1 cup frozen peas
Instructions
- Place the potatoes, onions, carrots and garlic in the bottom of a slow cooker, and then add the frozen roast on top (fat side up if it has one).
- In a bowl, combine the soups and the soup mix. Pour over top the roast, spreading to cover the exposed sides. Set the slow cooker on low, then cover and cook for 8-10 hours.
- About a half-hour before you’re ready to eat, add the peas, stirring just a little to cover them.
- Pull the roast out when the time's up, but be careful – it will most likely fall apart as you lift it.
Notes
The soups, plus the drippings from the roast as it cooks, create a gravy-like sauce. So, it’s up to you how you want to serve it, all together in one large serving bowl, or separated as a roast with sides and gravy. Either way, delish!
*I’ve used many different kinds of beef roast, from bottom round and chuck, to large sirloins. Some fall apart more than others at carving time, but all are flavorful and tender. I do tend to prefer the cuts that are bone-in as the bone lends a richer flavor and tends to help make the beef fork-tender.
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Sounds delish but u never mentioned how much meat ! I don’t know what an 1/8 of a cow is but I used bout 3 and 1/2 lbs. hope it works !
Thanks sounds great ! Let you know tomorrow !
Ed – You stumbled upon an old, old post. 🙂 This one definitely needs edits, including being more specific about the size roast AND a photo! So, speaking of size, it’s fairly flexible. A 3.5 lb roast should be fine, but if you can fit a larger roast in your slow cooker, that would work too. Something that’s thick, rather than long and narrow/flat. I wouldn’t use anything under 2 lbs. Hope this helps!
It says in recipe 2.5-4lb frozen roast
I’m lol about the comments….it does say what size roast and that a 1/8 of a cow filled her freezer.
I think Ed found the post before a size for the roast was edited in. Looks yum- I am prepping everything for my dad to make while I am out of town, so I will put the frozen items together and the other items already cut up in the fridge with simplified directions (add bag #1, bag#2 and these 2 cans to crockpot) and hope for the best.
I want to try this today. But I only have on hand a can of cream of chicken soup and a can of mushroom soup. I don’t have any onion soup mix. Is there any thing else I can use? I have all the other ingredients.
Thank you,
Scarlett
Hi Scarlett! I meant to write back yesterday and then the day got away from me! Anyway, if you didn’t already discover a solution, I’d just make a blend of herbs and spices to use instead of the onion soup mix. A tablespoon each of onion powder, dried onion, garlic powder, dried parsley and then maybe a half teaspoon of turmeric and a teaspoon each of salt and pepper.
I’m wanting to try this today or tomorrow, my roast is small 2.28lbs. And I can only to use onions, 1lb of mushrooms and wild or jasmine rice. Suggestions on which rice and for the amount of soups. I’m hoping to make it all in the crockpot so not using instant rice. Thanks!!
Hi Patty! I think wild or jasmine rice would be lovely — wild rice might hold up better in the slow cooker over a long period of time, though. Either way, I wouldn’t add the rice until the last hour of cooking. It won’t need 8+ hours. You might want to keep the liquids, including the soups, the same even with a smaller roast since you’ll be cooking the rice in there, too. Enjoy!
Do you add water or liquids besides soups? I cannot use the canned or dried soups (DF, GF, SF, no grains, soy, nightshade, low histamine).
I browned the roast. Can I use those bits (with olive oil and ghee 50/50) as part of liquids or should I save it for gravy?Starting the roast (frozen) soon. I’d be so grateful for your suggestions.
I don’t add water or liquids besides the soups, but if you can’t eat “cream of” soup (or simply don’t want to), then you could easily just add the bits from searing (mmmm…), along with some broth in the slow cooker. You won’t get the automatic gravy this way, but you can definitely use the broth after it’s done slow cooking to make your gravy afterwards in an allergy-friendly way. If it were me, I’d save some of those bits for the gravy, rather than dump them all into the slow cooker. Good luck!
Thank you so much for your reply. I have beef and chicken bone broth. Do I use the same amount as the canned soups?
You’re welcome! Sorry I didn’t see your reply until now; holiday hustle-bustle this weekend had me away from my computer. I’d use a similar amount, but in the end I wouldn’t worry too much about exactness. I’d say no less than a cup and no more than two cups. What’d you end up doing?
We live on a cattle farm and also once a year get our freezer stocked with meat. I have cooked all types of roasts from frozen and are always delicious. I even do stew beef from frozen. It makes for a easy dinner after hurrying in the morning to put something on.
Yes! Many days I need something easy like that. I’ll have to try it with frozen stew meat!
Hi! I was wondering if I could wear my frozen roast before putting it in the crock pot. TIA
Is “wear” a typo? If not, no. I wouldn’t recommend that. 😉
Lol
I need to stock up on these ingredients. There are so many days when all my dinner options are hard as a rock frozen!!! Thanks for the great recipe!
Right? Plus it’s so easy to just throw everything into the slow cooker and then go about the rest of your day!
How would you change this for a roast that ISN’T frozen?
Emma – Slow cookers are pretty forgiving, so you wouldn’t have to change much. I’d probably just reduce the cooking time to 4-6 hours on low, instead of 8-10.
Did you sear your frozen roast before putting it in the slow cooker?
Hi Camille! Nope, I didn’t. If it wasn’t frozen, I would have done that.
Would you recommend 1/2 these ingredients for a 21/2 lb roast? IE: 1 onion, 1 can of soup, 1/2 pk onion soup? Also going from frozen. thx!
Hi Barbara – Sorry for the delayed response! Whether it’s a 2.5lb or 4lb roast, I use the same ratio of ingredients in the slow cooker. I don’t think it would hurt to use smaller ratios, as long as you have enough liquid in there to keep things from cooking/burning. It’s never a problem to have too much gravy, in my opinion! Hope it turned out ok!