A Cup Of Whiskey Is Ree Drummond's Secret Weapon For This Classic Meal

Food Network star Ree Drummond is best known as The Pioneer Woman, and she's built her career on cozy comfort food. Drummond's pot roast recipe receives rave reviews from fans, and it could be thanks to one secret ingredient: whiskey.

After she's seared her beef chuck roast and cooked down her veggies, Drummond uses whiskey to help deglaze the pan. Then, the meat is popped back into the mixture and combined with beef broth to completely cover the roast, which bakes in the whiskey-beef blend for several hours alongside some pot roast aromatics and seasonings, such as thyme and rosemary. As a result, the whiskey adds a bold, slightly smoky flavor to the meat. 

Drummond calls the addition of whiskey the "drama" of the recipe because of its intense flavor, though it doesn't overpower the meat and ends up lending the dish a subtle note when everything is finished cooking. To serve her pot roast, Drummond pairs it with mashed potatoes; she does not recommend cooking potatoes in the same pot as the roast, though. "I feel like they often get overcooked and kind of mealy," she said when preparing the recipe on her show (via YouTube). The end result, as Drummond puts it, is "so good."

Consider deglazing your pan with whiskey to be one of many tips you need for the perfect pot roast. While the whiskey is a huge flavor enhancer, those who have made Ree Drummond's pot roast have mentioned substituting the whiskey if they don't have it on hand. "I used cognac instead of whisky (because I didn't have any)," someone wrote in one of the recipe's website reviews; the user called the final result "absolutely delicious." If you don't have cognac either, another whiskey-type alcohol that's good for cooking could work, such as bourbon or scotch, which have similar flavor profiles.

Fans of the recipe also said the whiskey flavor is low-key, in a good way. "The whiskey was subtle but so delicious," one reviewer wrote. Whiskey has deep, oaky notes and an ever-so-slight sweetness — often hints of caramel — making it the perfect pairing for something like a pot roast, because the spirit contrasts with the beef's rich, savory flavor.