How To Turn Leftover Pot Roast Into A Meal You'll Actually Crave

Deciding how to use up the last of that three-ingredient slow cooker pot roast you enjoyed over the weekend can be a conundrum, as pot roast's distinctive flavor profile can make it difficult to repurpose. While you can simply reheat it, the more interesting route is to turn your leftovers into something entirely new, which helps stretch scanty portions and makes the remnants of a dish more exciting. In particular, leftover pot roast is a great way to upgrade pasta night.

Though we might automatically picture marinara when discussing pasta, it's just as delicious draped in gravy or herby cream sauces that may pair better with beef that's been simmered in mushroom gravy. That's not to say you can't use shredded pot roast as the protein in a quick Bolognese or ragu, but you'll need to season it carefully to help the flavors blend nicely together rather than clash.

The first thing to do when making your new dish is to thoroughly shred or chop up the pot roast into uniform pieces to ensure it distributes evenly throughout your chosen sauce. Next, lightly simmer it in the sauce to help restore moisture, as leftover proteins are prone to drying out in the fridge. Don't be afraid to include any leftover gravy, as it'll give your sauce a deeper, richer flavor in addition to helping bridge the gap between the seasonings on your pot roast and those in your sauce. Then, simply mix your new meat sauce into your favorite pasta and enjoy.

As mentioned, one of the most important aspects of successfully reimagining leftover pot roast as a pasta dish is the seasonings. If you have your heart set on a tomato-based sauce, you'll want to build a bridge between traditional marinara and the mushroomy, brown gravy flavors of the pot roast with plenty of garlic and onion, along with herbs such as tarragon and rosemary. The idea is to seamlessly blend the two flavor profiles together using seasonings that work well with both.

It's also fairly easy to embrace the flavors of hearty, three-ingredient beef stroganoff or create your own version of elevated Hamburger Helper by opting for a hearty cream sauce. Here, you'll lean into the pot roast's original flavor profile and deepen it by building a milk-based sauce flavored with plenty of dry mustard, Worcestershire sauce, a knob of butter for silky richness, plenty of black pepper, and even a sprinkling of fennel seed or sage. Amp up the nostalgia by serving this over bowtie pasta, elbow macaroni, or your favorite pasta style from your childhood.

Though you can simply serve pasta smothered in meaty sauce, it also makes a wonderful casserole — particularly if you have leftovers of this new dish. Simply fortify your pasta and sauce with some roasted veggies, scoop everything into a casserole dish and smother with a generous helping of shredded cheese before baking. The result may not be picture perfect, but it will be perfectly delicious.