Balance Pot Roast Flavors Like Alex Guarnaschelli With This Pantry Staple You Already Own

There are so many possible pot roast preparations in circulation that you could spend a whole season of eating before you land on just one favorite. There are also plenty of celebrity pot roast tips for all your large-format beef dreams. Julia Child's go-to bottom round is tops for the best pot roast foundation, for example. Ina Garten's pot roast gets its depth from a bouillon cube. On the talk show "Live," popular Food Network personality Alex Guarnaschelli shared that she adds a bit of brown sugar to her own pot roast. Even just that glancing confectionery quality will take the edge off other ingredients, like red wine vinegar, and obviously harmonize with a portion of good old salt.

"Just a little brown sugar doesn't make it super sweet," Guarnaschelli told Kelly Ripa and then-cohost Ryan Seacrest. "It picks up on the browned notes from the meat." One must, of course, brown the meat first to create those notes, which Guarnaschelli does with a little olive oil in a Dutch oven for the requisite sear. "We love browning 'cause it just adds great taste," Guarnaschelli continued, noting that, while it doesn't exactly lock in juices the way some home cooks may believe, its flash of flavor is plenty appealing. Once chopped veggies, such as carrots and onions, join the pot, you can add about a tablespoon of brown sugar to the mix.

Alex Guarnaschelli starts her dish with a three-pound chuck roast, but you'll want to eyeball your own chuck options for the best buy. Source something deep red with visibly abundant ivory marbling all over for flavorful fat that you can see. You'll also want to sear it all over, which will take several minutes and several turns in the pan. Deglazing the pan helps build a tasty fond that you can better incorporate into the final product. You can do so with red wine or stock after you remove the meat and before you sizzle your mirepoix, alliums, and shake in seasonings.

Once the botanicals are softened and the chuck (or other chunk of beef) goes back into the pot with the brown sugar, you'll tip in a healthy pour of your braising liquid before it cooks for a languid few hours. The final and most passive step for this dish might be the most challenging. When it's tender, fragrant, and seemingly ready to eat, you'll want to let your pot roast rest to retain more moisture. You can blend up a sauce with some of your braised botanicals while you wait, as Guarnaschelli does in the "Live" clip, or whip up something like a salad, one of our favorite pot roast sides.