Pot Roast Gets Extra Saucy Flavor When You Throw In This Canned Vegetable With A Kick

Pot roast is the epitome of comfort dining: rich, savory, and incredibly filling. You serve up a batch of this stuff and, generally speaking, you know what flavors you have coming your way. But this doesn't have to be so. In fact, there are more than a few ways to perk up that batch of pot roast. If it's a spicy, smoky kick you want, we have just the thing to add to that pot of tender beef: canned chipotle peppers in adobo sauce, a certified pantry staple.

You probably know chipotles as the smokier counterpart to fresh, green jalapeño peppers. Canned chipotles are the rehydrated counterpart to dried, smoked chipotles. They're packed in an adobo sauce made from tomatoes, vinegars, spices, seasonings, and garlic. The combination of chipotles and adobo is sharp, but also smoky and savory. These qualities make it downright perfect for a pot roast. Not only does the adobo sauce add a seasoning-rich, zippy flavor, but the chipotles bring out an intense smokiness that perfectly complements beef.

Adding chipotle to pot roast is as simple as popping a few canned peppers into your seared, broth-covered roast before braising. Alternatively, coat your roast in chipotles and adobo sauce prior to braising. Don't have canned chipotles on hand but still want that smoky, savory flavor? You can also use chipotle powder. This gives you a similar chipotle flavor, but without the sharp, acidic touch of that adobo sauce. It's perfect for anyone who just wants a touch of chipotle.

Adding chipotle powder or chipotle peppers to your usual pot roast recipe can, and does, work as a simple way to perk up a staple dish. However, you can also use it as a starting point for a more intensive pot roast makeover. If you're following the flavor of your peppers, one great accompaniment to beefy, peppery pot roast is cocoa powder. More often found in desserts, chocolate is no slouch when it comes to rounding out more savory dishes. Cocoa powder adds a rich, deep flavor that goes splendidly with beef, and also helps to round out smoky, earthy chipotle peppers. The best part? you only need a small amount of cocoa powder to get its benefits (about 1 teaspoon or so to give just a bit of depth).

If you want a more focused seasoning, you can also use a savory cocoa powder, such as a cocoa chili blend of spices. You can also add other spices, such as cinnamon, to chipotle-infused pot roast. Cinnamon brightens up that chipotle and is a great contrast to the super-rich, deep cocoa powder, and adds a bit more of an aromatic touch. Just keep these touches balanced with other seasonings to build a complex, rounded flavor profile.