Transform an affordable bottom round roast into a mouthwatering Sunday supper centerpiece with a garlic herb rub and slow roasting in the oven to tender, juicy perfection, ready to slice over roasted veggies for a cozy meal the whole family will love.
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This Bottom Round Roast may be cheap but doesn’t skimp on flavor. It’s cooked low and slow with fresh herbs and potatoes and simmered in a red wine broth for a flavorful roast perfect for family dinners. It’s an easy way to amp up your beef recipes without breaking the bank.
Beef round roast is an economical cut of beef that transforms into a flavorful meal when cooked low and slow for hours. You can use any kind of slow cooking method you like to make the perfect roast. For this recipe, we’re going with the Dutch oven, but you could make a slow cooker pot roast if you like. Just like our top round roast beef recipe, we’re coating the outside of the roast with fresh aromatic herbs to infuse flavor into the beef.
What Is A Round Roast?
From the rump area of the cow, the round roast is a cut from the leg and is known for being a tough cut of meat with minimal marbling, like an eye of round roast. Though this cut isn’t the most tender due to the lack of fat, it is often inexpensive compared to other cuts of beef.
With a little TLC, it can still be turned into a bottom round roast recipe to feed the family! And, the chopped-up leftovers are great simmered low and slow in stews or used with creamed leeks and other veggies for random dinner medleys, in addition to being sliced thin for roast beef sandwiches.
Bottom Round Roast Recipe Ingredients
- Round Roast – choose a 3-4 pound roast.
- Kosher Salt
- Fresh Garlic, Rosemary, & Thyme – aromatic herbs that deepen the flavor of the roast.
- Onion and Carrot
- Potato or rutabaga – red or yellow potatoes.
- Red wine & Beef broth – the braising liquid for our roast. The red wine adds a subtle depth of flavor while the beef broth amps up the beefiness and produces tender beef.
- Head of garlic
- Worcestershire Sauce – adds a kick of umami.
- Cornstarch – for making a cornstarch slurry to thicken the rich gravy.
How to Cook a Beef Bottom Round Roast
Step 1: First, take the roast out of the package and pat it dry with paper towels. After that, season all sides generously with salt. Place the seasoned roast on a wire rack above a baking sheet and let it chill in the fridge overnight.
Step 2: Next, create a paste by mashing together garlic, rosemary, thyme, and oil with a fork. Then, pat this garlic mixture onto all sides of the roast. Allow the roast to sit at room temperature for 45 minutes.
Step 3: Now, preheat the oven temperature to 225 degrees F and adjust the rack to the lower mid-position. Place veggies in a Dutch oven, roasting pan, or braiser, along with red wine and beef broth. Nestle in a head of garlic.
Step 4: Then, position the roast over the veggies, cover it, and transfer it to the preheated oven. Cook for 1 to 1:15 hours until the internal temperature reaches 120 degrees F. Use an instant-read thermometer for accuracy.
Step 5: Once done, remove the roast from the oven and uncover. Increase the oven heat to broil. Put the roast back under the broiler for 5 to 7 minutes, rotating to brown on all sides. Let the roast rest for 10 minutes.
Step 6: Meanwhile, remove the veggies and set them aside. Place the pot with the cooking liquid over a burner set to medium heat. Let the cooking liquid simmer, add Worcestershire sauce, and let it simmer for 3 to 5 minutes.
Step 7: Create a slurry by mixing cornstarch with a tablespoon of water until combined. Add the slurry to the simmering liquid, stirring as the sauce thickens. Reduce the heat to low and let it cook for 3 to 5 minutes longer until thickened.
Step 8: When ready to serve, slice the round roast against the grain into thin ¼” portions. Serve with the red wine sauce on the side, along with the veggies.
Step 9: For roast beef sandwiches, let the roast cool completely, wrap it, and store it in the refrigerator overnight. When ready to slice, place the wrapped roast in the freezer for 30 minutes. Set a countertop meat slicer to your desired thickness, unwrap the roast, and slice for roast beef sandwiches.
Cooking Bottom Round Roast Tips
Pro tip: Make sure this roast is served at medium rare to medium for juicy results. Not sure if your roast is done? Use a meat thermometer to check the internal temperature. It should read 130-135ºF when done. Remember, the meat will continue to rise in emp for another 5 to 7 degrees while it rests.
Serving Beef Bottom Round Roast
Serve this juicy roast with a big chunk of rosemary garlic bread to soak up some of that delicious gravy. If you’re trying to keep the carbs low, serve up your roast with a side of green beans or air fryer vegetables.
Wine Pairing
This lean cut of beef is perfectly paired with a Syrah or Malbec.
Leftovers & Reheating
Store leftover roast beef in an airtight container in the fridge for 3-4 days. This recipe is also a perfect freezer meal, lasting up to 3-4 months in the freezer. We recommend shaving it into thin slices of beef ahead of time if you are going to freeze it. Portion out what you will need in individual ziplock bags for later use.
To reheat, place leftover roast (refrigerated or frozen) in a pot on the stovetop on medium-high heat. Let it simmer until warm.
More awesome roast Beef Recipes
For a taste of comfort, try this lean beef round roast recipe. It’s the best way to transform a tough cut of meat into a mouthwatering masterpiece.
Have you tried this recipe? Do us a favor and rate the recipe card with the ⭐ ⭐ ⭐ ⭐ ⭐ and drop a comment to help out the next reader.
Beef Bottom Round Roast Recipe
Ingredients
- 3 lbs Round Roast
- 1 tbsp Salt
- 6 cloves of garlic minced
- 1 tbsp fresh Rosemary minced
- 1 tbsp fresh Thyme minced
- 1 tsp olive oil
- 1 Onion diced
- 2 Carrots chopped
- 1 – 2 Potatoes, or rutabaga choped into 1″ pieces
- 1/2 cup Red wine
- 1/2 cup beef broth
- Head of garlic top 1/4 cut offf to expose the bulbs
- 1 tbsp Worcestershire Sauce
- 1 tsp Cornstarch
Instructions
- Remove the roast from the package and pat it dry with paper towels.
- Season all sides liberally with salt and place the roast on a wire rack above a baking sheet in the fridge overnight.
- Make a paste of minced garlic, rosemary, thyme and oil with the tines of a fork by mashing it all together.
- Then, pat the garlic mixture onto all sides of the roast. Let the roast sit at room temperature for 45 minutes.
- Preheat the oven to 225 degrees F. Adjust rack to lower mid-position.
- Place the veggies into a Dutch oven, roasting pan, or braiser with the red wine and beef broth. Nestle in a head of garlic.
- Place roast over top of veggies, cover, and transfer to the oven.
- Cook for 1 to 1:15 hours until the internal temperature of the round roast reaches 120 degrees F with an instant-read thermometer.
- Remove the roast from the oven and uncover.
- Increase the oven heat to broil.
- Place roast back under the broiler for 5 to 7 minutes to brown, rotating to brown on all sides.
- Let the roast rest for 10 minutes.
- Meanwhile, Remove the veggies and set them aside.
- Put the pot with the cooking liquid over a burner set to medium heat and allow the cooking liquid to simmer. Add the Worcestershire sauce and let it simmer for 3 to 5 minutes.
- Make a slurry by mixing the cornstarch with a tablespoon of water until combined.
- Add the slurry to the simmering liquid and stir as the sauce thickens. Reduce the heat to low and allow it to cook for 3 to 5 minutes longer until thickened.
- When ready to serve, slice the round roast against the grain into thin ¼” portions to serve with the red wine sauce on the side along with the veggies.
Notes
When ready to slice, place the wrapped roast in the freezer for 30 minutes.
Set a countertop meat slicer to your desired thickness
Unwrap the roast and slice for roast beef sandwiches.
Nutrition
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Beef Bottom Round Roast FAQs
The perfect cooking time will depend on the weight of your roast and your desired internal temperature. We start with 1 hour to 1 and a half hours and check the doneness with our meat thermometer.
No, round roast will not get more tender the longer you cook it.
Any cut of meat will shred if cooked long enough and with enough braising liquid.
That’s totally up to you. Normally, we sear our beef prior to cooking; however, because we finished with the blast of heat from the broiler, we skipped this step.
The bottom round roast and chuck roast are two different cuts of beef that come from different parts of the cow. The bottom round roast is from the hindquarters and is known for being leaner, with less fat marbling. It works best when cooked slowly and with moisture, like in braising or roasting. The chuck roast comes from the shoulder area and has more fat marbling and connective tissue. This gives it a bit more flavor and juiciness. It’s great for dishes that involve slow cooking, like this Dutch oven pot roast. When choosing between them, it depends on whether you prefer a leaner cut or one with more beefy richness in your dishes.
Spices were good. Cooking times and temperatures way off. Vegetables didn’t get tender. Roast tough.
Thanks for the feedback, Ms. Covell. Was the roast over cooked or undercooked to be tough?
Very good recipe, and while you do say cook to 120 degrees, I believe your time should be edited to give a more realistic cooking time. Plan for about another 35 minutes and you can still pick up any short fall in temp while broiling. You won’t be disappointed with this recipe
I had to cook it an extra 30 – 40 mins as well. We don’t have a convection oven so I generally add 25 degree to the suggested heat. (250) Neither the meat nor the veggies were done in the prescribed 1:15. Luckily I started early because the kids were starting to circle like sharks…..The roast was very flavorful and tender in the end.
Thanks, Jason. Appreciate the feedback on this one
Do you mean to roast 1 hr *per pound*? All the other recipes I’ve seen for bottom round at 225F say about 2.5-3+ hrs roasting. I can’t see how a 3.5 lb roast will be done in a little over an hour. Thanks
Thanks for the question, Ms. Darcey. We always recommend cooking to temp, not time. We aim for 120 degrees F, which for us took about 1 – 1 hour 15 minutes. We then broil the roast under high heat which also raises the internal temp and rest it. The key to keeping this roast as tender as it can be, is to make sure that internal temp doesn’t get over cooked. Hope this helps 😀