Sous Vide Chuck Roast and Gravy

Sous Vide Chuck Roast is incredibly flavorful, tender and juicy, unlike the pot roast cooked the traditional way. Sous vide method transforms the cheap tough cut of a chuck roast into the most delicious beef roast that rivals the expensive prime rib. Oh my, it’s a game-changer!

Why Sous Vide Chuck Roast?

Sous vide cooking is the BEST way to make pot roast! When cooking tough cuts such as chuck roast or rump roast, oven or slow cooker method braises the meat for a long time when the roast is completely well-done. Sous vide allows you to evenly cook these tough cuts to rare or medium-rare with the precise temperate you set.

The best part? Sous vide chuck roast tastes just like a prime rib, but with a fraction of the cost! It turns a tough cut into a melt-in-your-mouth tender meat. It’s like magic, and you got to try it!

Sous vide means ‘under vacuum’ in French. It’s a cooking technique where foods are vacuum-sealed in a bag, and then cooked for a long time to a precise temperature in a warm water bath. The food never cooks past the set temperature. 

How to make sous vide chuck roast

Sous vide pot roast is really easy: it takes just a few minutes to season and seal the meat, and then the sous vide machine will do most of the work!

Chuck roast seasoning: I like simple seasoning with salt, pepper, garlic powder, sugar, and rosemary. Rub the olive oil and the seasoning mixture all around your roast. The key is to season generously with salt to bring out the best flavor of your roast.

Sous vide the roast: Add the seasoned meat into a large zip-lock bag and vacuum-seal it. Place the bag in a sous vide warm water bath and cook at 136 °F (58°C) for 24 hours.

Finish with a quick sear: Remove the roast from the bag, and pat dry with paper towels. Add the roast to a hot skillet, quickly crisping the outside for about 1 minute per side.

Make the gravy and serve: Pour the juices to a skillet, add cornstarch, salt, and pepper. Simmer for about 5 minutes to thicken the juice into a delicious gravy. Slice the roast against the grain and drizzle with the gravy. 

What kind of roast should I buy?

For this recipe, my favorite cut is beef chuck roast, which comes from the shoulder of the cow with outstanding marbling. Other popular choices include shoulder roast, round roast, rump roast and briskets. 

How to seal a bag without a vacuum sealer?

If you don’t have a vacuum sealer you can use zip-lock bags which are safe for sous vide cooking. The trick to vacuum-seal the bag is called the “water displacement method”: just place the seasoned chuck roast in the bag, and seal all but one corner of the bag. Slowly place it in the water bath, and make sure everything below the zip-line is covered by water. Then seal the rest of the bag. 

Note that you’ll need to cook the meat in the water bath for a long time. To avoid the seams of the zip-lock bag from popping open, make sure the seams are above water during cooking while the meat is completely submerged in the water.

What temperature to sous vide chuck roast?

To make this sous vide pot roast taste like a prime rib, we cook it to 136 °F (58°C) for medium-rare. If you prefer to have the same texture as the traditional fall-apart roast that you can shred, set the temperature to 170ºF (76ºC). For different levels of doneness, follow the chart below:

How long do I sous vide chuck roast?

Chuck roast is a tough cut that requires a long cooking time. I cooked mine for 24 hours, but you can cook yours anywhere between 20 to 30 hours. If you cook your chuck roast from frozen, the cooking time is the same. 

Adding great flavor to the roast with gravy

Don’t throw away the flavorful juices that come out from the meat! We can turn them into the most delicious gravy that you can drizzle over everything.

To make the gravy, place a skillet on medium-high heat, and pour the juices and browned drippings to the skillet. When it’s bubbly, add the mixture of 1 tablespoon of cornstarch and 2 tablespoons of water on top, and stir frequently. Simmer for about 5 minutes or until the gravy is thickened. Season with salt, pepper to taste if necessary.

This gravy is the finishing touch that pulls everything all together. It completely takes the taste of your pot roast to the next level!

How to serve sous vide chuck roast?

Using a sharp carving knife, slice the roast across the grain for serving, making the slices about 1/2-inch to 3/4-inch thick. Serve with the gravy. Some side dishes that I like to pair with include mashed potatoes, steamed broccoli or green beans.

More Delicious Sous Vide Beef Recipes

• Sous Vide Skirt Steak
• Sous Vide Sirloin Steak
• Sous Vide Beef Short Ribs

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Sous Vide Chuck Roast + Gravy {Tastes Like Prime Rib}

Sous Vide Chuck Roast is incredibly flavorful, tender and juicy, unlike the pot roast cooked the traditional way. Sous vide method transforms the cheap tough cut of a chuck roast into the most delicious beef roast that rivals the expensive prime rib. Oh my, it’s a game-changer!

Course Dinner, Main Course

Cuisine French

Keyword Sous Vide Chuck Roast, Sous Vide Pot Roast

Prep Time 10 minutes

Cook Time 1 day

Total Time 1 day 10 minutes

Servings 4 people

Ingredients

For the Roast:

• 3 lbs chuck roast or rump roast
• 1 ½ teaspoons kosher salt or 1 teaspoon regular salt
• 1 ½ teaspoons fresh ground black pepper
• 2 teaspoons sugar
• 1 tablespoon garlic powder
• 2 teaspoons fresh rosemary chopped
• 2 tablespoons olive oil or softened unsalted butter

For the Gravy

• 1 tablespoon cornstarch
• 2 tablespoons water
• salt and pepper to taste

Instructions

1. Preheat the Sous Vide Machine: Add water to the sous vide container or a large pot; set the Sous Vide Precision Cooker to 136°F (58°C).

2. Season the Roast: Rub the roast on all sides with 1 tablespoon of olive oil.

3. In a small mixing bowl, whisk together garlic powder, chopped rosemary, sugar, salt, and pepper.
4. Rub the roast on all sides with the seasoning mixture.

5. Vacuum-seal the Roast: Vacuum seal it using “water displacement” technique: seal all but one corner of the bag. Slowly place it in the water bath, making sure everything below the zip-line is covered by water. Then seal the rest of the bag.

6. Sous Vide Cook the Roast: Cook the chuck roast in the warm water bath for 24 hours. Arrange the bag so that meat is completely submerged in the water. If you use zip-lock bag, make sure the seam stays above the water.

7. Cover with several pieces of aluminum foil, which will minimize water evaporation.
8. When the timer goes off, remove the bag from the water bath. Don’t throw away the juices in the bag as we’ll use them to make the gravy.

9. Sear the Roast: Remove the roast from the bag. Pat dry the surface thoroughly with paper towels. Place a skillet on medium-high, add 1 tablespoon of olive oil. Once hot, add the roast. Sear each side for about 1 minute or until nicely browned. Remove from the heat immediately.

Making the Gravy

1. In a small bowl, whisk together cornstarch and water.

2. Place a skillet on the stove on medium-high heat, and pour the juices and browned drippings to the skillet. When it’s bubbly, add the cornstarch mixture, and stir with a wire whisk. Simmer for about 5 minutes or until the gravy is thickened. Season with salt, pepper if necessary.

3. Slice the roast against the grain using a sharp carving knife (making the slices about 1/2-inch to 3/4-inch thick). Serve with the gravy.

Recipe Notes

• This recipe produces a pot roast that tastes like a tender prime rib. If you prefer the traditional pot roast texture, set the temperature to 170ºF (76ºC).
• If your roast is frozen, you don’t need to thaw them ahead of time. The cooking time for the frozen roast is the same in the sous vide machine.

Recipe Tools

• Sous Vide Immersion Circulators
• Zip-loc Bags
• Tongs