Mississippi Pot Roast (Easy Oven-Braised Chuck Roast)

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This Mississippi pot roast is a five-ingredient Southern classic made with a fall-apart tender chuck roast, ranch seasoning, au jus gravy mix, tangy pepperoncini peppers, and a whole stick of butter. It's a one-pot dinner with about 20 minutes of hands-on work, and the leftovers make the best sandwiches. Make it in the oven, in an Instant Pot, or in a Slow Cooker.

What Is Mississippi Pot Roast? (Brief History)

Mississippi Pot Roast is one of the few modern American classics with a traceable birth certificate. A home cook named Robin Chapman created it in Ripley, Mississippi, in the 1990s, when she took her aunt's roast (which used a packet of Italian dressing mix) and swapped in ranch to make it milder for her kids. She added pepperoncini, au jus gravy mix, and a stick of butter, and set the slow cooker on low. Her friend Karen Farese put it in the Beech Hill Church of Christ cookbook, bloggers found it there, and by 2016 the New York Times called it the roast that owns the internet. Nobody in Ripley called it Mississippi Pot Roast. They called it roast.

I stayed faithful to those five original ingredients, and I only made two changes: I sear the chuck roast first, and I braise it in the oven in a Dutch oven instead of the slow cooker. Searing gives you a deep brown crust and a base of browned bits that turn the jus glossy and beefy instead of flat. The oven holds a steadier temperature than a slow cooker and gives you better texture at the end. However, you can definitely make Mississippi Pot Roast in a crockpot and even in an Instant Pot - I provide 3 cooking methods in my recipe card below.

The flavor is salty, buttery, and just a little tangy from the pepperoncini brine. It is rich without being heavy, and it makes enough for leftovers, which reheat beautifully. Serve it over roasted garlic mashed potatoes, creamy yellow polenta, buttered egg noodles, or rice, with a pile of my Parmesan garlic green beans on the side and my garlic butter dinner rolls for the jus.

The Ingredients (and Substitutions) for Mississippi Pot Roast

Read my important tips on choosing the right ingredients and making substitutions, or skip ahead to the fully printable recipe card below.

• Boneless chuck roast: I used a 3-pound boneless chuck roast, the same cut Robin Chapman used. It is heavily marbled and full of connective tissue that melts down over a long braise, which is what makes the beef shred into glossy strands. Use a beef shoulder roast or brisket flat if chuck roast is unavailable. You can sub rump roast, sirloin tip, or bottom round, but they are leaner and shred a little drier. 
• Salt and pepper: I season the roast with ½ teaspoon kosher salt and 1 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper. That is light on purpose, because the ranch and au jus packets bring plenty of salt later. If you are using fine table salt, use ¼ teaspoon instead.
• Neutral oil: Use avocado oil, canola oil, vegetable oil, or another high-smoke-point oil for searing. I sear the roast in 2 tablespoons of avocado oil. Olive oil smokes before the pan gets hot enough, and butter burns, so save both for later. 
• Beef broth: Add ½ cup low-sodium beef broth to deglaze the pot and lift the browned bits off the bottom. You can substitute low-sodium chicken or vegetable broth, though beef broth provides the richest flavor. Water works just as well, and the original recipe used no broth at all. 
• Worcestershire sauce: I add a tablespoon of Worcestershire, which isn't traditional and is a slight departure from the original five-ingredient recipe, but it deepens the jus. You can sub soy sauce, coconut aminos, or even fish sauce. You can also skip it entirely if you want the classic version. If you're adventurous, try miso paste!
• Ranch seasoning mix: I sprinkle between half and a full 1-ounce packet of dry ranch seasoning right over the top of the roast. The original recipe uses Hidden Valley brand. If you want to control the salt, you can make your own with buttermilk powder, dried dill, parsley, chives, onion powder, and garlic powder.
• Au jus gravy mix: I use between half and a full 1-ounce packet. It turns the butter and brine into an actual sauce and gives it that roasted beef flavor. Brown gravy mix or dry onion soup mix both sub well, though onion soup mix is saltier.
• Pepperoncini and brine: I arrange 8 whole pepperoncini around the roast and pour in ½ cup of brine straight from the jar. This is the signature ingredient, and the vinegar is what cuts through all that butter. They are mild, so 8 peppers will not make it spicy. Banana peppers can provide a similar tangy, mild flavor.
• Unsalted butter: I lay a full stick of unsalted butter, cut into pats, over the roast. It is traditional, and it is what makes the jus silky. Use unsalted here, since salted butter on top of two seasoning packets is too much. You can drop to 4 tablespoons if a whole stick feels like a lot.
• Fresh parsley: I top the plated dish with a big handful of chopped flat-leaf parsley. On a dish this rich and brown, it is not just for looks. Chives or thinly sliced scallions do the same job.

Key Preparation Tips

• Pat the roast completely dry. Wet beef steams instead of browning. I press paper towels against every surface until they come away dry, then season. If your roast came in a wet package, leave it uncovered on a rack in the fridge for 15 minutes first.
• Get the pan properly hot before the beef goes in. The oil should shimmer and move like water when you tilt the pot. Sear 4 to 5 minutes per side without touching or moving the roast, and let it release on its own. If it sticks, it is not ready to flip.
• Use a Dutch oven with a tight lid. A heavy enameled or cast iron Dutch oven holds steady heat and traps the steam that does most of the work. If your lid does not seal well, lay a sheet of foil across the pot before setting the lid on.
• Do not add extra liquid. Half a cup of broth plus half a cup of brine plus a stick of butter looks like nowhere near enough for a 3-pound roast, and that is correct. The chuck releases a lot of its own moisture as it cooks, and the finished jus should be concentrated, not soupy.
• Taste the braising liquid before you shred anything back into it. This is the step people skip and then complain the dish was too salty. Spoon a little onto a spoon, let it cool for a second, and taste. If it is sharp, whisk in warm water a few tablespoons at a time until it tastes right.
• Give it the full time it needs. I check at 3 hours and it is often not ready. Fork-tender means a fork twists in the meat with almost no resistance. If it still pulls back, cover it and give it another 30 to 60 minutes.

How to Make Mississippi Pot Roast (Step-by-Step Photos)

This is a recipe overview. Scroll down for complete instructions and ingredient amounts in the recipe card below.

• Season and sear: Pat the chuck roast very dry, season all over with salt and pepper, and sear in hot oil for 4 to 5 minutes per side, until a deep brown crust forms. Transfer it to a plate.

• Deglaze: Pour the beef broth and Worcestershire into the hot pot and scrape up every browned bit from the bottom.
• Layer everything in: Return the roast to the pot. Sprinkle the ranch seasoning and au jus mix evenly over the top, tuck the pepperoncini around the sides, pour in the brine, and lay the butter pats across the roast.

• Braise: Cover and cook at 300°F (150°C) for 3 to 4 hours, until a fork twists easily in the meat. Start checking at the 3-hour mark.
• Shred and coat: Move the roast to a bowl and shred it with two forks. Taste the braising liquid first and thin it with a splash of water if it is too salty, then return the beef to the pot and stir until every strand is coated.

A Note About Salt

Ranch seasoning, au jus mix, and pepperoncini brine all contribute a lot of salt to the dish, but they are standard in making Mississippi Pot Roast. This makes the end result quite salty. Many recipes call for a full packet of each, and I find that overwhelming, especially if you also use regular beef broth. 

I recommend starting with half a packet of each. You can always stir more in at the end. I also use low-sodium beef broth and only ½ teaspoon of kosher salt on the meat itself. I highly recommend using unsalted butter and keeping other ingredients that add salt to a minimum. If your finished sauce still tastes too salty, thin it with a splash of water or unsalted broth. I explain how to fix it in the instructions.

To further reduce the salt, you can also add halved baby potatoes and chunks of carrot under the chuck meat while it braises. Lastly, serving this dish with a blander version of polenta, mashed potatoes, or noodles will also help balance the saltiness.

Classic Side Dishes for Mississippi Pot Roast

• Creamy mashed potatoes are the most traditional pairing. My roasted garlic mashed potatoes are perfect here, or go richer with scalloped potatoes.
• Buttered egg noodles or wide pappardelle soak up the sauce beautifully, the same way they do in my braised pork ragu pappardelle.
• Creamy yellow polenta is my personal favorite with this roast. You can find my go-to polenta recipe inside my braised short ribs post.
• White or brown rice is the easiest option of all and soaks up the sauce beautifully!
• For bread, I love garlic butter dinner rolls, garlic bread, or a slice of my homemade bread machine loaf to mop the pot clean.

Veggie Side Dishes

This roast is rich, so I like something green and simple next to it. A few ideas:

• My Parmesan Garlic Lemon Green Beans are a reader favorite and the pairing I make most often.
• Baked Asparagus with Bacon and Cheese is one of the most popular sides on my whole site.
• Roasted Brussels Sprouts with Bacon
• Roasted Sweet Potatoes and Broccoli
• Mashed sweet potatoes, which you will find in my steak with spinach sauce post.
• Steamed or sautéed broccoli for the fastest possible option.

What to Do With the Leftovers

Leftover Mississippi pot roast might be the best part of making it. Pile the shredded beef on toasted garlic rolls with a little provolone for the easiest French-dip-style sandwiches. Spoon it over baked potatoes. Fold it into tacos. Or stir it into a pot of broth and vegetables the way I do with the beef in my vegetable beef soup.

More Beef Recipes

• Beef Bourguignon (French Red-Wine Beef Stew)
• Braised Short Ribs with Creamy Polenta
• Salisbury Steak with Mushroom-Onion Gravy
• Vegetable Beef Soup (One-Pot)
• Pan-Seared Flank Steak with Mashed Sweet Potatoes
• Marinated Ribeye Steak
• Braised Pork Ragu with Pappardelle