Slow Cooker Balsamic Pot Roast over Roasted Sweet Potatoes

I ended up not having much time to meal prep this weekend, so I picked out two slow cooker recipes this week to make. I decided to try cooking this balsamic pot roast in the crockpot overnight, which I was nervous to do since I've never done that before, but it turned out perfect! This was seriously the most simple pot roast recipe in the world and turned out tasting absolutely delicious! Also, despite needing to be in the crockpot for 8 hours, it was a real easy meal prep recipe for such a busy weekend. I paired this with some roasted sweet potatoes baked in bacon grease to make the most delicious meal. I definitely recommend you trying this pot roast recipe or adding it into your meal prep routine. And don't forget to thicken the sauce and pour it back on the meat before serving because that really completes the meal!

Slow Cooker Balsamic Pot Roast
Ingredients:

• 2 lbs boneless Chuck Roast
• 1 TBS olive oil

Rub:

• 1 tsp garlic powder
• ½ tsp onion powder
• 1 tsp sea salt
• ½ tsp freshly ground black pepper

Sauce:

• ½ cup high quality balsamic vinegar
• 2 TBS honey
• 1 TBS dijon mustard (I use Woodstock Organic Dijon Mustard, found at local grocery store)
• 1 cup beef broth
• 1 TBS arrowroot powder

Directions:

1. Generously grease the bowl of your slow cooker. Set aside
2. Make the rub:
3. In a small bowl, mix together garlic powder, onion powder, sea salt and pepper. Set aside.
4. Make the sauce:
5. In a medium bowl whisk together balsamic vinegar, honey, mustard and beef broth. Set aside.
6. Putting it together:
7. Coat the roast in 1 TBS olive oil (I spread it around with my hands). Set in your slow cooker.
8. Evenly sprinkle the roast with the rub, pressing it into the meat so it sticks.
9. Pour sauce over roast and turn your slow cooker onto low.
10. Cook on low for 8-12 hours, occasionally spooning more sauce over the roast, until it is very easily shredded with a fork.
11. Shred and continue cooking on low for another 1 hour.
12. Just before you are ready to serve, remove the meat from the sauce and strain the sauce through a fine mesh strainer into a large bowl (do NOT pour it down the drain)!
13. Transfer sauce to a saucepan and whisk in 1 TBS tapioca flour or arrowroot powder.
14. Cook on medium heat until sauce becomes thick.
15. Pour ¼ of the thickened sauce over the meat and save the rest for people to spoon on when you serve!
16. Eat and enjoy!

​Original recipe found here

Roasted Sweet Potatoes
Ingredients:

• 4-6 Sweet Potatoes (Depending on how much you want to make. 5 medium sized sweet potatoes usually gets me 6-7 oz of roasted sweet potatoes for 6 meals. I think my idea of medium sized is bigger than most though.)
• 3-6 slices Bacon
• Sea salt (I actually use Garlic Sea Salt on everything I cook)

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees
2. Skin and cut the sweet potatoes into whatever shape you want. I did 1 inch cubes for this recipe.
3. Place bacon slices on baking sheet and bake for 8-10 minutes (until crispy or to your liking)
4. Remove bacon from pan and set aside. Place sweet potato cubes on the greased backing pan, sprinkle some sea salt, and spread sweet potatoes around to cover in bacon grease. Make sure sweet potatoes are all laid down flat (or not on top of another).
5. Bake for 15-20 minutes. Take out of the oven and move them around or flip them over. Bake for another 15-20 minutes.
6. Keep an eye on them, if the sweet potatoes are smaller bake for less time, and vice versa. Key is to move them around or flip them over half way through baking them. I usually make mine thicker, so I bake them for at least a total of 30-40 minutes.