The Mississippi Pot Roast From Scratch (No Packets) is the ultimate comfort food for a cozy weeknight dinner. While the original recipe made famous by Robin Chapman in a Mississippi church cookbook took social media by storm using mixed spice packets, you can easily recreate that same iconic flavor using standard spices from your pantry. By making your own simple seasoning blend, you get a deeply flavorful roast with a rich gravy using staples you likely already have on hand.
Why You’ll Love This Recipe
- Simple Pantry Ingredients: There is no need to make a special trip to the grocery store for specific seasoning packets when you can whip up a flavorful blend using basic cupboard spices. You can make this roast just as flavorful without the au jus gravy mix or dry ranch seasoning mix.
- True Set-It-And-Forget-It Meal: Slow cooking this flavorful piece of meat means your slow cooker does all the heavy lifting, making it an easy recipe for a busy weeknight.
- Fall-Apart Tender Beef: Using a beef chuck roast gives you the best cut of meat for slow cooking because the lot of connective tissue melts down into an incredibly juicy, delicious roast.
- Crowd-Pleasing Comfort Food: Bringing this delicious dinner to the dinner table is guaranteed to make it an instant family favorite that everyone asks for on repeat.
Ingredient Notes
- Beef Chuck Roast: This is the absolute best cut of meat for this recipe. A chuck roast has beautiful marbling that gets incredibly tender over low heat, whereas a round roast or rump roast can dry out during slow cooking.
- Homemade Scratch Seasoning: Instead of a dry ranch dressing mix, we combine dried parsley, dried dill weed, onion powder, and garlic powder to capture that classic, comforting flavor profile.
- Savory Liquids: Rather than using an au jus mix or brown gravy mix, a simple splash of beef broth and Worcestershire sauce creates a beautiful, rich gravy right at the bottom of the roast.
- Pepperoncini Peppers and Juice: Four to five pepperoncini peppers sitting on top of the roast along with a splash of pepperoncini juice give this dish its iconic, signature tang.
- Unsalted Butter: A few tablespoons of unsalted butter cut into squares adds a lovely touch of richness that melts beautifully into the savory cooking juices.
See the recipe card below for a complete list of ingredients and measurements for this slow cooker Mississippi pot roast recipe.
Recipe Tips & Variations
- Custom Spices: Because we are creating our own seasoning blend rather than relying on packets, you can easily adjust the spices to your family's preferences. Feel free to play around with the ratio of herbs or add a pinch of onion powder for extra depth. The custom spices also create a low-sodium option for this classic roast.
- Alternate Cooking Methods: While we love the ease of slow cooker recipes, you can also make this a Dutch oven recipe! Sear the meat over medium-high heat in a splash of olive oil first, add the remaining ingredients, and braise at 300°F for 3-4 hours. You can even adapt this for the instant pot by cooking on high pressure for 60 minutes with a quick release.
- Try Other Proteins: This scratch-made seasoning blend is incredibly versatile. It works wonderfully for a Mississippi chicken dinner using chicken breasts, or you can swap the beef for a pork roast or pork butt.
- Gluten-Free Adjustments: This recipe is naturally gluten-free! Just double-check your Worcestershire sauce bottle at the grocery store to ensure your brand is certified gluten-free.
How to Make This Easy Mississippi Pot Roast
For the full recipe instructions, scroll down to the recipe card at the bottom of the page.
Step 1: Mix the seasoning blend. In a small bowl, combine the dried parsley, dill weed, garlic powder, onion powder, kosher salt, and black pepper. Stir to combine and set aside.
Add the pepperoncini and butter. Arrange the pepperoncini peppers around and on top of the roast, then scatter the small squares of butter evenly over the top.
Step 2: Season the roast. Pat the chuck roast dry with a paper towel, then rub the seasoning blend generously over all sides of the roast, pressing it in so it sticks.
Set the chuck roast in the bottom of your slow cooker. Pour the beef broth, Worcestershire sauce, and pepperoncini jar juice around the base of the roast, not over the top, so the seasoning stays put.
Cook low and slow. Place the lid on the slow cooker and cook on low for 8–10 hours, until the roast is fall-apart tender and shreds easily with two forks.
Step 3: Shred and serve. Use two forks to shred the roast directly in the slow cooker, then toss it in the juices at the bottom. After you shred the meat, let it sit in the juices for 15-20 minutes to soak up more flavor.
Step 4: Enjoy!
Looking For More Cozy Roast Recipes?
If you love a comforting, slow-cooked dinner table favorite, you will absolutely love our savory easy crockpot roast with gravy for a classic pot roast recipe feel, or try turning your next leftover meat night into taco Tuesday with our flavorful chuck roast slow cooker tacos.
Mississippi Roast Recipe FAQs
Because this easy Mississippi pot roast cooks without the traditional potatoes and baby carrots built right into the pan, it's a great option to serve over a bed of buttery egg noodles, garlic mashed potatoes, or even french dip style on a warm roll. For a lighter option, it pairs beautifully over cauliflower rice with a side of roasted green beans! You can also serve it with classic potatoes, carrots, and onions.
Let the meat cool completely before transferring it to an airtight container. You can store leftovers in the refrigerator with the rich gravy juices for up to 4 days. The leftover meat tastes even better the next day as it sits in those beautiful juices!
Yes! This is an excellent freezer-friendly meal. You can freeze the shredded beef and juices in a freezer-safe airtight container or heavy-duty freezer bag for up to 3 months. Thaw in the fridge overnight before reheating.
If your chuck roast is still tough after several hours, it simply needs more time! Chuck roast contains a lot of connective tissue that requires a full 8–10 hours on low heat to properly break down. Avoid switching to high heat, as low and slow cooking yields the best flavor and texture.
This recipe is naturally gluten-free and dairy-free friendly. To make it completely dairy-free, simply swap the two tablespoons of unsalted butter for your favorite plant-based butter alternative or omit it entirely. Ensure the Worcestershire sauce you use is gluten-free for a gluten-free option.
Other Easy Comfort Foods
If you make this Mississippi Pot Roast From Scratch recipe, please let us know how it turns out in the comments below and/or rate the recipe! Don’t forget to tag us on Instagram to show us your finished product—it makes our day every time we see you trying the recipes we love!
Mississippi Pot Roast From Scratch (No Packets)
Ingredients
- 3 pounds beef chuck roast
- 1 tablespoon dried parsley
- 1 teaspoon dried dill weed
- 1 tablespoon garlic powder
- 1 tablespoon onion powder
- 1 teaspoon kosher salt
- ½ teaspoon ground black pepper
- ⅓ cup beef broth
- 1 tablespoon Worcestershire sauce
- 2 tablespoons juice from the pepperoncini jar
- 4-5 pepperoncini peppers (mild)
- 2 tablespoons butter, cut into small squares
Instructions
- In a small bowl, combine the dried parsley, dill weed, garlic powder, onion powder, kosher salt, and black pepper. Stir to combine and set aside.
- Pat the chuck roast dry with a paper towel, then rub the seasoning blend generously over all sides of the roast, pressing it in so it sticks.
- Set the chuck roast in the bottom of your slow cooker. Pour the beef broth, Worcestershire sauce, and pepperoncini jar juice around the base of the roast, not over the top, so the seasoning stays put.
- Arrange the pepperoncini peppers around and on top of the roast, then scatter the small squares of butter evenly over the top.
- Place the lid on the slow cooker and cook on low for 8–10 hours, until the roast is fall-apart tender and shreds easily with two forks.
- Use two forks to shred the roast directly in the slow cooker, then toss it in the juices at the bottom. After you shred the meat, let it sit in the juices for 15-20 minutes to soak up more flavor.
Notes
- Save time/prep ahead: Mix your dry seasoning blend (parsley, dill, garlic powder, onion powder, salt, and pepper) up to a week in advance and store it in a small jar so it's ready to rub on the beef during a busy morning.
- Dietary variations: This recipe is naturally gluten-free and dairy-free friendly. To make it completely dairy-free, simply swap the two tablespoons of unsalted butter for your favorite plant-based butter alternative or omit it entirely. Ensure the Worcestershire sauce you use is gluten-free for a gluten-free option.
- The recipe can be found on My Fitness Pal by searching "BWB Mississippi Pot Roast From Scratch." The nutrition content provided for each recipe is an estimate created through the My Fitness Pal database. Please be aware that the nutritional content of each recipe may vary based on the products you use, the precision of your measurements, and the source you use to obtain nutrition data. While we try to provide accurate information, we give no guarantee regarding the accuracy of the nutritional information provided.
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