Coke Roast

[Sale ingredients from Meijer ad week of 12/16/12 - 12/24/12]

On a recent Saturday evening, we went to dinner with some friends.  Sharla shared a yummy roast recipe, and my husband thought it sounded so delicious that I should make our Sunday roast that way the very next day.  I happened to have all the ingredients in the house (and you might too!) because it's so easy, so the next day, we had Coke Roast for dinner.  It was tender and delicious, as promised, and our kids were pretty insistent that they could see "pop bubbles" in our gravy.  Sharla's husband Josh's theory is that the roast is so tender because the acid in the Coke breaks down the meat...which makes this recipe ideal for leaner cuts of beef.  The Coke also gives the gravy a slightly different flavor, so it's a nice change from the typical pot roast.  Enjoy!


Ingredients:
1 beef roast, any cut, but a lean roast such as rump, top round, or eye of round works well for this recipe
2/3 to a full envelope of dry onion soup mix
1 can cream of mushroom soup
1 can of regular Coke
salt to taste (for gravy)

Directions:

Put roast in a crockpot/slow cooker.  Sprinkle onion soup mix on top of meat.  Cover with cream of mushroom soup, then pour the can of Coke over everything.  Turn crockpot on low and cook for 9-12 hours, depending on your crockpot.  If desired, remove lid halfway through cooking time and flip meat over.  Replace lid and continue cooking.  At the end of cooking time, remove roast to a meat platter.  Slice thinly if using a rolled roast.  Cover with foil until serving.  Use liquid from crockpot to make gravy, adding salt to taste.  Serve roast with gravy (and mashed potatoes, of course!).

 

Options and Tips:

• Make sure your onion soup mix is mixed well before sprinkling it over the meat.  This may sound silly, but it does make a difference if you're only using half the envelope.  The first time I made this roast, it was delicious.  The second time, it wasn't quite as flavorful, and I knew why right away...I had sprinkled the dry soup mixture over the top of the roast, and noticed that I got mostly onion pieces and not very much of the powdery salty stuff that's in the envelope.
• Opening the lid of a slow cooker is supposed to be a big no-no, but I've never had problems after doing that.  I like to flip my roast halfway through cooking time (if I'm home to do that) because the bottom half is cooking in liquid, but the top half is "open".  If you flip your meat, the other half/side of the roast can cook in juices and absorb some of the flavor for part of the cooking time.
• Feel free to double the recipe if you have a large roast and/or a large crowd.  Doubling the recipe will yield more gravy, which is a good thing if you have a mountain of mashed potatoes to go with your roast!
• I've started plugging in my crockpot in the garage!  I love the smell of roast cooking, but I don't like to wake up to that smell on Sunday morning.  As well, the smell (especially if I'm using the onion soup mix) tends to linger in the house for a day or so, and I don't particularly enjoy the smell of stale roast the next day!
• I realize that "9-12 hours" is a pretty big range.  Don't worry...it's almost impossible to overcook a roast in a crockpot.  If you end up leaving it in a little long, it shouldn't be a problem.  I plugged mine in before I went to bed on Saturday evening, and we didn't eat until 12:30 or so on Sunday.  I've also cooked this roast on high for 6-8 hours, and although it was maybe slightly less tender, it was still just fine.

 This recipe is from Sharla Hoekstra.