Kentucky Roast is basically like slow cooking without a slow cooker. Beef, coated in sweet, spicy, and savory seasonings and sauces, gets roasted in the oven until fall-apart tender and succulent. It sounds too good to be true, and yet somehow it tastes even better than that! The Bluegrass State certainly delivers a masterpiece of powerful meaty goodness with this Kentucky Roast!
Ingredients
- 1 (3 1/2-4-pound) chuck roast, cut into big pieces
- 1 teaspoon sea salt
- 2 teaspoons coarse ground pepper
- 4 tablespoons brown sugar
- 1/2 cup bourbon, can substitute orange juice or pineapple juice
- 6 cloves garlic, sliced
- 2 teaspoons Thai spice blend, homemade or store-bought
- 2 teaspoons Greek Mediterranean seasoning
- 1/2 teaspoon red chili flakes
- 2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
- 1/3 cup double concentrated tomato paste
- 1/3 cup pepperoncini peppers
- 2 1/2 cups water, divided, plus more, optional, to taste
- 1/3 cup canola oil
- 1/3 cup all-purpose flour
- beef broth, optional, to taste
Directions
Step 1 –Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F.
Step 2 –In a large bowl, add the chuck roast pieces, the salt, and the pepper and toss to coat.
Step 3 –In a separate bowl, add the brown sugar, the bourbon, the garlic, the Thai spices, the Greek spices, the red chili flakes, the extra-virgin olive oil, the tomato paste, the pepperoncini peppers, and 1 cup of the water and whisk to combine.
Step 4 –Pour the sauce mixture over the beef and use your clean hands to work the sauce into the meat, about 2 minutes.
Step 5 –Let the meat marinate for 30 minutes.
Step 6 –In a large roasting pot over medium-high heat, add the canola oil.
Step 7 –Transfer the meat from the marinade using tongs and coat the pieces in the flour. Do not discard the marinade.
Step 8 –Add the meat to the hot oil and sear on all sides, about 2-3 minutes per side.
Step 9 –Reduce the heat to low.
Step 10 –Slowly add the marinade and 1 1/2 cups of the water to the beef in the pot.
Step 11 –Cover the pot tightly with a lid and roast for 1 hour.
Step 12 –Reduce the oven heat to 300 degrees F.
Step 13 –Check the beef mixture to see if it needs additional moisture, adding the extra water or the beef broth as needed.
Step 14 –Roast until the meat shreds apart with a fork and reaches an internal temperature of 165 degrees F, about 1 hour 30 minutes.
Step 15 –Check the gravy in the pot for thickness, and thin it out as desired with the extra water or the beef broth.
Step 16 –Serve.
