I made my mom’s slow-cooker pot-roast recipe that only requires 5 ingredients. It’s the ideal comfort meal.

I use a Crock-Pot, but any slow cooker with various heat settings will work for this recipe.

I started by searing my chuck roast in a cast-iron pan with a tablespoon of olive oil, and then I added the meat to the slow cooker.

I used chuck roast steak, but you can also use a whole chuck roast. Using a steak cut means your meat may cook slightly faster and pull apart easily when it’s done, but both work well. 

When you really think about what’s in a gingersnap — flour, sugar, ginger, and molasses — it begins to make sense why this addition would help make a rich, thick gravy.

Other traditional recipes use gingersnaps in this way. For example, some recipes for Sauerbraten, a German beef roast, use gingersnaps to thicken and flavor the gravy.

I chose to go with Mi-Del ginger snaps, but you can use any brand.

These hard cookies can be difficult to crumble, but you should try and break them into the smallest pieces you can. 

When I asked my mom what kind of chili sauce to use, she said this was the only brand she’d ever used. Knowing that ketchup is a common ingredient in many pot-roast recipes, I rightly assumed this famous ketchup brand’s chili sauce would add a lot of the same flavor to the dish, with a slight kick. 

The consistency and flavor of this chili sauce are admittedly really similar to ketchup, so you may be able to use that as a substitute if you’re unable to find this specific bottle. If you choose to do this, you might want to add a splash of hot sauce to resemble the original recipe a little more closely.

Though chili sauce and gingersnap cookies might seem like surprising additions to a pot-roast recipe, I assure you the final result is delicious. 

My mother explained that the roast should also be covered halfway, and it’s important to add more water to the pot if the gravy gets too thick.

About one hour before it was done cooking, I added in seven sliced carrots. My mom has also used whole baby carrots in the past; either works for this recipe.

After the pot roast is done cooking, you should be able to gently pull apart the meat with a spoon. If it’s not tender enough to do that, you can take the meat out, carve it on a cutting board, and add it back into the pot.

Then, set your slow cooker or Crock-Pot to the warm setting if available. By far, one of the best things about this recipe is the mouthwatering smell that will waft through your home.

Mashed potatoes work really well with the gravy and meat, so I decided to make some red-skin mashed potatoes. You’ll want to boil the potatoes for around 20 minutes until they are fork-tender and easy to mash.

You can also use russet or yellow gold potatoes to make the side, but I prefer red potatoes for their texture and the fact that you don’t need to peel them.

The red skin of the potatoes adds a nice texture.

The recipe I use makes around five servings, so it could easily feed a family. If you’re cooking for fewer people than that, I’ve also found that leftovers keep well in both the fridge and the freezer.

The total cost of my slow-cooker meal came to approximately $50, so it evened out to about $10 per serving. This beats most of my go-to takeout orders in price and home-cooked quality. 

My family pot-roast recipe is a delicious home-cooked meal, with a few interesting ingredients you might have never considered using before. Pot roast is a slow-cooker staple for many home cooks, and after trying out this particular recipe for myself, I can see why.