Memories of Sunday dinners in my Irish childhood home always involved a roast, either roast beef, pork or chicken.

My mom roasted meat in the oven, then made gravy separately on the stove top.

Roast beef dinner with carrots, potatoes and mushroom gravy — Crockpot Roast Beef

American Crockpot Roast Beef Recipe
Ingredients for Roast Beef in Red Wine Gravy
Directions for Roast Beef in Red Wine Gravy
Recipe Card for Slow Cooker Roast Beef

American Crockpot Roast Beef Recipe

When I came to America my aunt, who immigrated here from Ireland back in the 1940's, introduced me to the most wonderful American appliance, the crockpot. She made a delicious roast beef in red wine gravy, which convinced me the crockpot is the way to go for juicy, tender roast beef.

I have tweaked her recipe since it contained onions and my husband will not touch them, even if you paid him. Onion powder is my secret weapon in this recipe.

Roast beef and other ingredients for crockpot roast beef — Ingredients for Crockpot Roast Beef and Red Wine Gravy

Ingredients for Roast Beef in Red Wine Gravy

Here you’ll find a quick list of what you’ll need for this recipe. Check out the printable recipe at the bottom of this post for US and Metric equivalent versions of the recipe. There you can choose the measurement system that works best for you.

eye of the round beef roast
canola oil
cold water
brown gravy mix
salt
black pepper
red wine
ketchup
onion powder
worcestershire sauce
dijon mustard
minced garlic
canned mushrooms - stems and pieces
corn starch.
cold water

Directions for Roast Beef in Red Wine Gravy

Here you’ll find step-by-step photographic instructions to help you recreate this recipe successfully.

Browning a roast beef joint in a frying pan before cooking in crock pot — Basting the eye of the round before cooking in slow cooker

Heat the canola oil in a large skillet. Sear the beef on all sides to seal in all the juices and flavor.

This takes 2 to 3 minutes on each side, to attain a light brown shade on the surface of the meat.

Brown gravy mix as a base for roast beef gravy — Mixing gravy for crockpot roast beef

In a large mixing bowl add the gravy powder to the cold water and whisk.

seasoning gravy with salt — Making gravy

Toss in the salt.

Seasoning roast beef gravy — Seasoning gravy

And the pepper.

Whisking gravy in a pot and adding broth — Adding red wine to gravy mixture

Next comes the red wine. All the alcohol is cooked out of the gravy in the crockpot.

Red wine is the key ingredient for adding rich flavor.

Adding ketchup to roast beef gravy in a bowl with a whisk — Ketchup for roast beef gravy

Next add the ketchup.

Onion powder in a teaspoon over a pot of gravy — Onion Powder

Then my secret ingredient - the onion powder. If you like onion, feel free to chop one up and toss it in.

It would probably be best to caramelize it in a pan for a little while before adding it to the crockpot.

Worcestershire sauce poured into roast beef gravy in a pot with a whisk — Worcestershire suace

Worcestershire sauce compliments the flavor of the red wine. The recipe calls for one tablespoon but feel free to add two if you like the richness and depth of flavor of worcestershire.

Flavoring gravy with mustard in a bowl — Dijon mustard

Dijon mustard adds even more flavor.

minced garlic for roast beef gravy — Minced Garlic

Finally, the gravy needs some minced garlic. Feel free to mince fresh garlic, but I like to use pre-chopped garlic just to make life easy.

tinned mushrooms being poured over a seared roast beef joint — Mushrooms

Transfer the seared meat to the crockpot and toss in the can of mushrooms.

Once again fresh would work out fine. Just clean and slice 8 oz of button mushrooms and use instead of the can. I went for the easy solution again for this recipe.

Pouring gravy on an eye of the round beef cut in a crock pot — Pouring gravy over beef in a slow cooker

Pour the prepared gravy over the roast. Place the lid on the crockpot and cook on low for 8 hours. If your piece of meat is bigger than 3 lbs cooking may take an extra hour or two.

Try to resist opening the crockpot lid for at least the first four hours of cooking. This is difficult, especially as the aroma from this delicious gravy starts to invade your kitchen.

Crock pot or slow cooker roast beef sliced eye of the round — Slices of roast beef

Once the meat is cooked (inner temperature of 160 F or higher), remove it from the gravy in the crockpot, and let it stand for about 10 minutes. If you slice it too quickly, the juices run all over the cutting board, and the meat often shreds as you try to cut through it.

The eye of the round is easy to slice in even portions. The meat will not be rare. I think rare roast beef would be an impossibility in a crockpot. As an Irish person, who was scared by mad cow disease, rare meat is not something I yearn for.

Corn starch slurry to thicken red wine mushroom gravy — Corn starch slurry

When the meat is resting and waiting to be sliced, it is time to thicken the gravy. Turn the crockpot to high. Mix one tablespoon of corn starch in 2 tablespoons of cold water. Whisk until smooth, then pour into the gravy mixture. Stir the gravy well, then allow it to return to simmering point.

The meat and gravy can be served straight away, or if guests are coming the sliced meat can be returned to the gravy in the crockpot, and kept warm on low setting, until everyone is ready to eat.

I like to serve my roast beef with mashed potatoes, baby carrots and yorkshire pudding. Delicious!

Other great sides for roast beef are:

Recipe Card for Slow Cooker Roast Beef

Here is the printable recipe.

Crockpot Roast Beef In Mushroom And Red Wine Gravy

Crockpot roast beef cooked in a red wine gravy is flavorful and tender.

5 from 1 vote

Print Pin Rate

Course: Main Course

Cuisine: American

Keyword: Crockpot, Eye of the Round, Roast Beef Side, Slow Cooker

Prep Time: 15

Cook Time: 8

Total Time: 8 15

Servings:

Calories: 346kcal

Equipment

Slow Cooker or Crock Pot

Ingredients

3 pound eye of the round beef roast
2 tablespoons canola oil to sear meat
1½ cups cold water
0.75 ounce brown gravy mix 1 packet
¼ teaspoon salt
¼ teaspoon black pepper
½ cup red wine
¼ cup ketchup
1 teaspoon onion powder
1 tablespoon worcestershire sauce
1 teaspoon dijon mustard
2 teaspoons minced garlic
8 ounces canned mushrooms stems and pieces
1 tablespoon corn starch
2 tablespoons cold water to blend corn starch

US Customary - Metric

Instructions

Heat the oil in a large skillet. Sear the roast for 2 to 3 minutes on each side to seal in the juices. Transfer the meat to the crockpot.
In a large bowl mix the gravy packet in the cold water. Add the salt, pepper, red wine, ketchup, onion powder, worcestershire sauce, dijon mustard, and minced garlic. Whisk together.
Add the canned mushrooms to the beef in the crockpot. Pour the gravy mixture over the meat. Place the lid on the crockpot and cook on low for 8 hours. When the meat is cooked (inner temperature 160 degrees F or higher), remove the roast from the crockpot.
Let the meat stand for 10 minutes before slicing, to help retain the juices and to avoid shredding the meat.
Turn the crockpot to high. Mix the corn starch in two tablespoons of cold water. Stir into the mushroom gravy in the crockpot, mixing well to prevent lumps. Allow the gravy to reach simmering point.
The sliced meat can be returned to the thickened gravy in the crock pot to keep it warm before serving. Serve the sliced meat with gravy poured over.

Nutrition Facts

Crockpot Roast Beef In Mushroom And Red Wine Gravy

Amount Per Serving (150 g)

Calories 346 Calories from Fat 198

% Daily Value*

Fat 22g34%

Saturated Fat 9g56%

Trans Fat 1g

Polyunsaturated Fat 1g

Monounsaturated Fat 1g

Cholesterol 83mg28%

Sodium 427mg19%

Potassium 444mg13%

Carbohydrates 6g2%

Fiber 1g4%

Sugar 2g2%

Protein 28g56%

Vitamin A 51IU1%

Vitamin C 1mg1%

Calcium 15mg2%

Iron 3mg17%

* Percent Daily Values are based on a 2000 calorie diet.

Nutrition Information is estimated based on the ingredients and cooking instructions as described in each recipe and is intended to be used for informational purposes only. Please note that nutrition details may vary based on methods of preparation, origin and freshness of ingredients used.

Tried this recipe?Mention @IrishAmericanMomBlog or tag #irishamericanmom!

Hope you enjoy this recipe. It is a perfect make-ahead dinner to cook while at work, and then return to a home filled with the most delicious aroma of red wine gravy.

Thanks for following my recipes and ramblings.