Easiest Crockpot Roast Beef and Gravy

The easiest crockpot roast beef with rice and gravy also happens to be the tastiest! Just season, place in the crockpot, and cook on low all day. This simple roast yields the most heavenly gravy (it's easy even if you don't know how to make roast beef gravy!), so be sure to serve it with rice or mashed potatoes. This is comfort food with a capital C!

Time needed

There is virtually no prep to crockpot roast beef unless you need to trim fat off of the roast. Cooking time depends on the size of the roast and how hot your crockpot cooks; I cook a 3-4 lb. roast for about 6 hours on low in a 6 quart crockpot.

Making the gravy takes about ten minutes just before serving.

Ingredients

The roast itself only requires a beef rump roast and salt & pepper. To make the gravy, I use beef broth and flour, but water is sufficient if you aren't adding much liquid.

Instructions

Cut excess fat from the roast if necessary. Sprinkle salt and pepper all over the roast and press into sides.

Place roast in the crockpot and cook on low for 6 hours or until done to your preference.

When the roast is done, remove it from the crockpot, reserving the drippings, and let the meat rest while you prepare the gravy.

To serve, slice the roast against the grain and serve with gravy.

If you are going to be home, you can also prepare this roast beef in a slow oven (about 300°F) for several hours in a covered cast iron dutch oven. With this method, the gravy can be made in the same pan as the roast.

How to make roast beef gravy from the crockpot

Leftover roast beef gravy is fought over in our house as if it were liquid gold, so I like to extend the gravy by adding more liquid. This presents a problem, since more water dilutes the perfectly-balanced beef flavor. Enter beef broth.

Instead of making roast beef gravy with water, I use beef broth. You can add more liquid—and end up with more roast beef gravy— without diluting the flavor this way.

To make roast beef gravy from the crockpot, strain the beef roast drippings from the crockpot into a saucepan or skillet and add ½ cup beef broth. Heat over medium heat.

In a jar with a lid, mix flour with about ½ cup beef broth, shaking well to combine. Slowly add about half of this flour mixture to the roast beef drippings over medium heat, whisking constantly. Continue to heat and whisk as the gravy thickens.

This is where you get to use your judgment about the consistency of the gravy. After the first addition of the flour mixture, I add a little more at a time, whisking as I add, and give it time to blend and heat.

After 2-3 minutes, I decide if it needs more of the flour mixture to thicken it, or more broth to thin it. I tend to make my gravy a little on the thin side, but you can use less broth and more flour if you like thicker gravy.

The roast beef gravy is ready when it is heated through and you are happy with the consistency. The gravy will thicken more as it cools, and when refrigerated it will gel due to the beef drippings. This is perfectly normal.

Lumps: If you are worried about lumpy gravy, do yourself a favor and invest in a good strainer—they are quite inexpensive and come in handy. I have a strainers in several sizes that I use All. The. Time.

I never have to worry about serving gravy with lumps because if I can't get them out while I'm making the gravy, I can definitely strain them out when I'm pouring the gravy into the serving dish!

Use leftover roast beef in these dishes