When I was a kid, we didn’t have a lot of time in the evenings to cook. There was just so much going on with homework, chores and just generally keeping the family running. A lot of times, my mom would whip-up a few meals on Sunday, getting them “ready to cook”, then put them in the fridge. Then, the moment she got home from work, she’d pop them in the oven, then go about and do other stuff (see above list). Dinner would be ready in a jiff and everything was so well-timed, it was like a smooth ballet. One of my favorite meals she would make (and still does sometimes): The Mock Pot Roast. Easy, fast, and relatively pain-free, this meal fed our family of four on more than one weekday evening.
Ingredients for the Mock Pot Roast
- 1 lb ground beef
- 5 whole potatoes
- 3 large carrots or 2 dozen baby carrots (that’s what I prefer)
- 1 large onion
- 2 small cans of mushrooms (if mushrooms are your thing…if not, disregard!)
- 1 tspn minced garlic
- salt and pepper to taste
How to Make a Mock Pot Roast
- Preheat oven to 400 degrees.
- Place ground beef in the center of the cake pan, molding it into whatever shape you’d like your roast to be. I’m a traditionalist, so I go with a rectangle-like lump.
- Peel the onion and slice it, placing it around the meat.
- Wash and slice the potatoes and carrots.
- Allow them to drain before placing them in the pan around the meat, on top of the onion.
- Open the cans of mushrooms and drain them, placing them over the other veggies.
- Sprinkle the garlic and seasonings over veggies and meat.
- Cover all completely with foil.
- Bake it in the oven for approximately an hour and a half. Depending on your oven, this may take longer. Mine cooks pretty fast, so keep that in mind.
- Remove from oven and allow it to rest for no less than 5 minutes.
- Eat, eat, eat. It’s so good, you probably won’t have leftovers…
This can alternatively be made in a slow cooker by putting it in the crock pot for 4 hours on high or 6 hours on low. Just be careful doing that as there will be a lot of juice and it needs to be monitored so that it doesn’t become boiled roast, if you know what I mean.
Mock Pot Roast
One of my favorite meals mom would make (and still does sometimes): The Mock Pot Roast. Easy, fast, and relatively pain-free, this meal fed our family of four on more than one weekday evening.
Ingredients
- 1 lb ground beef
- 5 whole potatoes
- 3 large carrots or 2 dozen baby carrots, that’s what I prefer
- 1 large onion
- 2 small cans of mushrooms, if mushrooms are your thing…if not, disregard!
- 1 tspn minced garlic
- salt and pepper to taste
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 400 degrees.
- Place ground beef in the center of the cake pan, molding it into whatever shape you’d like your roast to be. I’m a traditionalist, so I go with a rectangle-like lump.
- Peel the onion and slice it, placing it around the meat.
- Wash and slice the potatoes and carrots.
- Allow them to drain before placing them in the pan around the meat, on top of the onion.
- Open the cans of mushrooms and drain them, placing them over the other veggies.
- Sprinkle the garlic and seasonings over veggies and meat.
- Cover all completely with foil.
- Bake it in the oven for approximately an hour and a half. Depending on your oven, this may take longer. Mine cooks pretty fast, so keep that in mind.
- Remove from oven and allow it to rest for no less than 5 minutes.
- Eat, eat, eat. It’s so good, you probably won’t have leftovers…
Before you run out to the grocery store for the ingredients you need to make the awesome Mock Pot Roast, go ahead and pin this recipe. That way, you’ll be able to get back to it in a flash!