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Slow-cooked fall-apart tender Eye of Round Roast with the most amazingly rich and decadent mushroom onion gravy!
Y’all this has been my MOST controversial post ever in the history of TKW. Not because of the recipe (as it’s loved by millions) but because of the original photos, I took back in 2013. I was NOT a photographer nor one that was well versed in editing photos. All I cared about was being a chef and creating mouth-watering recipes.
But people went and lost their damn minds over the photos telling me that what I cooked for 9 hours in my kitchen wasn’t pork but that it was beef, chicken, leather (because some craved 5 minutes of attention they didn’t get as a child). Snarky? Yup 🙂
I’ve shared a few of the original photos at the bottom of the post – have a look. I STILL do not consider myself a photographer, not by a longshot but what I do consider myself one damn good chef.
So if you still have issues with the photos… bite me, k? #sorrynotsorry Love you puddin’ ♥
Grab your ingredients
So with this recipe, you can use homemade cream of mushroom soup but I wanted to keep this recipe as easy as possible so that’s why we took a few shortcuts
- Soup – Cream of mushroom soup (canned or you can use the mushroom cream base I make in THIS recipe)
- Beef Broth
- Seasonings – dried onions, sugar, salt, pepper, celery seed, beef bouillon base
- Thickeners – flour (ap or gluten-free), cornstarch
- Veggies – mushrooms, garlic
- Liquid – milk, Worcestershire sauce, and beef broth. *optional (but recommended, Gravy Master)
- Meat – Eye of Round – not pork roast, not chicken but EYE OF ROUND BEEF roast – well okay, maybe a can of tuna would work… <rolls her eyes at the haters – seriously, don’t use that)
Let’s Get to Cooking!
- Remove your meat from the package and pat it dry. To a plastic baggie, add flour, salt, and pepper.
- Place the meat into the bag and coat all sides.
- To a large heavy-bottom pot or a slow cooker insert that you can use on top of the stovetop, add the oil.
- When the oil starts to shimmer, add in the coated eye of round. Sear on all sides for about 5-6 minutes or until all sides are caramelized/browned. Set aside.
- While the meat is searing, to a bowl, mix the soup, broth, bouillon base, seasonings until well combined.
- Next, rough slice up the mushrooms. I tend to cut mine in half as I like larger chunks.
- Place the meat into the slow cooker insert (if you’ve not used it to sear your meat).
- Sprinkle the mushrooms all around the meat and on top.
- Pour over the liquid mixture, cover, and cook on low for ~8 hours or until the roast is super tender.
- Remove the roast from the pan, set it on a platter, and tent with foil while you make the gravy.
Make a Slurry
To a glass/jar/whatever you can mix in, add the milk and cornstarch, mixing until combined.
Chef’s Tip on Slurries
I’m sure you’ve heard of the term “slurry” but may not know what it is. A slurry is nothing more than a starch such as flour, cornstarch or arrow root) mixed with a cold liquid (like water, milk, stock) to be used as a thicker.
The biggest thing to remember about making a slurry is that the liquid MUST BE COLD. If you added the starch directly to a hot liquid, the starch granuales will form and not disperse. Ever heard of lumpy gravy? That’s why folks.
It’s Gravy Baby!
- If your slow cooker insert can go over direct flame or onto the stovetop, transfer it there. If not, transfer the liquid from the slow cooker to a pot and turn the heat to medium. Bring it to a boil.
- Once it’s starting to boil, slowly pour in your slurry mixture, while whisking until desired thickness consistency.
Optional Additional (but highly recommended)
I LOVE Gravy Master! Most chefs use it and you should too! Not only does it add such warmth in color but such a great umami flavor!
Let’s Eat!
This roast is so tender that it practically just falls apart. And it’s so incredibly tender!
Slow cooking Eye of Round is the only way to get it this tender. It’s a huge family favorite!
Storing & reheating
- Fridge – Slice up remaining beef and keep with the gravy for up to a week
- Freezing – Slice into portions with the gravy and freeze for up to 3 months
Reheating
- Whole 1 lb sized Roast – Preheat the oven to 250F. Place the beef and warmed gravy in a casserole dish and cover tightly with foil. Place in the oven, heat for 15-20 minutes, shut off the heat, and check it in about 10 minutes to see that it’s just warmed through.
- Roast Slices – Preheat the oven to 250F. Place the beef slices and warmed gravy in a casserole dish and cover tightly with foil. Place in the oven, heat for ~8-10 minutes or just until warmed through.
Substitutions
- Veggies – pearl onions, carrots, potatoes
- Gluten-Free – use gluten-free flour to dredge the meat with. Do NOT skip searing the meat as that is key to the cooking and depth of flavor.
- Herbs – fresh thyme or rosemary pair nicely with this
Crock Pot Eye of Round with Mushroom & Onion Gravy
- Prep Time: 10 minutes
- Cook Time: 6 hours
- Total Time: 6+ hours
- Category: slow cooker, comfort food, beef
- Method: slow cooker
- Cuisine: slow cooker, comfort food, beef
Fall-apart tender Eye of Round with the most amazing rich and decadent mushroom onion gravy!
Ingredients
- 1 – 10 oz. can cream of mushroom soup, undiluted
- 1 – 10 oz. can low sodium beef broth
- 1/4 cup dried minced onion
- 2 Tablespoon beef bouillon base/powder
- 1 heaping teaspoon onion powder
- pinch crushed celery seed
- 1/4 teaspoon sugar
- 2 tablespoon fresh minced garlic
- 1 tablespoon Worcestershire sauce
- 3lb Eye of Round Roast
- 1/4 cup flour
- 1 teaspoon black pepper
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 3 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil
- 3–4 cups sliced mushrooms
- 2 tablespoon corn starch
- 3 tablespoon milk
- 1 Tablespoon Gravy master *optional
Instructions
- In a bowl combine the mushroom soup with beef broth, minced onion, beef bouillon, onion powder, crushed celery seed, sugar, fresh garlic, and Worcestershire sauce. Mix until combined and set aside.
- In a small bowl or large plastic baggie, mix together flour with salt and black pepper. Dredge the roast in the flour/black pepper mixture.
- In a medium skillet over medium heat, heat the oil. When the oil begins to ripple, carefully add in the roast and pan sear about 5-6 minutes per side, or until all sides are caramel-colored.
- Transfer the roast to the slow cooker, top with mushrooms, and slowly pour the soup mixture over top. Cover and cook on LOW for 8 hours or until the roast is tender.
- Remove the roast from the crockpot and place it on a plate. Transfer the sauce from the crockpot into a medium saucepan and bring to a boil over medium heat.
- In a small container mix together the milk and cornstarch to make a slurry.
- Once the mixture starts to boil, pour in the slurry and whisk until thickened. If desired, add in the Gravy Master. Remove from heat and ladle over the sliced eye of round.
Keywords: Crock Pot Eye of Round with Mushroom Onion Gravy, slow cooker eye of round, best way to cook tough cuts of meat, super tender beef
Original photos posted in 2013 (when I knew squat about photography or editing)
Same amazing dish, just better pictures above
Love, love, love this recipe. Found it many years ago and have not found a roast recipe that I like as much as this one. Have had wonderful comments. Use it on special occasions. Thank you for this recipe!
★★★★★
Getting ready to make this for the third time. Unbelievably good, great recipe.
Did not use gravy master before but got some for this one. Can not wait to see what it does.
Thank you.
★★★★★
Should the fat side, be placed up or down?
Yes though most Eye of Rounds has very little fat on them (at least in my experience). If yours has a fat cap, you’re lucky as it’ll be super juicy!
Best Kitchen Wishes!
It got rave reviews! Cooked in the Ninja Foodi slow cooker. The Low slow cook setting seemed to be taking to long (meat still very dense and firm), so after 8h I cooked another 2h on High slow cook setting. Using foraged boletus mushrooms gave a stronger mushroomy taste.
★★★★
This was wonderful! Eye of round roast can be tricky to prepare because if its toughness, but it’s so lean and budget-friendly. This recipe resulted in a tender roast with great flavor. I sliced it thinly with an electric knife, so the few leftovers I had made excellent sandwiches the next day. The gravy was amazing. Thank you for a recipe I now make frequently.
Please ignore my last comment about the cornstarch and milk. When I reread the directions I could see you included the directions for those two items. The roast is in the Crockpot now, and it smells amazing!
I am in the middle of preparing the ingredients to go into the crockpot and realized the corn starch and milk are not mentioned in the directions. I assume you mix those two together and pour over everything else after the mushrooms since they are listed last. However, if that is the case, why would that combination not be mixed in with the soup mixture? I am using two cans of Golden Mushroom soup rather than one can of regular Cream of Mushroom because we like lots of gravy, so I’m not sure the corn starch and milk are needed.
How long would you cook a 2 lb eye round
Hi Gary,
It still should take 8 hours. You could check it at the 7-hour mark and test the internal temp of the roast.
Best Kitchen Wishes!