Roasted Beef and Dumplings Recipe
Do you ever crave something that, even though it’s not healthy, still makes your heart happy? I get that way with nearly every meal I ever had at Sunday dinner, especially the Roasted Beef and Dumplings. There’s just something about grandma’s cooking that made every trouble and worry fade into the background. When adulting gets to be too much, I like to venture back into the good old days of Sunday dinners at grandma’s house with some of her best-loved recipes. I’ll never be able to perfectly recreate every dish, but thankfully she had some secrets that make it easy to come close.
Beef and Dumplings isn’t something you’ll find at a big city restaurant but it was a common recurring meal at Granny’s house. It’s simple, flavorful, and you won’t believe how easy it is to make. Now, there are people who go to different places with their beef and dumplings recipes, but not this time. There’s no fancy gravy or multiple ingredients. Heck, you don’t even need a rolling pin, just a quick trip to the freezer section for a box of Anne’s dumplings. Don’t tell Granny, but they’re almost as good as her homemade dumplings and a hundred times easier to deal with (no mess, no fuss, no stress!)
The longest part of this beef & dumplings recipe is waiting for the beef to roast. You want it to be perfect so there’s no rushing it. Cooking the beef should be based on when you plan to eat. It’ll take at least 3 hours in the oven, longer for a more tender roast. For the sake of this recipe, we’ll say 4.5 hours at 300F (per 5 pounds of roast). Add an extra 30 minutes for every pound over, depending on how well done you want your roast. I like to cook mine as well done as possible to squeeze as much juice out. That is the secret to good dumplings after all!
Roasted Beef and Dumplings
Ingredients
- 1 5 pound chuck roast
- 1 tablespoon olive oil
- salt & pepper to taste
- 5 cups of water
- 2 tablespoons of butter
- 2 teaspoons of salt
- 1 tablespoon of black pepper
- 1 box of frozen dumplings (or homemade)
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 300F. Rub roast with olive oil, salt, and pepper on both sides. Bake for 4.5 hours in a roasting pan or something similar to catch any drippings.
- When the beef has reached the desired temperature, set it aside to rest.
- Bring water to a boil in a large pot and add the butter and salt.
- Carefully pour in the juice and drippings from the beef. Bring to a boil.
- Slowly add the dumplings, one at a time, to the boiling water. After 3 or 4 dumplings are added stir them and allow to return to a boil.
- Continue adding dumplings and stirring until you have the desired amount in the pot.
- Add black pepper and allow to boil for 10 minutes and then remove from heat and cover.
- Serve the dumplings with sliced roast beef and any other sides.
Do you have a favorite classic Sunday dinner? I’d love to hear about it!
