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This 3-ingredient au jus roast beef makes the whole house smell dark, savory, and old-fashioned. It’s the kind of steady, cozy dinner you can put in the oven at 300°F, cover tightly, and mostly leave alone. With a roast, dry au jus mix, and beef broth, you get tender beef and rich jus without a parade of ingredients.
Why You’ll Love It
- Just three ingredients — a roast, dry au jus mix, and beef broth are all you need.
- Mostly hands-off — once it’s covered and in the oven, you have a good three hours to do whatever life has piled up around you.
- Tender beef and rich au jus — slice it thinly or pull it apart with a fork, then spoon the savory broth over the top.
- Easy to serve — it’s especially good over mashed potatoes, egg noodles, or buttered rice.
- Easy to remember — no digging through a drawer looking for the printed card you swore you put somewhere safe.
Ingredient Notes
For the roast, use a boneless chuck roast or rump roast, somewhere in that 3- to 4-pound range. Chuck is generally my first pick because it gets beautifully tender with this low-and-slow oven time, but rump roast works nicely too. Buy what looks good and what isn’t priced like a small appliance.
The dry au jus gravy packet is doing a lot of heavy lifting here, so use one you like. I’ve used the plain grocery-store kind for years—no need to get precious about it. It already has salt and seasoning, which is why I don’t toss in extra salt at the beginning. You can always taste the finished au jus later. You cannot un-salt it, and that is a lesson I have learned more than once, unfortunately.
Low-sodium beef broth is the sensible choice because that packet can be salty. Regular broth will work, of course, but then I would be especially careful before adding any salt at the end. I know “low sodium” sometimes sounds like a punishment, but here it gives you room to breathe.
One little thing: thaw your roast completely in the refrigerator, not on the counter. I know folks used to do that, and I’m sure I did too when I was younger and in a hurry. We survived, but we also drove without seat belts and thought margarine was health food. Times change.
Ingredients
- 1 boneless beef roast, 3 to 4 pounds (chuck roast or rump roast—whatever looks best at the market)
- 1 1-ounce packet dry au jus gravy mix (the little envelope; no need to overthink the brand)
- 2 cups low-sodium beef broth (I use boxed broth, though canned is perfectly fine)
Instructions
Preheat the oven to 300°F. Find a deep baking dish or Casserole dish that will hold the roast comfortably with room around the sides. Higher sides matter here—you want the beef sitting down in that broth, not balanced like it’s sunbathing on a cookie sheet.
Pat the roast dry with paper towels. This helps the seasoning cling and keeps things from getting unnecessarily watery. Put the roast right in the center of the baking dish. Wash your hands, the cutting board, anything the raw beef touched—this is not glamorous kitchen advice, but neither is spending your evening worrying about it.
Sprinkle the entire packet of dry au jus mix over the top and sides of the roast. Press it gently onto the meat with your hands so it sticks.
Slowly pour the 2 cups low-sodium beef broth around the roast. Try not to pour straight over the top, since you don’t want to rinse off that nice coating of au jus mix. The liquid should come roughly one-third to halfway up the sides of the roast. It may not look like enough at first. It is. The meat will give off juices as it cooks.
Cover the baking dish tightly with heavy-duty aluminum foil, or use a fitted lid if your dish has one. Tight is important. You are trapping steam in there so the roast gets tender instead of drying out. I once used flimsy foil and sort of draped it over the dish because I was tired—well, that was a dumb move. The roast was still edible, but it had the texture of a dispute.
Bake the covered roast for 3 to 3 1/2 hours, until it is very tender and a fork goes in easily. A thicker roast may need a little longer, so don’t panic if it’s not quite ready at the three-hour mark. Also, resist opening the foil every twenty minutes to check on it. I know. It smells wonderful. But every peek lets out steam, and then you’re just making trouble for yourself.
Carefully remove the dish from the oven. Peel the foil back away from your face—hot steam is no joke, and I have singed my eyebrows enough times to speak with feeling on this subject. Transfer the roast to a cutting board and let it rest for about 10 minutes.
While it rests, skim off any excess fat floating on top of the au jus with a spoon. Taste the liquid. Add a tiny pinch of salt only if it needs it; the gravy mix is already seasoned, so it often doesn’t. For food safety, the thickest part of the roast should reach at least 145°F, though this roast will generally cook beyond that by the time it turns fork-tender.
Slice the roast thinly across the grain. Then return those slices to the baking dish, nestling them down into the warm au jus so they’re mostly submerged. Spoon a little more over the top and serve it right from the dish, family-style. It’s not fancy, but it is awfully pretty in its own brown, glossy way.
Variations
This roast can be shredded instead of sliced, especially for sandwiches the next day. Two forks will do the job once the meat is tender, and the shredded beef is wonderful piled onto soft rolls with plenty of au jus spooned over it.
If you want a thicker gravy rather than a thinner au jus, remove the cooked roast and bring the juices to a gentle simmer on the stovetop. Whisk together 1 tablespoon cornstarch and 2 tablespoons cold water, then stir that slurry into the simmering au jus until lightly thickened. Don’t dump dry cornstarch straight in—I did that once when I was distracted by a rerun of Law & Order, and it made little pale gravy pebbles. Nobody said anything, bless them.
For a deeper beefy flavor, you can sear the roast in a hot skillet on all sides before putting it in the baking dish. Though honestly, I usually skip it. I just told you this recipe is simple, and now I’m adding a skillet. See? This is why recipes get out of hand.
Storage & Reheating
Get leftovers into a shallow container and refrigerate them within 2 hours. Keep the sliced beef with some of the au jus—it protects it from drying out and makes reheating much kinder. It’ll keep well for a few days, though around here it rarely lasts that long.
Reheat it covered in a small baking dish at a low oven temperature until steaming hot, or warm individual portions gently in the microwave with a spoonful or two of au jus. Don’t blast it until the edges turn rubbery. That’s how leftover roast gets a bad reputation.
The leftover beef makes excellent sandwiches, and I’ve also tucked it into buttered noodles on a Monday night when there was not one ounce of ambition left in me. Add a green vegetable if you’re feeling virtuous. If not, well—Tuesday will come around soon enough.
Final Notes
Serve this with mashed potatoes if you want the full cozy picture, maybe green beans or steamed broccoli on the side to keep the plate from looking entirely beige. A crisp salad works too, although I always feel a little annoyed when salad is the responsible part of dinner. Warm rolls are especially good because there will be extra au jus, and it would be a crying shame to leave that in the dish.
That counts for something.
Maybe not everything. But something.
Oven Baked 3-Ingredient Au Jus Roast Beef
Ingredients
- 1 boneless beef roast 3 to 4 pounds, chuck roast or rump roast
- 1 1-ounce packet dry au jus gravy mix use a brand you like
- 2 cups low-sodium beef broth boxed or canned
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 300°F and choose a deep baking dish or casserole dish that will hold the roast comfortably with room around the sides.
- Pat the roast dry with paper towels, then place it in the center of the baking dish and wash your hands and any surfaces that touched the raw beef.
- Sprinkle the entire packet of dry au jus mix over the top and sides of the roast, pressing it gently onto the meat so it sticks.
- Slowly pour the beef broth around the roast, avoiding the top so you do not rinse off the au jus coating; the liquid should come roughly one-third to halfway up the sides of the roast.
- Cover the baking dish tightly with heavy-duty aluminum foil or a fitted lid to trap steam and keep the roast from drying out.
- Bake the covered roast for 3 to 3 1/2 hours, until it is very tender and a fork goes in easily, giving a thicker roast a little longer if needed.
- Carefully remove the dish from the oven, peel the foil back away from your face, transfer the roast to a cutting board, and let it rest for about 10 minutes.
- While the roast rests, skim off any excess fat from the au jus, taste the liquid, and add only a tiny pinch of salt if needed; the thickest part of the roast should reach at least 145°F.
- Slice the roast thinly across the grain, return the slices to the baking dish, nestle them into the warm au jus, spoon more over the top, and serve family-style.