How to Cook a Frozen Beef Roast in the Oven No Instant Pot Required

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When someone first showed me the instant pot, the biggest rave was that this electric pressure cooker had the ability to cook frozen meats in no time. What a thrill it was to place a frozen chunk of meat inside and have it cook tender. Yes, I love my instant pot. Did you know though, you don’t need an instant pot to cook a frozen roast in the oven? There’s another very useful kitchen item that can cook a roast in it’s frozen state in two hours or less! You probably even have it in your home. This may just be the mind blowing new kitchen gadget you’ve been waiting for: it’s the Oven!

Yes, it’s true. I’m not sure when we were led to believe we needed fancy new gadgets to cook frozen meat but it’s simply not true. I’ll show you how your kitchen oven can cook that frozen roast through to your liking and even how you can help keep it moist and tender. By the way: the instant pot won’t make it in much less time than your oven!

Kitchen Tools You’ll Need

Roasting Pan or Dutch Oven

To cook a frozen roast, you’ll want to have a baking dish that can be covered with either a lid or aluminum foil. It’s o.k. if you don’t have a roasting pan. I use my dutch oven with great results. You could also use a glass baking dish and aluminum foil over the top. As in my sourdough without a dutch oven recipe, the cooking method of this recipe is to hold in steam with the lid for the high heat and moisture.

Meat Thermometer

A meat thermometer will help you adjust the cooking time for whatever the weight of your roast. I’ll share the internal temperature needed for a rare to well done cut of meat.

Preheated Oven

This is a given. The good news is you don’t need any other equipment like a slow cooker (that would take a LONG time to cook this) or instant pot. You’ll want your oven preheated to 450 degrees Fahrenheit.

How to Cook a Frozen Roast in the Oven

Before we start please note these directions are for cooking the roast by itself. If you’re wanting to cook your frozen beef roast with vegetables, look to the bottom of this post for specific directions.

Preheat the oven to 450 Degrees Fahrenheit and remove the plastic wrap or paper from the frozen meat. Wash your cut of beef clean in cold water and pat dry. See below for a dry rub recipe or simply use salt and pepper with a few of your favorite herbs such as onion powder or rosemary.

Pat the dry rub on all sides of your fresh roast. Place the seasoned roast into your baking dish, roast pan or dutch oven. Pour one cup of beef broth, chicken broth or red wine over the roast. These add extra flavor and moisture for a juicy roast. If you don’t have any of these, feel free to use water. It won’t add to the flavor of the meat, but will still help keep the roast moist.

Put the lid on top or cover well with aluminum foil. Place in the middle of the oven and lower the temperature to 375 degrees Fahrenheit. Time to cook will be approximately 20-25 minutes per pound, so for a 4 pound frozen roast it will need to cook for approximately 80-100 minutes. Unfortunately this isn’t a fool proof way to cook a frozen roast.

Instead, I start with cooking for one hour.

Set the cook time for one hour, then remove the lid and insert the meat thermometer into the center of your meat to see what it’s internal temperature is. Leave the lid off and continue cooking until it’s done, consistently checking the temperature.

This is important: Depending on how well done you like your roast, cook until it has reached ten degrees below what you want. for instance, if you want the center of the roast to be medium, cook until it is medium rare at 130 degrees- 135 degrees Fahrenheit. Then turn off the oven and let the roast sit for 15 minutes before removing from the oven. Think of this a using the natural release in your instant pot.

This resting period allows the roast to seal in the moisture, making it into a tender roast while still slightly cooking it. After 15 minutes remove the finished roast from the oven. The recommended doneness for a roast is to aim for medium rare or medium in the very center of the roast.

• Rare -120°F
• Medium rare – 130-135°F
• Medium – 135-145°F
• Medium well – 145-155°F
• Well Done – 155°F

The Dry Rub Recipe

Here’s my simple dry rub recipe but feel free to use ingredients to your liking.

• 1/2 Tablespoon Sea Salt
• 1/2 teaspoon Pepper
• 1 teaspoon Garlic Powder
• 1/2 Tablespoon Paprika
• 1 Tablespoon Coconut Sugar or Brown Sugar

Mix these together and rub over any roast or steak. Feel free to mix it up with other herbs and spices such as rosemary, thyme, ginger or give your pot roast dinner a zesty flair with garlic powder, chili pepper and cumin.

My Venison Dry Rub recipe will also work well with roasts.

Other Options for Cooking your Roast

Crusted Roast

Another option is to create a roast that’s moist on the inside while have a crust on the outside. This one is created by not covering the roast and not adding in the cup of liquid over the roast before cooking. I’m not the brains of this operation but you can see more on the technique in this video.

Roast with Vegetables

Another way to make this roast beef dinner is to cook your roast with vegetables such as onions, potatoes or sweet potatoes and carrots. To do this simply add in your halved vegetables around the frozen roast and cook it according to the above instructions. It just another added bonus to have a complete meal made in one pot!

Other Meat Roasts

You don’t have to make a beef roast with this recipe. You could also use it for elk, venison, antelope or other game meat. Likewise, the cut of meat isn’t kept to a frozen chuck roast as I’ve made in these pictures. You could also use a rump roast, a round roast or other large cuts of meat to make your pot roast recipe.

Other Posts You May Like

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The Best Einkorn Flour Recipes for Every Season

Simple Einkorn Sourdough Bread Recipe for the Beginner

Recipe for Christmas Chicken Whole in the Instant Pot

I’d love to hear how it turned out.

From the Hilltop,

Krista