tayabet Mississippi Roast Two Ways
Good morning. I’ve been making Mississippi Roast for the better part of a decade now, ever since reporting out a story about its origins for The Times.
It’s an awesome meal, a set-it-and-forget-it pot roast that leads to a tangle of beef in a fiery gravy with real depth and complexity. Served over egg noodles after a wedge salad starter, it could triumph over a nonna’s gravy and pasta for victory on any given Sunday. (I know. Not your nonna’s.)
When I started out, I made the dish as I was told to make it by the internet: in a slow cooker with a chuck roast, packages of dry ranch dressing and “au jus” gravy mix, a handful of pepperoncini and a full stick of butter. This was objectively fantastic.
But for a guy who in part makes his living writing about the glories of from-scratch cooking, the packaged mixes felt a little dishonest, as if I were cosplaying a life not my own. So I started making Mississippi Roast with homemade ranch, with a gravy built out of (less) butter and flour, and with something approaching all the pepperoncini in the jar, not just a handful.
This, too, was objectively fantastic, while also being true to the kind of cooking I champion. You do you — either way yields a wonderful dinner. (Lately, I’ve swapped the beef out for venison and accompanied the roast with fluffy Cheddar biscuits.)
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