How to Cook a Blade Roast in the Slow Cooker

A moist slow cooker roast beef made from a lean cut of blade roast makes for an easy weeknight dish. Add in cut carrots and potatoes, and you've got yourself a whole dinner of slow cooker roast beef with potatoes and carrot.

According to the USDA, a 100-gram serving of cooked beef chuck blade roast with no fat has 253 calories, contributing 13 percent of required daily calorie volume. It also offers 20 percent of the daily value of fat, 106 milligrams (35 percent of daily value) of cholesterol and 62 percent of the daily value (or 31.1 grams) of protein. With ⅛" fat, a cooked blade roast offers slightly more calories — 359 per 100-gram serving.

Read more: How to Cook a Chuck Roast Perfectly

Cooked blade roasts are rich in minerals like iron, potassium and magnesium, nutrients that are required by the body to carry out cellular functions and muscle contraction. A 100-gram no-fat serving has 3.7 milligrams of iron, 6 percent of the daily value of potassium, and 5 percent of the daily value of magnesium.

Read more: 8 Deliciously Simple (and Healthy!) Slow Cooker Recipes

Blade roast is especially high in zinc, with a 100 gram no-fat serving offering 10.3 milligrams or 93 percent of the mineral's recommended daily value. Zinc, according to the Linus Pauling Institute's Micronutrient Information Center, is important for metabolism, vision and reproduction in humans.

Read more: Slow-Cooker Brisket

A blade roast slow cooker dish is also an excellent source of vitamin B12 — a 100-gram serving offers 2.5 micrograms, or 103 percent of the daily value. Commonly known as cobalamin, vitamin B12 will help prevent tiredness, weight loss and constipation.

• Beef chuck roast: If the chuck blade roast slow cooker recipe calls for a no-fat cut of meat, remember that leaner cuts do not need to roast all day. In fact, three hours on a low setting will result in a moist slow cooker roast beef that's ready to serve.
• Spices: salt, pepper, garlic and beef broth are best suited. Add in half of the spices before slow cooking. Season accordingly with salt after the dish is cooked and ready to be served.
• Additional ingredients: onions, carrots, potatoes and, in the fall, parsnips make a good addition to the blade roast.
  
  

1. Choose the right cut of beef: According to the North Carolina Cooperative Extension, cuts like a chuck or blade roast are typically less tender, due to the greater amount of connective tissue present in the meat. The USDA's Food Safety and Inspection Service explain that raw meat should be cooked within 3 to 5 days of buying fresh. It should also be appropriately stored, to prevent cross-contamination before cooking.
2. Sear your blade roast: Pat the cut of blade roast dry before seasoning with salt and pepper. Add olive oil to the slow cooker, and turn the setting to sauté. Sear both sides of the roast — 4 minutes per side. Remove from the slow cooker.
   
3. Add cubed vegetables: Add garlic and cubed onions, carrots and potatoes to the slow cooker. Mix in the beef broth and gently stir to deglaze the bottom of the blade roast slow cooker pan.
   
4. Braise the blade roast: Add the seared blade roast back to the slow cooker. Cover and turn the slow cooker heat setting to low. Iowa State University's Extension and Outreach explains that low typically is set to 190 degrees Fahrenheit, while the high setting heats to 300 degrees F. If using a no-fat cut for your moist slow cooker roast beef recipe, then you'll only need to cook it on low for 3 to 4 hours.