Last Updated on November 22, 2023 by Carne Diem
Protein: 
Origin: North American, American South
Method: Smoker
Jump to RecipeMississippi Pot Roast has always been one of our go to comfort foods. Slow cooked chuck roast is seasoned with ranch and au jus seasonings and cooked with tangy pepperoncini peppers. For this Smoked Mississippi Pot Roast we cook the beef roast Over the Top style on our smoker before finishing the smoked chuck roast in a Dutch Oven.
Making the Over the Top Smoked Mississippi Pot Roast
What type of meat to use for Mississippi Pot Roast
We strongly recommend using a high-grade chuck roast for this recipe. A well marbled chuck roast provides the perfect amount of fat to keep your roast tender and juicy through the prolonged cooking process. A 4-5 pound chuck roast is the ideal size to feed 6-8 people.
The boneless chuck roast comes from the chuck primal of a side of beef, which is the shoulder area of the cow. If you have extra chuck roast be sure to try making a pot of Texas Red Chili with Smoked Chuck Roast. Other cuts from the chuck primal include flat iron steak and petite tender.
Gather your ingredients
In addition to the chuck roast you will also need au jus seasoning, Ranch seasoning, a little BBQ rub, pepperoncini peppers, some butter and/or beef tallow, and some water or beef broth.
Combine the seasonings in a bowl and mix well to combine. Use your favorite BBQ rub for beef. For this version we used some Black Ops brisket rub from Oakridge BBQ.
Next bring the butter or beef tallow to room temperature. You can use either or both. We chose to rub down our chuck roast with a mix of salted butter and beef tallow. We love the added beefy taste that the beef tallow provides.
Seasoning the Chuck Roast
Rub down the chuck roast with the softened butter/tallow, to evenly coat the meat.
Next, season the roast with the seasoning mixture. You may have a little extra, which we reserve to add to the Dutch oven.
How to Cook Over the Top Mississippi Pot Roast
Prepare your smoker by preheating your smoker to 225-250 degrees. Add the remaining butter, beef broth or water, pepperoncini peppers with their brine, and any additional seasoning mix to a Dutch oven and place on the smoker.
Top the Dutch oven with a grill grate and place the seasoned chuck roast above the Dutch oven. This will allow the seasoned drippings to drip into the Dutch oven for further flavor. If at any stage the liquid level in the Dutch oven appears to be low, add a little more water or beef broth, but typically this is not an issue.
Smoke the chuck roast until it reaches an internal temperature of about 165-170 degrees, then place the roast into the Dutch oven. This smoking stage typically takes about 4-5 hours but can vary so monitor your meat temperature with a meat thermometer.
Finishing the Smoked Chuck Roast in a Dutch Oven
Place the top on the Dutch oven and continue to cook until the Smoked Mississippi Pot Roast reaches an internal temperature or about 205 degrees or it shreds easily with tongs or a couple forks. For this stage of cooking, you can continue to cook at 225-250 degrees, or if you want to speed up the cook you can bump up the temperature of your smoker to 300 degrees. The Dutch oven stage of the cook typically takes about another 2-3 hours, but again it can vary greatly.
Shred the Over the Top Mississippi Pot roast and mix well with the liquid in the Dutch oven.
Serving the Smoked Mississippi Pot Roast
We like to serve our Smoked Mississippi Pot Roast over mashed potatoes with some assorted vegetables. It also pairs perfectly with grilled and smoked sides like Cheesy Jalapeno Grits, Jalapeno Black Eyed Peas with Smoked Pork Jowl, Grilled Corn and Goat Cheese Salad, or a Smoked Arugula Salad With Bourbon Vinaigrette.
Check out some of our favorite smoked beef recipes here:
- Beef Tallow and Herb Crusted Prime Rib
- Smoked Corned Beef Burnt Ends
- Homemade Pastrami: Smoked Corned Beef
- Beer Braised Beef Cheek Barbacoa
- Venezuelan Shredded Beef Arepas: Carne Mechada
- Baltimore Pit Beef : Maryland Style Roast Beef Sandwich
- Smoked Beef Tongue Pastrami
Finish off your meal with a glass of Blackberry Bramble and a bowl of Fresh Blackberry Slump.
Frequently Asked Questions
You want to cook Mississippi pot roast until it is fall apart tender. This typically does not occur until the temperature of the meat has reached at least 200-205 degrees.
Over the Top cooking is a method where meat is cooked above a pot of ingredients in order to catch the drippings. This is typically done on a smoker or grill.
Leftovers should be refrigerated and eaten within 3-4 days.
As written this recipe can be gluten free, but care should be taken to ensure that you are using a gluten free Ranch seasoning and Au Jus seasoning.
Thank you for taking the time to visit our blog. If you tried and enjoyed our recipe, please share with others and please leave us a comment and review. We also love to see your pics so don’t forget to tag us @Carne_Diem_Culinary or #CarneDiemBlog. To be notified of future recipes please follow us on Facebook, Instagram, or Pinterest, or sign up for our e-mail notifications. Until next time, Carne Diem!
📖 Recipe
Over the Top Smoked Mississippi Pot Roast
Equipment
- Dutch Oven
Ingredients
- 4-5 Pound Chuck Roast
- 3 Tablespoons Ranch Seasoning
- 3-4 Tablespoons Au Jus Mix
- 1 Tablespoon Beef or Brisket Rub
- ½ Cup Pepperoncini Peppers, with Juice
- 2 Tablespoons Butter softened
- 1 Tablespoon Beef Tallow softened
- 1 Cup Beef Broth
- 4 Tablespoons Butter
Instructions
- Combine the ranch seasoning, au jus, and beef seasoning in a bowl and mix to combine.
- Trim excess fat from the beef then rub the roast down with 1 tablespoon of the butter and the tallow.
- Liberally season the roast with the seasoning rub, reserving the excess seasoning.
- Preheat your grill or smoker to 250 degrees and set up for indirect heat.
- Add the remaining butter, beef broth or water, pepperoncini peppers with their brine, and any additional seasoning mix to a Dutch oven and place on the smoker.
- Place a grill grate over the Dutch oven and smoke the roast until it reaches an internal temperature of about 160-175 degrees (about 4-5 hours).
- Place the roast in the Dutch oven and cover the Dutch oven. Continue to cook until the Smoked Mississippi Pot Roast reaches an internal temperature or about 205 degrees or it shreds easily (about 2-3 more hours).
- Shred the roast and mix well with the cooking liquid.
- Serve warm.
Patricia Jackson
Tried this over the weekend, I we all really enjoyed it. Meat was very tender.
Carne Diem
So happy you all enjoyed it!