I'm back this week with yet another Autoimmune Paleo (AIP diet) friendly freezer meal prep recipe – one that you can either make for dinner tonight OR throw the raw ingredients into a bag and freeze for later. This one, an AIP Cherry Balsamic Pot Roast recipe that is also Paleo and Whole30-friendly and can be cooked in a slow cooker, Instant Pot, or in the oven.
In last week's post, I shared an AIP Thai Chicken Soup that you can easily throw into a bag and freeze, and that one has gotten rave reviews and many converts to this easy way of cooking. I mean seriously, does it get much easier than throwing ingredients, that you haven't cooked mind you, into a bag and freezing? Then when you want the meal, thawing and throwing into a slow cooker? Um, no, it does not – at least not with healthy-from-scratch cooking.
This Cherry Balsamic Pot Roast is similar – you take a freezer bag or freezer-safe container, put the ingredients in and freeze. Bam, you're done! You've got a meal all ready prepped for that super busy night or that night when you just can't even because of pain or exhaustion.
Feed Your Whole Family – or Just You
This Cherry Balsamic Pot Roast is super tasty, can be prepped in less than 10 minutes, and will feed a hungry family.
HOWEVER, if you don't need or want to feed your whole family, you can freeze the leftovers too! I'd just freeze them in small portions, like 5 oz of meat in a bag, and then just thaw and reheat when you need it. Yet another great meal prep kind of thing – without even really meal prepping…
I love using the leftover frozen meat like this when I have some leftover veggies but no meat to complete a meal. I'll just remove the small, 5 oz bag from my freezer and either throw it in a pan on the stove to warm up or in the microwave and then I've got some protein for my meal.
Take Advantage of Sales
Sometimes beef chuck roast can go on a pretty great sale, so instead of letting that sale pass by, grab a few extra roasts and prep this dish and freeze for later!
Super Easy To Prep and Make
Watch the vlog to see how easy it is to make!
Many Sides to Serve With
I really love serving this dish over mashed cauliflower, but some other ideas:
- Mashed sweet potato (AIP, Paleo, Whole30)
- Mashed white potato (Paleo, Whole30)
- Mashed sweet potato + parsnip (AIP, Paleo, Whole30)
- with Roasted Brussels Sprouts (try this Brussels Sprouts with Apples)
- with Roasted Broccoli (try this Roasted Broccoli recipe)
- with Roasted Romanesco (cook just like in the roasted broccoli recipe above but serve with sliced black olives and a squeeze of lemon juice)
Use the Mini AIP Freezer Meal Plan
In my Paleo Freebie Library I have a mini AIP Freezer Meal Plan that guides you through prepping this recipe, plus the AIP Thai Chicken Soup and an AIP Sweet-and-Sour Meatloaf recipe. It comes complete with a shopping list and printable labels. Find it under the AIP section – and if you haven't already, get the password to the library here.
AIP Cherry Balsamic Pot Roast Recipe
Here's the recipe in case you want to make this deliciousness:
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An Autoimmune Paleo (AIP diet) friendly freezer meal prep recipe – one that you can either make for dinner tonight OR throw the raw ingredients into a bag and freeze for later. This is also Paleo and Whole30-friendly and can be cooked in a slow cooker, Instant Pot, or in the oven.
Ingredients
- 3 lbs Boneless Beef Chuck Roast, fat trimmed
- 1 medium Yellow Onion, peeled and chopped (one cup)
- 12oz bag frozen pitted Sweet Cherries (about 2 cups)
- 1/2 cup Balsamic Vinegar
- 3 tablespoons Olive Oil
- 4 cloves Garlic, minced
- 1 teaspoon Dried Thyme
- 1/2 teaspoon Sea Salt
Instructions
Directions for freezing:
Put all of the ingredients into a 1-gallon freezer bag. Massage lightly with your hands to mix the ingredients. Push all the air out of the bag, seal, label and freeze.
Directions for serving:
To serve, thaw and do one of the following:
OVEN: Preheat oven to 350 F. Pour the contents of the bag into a large baking dish or dutch oven. Cook for 3-4 hours, checking after an hour to see if the roast seems dry. If so, add some beef or chicken stock or water to the pot. Cook until fork tender.
INSTANT POT: **Add 1/2 cup of water to the basin of your Instant Pot along with the ingredients. Cook for 60 minutes at high pressure on Manual in an Instant Pot. Let the pressure naturally release for 10 minutes when the cooking is done. (You can also cook this from frozen – cook for 80 minutes at high pressure and check to make sure it's done. If it's not, put the lid back on and cook at pressure for another 10-20 minutes)
SLOW COOKER: Place in a slow cooker and cook for 6-8 hours on low.
Keywords: slow cooker, Instant Pot, chuck roast, oven, autoimmune paleo, aip diet, Whole30, Paleo, gluten-free, dairy-free
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