Tender chuck roast gets cooked on the pellet grill and braised for our delicious Traeger Smoked Balsamic Pot Roast Recipe!

Traeger Smoked Balsamic Pot Roast Recipe

One of my favorite cuts of beef to cook with, especially in the fall, winter, and spring, is the ever-versatile chuck roast.

It is perfectly fatty, simple to make, shreds beautifully, stays moist, and can be made into so many different things. I’m going to list some of my favorite recipes using chuck roast down below.

More Traeger Beef Recipes here!

Smoked Balsamic Pot Roast shopping list

Wondering if you have to hit the store? Here’s the list of items you’ll need to make this recipe. For specific amounts, please refer to the printable recipe card at the bottom of the post.

oil

chuck roast

salt

pepper

garlic powder

beef broth

red red wine

balsamic vinegar

brown sugar

garlic

onion

shallot

thyme

More recipes using chuck roast here!

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How to make Traeger Balsamic Pot Roast

This is just the overview so you can see what you’re actually getting into here. When you are cooking, you’ll want to use the full recipe at the bottom of the page.

Preheat

Fire up the smoker and get it at a steady 220°F.

Smoke

Season the meat on all sides with salt, pepper, garlic powder, and onion powder. Put on the smoker.

Put the vegetables on a grill mat or parchment paper and put those on the smoker too.

Smoke for 2 hours.

Braise

In a Dutch oven, mix together the broth, wine, balsamic, and brown sugar and stir until the sugar is dissolved. Place the meat and vegetables into the braising liquid and put the whole shebang, uncovered, on the smoker. Turn up the heat to around 325°F.

Braise

How long you’ll need to do this depends on your specific roast, the weather, which way the wind is blowing, what kind of grill you’re using, and whether or not the grilling powers that be are favoring you this day or not. 😉 But really, cook until around 205°F and the roast is shreddable with a fork.

Keep an eye on the level of liquid. Cooking uncovered will yield a more prominent “wood fired” flavor, but it also causes the braising liquid to evaporate so you might have to add some more water or beef broth to keep the level up.

Enjoy

Once the roast is fork tender, portion out, serve with some potatoes or buttered noodles, and pour the braising liquid over the top! If you would rather have it in a more gravy-like manner, you can thicken with a butter roux or a cornstarch slurry (directions in the recipe card below.)

Serve with our Smoked Baked Potatoes!

Smoked Balsamic Pot Roast FAQ

How do you store leftovers?

These leftovers are best stored in the leftover braising liquid, in a sealed container in the refrigerator for 3-4 days, max.

What’s the best way to reheat leftovers?

Lucky! This one is perfect for the microwave.

Are there any substitutions for the balsamic vinegar?

Not really without impacting the flavor. You can omit or replace with more red wine if you’d like, and it’ll still be delicious.

This would be perfect with Roasted Garlic Mashed Potatoes!

More delicious chuck roast recipes here

More great recipes to love!

Yield: 8 servings

Traeger Smoked Balsamic Pot Roast

Tender marbled chuck roast is smoked and braised in a balsamic-based braising liquid until it is fall-apart tender.

Prep Time 10 minutes

Cook Time 5 hours

Total Time 5 hours 10 minutes

Ingredients

4 pound chuck roast
1 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon pepper
1 teaspoon garlic powder
2 cups beef broth
1 cup red wine (Pinot Noir or Cabernet work well)
1/2 cup balsamic vinegar
4 tablespoons brown sugar
2 cloves garlic
1 large onion, halved
1 shallot, peeled
3 sprigs thyme

Instructions

Preheat your smoker to 220°F.
Season the meat with the salt and pepper. Place the roast on the smoker along with the onion, garlic, and shallot (those need to go on a pan or vegetable mat, for obvious reasons.) Smoke for 2 hours.
Put the beef broth, red wine, balsamic vinegar, and brown sugar into a Dutch oven and whisk until the brown sugar is dissolved. Add the meat, garlic, onion, and shallot.
Turn the smoker up to 325° and place the Dutch oven into it. Roast, uncovered, for another 2-3 hours, or until the roast is fork-tender. Monitor the level of liquid in the pan. Sometimes it can simmer away when the pot is uncovered, and you want to prevent that. You can add additional beef broth if this happens, or cover mid-way through the cook to preserve the liquid. (If the pot is covered, technically this could go in the oven instead as the wood fire isn't going to have any more effect. Sometimes, in the summer, we keep it on the grill anyway, but I wanted to throw that out there.)
Cook until the roast is fork tender. Serve with potatoes and the braising liquid to pour over.

Notes

If you want to make this with baby potatoes, as you see pictured in this post, you can wash, rub with oil, and throw those right on the grill during the last 60-90 minutes of cook time.
You can thicken the remaining braising liquid, turning it into a gravy, with a flour+butter roux or a cornstarch slurry. We typically just serve this as-is though, and it is delicious!