When you need some winter comfort food, this Low-Carb Slow Cooker Sweet and Sour Pot Roast will always be a hit. This pot roast is also gluten-free and can even be Paleo if you use an approved sweetener.

Yesterday we had the first snow of the year at my house, so besides thinking about Carb-Conscious Thanksgiving Recipes, I guess it's also time to think about low-carb comfort food that helps keep you warm. This delicious Low-Carb Slow Cooker Sweet and Sour Pot Roast is a recipe that fits that description for me, and I've made this often since I first posted the recipe back in 2007. And although I really, really, really hate winter weather, I do love cold weather food! 

I'm sure I don't have to tell anyone that sticking to a carb-conscious eating plan is much more challenging during the holidays, and one thing that really helps me is to make recipes that Can Freeze on the weekend, divide the leftovers out into containers with one or two servings, and stash them in my diet friendly freezer so I have plenty of easy low-carb options when I need dinner but don't want to cook. This Low-Carb Slow Cooker Sweet and Sour Pot Roast freezes beautifully, and I've already had the leftovers once for a quick dinner!

(Low-Carb Slow Cooker Sweet and Sour Pot Roast was updated with improved photos and step-by-step instructions in November 2012 and again in November 2015. This time I am a lot happier with the photos; check the two earlier photos below and see what you think!)

Trim the chuck steak so most visible fat is removed; you'll probably have to cut it into pieces to do that. (I save the scraps to make beef stock.) Rub the pieces of meat with steak seasoning; then brown on all sides. (For best flavor, don't skip this step of browning the meat.) Put the browned meat into the slow cooker.

While the meat browns, puree the sauce ingredients, then cook it in a frying pan until it thickens. It should be thick enough that you can scrape the bottom and the sauce stays together like you see in this photo. Cover the meat with the sauce and cook on low for 7-8 hours (or a little longer won't hurt) or on high for 3-4 hours.

Serve hot, with extra sauce on the side. (And I love this with a little sour cream squeezed on top.)

Now for those earlier photos; here's the photo of this pot roast with the sauce from back in 2007, not bad at all for those days!

And here's the updated photo from November 2012; I never liked the chunky look of the sauce in these photos and this time I switched a few ingredients so it wasn't so chunky!

(About 6 servings, some ideas for the sauce came from a recipe for Ginger Beef in 500 Low-Carb Recipes. You might want to read How to Make Pot Roast in the Crockpot before you make this recipe.)

I used a Crock-Pot 3-1/2-Quart Slow Cooker for this recipe. The recipe Can Freeze, so if you only have a bigger slow cooker I'd double it and stockpile some in the freezer for quick dinners later.

Trim as much fat as you can from roast, and cut if necessary to fit into Crockpot. Rub meat well with steak seasoning and black pepper. Heat olive oil in a large frying pan and brown roast well on both sides. This will take a few minutes; don't rush the browning step. Put browned roast into slow cooker.  Deglaze the

While meat browns, combine onion powder, garlic powder, ginger puree, Stevia Granulated (or sweetener of your choice), rice vinegar, tomatoes, soy sauce, and anchovy paste (if using) in food processor. Process several minutes with steel blade until tomatoes are pureed and ingredients are well combined.

Put the pureed sauce into the frying pan where you browned the meat and simmer on low heat until the sauce thickens; you should be able to draw a spoon through it and have the sauce stay together like shown in the photo. Once it's thickened to that point, pour sauce mixture over the meat in the slow cooker.

Cook on low 7-8 hours (or more) or on high for 3-4 hours,  or until meat is very tender. (If I'm home I usually turn it a couple of times, but it's not necessary.) Remove meat from slow cooker and keep warm. Skim off any visible fat from sauce mixture if needed, or use a fat separator. Slice the pieces of roast as needed and serve hot, with sauce spooned over meat.

This recipe would be phase one for the South Beach Diet, and also suitable for most other types of low-carb diet plans (even Paleo if you use an approved sweetener.)

Find More Recipes Like This One:
Use the Recipes by Diet Type photo index pages to find more recipes suitable for a specific eating plan.

Nutritional Information?
I chose the South Beach Diet to manage my weight partly so I wouldn't have to count calories, carbs, points, or fat grams, but if you want nutritional information for a recipe, I recommend entering the recipe into Calorie Count, which will calculate it for you.

More Slow Cooker Pot Roast to Try:
(Recipes from other blogs not always South Beach Diet friendly; check ingredients.)

Slow Cooker Tex-Mex Pot Roast from The Perfect Pantry

CrockPot Recipe for Southwestern Pot Roast from Kalyn's Kitchen

Slow Cooker Pot Roast with Red Wine and Brandy from Tasty Eats at Home

Hungarian Pot Roast with Sour Cream-Paprika Gravy from Kalyn's Kitchen

Apple Cider Glazed Pot Roast from What's Cookin' Chickago?

(Want even more recipes? I find these recipes from other blogs using Food Blog Search.)