How to Salvage an Overcooked Beef Roast

Meat stew with beef

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A properly cooked beef roast is not easy to overcook to the point of dryness, but if you do wind up with a dry and tough roast, there are ways to salvage it. Serving the beef roast covered in a gravy or sauce can mask its dryness, but you can also make a variety of other beef dishes. Choose beef recipes, such as hot roast beef sandwiches, that add both moisture and flavor to the beef, or add the beef to almost any type of casserole dish.

Gravy and Sauce

If the beef roast is not too overdone, you may be able to still serve it as a roast by serving it with a lot of gravy. Use the beef roast drippings to make a thick gravy, heating it up on the stove and whisking in flour or cornstarch until it thickens to your liking. You can also make a slice the beef roast and smother the slices in any type of sauce before serving, such as a bearnaise or morel sauce, a red wine sauce or a creamy mushroom sauce.

Saucy Sandwiches

Turn your dry beef roast into a flavorful and saucy sandwich. Shred the pot roast with a fork and make a sloppy-Joe style sandwich by heating it in a saucepan with a tomato-based sauce and tossing in vegetables such as bell peppers and onions. Serve on hamburger buns. You can also make a roast beef French dip sandwich by heating up the shredded roast beef with gravy in a saucepan, then adding it to hoagie rolls. Use the roast beef's drippings or a beef broth and chopped onions to make a juicy dipping sauce for the sandwiches.

Skillet Beef Meals

Make a roast beef hash that you can serve as part of a breakfast or brunch: Peel and dice potatoes in 1/2-inch cubes and dice up the beef roast in the same manner. Cook the potatoes in an oiled skillet over medium heat until they start to brown, then add in the beef, diced onions and green peppers. Add in a little beef broth to keep the hash moist and season with salt and pepper before serving. You can also make shredded beef tacos by adding shredded beef roast into a skillet with a little water and taco seasonings. Fill corn or flour tortillas with the hot beef and add your favorite taco toppings.

Baked with Beef

Make a simple beef pot pie by cubing the beef and combining it with with gravy, peas and carrots in a saucepan and bringing the mixture to a boil. Pour the mixture into a pie pan or casserole dish, then cover it with a prepared pie crust. Bake for about 30 to 35 minutes in an oven preheated to 400 degrees Fahrenheit. You can make a roast beef shepherd's pie in a similar manner, heating the cubed beef in a saucepan with vegetables and a beef stock, adding a little flour or cornstarch to thicken it. Pour the beef mixture into a greased baking dish, then cover it with mashed potatoes. Bake in an oven preheated to 400 F, until the mashed potatoes are slightly browned on the top and the beef is heated through.