Beef pot roast isn’t one of my favorite meats. It has to have a hook, a pop, that elevates it over the pot roast my Mom used to make. When I found this Scandinavian recipe that uses dried fruit, cinnamon and ginger, I couldn’t wait to try it. I would change it to a crockpot recipe and the wonderful smells would float through the castle for hours!
I combined the first four dry ingredients in a flat dish and mixed well.
I dredged the roast in the flour until it was covered on all sides.
I’d preheated my skillet with a drizzle of oil and placed the roast in it to sear as many sides as possible.

Place roast in crockpot. Cover with diced dried fruit (I used apricots) and add 1/2 cup water to pot.
When the roast was nicely seared I placed it in the crockpot. I diced the dried apricots I’d chosen as my fruit and placed them over the top of the roast.
Adding 1/2 cup of water to the crockpot along with a cinnamon stick, I placed the lid on the crockpot and set the temperature to low. I let it cook for 4 hours and see how things were progressing. I also needed to add the orange juice the last hour.
The smells coming out of the crockpot were amazing in 4 hours. The ginger and cinnamon and beef smelled so good! I added the orange juice to the pot and let it cook for another hour.
After 5 hours I carefully lifted the roast onto a platter and covered it with foil. I set it in the oven to keep it out-of-the-way while I took care of the juices.
I poured the juices into a large skillet and set the heat for medium high. I tasted the juice and decided it was quite bitter. I added 1/4 cup of sugar, stirred, tasted and added another 1/4 cup. Perfect! I let the liquid reduce down to half, about 20 minutes. It was the same amount of time needed to get my rice cooked as well.
I served the roast beef sliced and drizzled with the reduction and pieces of apricot. I drizzled more of the sauce over the rice as well. I’d stir fried some greens in bacon fat as a vegetable side dish. Dinner was served.
I think it was the best roast beef I’ve ever tasted! The beef was tender enough to cut with a fork, moist and flavorful, and it did remind me of Norwegian dishes with their unusual spice combinations. Who’d have thought to add cinnamon and ginger to roast beef? It worked very, very well!
My P.S. (Princely Spouse) loved the roast beef. He suggested the gravy/reduction could have used a touch of acid to make it pop a little more. He suggested a shot of lemon juice. I suggested grated orange peel to mirror the orange juice in the recipe. When I make this recipe again, I’ll let you know if I find that tweak helpful.
Scandinavian Pot Roast
4 lb pot roast (my roast was a little over 3 lbs)
3 tablespoons flour
1 1/2 teaspoon salt
1/8 teaspoon black pepper
1/2 teaspoon ginger
2 tablespoons oil
8 ounces dried fruit; diced (my bag was 5 ounces)
1/2 cup water
1 stick cinnamon
1 cup orange juice
1/2 cup sugar for the gravy
- Mix flour, salt, pepper and ginger in a shallow dish. Dredge roast until all sides are coated.
- Preheat skillet on medium high heat with oil and sear roast on all sides.
- Place roast in crockpot. Cover with diced fruit. Pour water into crockpot and add cinnamon stick. Cover and cook on low for 4 hours.
- Pour orange juice over roast and cook on low another hour. Remove roast to a platter and make gravy from juices if desired.
Adapted from Food.com
perfect timing for me 🙂 Now I have answer for question- what to do for dinner 🙂 Thank you
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Thank you! I hope you enjoy!
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I made the roast in an electric pressure cooker this morning and we had it for lunch. I love the flavors. Next time I will use a traditional pot roast. Only had a tri tip blade. It was good when I sliced the meat against the grain. The gravy was outta this world. Looking forward to making smothered chopped beef opened faced sandwiches tonight. This will be my go to recipe. Thank you!
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I’m so happy you liked it! And great to know it also works in a pressure cooker. Yes the gravy was great on rice and sandwiches. Thanks for the info!
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This sounds so good! I may have to add a roast to my shopping list this week. The fruit. cinnamon, and ginger are a great combination.
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It was great in sandwiches too! Thanks!
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