We made Mississippi Pot Roast, Reddit’s favorite slow-cooker recipe

It’s the roast that’s breaking the internet … or, at least, Reddit.

Reddit searches for Mississippi Pot Roast rose by nearly 40% in October, according to a Reddit spokesperson, who pointed TODAY Food to the r/slowcooking subreddit, a group with 2.4 million members, as a place to start our own research into the unique take on classic pot roast.

The ingredients for Mississippi Pot Roast are simple: your family’s favorite type of beef roast, a packet of ranch seasoning, pepperoncini peppers, a stick of butter and a packet of au jus gravy mix. Slow-cooker enthusiasts who frequent the subreddit say it’s a set-it-and-forget-it type of recipe where, in 8 to 10 hours of low-heat cooking, you’ll open your slow cooker to a melt-in-your mouth pot roast.

Within the subreddit, there’s post after post showing photos of the roast, guaranteed to make you hungry just by scrolling through.

But, where did the recipe come from?

According to Southern Living, Mississippi Pot Roast was the invention of Robin Chapman, a mom from Ripley, Mississippi who stumbled upon the creation in the ’90s when she tried to make her aunt’s pot roast recipe less spicy for her kids. The roast was a hit, and so it became a regular part of the Chapman’s rotating dinner menu.

After Chapman’s recipe showed up in a church cookbook, it began making its way around the internet, dubbed “Mississippi Roast” or “Mississippi Pot Roast” by bloggers and food enthusiasts who couldn’t get enough of the flavorful one-pot meal.

The rest is slow-cooker history.

TODAY reached out to Chapman for comment but did not receive a response.

Ashlyn Edwards, blogger behind Belle of the Kitchen, has written multiple posts dedicated to the roast, and says she first heard of it from her mother-in-law.

“She’s shared lots of great recipes with me over the years and this one was a game changer for me when I became a mother because of how easy and hands-off it is to make,” Edwards told TODAY. “Dump-and-go slow cooker recipes are my favorites.”

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For Edwards, it’s the perfect comfort food, and it’s a hit with her family whether she serves it over noodles, with mashed potatoes and a vegetable or as the main ingredient in sandwiches.

“It’s been the most popular recipe on my site since I posted it over four years ago and has lots of fans,” she said.

Eager to see if Mississippi Pot Roast would be a family-favorite in my own house, I tossed a roast into my crockpot last weekend and let it mingle with the other ingredients for about ten hours on low heat. The result was a buttery, salty, flavorful dish that made every member of my family cheer.

My son, 12, a picky eater, called it “the most flavorful pot roast” he’d ever had — then went back for seconds.

My husband enjoyed the “picante” flavor added by the pepperoncini peppers, and my daughter and I enjoyed eating the roast paired with roasted broccoli and buttery mashed potatoes.

A major bonus? The recipe calls for a 3- to 4-pound roast, so there are plenty of leftovers.

We enjoyed our Mississippi Pot Roast leftovers the same way the following day, but some members of the slow-cooker subreddit report having roast beef sandwiches later in the week with the extras or throwing the shredded beef and gravy over tortilla chips for a creative take on nachos.

However we decide to eat it, it’s flavorful and versatile, and will definitely be making an appearance in my kitchen again — especially considering the small amount of work it takes to go from the countertop to the dinner table.