Simple, easy, but full of flavor and topped with a festive spiced gravy, this slow cooker gingersnap pot roast makes a great holiday dinner!

I’ve been trying to get in the habit lately of throwing something into the slow cooker on Sunday mornings before we leave for church, and every Sunday that I manage to get that done I’m so happy…and then pinching myself on the Sundays I don’t.

I want your Christmas evening to be like my Sunday evenings on the days when I do get something in the crockpot. Chill, easy, and delicious.

When I was growing up, our family’s Christmas celebration – which we actually celebrated on Christmas Eve (also my birthday) – was a big affair. It was as full out as Thanksgiving. After the Christmas Eve festivities, on Christmas Day we opened our stockings, and then went to the movies and I think we ate leftovers. Christmas Day was a chill day – not as exciting.

When I married into Josh’s family 17 years ago, Christmas Eve was the chill day – they may or may not be baking cookies, but they weren’t celebrating anything until Christmas Day, and even then it was celebrating the whole day and dinner, well, dinner was in the slow cooker!

Josh’s family typically makes the same thing every Christmas. A roast with rice and green beans…maybe a potato side dish. Super simple, always tasty, and warm and filling. I know ham is the typical “Christmas” protein, but several of Josh’s family members suffer from migraines and pork is a migraine-triggering food. So…roast it is, and I’m not mad about it. I love roast!

This Gingersnap Pot Roast may not at first seem super festive, but trust me when I tell you that it is. I think the gravy is the star of the whole show. It takes on and brings out all of the flavors that have been poured over the roast in the slow cooker, and when you drizzle it over the potatoes and vegetables and, of course, the roast itself…it is rather amazing. Spicy…but not in a heat way – you won’t be needing a pitcher of water near you for this one. It gets all the flavor from the gingersnaps and, oh my goodness…it is just mouthwatering. One more reason I love this gravy is because all you’re doing is draining off the fat – get yourselves one of those fat separators and done. Gravy. No mixing in flour or cornstarch. The liquid is plenty thick on its own and yum! Just yum!

The potatoes and vegetables are tender and perfect and the roast is juicy and literally falling apart.

It’s everything you need for dinner on Christmas. You could always swap the parsnips for carrots or even do a combo. I kept it simple with sweet potatoes and parsnips simply because I felt it was too much orange with just carrots and sweet potatoes, but feel free to add in a rutabaga or even turnips if you like. In my opinion, the more the merrier! We kept it simple when we made it because Grace was at work, and the younger kids have smaller appetites. But any root vegetable would be delicious…or any potato for that matter! I’m just very partial to sweet potatoes.

If you’re wondering what else you could add to this dish to make it feel like a full meal, might I suggest a salad and some buttered rye bread. Simple and flavorful.

If you decide to give this Gingersnap Pot Roast a try this holiday season, let me know what you think!