There is something amazing about savory, shredded beef with melted provolone cheese on a crusty ciabatta roll that soaks up the rich au jus sauce served on the side. It makes my mouth water just thinking about it. Pile your roast beef up thick on your roll and top with swiss or provolone cheese (whatever floats your boat) and stick them under the broiler for a minute or two to melt the cheese and toast the roll. Oh my. It’s the stuff dreams are made of. At least my dreams. We love a good hot sandwich! Some of our other favorites are Indiana Pork Tenderloin Sandwich, Slow Cooker Applesauce Pulled Chicken Sandwiches, and Monte Cristo Sandwiches.
Why this recipe works
The meat cooks in a savory au jus made of beef broth and french onion soup mix, adding it’s own delicious meat juices, and then once it is fall-apart-tender you pull it out and shred it. What makes it even better is that these are slow cooker french dip sandwiches so 90% of the work is done in the morning and then you don’t have to worry about what’s for dinner later in the day! Little to no prep work, especially if you opt not to sear the meat first before sticking it in the slow cooker.
French dip sandwiches actually originated in Los Angeles in the early 1900’s. It’s name is a reference to the original type of bread used than the sandwich actually being brought here from France. Some of the lore behind the sandwich is that it was invented when a chef or server dunked a beef sandwich into a pan of meat drippings after receiving a complaint that the bread was stale!
Recipe Ingredients
Beef chuck roast: Look for a well-marbled piece of meat for the best flavor and the most tender results. Dry onion soup mix: I always have a few packages of this floating around in my pantry, but you could make your own onion soup mix at home if you don’t have some. Beef broth: I often will just use Better-than-Bouillion’s beef bouillion mixed with water to make beef broth if I don’t have cans of it on hand. Beef consomme will also work.
How to Make French Dip Sandwiches
Heat some olive oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat. While the oil is heating, generously season all of the sides of the chuck roast with kosher salt and fresh ground pepper. When the oil starts to shimmer, carefully place the roast in the hot pan. Sear it on all of its sides by letting it sit without moving for about a minute or two on each side before flipping it. Searing won’t take very long – you just want to quickly brown the roast to add in the flavor and seal in the juices. Transfer the roast and the juices and brown bits from the bottom of the pan to your slow cooker and sprinkle the dry onion soup mix over the meat. Add in the water and the beef broth. Cook the meat on HIGH for 4-6 hours or on LOW for 8-10 hours. When the meat is tender enough that it can shred easily with a fork, remove the roast from the slow cooker and then shred it. Serve it by piling the shredded meat onto sliced, crusty rolls with a slice of provolone or Swiss cheese. Toast the cheese and top bun under the broiler until the cheese melts and the bun starts toasting. Serve with the juices from the slow cooker as au jus for dipping in individual bowls.
Recipe Tips
Use a fat separator to remove the layer of fat from the top of the au jus broth before transferring it to individual bowls for serving. Season the meat generously with salt and pepper. Remember that it’s quite a bit of meat so you want to provide enough seasoning so the sandwiches and au just sauce aren’t bland. I love using these crockpot liners (affiliate link) in my slow cooker to make cleanup ridiculously easy. I also use them when making Sweet & Spicy Slow Cooker Pulled Pork Sandwiches. And if you like using your slow cooker, check out my slow cooker archives for even more recipe ideas! Feel free to serve your sandwiches on crusty artisan or ciabatta rolls, as I have done here, or on softer hoagie rolls, if you prefer.
Instant Pot Instructions
If you prefer to make this in the instant pot, follow the same process as the slow cooker except sear the roast in the Instant Pot using the saute function. Then remove it to a plate and add the water, scraping any browned bits off the bottom of the pot. Add the roast back to the pot with the remaining ingredients and cook on high pressure for 60 minutes with the valve set to sealing, followed by a 15 minutes natural pressure release.
More Slow Cooker Recipes
Kalua Pork (Slow Cooker or Instant Pot) Slow Cooker Korean Beef Short Ribs (Kalbi) Slow Cooker Cuban Mojo Pork Crispy Mexican Slow Cooker Pork Carnitas with Escabeche
This post was originally published in June, 2016. The photos and content were updated in September, 2021. Let me know what you thought with a comment and rating below. You can also take a picture and tag me on Instagram @houseofnasheats or share it on the Pinterest pin so I can see.
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