The Best French Dip Ever!
It’s Super Bowl Sunday and while my days of going to game day parties are temporarily on hold due to three little ones, it doesn’t mean the Beehive can’t enjoy some tailgating favorites. Am I right? Quick rant before I share my recipe: WHY OH WHY can’t the Super Bowl be on a Saturday?! Clearly nobody in the NFL is responsible for getting two toddlers and a baby ready for daycare the next day… But I digress….
My sister came over tonight, so I wanted something memorable, but easy to make since my Sundays are largely filled with vacuuming, packing lunches, and doing laundry. (So. Much. Laundry.) Enter my crock pot French Dip sandwiches. This is one of the best set-and-forget slow cooker meals in my repertoire and I love bringing it out when I’m feeding a crowd. My girls LOVE pot roast of all kinds, so I’ll have lunches and an additional dinner or two for the rest of the week, plus Ben gets his lunch on Monday, and I don’t have to do too much to accomplish any of this. Win Win!
In my opinion, the key to a flavorful roast is not only the cut of meat, but searing the top layer a delicious golden brown before slow cooking. Searing your roast caramelizes the meat’s natural sugars and locks in flavor. It takes only a few moments, but I promise, it’s worth it!
The beauty of this recipe is that it only takes a few ingredients to pack a flavor punch. One word of caution: there are lots of gravy mixes available, so make sure you get an “Au Jus” gravy mix. The reason for this is that it won’t have thickening agents like cornstarch or flour, and will produce the broth-like dip known as “au jus” (Au jus means “with juice” and refers to serving meat with a broth made from its natural juices produced during the cooking process.) Worcestershire sauce adds a delicious umami flavor to your broth, while onion soup brings a savory element to the table.
After slow cooking all day, your roast should shred easily with a fork. Before serving, make sure to strain the au jus through a fine colander to yield a silky broth.
Add your shredded beef to a succulent hoagie roll, top with onions and mushrooms, then melt rich Swiss cheese over top, and you’ll have the crowd coming back for seconds and thirds and fourths! If you don’t have all day to slow cook your French Dip Roast, no worries! This recipe also has an Instant Pot variation for a quick weeknight meal.
The Most Amazing French Dip for the Crock Pot or Instant Pot!
Equipment
- 1 crock pot for slow cooker method
- 1 Pressure Cooker such as Instant Pot brand for Instant Pot method
Ingredients
- 2-3 lb chuck roast
- 1 packet onion soup powder mix
- 1 packet McCormick's Au Jus Gravy powder mix
- 2 cups beef broth
- 2 TBSP Worcestershire sauce
- 2 cloves garlic
- 1 onion, sliced thinly
- 1 cup baby bella mushrooms, sliced thinly
- 8 crusty French or Hoagie rolls
- 8 slices Swiss cheese
- 1 TBSP butter
- olive oil as needed
- salt and pepper to taste
Instructions
French Dip in the Crock Pot
- Season roast generously with salt and pepper. In a hot pan over medium high heat, add a large drizzle of olive oil and sear all sides of the roast until slightly golden brown (1-2 minutes per side).
- Using the flat part of a knife, strike your garlic clove quickly to smash it down into a patty-like shape. (You don't want to break the clove apart, rather expose the aromatic garlic flesh and oils to ensure more flavorful cooking.)
- Put seared roast into crock pot. Add beef broth, onion soup mix, Au Jus gravy mix, Worcestershire sauce, and smashed garlic. Cover and cook on high for 5 hours on high or low for 8 hours.
- When roast is done cooking, preheat oven to broil on high. Butter inside of rolls and toast under broiler for 5 minutes. Set aside once slightly toasted.
- While rolls are toasting, melt butter in a pan over medium high heat. Add onions and mushrooms. Cook, tossing frequently, until veggies are slightly caramelized.
- Pull roast out of crock pot and put onto a cutting board. Using two forks, shred the meat.
- Strain the cooking liquid through a colander directly back into the crock pot. This will remove all the little pieces from the soup mix and fat particles to make a silky-smooth broth. Spoon ¼ cup of broth into a small dish for each diner.
- Leave any remaining broth in the crock pot. Add shredded meat back to pot and toss meat in broth to coat.
- Build your sandwiches by putting a heaping pile of shredded meat on one side of the bun. Add caramelized onions and mushrooms. Top with Swiss cheese and broil for 3 minutes, until cheese is melty. Cover with other side of bun.
- Serve with individual bowls of broth dip.
French Dip in the Instant Pot
- Cut roast into 2-3 large chunks.
- Season roast pieces generously with salt and pepper. Turn Instant Pot to "saute" and drizzle of olive oil. Sear all sides of the roast pieces until slightly golden brown (1-2 minutes per side).
- Using the flat part of a knife, strike your garlic clove quickly to smash it down into a patty-like shape. (You don't want to break the clove apart, rather expose the aromatic garlic flesh and oils to ensure more flavorful cooking.)
- Pour the beef broth into pot, scraping up any brown bits from searing the roast. Add onion soup mix, Au Jus mix, Worcestershire sauce, and smashed garlic. Add roast pieces to Instant Pot.
- Put the lid on your Instant Pot and seat. Cook on high pressure for 20 minutes per pound. Then do a natural release for 15 minutes once done cooking. If there is still pressure after 15 minutes, then do a quick release to remove the rest of the pressure.
- While the Instant Pot is depressurizing, melt butter in a pan over medium high heat. Add onions and mushrooms. Cook, tossing frequently, until veggies are slightly caramelized.
- Meanwhile, preheat oven to broil on high. Butter inside of rolls and toast under broiler for 5 minutes. Set aside once slightly toasted.
- Pull roast out of Instant Pot and put onto a cutting board. Using two forks, shred the meat.
- Strain the cooking liquid through a colander directly back into the pressure cooker. This will remove all the little pieces from the soup mix and fat particles to make a silky-smooth broth. Spoon ¼ cup of broth into a small dish for each diner.
- Leave any remaining broth in the Instant Pot. Add shredded meat back to pot and toss meat in broth to coat.
- Build your sandwiches by putting a heaping pile of shredded meat on one side of the bun. Add caramelized onions and mushrooms. Top with Swiss cheese and broil for 3 minutes, until cheese is melty. Cover with other side of bun.
- Serve with individual bowls of broth dip.
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