Slow Cooker French Dip Sandwiches
5 Comments Feb 04, 2023
Updated Nov 20, 2024
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These Slow Cooker French Dip Sandwiches are made with flavorful shredded meat, a homemade au jus, and topped with a nice helping of melted cheese. This is a melt in your mouth meal option your whole family will enjoy.
If you love a good sandwich, then you must try my Alabama Chicken Sandwiches, Slow Cooker Ranch Chicken Sandwiches or Slow Cooker Italian Beef Sandwiches.
Table of Contents
What are French dip sandwiches?
Depending on where you live, classic French dip sandwiches may actually be called beef dips (or French dips). Regardless of which title you’re used to, they both involve some tender meat – usually tender roast beef or, like in this homemade version, a slow cooked chuck roast.
They also consist of a French dip au jus made from beef consomme, Worcestershire sauce, and a mixture of Italian seasonings. The beef dip sandwiches are then served on a thick sandwich roll such as hoagie buns, French rolls, or split rolls. They are so easy to make!
Recipe Ingredients
- Chuck Roast: You’ll want a fairly large roast to make sandwiches for the whole family. It will be slightly seared on all sides before being slow cooked in the crock pot. The tender beef is shredded and used for mouth-watering sandwiches.
- Au Jus Sauce: This sauce is made from a can of beef consommé (can use beef broth), Worcestershire sauce, dried minced onion, rosemary, garlic powder, thyme, salt, and pepper.
- Provolone Cheese: Used as the cheese topping, and once added, it melts perfectly into the meat.
- Hoagie Rolls: One of the best sub-like loaves of bread for delicious French dip sandwiches.
Step-by-Step Directions
Step One – Add vegetable oil to a large cast iron pan (or skillet) and heat over medium high heat. Once heated, place the chuck roast into the large skillet. Sear the chuck roast on all sides for about 2-3 minutes each.
Step Two – Sear the chuck roast on all sides for about 2-3 minutes each.
Step Three – Once seared on all sides, place the chuck roast into the crockpot along with the beef consomme, Worcestershire sauce, dried minced onion, and the seasonings.
Step Four – Cook on HIGH for 5 hours or on LOW for 9 hours, or until the chuck roast is very tender and falling apart.
Step Five – Slice open the hoagie rolls and add a nice helping of shredded meat on one piece. Place them on a parchment lined baking dish.
Step Six – Add half-sliced pieces of provolone cheese to each piece, followed by a sprinkle of freshly chopped parsley (optional).
Step Seven – Bake in the 350 degrees preheated oven for 10 minutes or until the cheese has melted and the rolls are lightly crisp. Then add the tops of each sandwich.
Step Eight – Degrease the au jus in the slow cooker by laying paper towels over the top, then discarding. Spoon some of the au jus sauce into a small serving bowl for dipping. Serve and enjoy!
Recipe Variations
- Beer can be added to the au jus sauce to create extra flavor. If you choose to use beer, add your favorite, such as a dark beer, bud light, or pilsner beer; add one cup.
- There’s also a way to make the homemade au jus minus the beef consomme. Instead of adding that, you can use beef broth, soy sauce, white vinegar, and all the seasonings in this original recipe.
- If you want to make it spicy, add red pepper flakes.
- Some recipe variations also call for condensed French onion soup.
Recipe FAQs
French fries or potato chips would pair perfectly with these sandwiches. Watermelon or any sliced fruit is also great.
Swiss cheese is a classic go-to in addition to provolone cheese. Some people also use mozzarella cheese or white cheddar.
Store the shredded chuck roast for up to 3 days in the refrigerator in an airtight container. Freeze the shredded chuck roast in a freezer safe zip lock bag for up to 6 months. Defrost overnight in the refrigerator before reheating.
Reheat the shredded chuck roast in the microwave, even the next day you will have the best french dip sandwich recipe.
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Slow Cooker French Dip Sandwich Recipe
Equipment
Ingredients
- 2 Tbsp. cooking oil, vegetable or canola
- 4 lb. beef Chuck roast
- 21 oz. Campbell's beef consomme, (two 10.5 oz. cans)
- ¼ cup Worcestershire sauce
- 3 Tbsp. dried minced onion, or 1/2 cup fresh white onion
- 1 tsp. dried rosemary
- 1 tsp. dried thyme
- 1 tsp. garlic powder
- ½ tsp. salt
- ½ tsp. black pepper
For serving
- 8 small hoagie rolls
- 8 slices provolone cheese
- fresh parsley, optional
Instructions
- Heat a large skillet or cast iron pan over medium high heat, add the vegetable oil and sear the chuck roast on all sides, 2-3 minutes per side. Use a pair of tongs to hold the chuck roast when searing on the edges. Remove from the heat and add the seared chuck roast to the slow cooker.
- To the slow cooker, add the beef consomme, worcestershire sauce, dried minced onion, and the seasonings. Cook on HIGH or 5 hours or on LOW for 9 hours, or until the chuck roast is very tender and falling apart.
- Preheat the oven to 350℉ and prepare a baking sheet with parchment paper. Remove the chuck roast from the slow cooker and let rest for 10 minutes. Shred with two forks, remove any fatty pieces. Cover with foil.
- Skim the fat from the juice in the slow cooker using a ladle or spoon and discard. Or you can use a paper towels to blot the grease.
- Cut the provolone slices in half. Slice the hoagie rolls in half and place the bottom halves on the prepared baking sheet. Add about 5-7 oz of the shredded chuck roast to each hoagie roll. Lay 2 provolone halves over the chuck roast (sprinkle with chopped fresh parsley if desired) and place the top halves of the buns on top. Bake in the oven for 10 minutes or until the cheese has melted and the rolls are lightly crisp.
- Serve with the au jus and enjoy!
How to Video
Sarah’s Notes
- The amount of sandwiches that can be made varies on how big your rolls are and how much meat you use.
- Store the shredded chuck roast for up to 3 days in the refrigerator in an airtight container. Freeze the shredded chuck roast in an freezer safe zip top bag for up to 6 months. Defrost overnight in the refrigerator before reheating.
- Reheat on the stove top or in the microwave.
- Soy sauce can be used in place of the worcestershire sauce.
- Mozzarella cheese slices or cheddar cheese slices can be used in place of the provolone cheese.
Nutrition
Nutrition info is auto-generated. This information is an estimate; if you are on a special diet, please use your own calculations.
This recipe turned out absolutely incredible! Finding beef consommé was really challenging, but absolutely worth it. With three people, we had no leftovers from our 3.5lb roast.
On the variation using beef broth, do I substitute soy sauce for the worcestershire sauce? How much vinegar do I use? (I’m gluten sensitive). Thanks.
I would do 3 cups of beef broth, 2 Tbsp. of soy sauce and a teaspoon of white vinegar.
Made the French dips tonight. The meat was full of flavor and fell apart while shredding. I did add a packet of au jus to the liquid left in the crockpot which made it taste better. Maybe if I had I used the consommé instead of beef broth it would’ve been fine by itself. I will try that next time. My husband and I loved this recipe.
This sounds delicious.