French Dip Sandwiches

Deliciously drippy French dip sandwiches will be a new favorite in your meal plans. Roast beef sandwiches topped with melty cheese and golden onions dipped in flavorful au jus, it’s the best thing to happen to chuck since the pot roast.

PIN this French Dip Sandwiches recipe in your DINNER, SLOW COOKER, BEEF, AND SANDWICH BOARDS on PINTEREST. And follow Sweet Tea & Thyme on Pinterest for more tips, hacks, and tasty recipes!

*Updated! Better photos, clearer recipe, all delicious! Thank you hubbykins for being my hand model (again!) and not eating the sandwich before the shot, haha!*

I am literally on my toddler’s bedroom floor right now, trying so hard not to fall asleep.

After just half of one of these sandwiches, I’ve got the itis.

That’s that feeling that you get when you eat really good and get sleepy. You know the feeling.

I just finished texting my husband that he will not believe the amazing dinner I have waiting for him. I needed to write down how awesome this recipe is before I pass out.

*goes to bed*

I am not usually a sandwich person. But I had a beautiful chuck roast in my fridge and I wanted to do something other than pot roast. Just my luck that french dip sandwiches were a ‘pick for you’ on Pinterest.

Unfortunately, all the recipes I was browsing had processed packaged soup mixes, cola, and all kinds of things that I didn’t have. But I was still hell-bent on making these sandwiches. They just looked too darn good not to make!

AND I WAS RIGHT!

How can people have the patience to put this in the slow cooker? How??? Let me tell you how difficult it was to wait for this to finish in the oven! There I was in the oven, poking and prodding the roast every half hour and scooping up the onions and jus to sip at.

I was so bad, but when you make this you won’t be judging! I couldn’t wait, it smelled like heaven and waiting those 2 1/2 hours was pure torture!

I rubbed a garlic paste over the meat before cooking so that smell with the smell of the onions and the rich beefy roasting smell…

 it. was. everything.

My son even toddled out of his room asking what smelled so good and if it was ready; when I pulled the meat out to slice up, he was in the kitchen with his little 3 year old hands trying to grab a piece of meat off the cutting board. And he really isn’t a beef eater, so I was quite surprised!

French dip sandwiches are so surprisingly easy to put together! I absolutely put this in the busy day category of cooking: those days where there is a crap ton of housework or a ton of errands, just toss this in a slow cooker the same way you would in the oven and leave the house for 4-5 hours. Then you won’t be tormented by the delicious smells all day. And you won’t sip at half the jus while it’s cooking. Good Lord, that stuff’s good.

I have a few tips on having the best French dip sandwiches ever:

The Bread.

You don’t want to use soft rolls for this, because French dip sandwiches is meant to be dipped into its jus. The last thing you want is a soggy, sad sandwich that is falling apart before you can bite into it. I used French hoagie rolls that I bought a couple days earlier, so they were nice and slightly stiff. Then I toasted them in the oven as I melted the cheese to make the crusts more hearty and crisp so that they can really stand up to the jus.

You know, a good crusty piece of bread is the spice of life.

One of the spices. The bread spice.

The Onions.

The way I make the onions in this recipe, they become golden and soft as they cook in the liquid with the roast, absorbing that delicious flavor from the consomme and the roast drippings. Mmm…

But some people may not want them that way! You can caramelize them on the stove top or add them to the roast in the oven for the last hour of cooking so they hold their shape and texture better.

Don’t over stuff the sandwich. 

Seriously! I was only able to finish half a sandwich before I needed a nap! It’s rich and so delicious that you could over do it quite easily, like I did last night. My husband finished off my sandwich as I crawled to the reading corner of Greyson’s room and knocked out for an hour.

Let me tell you, the itis is real. It’s really real. Grab a pillow and a couch, eat this sandwich, and pass out.

Don’t forget to PIN this recipe!

Looking for more sandwichy goodness? Check out:

Patty Melts

Chipotle Chicken Panini (Panera Bread Copycat)

Crispy Chicken Sandwich

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5 from 3 votes

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Oven Roasted French Dip Sandwiches

Prep Time

10 mins

Cook Time

2 hrs 30 mins

Total Time

2 hrs 40 mins

 

Deliciously drippy French dip sandwiches will be a new favorite in your meal plans. Roast beef sandwiches topped with melty cheese and golden onions dipped in flavorful au jus, it’s the best thing to happen to chuck since the pot roast.

Course: Beef, Dinner, Main Dish

Cuisine: American

Keyword: french dip sandwiches

Servings: 4 -6 sandwiches

Calories: 540 kcal

Author: Eden Westbrook

Ingredients

• 3 lbs chuck roast excess fat trimmed
• 1/2 tsp sugar
• 5 yellow onions thinly sliced
• 6 cloves garlic pressed
• 1 tbsp butter
• 2 tbsp kosher salt
• 2 tbsp freshly cracked black pepper
• 2 cans beef stock or beef consomme
• 4-6 hoagie rolls
• 10 slices of cheese of choice I used provolone

Instructions

1. Preheat oven to 325 degrees F (170 degrees C).
2. In a 9x13 baking dish, layer the onion slices on the bottom of the dish. Season with sugar, 1 tsp salt, 1 tsp pepper and toss to coat slices in seasoning.

3. In a small bowl, use a fork to mix butter, 1 tsp salt and 1 tsp black pepper with the pressed garlic to make a paste. Use the rest of the salt and pepper to season the meat generously on each side, then rub the garlic paste over each side of the roast. Place on top of onion slices in baking dish or dutch oven.

4. Pour in beef broth or consomme, then put into the oven, uncovered, for 2 hours. Tent with aluminum foil (or cover with lid) after 2 hours, for 30 minutes to 1 hour, until chuck roast is tender, meaning that you can pry the meat apart fairly easily with a fork. I personally serve this sliced in my sandwiches, so I don't cook it until it's falling apart like a pot roast; however, it can definitely be served at that stage and be absolutely delicious. 

5. Pull roast out; slice the meat on a cutting board. Use a sieve to strain the onions from the jus and save both the jus and onions separately.

6. In hoagie rolls, layer slices of cheese, onions, and meat. Place on baking sheets and put into the still warm, turned off oven or at a low temperature. Melt the cheese, then remove from oven. (Yes, microwaving works, too. Just enough to melt the cheese!)

7. Serve hot with jus in a side container to dip into.