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French Dip Sandwiches

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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.

Deliciously drippy French dip sandwiches! Oven-roasted beef topped with melty cheese and golden onions dipped in flavorful au jus will be your new dinner favorite!

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 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.

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.

 

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:

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.

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.

 

Looking for more sandwichy goodness? Check out:
Patty Melts
Chipotle Chicken Panini (Panera Bread Copycat)
Crispy Chicken Sandwich
Croque Madame Sandwiches

 

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Oven Roasted French Dip Sandwiches

Oven Roasted French Dip Sandwiches

Yield: 6 servings
Prep Time: 10 minutes
Cook Time: 2 hours 30 minutes
Total Time: 2 hours 40 minutes

Ingredients

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

Instructions

  1. Preheat oven to 325 degrees F (163 degrees C).
  2. In a 9x11 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 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.
  4. Pour in beef broth or consomme, then put into the oven for 2 hours. Tent with aluminum foil after 2 hours, for 30 minutes to 1 hour, until chuck roast is tender and falling apart.
  5. Pull roast out; slice and shred 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. Melt the cheese, then remove from oven.
  7. Serve with jus on the side to dip into.

Notes

You can use a cast iron dutch oven with a lid instead of a baking dish and foil.

Nutrition Information:
Yield: 6 Serving Size: 1
Amount Per Serving: Calories: 481 Total Fat: 57g Saturated Fat: 27g Trans Fat: 3g Unsaturated Fat: 25g Cholesterol: 250mg Carbohydrates: 20g Fiber: 2g Sugar: 6g Protein: 77g
© Eden Westbrook
Cuisine: American / Category: Main Dish
 

 

Reader Interactions

Comments

  3. Jillian

    March 23, 2019 at 5:03 am

    These look amazing! Great tip about the bread and I’ll be sure to schedule time for a nap whenever I make these, so I can then dream about them too!

    Reply

  5. Anita

    March 23, 2019 at 1:42 am

    Wow, those sandwiches look so good, and the ingredients are not fuzzy at all, definitely doable even for me, and just perfect for busy days. 🙂 Thanks for sharing.

    Reply

  9. Heidy

    August 18, 2018 at 7:35 pm

    French Dip Sandwiches are totally a hit with me. I can’t tell you how many nights I spent at a cafe near my collage dorm ordering these! Definitely a must try ASAP.

    Reply

  10. Cami

    February 18, 2018 at 8:40 pm

    I love French Dips, and usually cook the meat in the crock pot. I’m wanting to do an oven version, and these look delightful! One quick question- I don’t see in the instructions where you use the called for butter? Thanks in advance!

    Reply

    • Britt

      January 14, 2018 at 8:53 pm

      The timing isn’t too important, the most important aspect is the texture of your roast when it’s ready to be sliced.

      During step 4, place it in the oven for about 1 hour 15 minutes to 1 1/2 hours, then cover for at least 30 minutes, and check every 15 minutes afterward til the meat is pull-apart tender by using a fork.

      The timing can vary because of differences in oven type, baking dish type, and cooking tools. This is why I say go more by texture than time, when you can somewhat easily pull a piece of the roast apart with your fork, it’s ready to come out of the oven.

      I hope this helped! 💜

      Reply

    • Britt Anne

      January 9, 2017 at 11:13 pm

      Thanks Tanya! You never want someone to comment about how the recipe went wrong because you never told them to get that good crusty bread!

      Reply

    • Britt Anne

      January 9, 2017 at 4:51 pm

      Honey please do! Make sure you have a couch or a bed near by, and not playing with your toddler on the floor like I was 😂!

      Reply

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