These tender, flavorful French Dip Sandwiches are the perfect, easy meal for any day of the week. Just throw everything in the crock pot and walk away!
I have never been a beef lover. I can’t seem to make a decent pot roast to save my life. This is very frustrating to me, because pot roast is not cheap! I only buy one MAYBE once a year. And then I mess it up. No matter what I do, the meat comes out tough. It doesn’t seem to matter if I try it in the crock pot or the oven or if I sear it first or not.
But one recipe involving pot roast has never failed me. I’ve got a 100% success rate with it! It’s this recipe for French Dip Sandwiches. The meat always comes out so tender and flavorful, and I don’t have to worry about ruining a large piece of meat.
The recipe requires the use of a crock pot. I don’t have an Instant Pot, so I’ve never tried this recipe in one of those. But I would love it if you would like to adapt this recipe for your Instant Pot! Then be sure to write me and let me know how it turned out!
All you do is put a 3-4 pound roast in the crock pot and add some soy sauce, beef bouillon, a bay leaf, peppercorns, rosemary, and some garlic powder. Then you fill the crock pot to the top with water (just so that it’s covering the beef) and cook on low for 8-12 hours.
When the time is up, remove and slice or shred the beef. Then pile it on some yummy buns and use the juice left in the crock pot for dipping. You will have a TON of it.
Another great thing about this recipe is that you can use all that juice as a base for beef stew the next day! Simply place the leftover juice in a container in the refrigerator. The fat will collect and solidify at the top. When you are ready to make your stew, remove the fat and pour the juice into a stock pot on the stove. Bring it to a boil and then add potatoes, carrots, and onions. Once those are tender, add in some of the leftover beef. If you wish to thicken the soup a little, you can mix a tablespoon of corn starch with 1/4 cup of water and then slowly pour it into the boiling soup while stirring. (Depending on how much juice was left over for your soup, you may need to use more corn starch to get the desired amount of thickening). Add salt and pepper to taste, and you’ve now gotten two meals for the price of one!
This meal pairs well with Roasted Rosemary Garlic Potatoes, Red Onion Rings, and Strawberry Romaine Salad.
- 3-4 pound roast beef trimmed of all visible fat
- 1/2 cup soy sauce
- 1 cube 1 tsp. beef bouillon
- 1 bay leaf
- 3-4 whole peppercorns
- 1/2 tsp. dried rosemary
- 1 tsp. garlic powder
- water
- Kaiser or ciabatta rolls
- Place pot roast in crock pot.
- Add the soy sauce, beef bouillon, bay leaf, peppercorns, rosemary, and garlic powder to the crock pot.
- Fill the crock pot to the top of the meat with water.
- Cook on low for 8-12 hours, depending on the size of the roast.
- Remove roast from crock pot and slice or shred. Serve on rolls with juices for dipping.
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Malinda says
Crock pot meals are the best and french dip sandwiches are one of our favorites!
Karen @ The Food Charlatan says
I loooooove a good french dip!! This looks so tasty! I’m kind of with you Melissa. Pot roast does not come easy for me. I feel like it’s always tough. I actually am planning to tackle it in the next few weeks to see if I can get it right. Wish me luck!
Danielle Green says
Anything to “fix and forget” is awesome to me! They look delicious!
Julie Evink says
What a perfect meal!! Love that its a slow cooker recipe so that I can set it and forget it, but it will still be ready for when my family is ready to eat!!!