These French Dip Sandwiches can be made in the Slow Cooker or the Instant Pot. A super easy dish to prepare starring delicious beef and crusty bread. So tender it might just melt in your mouth!
French Dip or Beef Dip
Also known as a beef dip, this sandwich has become a quintessential pub food in Canada. It’s easy to see why, the delicious combination of tender beef, soft onions, melted cheese, and flavor packed au jus is just unbeatable. While I love to get my hands on it when I’m out to eat, I do think my recipe gives those pubs a run for their money.
I wanted to give you guys a super versatile recipe that can be thrown into the slow cooker or instant pot and this French dip hits all the right notes!
What Is A French Dip?
A French Dip Sandwich is a hot sandwich stuffed full of thinly sliced beef, served on a crusty Baguette (or any crusty roll) and sometimes topped with Swiss cheese. What’s not to love! I used a rib-eye loin, but keep in mind that this piece of meat is quite expensive and as such you can use a sirloin instead as it’s a bit more affordable.
Ingredients Notes
- Beef – I used boneless rib-eye loin for this recipe but chuck roast or sirloin will work just fine.
- Spices – Salt, pepper, and dried oregano are all you need for this sandwich so don’t sweat the spice aisle.
- Olive oil – My favorite oil for browning meat because it doesn’t lose flavor as it heats up.
- Onion – Large onions that cook down nicely are ideal, I used white for this recipe.
- Garlic – I prefer fresh but if minced is all you have that’s fine. Just remember that 1 1/2 teaspoons equal one clove.
- Bay leaf – This is just an aromatic added for flavor so be sure to remove it before eating!
- Worcestershire sauce – This savory condiment is packed full of umami flavor.
- White wine – Any will do, although I do recommend using something dry and acidic like Sauvignon Blanc or Pinot Grigio.
- Beef broth – Low sodium broth is recommended because we want to control our sodium content.
- Crusty roll – I used a nice crusty French baguette for this sandwich.
- Swiss cheese – Totally optional but that cheese pull is addicting.
How To Make French Dip
- Prepare the beef: Combine the oregano, salt, and pepper in a small bowl and run generously on your cut of beef (tied with kitchen twine if needed). Apply this mixture to all sides so that an even crust forms. Heat olive oil in a large skillet over medium high heat and sear all sides evenly till that brown crust forms.
- Assemble the sauce: Place all other ingredients in your slow cooker or instant pot and stir well. Place beef in the sauce and spoon the mixture over top.
- Cooking with your slow cooker: Cook on high for 2 – 3 hours or low for 4 – 6 hours. The internal temperature should be 130 – 135 F degrees for medium rare and 145 F degrees for medium. If you like your beef rare check the meat after 2 hours on high or 4 hours on low.
- Cooking with your instant pot: Close the lid and cook for 100 minutes on high. Let the heat and pressure release naturally.
- Assemble the french dip sandwiches: Transfer the meat to a cutting board and cover with foil. Allow to rest for 10 – 15 minutes, the longer the better because we want the meat to retain those juices. In the meantime strain the remaining sauce through a fine strainer. Be sure to hold on to the liquid and the onions! Slice the beef as thin as possible and use it to fill the crusty rolls along. Top with the onions and cheese and serve ASAP with the remaining sauce (au jus).
Tips For Making The Best French Dip
- Place the rolls under your broiler once the cheese has been added to really get a melty masterpiece.
- To make things even easier, sear the beef in your instant pot on the saute setting.
- Ask your butcher to tie your meat with twine because not only will they do it with an experts touch, but they also love to help out!
Leftovers
The cooked beef and dipping sauce can be stored in an air tight container in the fridge for up to 4 days. These ingredients can also be frozen for up to 3 months but be sure they are cool before freezing.
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Slow Cooker French Dip Sandwiches
Prep: 10 mins
Cook: 4 hrs
Total: 4 hrs 10 mins
Serves: 8
These French Dip Sandwiches can be made in the Slow Cooker or the Instant Pot. A super easy dish to prepare starring delicious beef and crusty bread. So tender it might just melt in your mouth!
Equipment
Ingredients
- 4 lb ribeye loin boneless or chuck roast or sirloin
- 2 tsp salt
- 2 tsp black pepper
- 1 tbsp oregano
- 1 tbsp olive oil
- 2 large onions sliced
- 10 cloves garlic minced
- 2 bay leaves
- ¼ cup Worcestershire sauce
- ¼ cup white wine
- 3 cups beef broth low sodium
- 8 crusty rolls or French baguette
- 8 slices swiss cheese optional
Instructions
- Tie the meat with kitchen twine if needed. In a small bowl combine the salt, pepper and oregano together. Sprinkle the seasoning mixture liberally and generously over the beef on all sides.
- Heat the olive oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat. Add the beef and sear it on all sides until a nice brown crust has formed.
- Add the remaining ingredients to your slow cooker and stir. Add the beef and pour some of the liquid over the meat.
- Cook on HIGH for 2 to 3 hours or LOW for 4 to 6 hours. The meat will be done when the internal temperature reads 130-135 F degrees for medium-rare or 145 F degrees for medium. My beef was cooked to a medium, if you prefer more rare, check the meat after 2 hours on HIGH, or 4 hours on LOW.
- Transfer the meat to a cutting board and cover with foil. Let it rest for about 10 to 15 minutes before slicing into it.
- In the meantime, pour the remaining liquid from the slow cooker through a fine mesh strainer. Reserve both the liquid and the onions for sandwiches. Discard the bay leaf.
- Slice the beef as thin as you can.
- To assemble the sandwiches, slice the rolls in half then pile some beef on the rolls, then top with onions and a slice of Swiss cheese, if preferred. Place the rolls under the broiler, if preferred, for a couple minutes until the cheese melts.
- Serve them immediately with the reserved liquid/au jus to dip the sandwiches into.
Video
Recipe Notes
- Ask your butcher to tie your meat with kitchen twine, most butchers would love to help you out.
- INSTANT POT FRENCH DIP SANDWICHES
- Follow the steps exactly the same, the big difference is that you can actually sear the beef in the Instant Pot itself by setting it on Saute mode, then add the olive oil and when it’s hot, add the beef to the IP and sear it on all sides. Remove the beef from the IP, then add the onion and garlic and saute them for about 3 minutes until soft. From then add the remaining ingredients, as in the slow cooker, close the lid and cook on high pressure for 100 minutes.
- Nutritional information is per sandwich and includes Swiss cheese. Please keep in mind that nutritional information is a rough estimate and can vary greatly based on products used.
Nutrition Information:
Serving: 1sandwichCalories: 691kcal (35%)Carbohydrates: 30g (10%)Protein: 57g (114%)Fat: 37g (57%)Saturated Fat: 17g (106%)Cholesterol: 182mg (61%)Sodium: 1317mg (57%)Potassium: 1161mg (33%)Fiber: 2g (8%)Sugar: 3g (3%)Vitamin A: 280IU (6%)Vitamin C: 5mg (6%)Calcium: 336mg (34%)Iron: 6.8mg (38%)
Is it really 100 minutes for the Instant Pot version of this recipe? That seems so long for an Instant Pot.
Depending on the size of your beef. But yes, that is correct. It’s about 20 to 25 min per pound.
Turned out so well! I was nervous there wasn’t going to be enough sauce but there was plenty for the three of us. Thank you and I am loving trying out a lot of your recipes!!!!
So happy to hear this! Stay safe!
Well, I have to get my math cap on and re-size this one for sure because there are only two of us and just one each will do us just fine. But what do say about freezing the beef and liquid after we get the amount of dip we need and then heating it up at a later date?
I will more than likely do just half of this recipe so that would come out better for freezing the rest?
What are your thoughts and advice?
You can freeze leftovers for 3 months. I would store the au jus and the beef separately! Make sure everything has cooled down before popping in the freezer.
Is the time on the Instant Pot directions correct at 100 minutes?
Yes it is. You can start with 80 minutes if you prefer and add some more time if you think the roast needs it.
Hello, I made this recipe yesterday using Beef Chuck Tender Roast. The piece of chuck was 3 lbs. However, I followed your recipe and cooked it in the crock pot for 4 hours on low. Unfortunately it turned out really over cooked. I was hoping to have the finished roast medium rare. Not sure what I did wrong.
I have another piece of Beef Chuck Tender and would like to make this recipe again. So, I’m looking forward to your comments. Thank you.
I will make this again and take your suggestion of cooking it for less time. The meat was tasty and there was plenty of juice for dipping. We used our electric slicer so the meat was nice and thin. Thanks again for your replay.
Carol – this recipe is meant for slow cooking/braising the meat where the long cook time is meant to break down the muscle/fat/tissue of the protein you are cooking. In this recipe, you will never get medium rare because in order for the beef to cook to the point of being tender enough to shred, it is cooked well beyond medium rare. So in reality, you did nothing wrong when you did this recipe. The crockpot did exactly what it was supposed to do.
Carol – this recipe is meant for slow cooking/braising the meat where the long cook time is meant to break down the muscle/fat/tissue of the protein you are cooking. In this recipe, you will never get medium rare because in order for the beef to cook to the point of being tender enough to shred, it is cooked well beyond medium rare. So in reality, you did nothing wrong when you did this recipe. The crockpot did exactly what it was supposed to do.
Yours looks really good! I do mine the way my mom always did – a beef brisket and onion soup mix, lol. And, that’s is. Of course, getting away from packaged things is all the rage nowadays, so I’m going to try it your way. Thanks. Will let you know what we think of it (I won’t be able to try it for a while, but I won’t forget to come back).
I hope you try it!
Your Videos aren’t coming through lately, just thought I would let you know.
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