Crockpot Italian Beef

[patriceinil]

This recipe makes more of a pulled pork style sandwich unless you want to try and slice the beef thinly when it is partially cooked.

I use an eye of round roast but you can pretty much use any cut of roast that needs low slow cooking.

I just coat the roast in onion powder, garlic powder, salt, pepper and Italian seasonings and a pinch of red pepper flakes for a kick. I don’t bother to brown the roast but you can to help lock in the juices.

I put it in the crockpot with beef broth or bouillon and let it cook low and slow until fork tender. Like I said you can then shred it or before it gets too tender, pull it out and slice it thinly, then put it back into the broth to finish cooking.

Some people like to add a jar of pepperoncini with the juice to the crockpot to give the beef a spicier flavor. You can serve the broth in a bowl for dipping the sandwiches in, like a French dip sandwich.

I like to serve mine on garlic bread and add cheese, like the cheddar cheese sauce for making nachos or top it with mozzarella cheese. For the mozzarella stick the sandwiches under the broiler for a few minutes to melt the cheese. Some people will add the pepperoncini or sport peppers on the sandwiches as well for more spicy flavor.

[Old Fashioned]

Thank you, it sounds deeeeelish and will be added to the menu rotation

[Farmfresh]

I am going to be trying this soon as well. I think I am a bit late to start it today, but maybe for tomorrow.

[Rhodie Ranch]

Love the idea of the pepperoncini's and their brine.

[patriceinil]

I hope you all like it as much as I do!

[Old Fashioned]

OK, I have a confession to make........The other day I dug around the freezer and found a chuck roast to make this with.......but somehow got distracted by videos of a Mississippi Pot Roast, and if you ask me, the recipes are very similar. I went with the MS roast this time, just because we've already had a couple of 'Italian' meals and I needed to break it up, so I'll be making yours in a few days.


Here's the recipe I used for the MS roast.....


3 to 5lb roast
1 pkt dry ranch mix
1 pkt dry Au Jus mix
4 or 5 pepperoncini peppers + 1/4 c. juice
1 stick of butter

Add it all to the crock pot and cook till it falls apart. It makes it own 'gravy', though it was a little fatty from the meat and butter. Also, since I wanted plenty of gravy for mashed potatoes I also added about 1 cup of water, and at the last minute I added a cornstarch slurry to thicken it up.

Boy was this good, and it would also make great sandwiches with juice to dip it in (instead of adding the water and cornstarch slurry)




Also Patrice.....in some of the recipe links I looked at, I also read comments.......there were a few people that said the MS roast used Italian seasoning instead of ranch.......so I'm wondering if they are the same recipe, but different variations

[patriceinil]

They are similar except that what I posted it more of an authentic Chicago style Italian beef sandwich. The juice IS NOT thickened for Italian beef. The MS pot roast almost always uses ranch mix not Italian seasonings.

When you order in a restaurant you can get it “wet” which means the roll is soaked in the juice and then the wet beef is placed onto the roll.

You can also order it “dry” which they shake the beef off a bit to remove most of the liquid so the sandwich doesn’t drop all over you when you bite into it.

You can also get it “red” which is covered with marinara sauce and “hot” with peppers added to it.

Then there is the combo which has a grilled Italian sausage link covered with Italian beef and a bit of the beef juice.

All of the above can be topped with your choice of cheese, either mozzarella and it’s run under the heat to melt the cheese or cheddar cheese sauce. Either are known as Cheesy Beef sandwiches.

[Old Fashioned]

OK, I didn't know there was an official restaurant version of the Italian, and I added the slurry to thicken it for a gravy.....the MS didn't call for it. And nearly all the MS recipes were with ranch mix, it was in the comment section that a couple people mentioned Italian seasoning.

I am thinking of keeping both recipes.......the MS for a pot roast with mashed potatoes and a thickened gravy.........and your Italian beef with juices for sandwiches, and definitely add cheese of some sort...cause I love cheese

[patriceinil]

I have not tried the MS recipe yet, I’m sure I will one day when I want a pot roast dinner.

BTW, my Italian recipe also works great for beef shanks and gives them an awesome flavor.

[Old Fashioned]

Oh I bet it would since cross cut shanks have loads of flavor to start with. But I usually save those to make broth, just for that reason