Sandwiches · American
French Dip
Slow-cooked beef sliced thin onto French bread, with the cooking juices for dunking.
- Hands-on
- 20 min
- Hands-off
- 7 h
- Total
- 7 h 20 min
- Makes
- 10 sandwiches
- Serves
- 10
5 minutes to load the slow cooker, 7 to 8 hours on LOW, then about 15 minutes to skim, slice and build. Add an hour if your roast needs the full 8.
- easy
- slow-cooker
- game-day
- crowd
- make-ahead
Verified against at least two trusted test kitchens or food-safety guides · Last checked · What this means
Scaling? Made for a 1.4 kg (3 lb) roast in a 3.5- to 4-quart cooker. A bigger roast needs a bigger cooker that is between half and two-thirds full, and more time: go by tenderness. Some items (like eggs) don’t halve neatly: beat them, then measure out half.
Ingredients
You need: slow cooker, 3.5-4 quart (3.3-3.8 L) · small bowl · large spoon for skimming · cutting board and sharp knife · small bowls for dipping · oven mitts · instant-read thermometer (optional)
Contains: soy · wheat
Method
Load the slow cooker
Put the 1.4 kg (3 lb) piece of beef chuck in the slow cooker, netting and all. In a small bowl, mix 355 ml (1 1/2 cups) water, 80 ml (1/3 cup) soy sauce, 1 tsp rosemary, 1 tsp thyme, the chopped garlic clove, the bay leaf and 3 or 4 peppercorns. Pour it over the beef.
Cook low and slow
Cover and cook on LOW for 7 to 8 hours. Keep the lid on; lifting it lets out heat and slows the cooking.
Ready when: A fork slides into the beef easily and it pulls apart with little effort. It will be far above the 63°C (145°F) safe minimum for beef by now.
Skim the juices
Spoon the fat off the surface of the juices. Fish out and discard the bay leaf and peppercorns. Keep the juices hot in the cooker for dipping.
Slice the beef
Lift the beef onto a cutting board with a large fork and spoon, snip off any netting or string, and slice it thinly.
Build the sandwiches
Cut each loaf into 5 pieces about 10 cm (4 in) long, then split each piece in half horizontally. Fill with the sliced beef. Ladle the hot juices into small bowls for dipping.
Otto tried this firstOtto pours the juices over the whole sandwich and it collapses. Serve them on the side in small bowls: you dip each bite.
Swaps
Don’t swap
- a frozen roast: thaw it fully before it goes in the slow cooker
Make ahead, store & reheat
- Make ahead
- Make it a day ahead and refrigerate the beef in its juices overnight. To serve, reheat the beef and juices in a large saucepan on the stove until steaming hot, 74°C (165°F), then keep it warm in the slow cooker on LOW for up to 2 hours.
- Storage
- Refrigerate leftovers within 2 hours and use within 3 to 4 days, or freeze for 3 to 4 months.
- Reheat
- Reheat on the stove (not in the slow cooker) until the beef and juices are steaming hot, 74°C (165°F).
If something goes wrong
- Beef is tough and hard to slice Why: Not cooked long enough.
Give it the full 8 hours on LOW; chuck becomes tender with time.
Good to know
- This is a good serve-yourself dish for a crowd: keep the beef warm in its juices on LOW and set out the bread.
Safety
- Use a fully thawed roast and a slow cooker that's between half and two-thirds full.
- The slow-cooker insert, lid and juices are very hot. Lift the beef with tools, not fingers, and keep kids and the cord away from the counter edge.
- Don't leave the beef and juices out for more than 2 hours after they stop being kept hot; refrigerate leftovers promptly.
- Soy sauce usually contains wheat and soy; bread can contain milk, egg or sesame. Check the labels.