Italian Beef Sandwiches
Italian beef sandwiches are one of my favorites. Slow cooked, tender beef drenched in rich juices on a flaky Italian style hoagie roll. Is that not how you make a classic sandwich? There is no shame when you take a bite and the juices drip down your arm. There is no hope with a napkin at that point, just go with it. Don’t think about the fact that you probably piled more meat and giardiniera into the roll than it’s capable of handling. Or that you basically dunked the entire sandwich into the juice so its border line soggy and falling apart. That’s just how it’s done. And to do it any other way you should be ashamed of yourself.
A classic Italian beef sandwich, especially here in Chicago, is made with sliced meat. I don’t know about you, but I’m not equipped with a meat slicer in my kitchen nor do I have the counter top space to add one. So instead I leverage the ole fashioned oven to slow cook the meat until it easily shreds. You’ll find recipes using the slow cooker, but I prefer the oven. I have an irrational fear of the slow cooker burning my house down and taking Jack with it. I’m aware how ridiculous that sounds, but when you live alone these are the types of fears you create in your mind. However you decide to make your Italian beef, make sure you cook it to a temperature that breaks down the connective tissue of the meat and dissolves the fat. That magical temperature you want to hit is 195 degrees. Be patient and let the heat do the magic.
Grab a bib and enjoy!
Italian Beef Recipe
Makes about 6 sandwiches.
Ingredients
Seasoning Rub
- 1 Tbsp black pepper
- 2 tsp garlic powder
- 1 tsp onion powder
- 1 tsp oregano
- 1 tsp basil
- 1/2 tsp cayenne pepper
- 1/2 Tbsp kosher salt
Remaining Ingredients
- 2 pounds of boneless, beef chuck roast
- 1 Tbsp olive oil
- 1 yellow onion, diced
- 3 garlic cloves, minced
- 1/3 cup red wine (substitute beef stock)
- 32-ounces beef stock (4 cups)
- 3 beef bouillon cubes
- 1 bay leaf
- 6 Italian style sandwich hoagie rolls
- Giardiniera
Directions
Prepare the Ingredients
- Mix the seasoning together in a small bowl by combining 1 Tbsp black pepper, 2 tsp garlic powder, 1 tsp onion powder, 1 tsp oregano, 1 tsp basil, 1/2 tsp cayenne pepper and 1/2 Tbsp kosher salt.
- Cut the chuck roast into 2-inch chunks. Rub the seasoning mix all over the meat until coated. Let the meat rest. Reserve any leftover seasoning.
- Peel and dice 1 onion.
- Peel and mince 3 cloves of garlic.
Start Cooking
- Preheat the oven to 300.
- In a large saucepan or Dutch oven, heat 1 Tbsp of olive oil. In batches, sear the meat 2-3 minutes on each side. (Cook the meat in a single layer so it sears instead of steams.) Set the meat aside until each batch is finished.
- Keep the saucepan or Dutch oven over medium heat, and add the garlic and onions. Saute for 3-4 minutes until they are softened.
- Add 1/3 cup of red wine and cook for another 1-2 minutes scrapping any flavors from the bottom of the pan.
- Add 4 cups of beef stock, 3 cubes of beef bouillon, 1 bay leaf and any of the remaining seasoning from the rub. Cook for 3-4 minutes.
- In a large casserole dish, add the meat. Pour the broth over the meat. Cover the dish tightly in foil and place in the oven.
- Cook the meat for 2 hours at 300. Reduce the temperature to 250 and cook for another 1 hour.
- Remove the meat from the juice using tongs and shred using two forks.
- Pour the juice through a strainer to remove the onions.
- Add the meat back to the casserole dish and cover with the strained juice.
- Serve the meat on the hoagie rolls with giardiniera.
The best part of Italian beef sandwiches is when the juice from the meat soaks into the bread so the sandwich is flaky on the outside and soaked with the seasoned juices on the inside. In this recipe you may have more juice leftover than you need. Serve the sandwiches with the amount you prefer. If there are leftovers, store the meat in enough of the broth to keep the meat tender and discard what you don’t need.
For me, I prefer my sandwich with just the meat, juice and giardiniera. You may opt to saute a green bell pepper as an additional topping. Or, top the meat with provolone cheese and melt in the oven while it is still hot.
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