Slow Cooker Italian Beef Sandwiches with Homemade Hot Giardiniera
Slow Cooker Italian Beef Sandwiches with Homemade Hot Giardiniera, a Chicago favorite, with thinly sliced, slow-cooked, juicy beef, melted cheese, and some homemade spicy giardiniera to really pack in the flavor for the ultimate Italian Beef Sandwich.
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Get ready for fireworks to go off in your mouth with these Slow Cooker Italian Beef Sandwiches with Homemade Hot Giardiniera!
These sandwiches are so flavorful and satisfying! Plus, the slow cooker does all the hard work!
These homemade Italian Beef sandwiches feature tender, moist sliced beef that’s piled on a toasted hoagie roll with melted cheese, then topped with homemade spicy giardiniera. What could be better?
What is an Italian Beef?
It is to Chicago, what taco shops are to southern California, what the lobster roll is for Maine, and what gumbo is for New Orleans.
In Chicago, they cook a beef roast in the oven for hours. When it’s ready, they slice the meat very thin and throw it back in the delicious cooking liquid (the jus).
They add the juicy meat to a hoagie roll and if you like yours “dipped” or “dunked”, they’ll take the whole sandwich, bread and all, and dip it in the jus.
After its submersion, they top it with some hot (spicy) giardiniera, and that, my friends, is an Italian Beef.
Below is an Italian Beef from Al’s in Chicago!
Unless I’m Sunday cooking, I don’t have time to babysit the oven, so I decided to make this with a slow cooker, and I couldn’t be more pleased.
Ingredients needed to make this recipe (scroll down to recipe card for complete recipe):
- Beef roast
- Beef stock
- Worcestershire sauce
- Bay leaves
- Seasonings – garlic powder, dried oregano, dried rosemary, salt & pepper
- Hoagie rolls
- Provolone cheese
- Chicago-Style Hot Giardiniera (recipe below)
This recipe is not only super easy, it’s amazingly delicious.
I mean, who doesn’t love a crusty roll filled with beef that’s so moist and tender, it’s falling apart, topped with some melted provolone cheese, and some salty, spicy, crunchy goodness from the homemade Chicago-Style Hot Giardiniera (shown below)?
If you’re wondering what Chicago-Style Hot Giardiniera is, it is a flavor bomb that will go off in your mouth!
This flavorful condiment is made with chopped veggies, olives, spicy peppers, and herbs that marinate in oil. It is crunchy, salty, spicy, and so delicious!
To dunk or not to dunk?
I don’t want a soggy hoagie roll (sorry, Chicagoans, I’m not a dunker!), but I do want the flavor and juiciness of the jus, so I toast my roll before adding the meat and dip my sandwich in a cup of jus as I eat it. So good!
Looking for more sandwich recipes? Here are some favorites:
- Slow Cooker Chicken Pepperoncini Cheese Steaks
- Turkey & Avocado Torta with Chipotle Aioli
- The Ultimate Corned Beef Bagel Sandwich
- Avocado & Veggie Breakfast Sandwiches
- Homemade Egg Salad Sandwiches
- Cajun Egg Salad (shown below)
*You will need to make the Hot Giardiniera at least 3 days BEFORE you make the sandwiches. Click HERE for the recipe. *
NOTES:
- I’ve made this with an Eye of Round Roast, but my favorite for this recipe is a Sirloin Tip Roast. It slices really well and has the best texture for this sandwich. Look for a lean roast that will hold its shape and slice easily instead of fall apart like a chuck roast would.
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Slow Cooker Italian Beef Sandwiches with Homemade Hot Giardiniera
Equipment
- 5 quart slow cooker or larger
Ingredients
- 2.5 lb. beef roast see "notes" about best type of roast
- 2 tsp. garlic powder
- 1 tbsp. dried oregano
- black pepper
- 1 1/2 tsp. salt
- pinch dried rosemary
- 4 cups beef stock
- splash of Worcestershire sauce
- 2 bay leaves
- 6 hoagie rolls
- 6 slices provolone cheese
- Chicago-Style Hot Giardiniera recipe link in post
Instructions
- Add roast to slow cooker and sprinkle garlic powder, oregano, black pepper, and salt over meat. Take a pinch of dried rosemary and rub it between your hands over the roast and let it crumble in the slow cooker. Add beef stock, Worcestershire, and bay leaves, cook on "low" for 8-9 hours.
- Remove meat from slow cooker and set on carving board. Discard bay leaves. Taste the juices in the slow cooker and add salt if necessary.
- Slice meat thinly and add it back to the juices in slow cooker. Slice hoagie rolls in half and put them under the broiler until toasted. Add meat to the bottom half of toasted roll, add sliced cheese, and broil for another minute or two until the cheese is melted. Spoon Chicago-Style Hot Giardiniera to your sandwich and enjoy!
Did you make this recipe? Rate it and let me know in the comments below! ♥
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I was born in Chicago and I love these sandwiches. I made them for Christmas dinner 2yrs ago. lt was a total hit!
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