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 Italian Beef sandwiches feature tender, sliced beef that’s piled on a toasted hoagie roll with melted cheese, then topped with homemade spicy giardiniera. What could be better?
Slow Cooker Spicy Italian Chicken Sandwiches are a delicious slow cooker sandwich that feature chicken!
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, then 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 sweet peppers or hot (spicy) giardiniera, and that, my friends, is an Italian Beef.
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 – a lean roast that won’t fall apart when sliced (like sirloin tip)
- Beef stock/broth
- Worcestershire sauce
- Bay leaves
- Seasonings – garlic powder, dried oregano, dried rosemary, salt & pepper
- Hoagie rolls
- Sliced cheese (optional)
- Chicago-Style Hot Giardiniera
📍The full recipe with exact ingredient amounts and instructions is on the recipe card at the bottom of the post.
This recipe is not only super easy, it’s amazingly delicious.
I mean, who doesn’t love a crusty roll with juicy beef topped with some melted provolone cheese, and some salty, spicy, crunchy goodness from the homemade hot giardiniera?
If you’re wondering what Chicago-Style Hot Giardiniera is, it is a flavor bomb that’s 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
- Slow Cooker Chicken Sandwich with Alabama White Sauce
- The Ultimate Corned Beef Bagel Sandwich
- Avocado & Veggie Breakfast Sandwiches
- Cajun Egg Salad
*You will need to make the Hot Giardiniera at least 3 days BEFORE you make the sandwiches.*
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 a 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 pounds beef roast A lean cut like a sirloin tip roast or something that won't fall apart like a chuck.
- 2 teaspoons garlic powder
- 1 tablespoon dried oregano
- 1/4 teaspoon black pepper
- 1 1/2 teaspoons sea salt
- pinch dried rosemary
- 4 cups beef stock
- 3 dashes Worcestershire sauce
- 2 bay leaves
- 6 hoagie rolls
- 6 slices provolone cheese
- Chicago-Style Hot Giardiniera
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 (this wakes up the flavor of the dried herb). 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 against the grain 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 onto your sandwich and enjoy!
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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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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