French Dip Sandwiches

By: Rachel TiemeyerPosted: 5/18/23Updated: 2/18/23

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There’s no getting around the truth–this easy Crockpot French Dip Sandwich recipe is absolutely mouthwatering! Perfect for busy nights or to serve to groups. As always, we’ll show you how to prep this meal ahead for the freezer, too.

French dip sandwiches lined up on a sheet pan with au jus in a bowl.

Table of Contents

Why You’ll Love this Recipe

It’s SO easy to throw together and everyone loves it. (The same can be said about our Balsamic Shredded Beef recipe, too.)
It can be made in the Instant Pot. Use our Instant Pot French Dip Sandwich recipe.
It’s freezer-friendly. French Dips are a great recipe to double and freeze before cooking. You can also fully cook it and freeze it in small portions.
It feeds a lot of people. When served on buns, this recipe can easily feed 10+ people. Here are 25+ Slow Cooker Recipes for a Crowd if you want more ideas
It’s a Dump & Go Recipe. We know people love those!

What is French Dip?

French Dip is a hot roast beef sandwich recipe in which the juices left behind from cooking the roast serve as a dipping sauce.

This sandwich is typically served on a French roll or baguette and can include some melty cheese, like Swiss or Provolone, or cooked onions. Our version is super simple yet yields amazing results every time!

French Dip sandwich dipped in au jus sauce.

You might also like our Ground Beef Philly Cheesesteaks!

Ingredients

Gather up the following ingredients for this simple dump-and-go meal…

Ingredient Notes:

Soy sauce – For gluten-free use coconut aminos or GF Tamari soy sauce.
Boneless beef chuck roast – We get our beef from ButcherBox. The beef is grass-fed and curated from trusted farms.
French steak rolls or ciabatta rolls – For gluten-free, either omit or use GF rolls.
Provolone cheese slices – For dairy-free, either omit or use DF cheese slices.

How to Make French Dip Sandwiches

Let’s walk through how to make this French Dip Sandwich recipe together…

Season and Trim the Roast

Before getting started, go ahead and season both sides of the roast with salt and pepper and trim off any excess fat.

Seasoned beef chuck roast on was paper on a wooden cutting board with a tea towel and knife sitting next to it.

Cook Roast & Sauce in Crockpot

In the crockpot, whisk together the broth, soy sauce, minced onion, garlic powder, salt, black pepper, oregano, thyme, bay leaf, and red pepper flakes. Then, add in the roast. Cover and cook on LOW for 8-10 hours or HIGH for 4-5 hours, until the meat shreds easily.

Chuck roast surrounded by the ingredients to make crockpot french dip.

Shred the Meat

Transfer the roast to a cutting board and shred with two forks. Return the meat to the cooker and stir it into the au jus (leftover juice).

Shredded french dip roast on a cutting board with rolls and provolone slices on a tea towel.

Toast the Rolls

Optional: Position the top oven rack about 6 inches below the broiler. Preheat the broiler. Line a rimmed baking sheet with foil. Place opened steak rolls or ciabatta rolls on the baking sheet and broil 1-2 minutes until toasted inside. Remove from oven.

Open ciabatta rolls on a baking sheet under the broiler.

Build & Toast the Sandwiches

Using a slotted spoon, add a layer of the shredded meat (be sure to drain the liquid first) to the roll. Top with 1 or 2 slices of cheese. Optional: Place the opened-up sandwiches back under the broiler for 1-2 minutes until cheese is melted.

French Dip sandwiches being built on a sheet pan with toasted ciabatta rolls, shredded meat, and provolone cheese on top.

Serve with Au Jus

Serve each sandwich warm, with a small bowl of the juices from the cooker alongside for dipping.

French dip sandwich with au jus bowl next to it.

What to Serve with These Sandwiches

Here are some ideas that would be tasty with this recipe!

Four ears of corn on the cob on a plate with a pat of butter on top.

Microwave Corn on the Cob

Oven Roasted Asparagus

Oven Baked Steak Fries

Roasted broccoli on a baking sheet covered with parchment paper.

Oven Roasted Broccoli

How to Freeze French Dip

Like all of the freezer meals in our recipe index, this recipe provides freezing instructions as well! If you want to double this recipe and freeze one for later, here’s how to make it into a handy freezer meal kit:

Freeze For Later:

Follow step 1 in the recipe below. Pour the sauce into a gallon-size freezer bag or container. Season the roast lightly with salt and black pepper and add to the bag/container with the sauce. Seal and freeze. Place the bread and cheese in separate freezer bags or containers. Seal and freeze alongside the roast.

Alternatively, you can fully cook and cool the meat and juices. Then, freeze in an air-tight container.

Prepare From Frozen:

Thaw. Place meal in the slow cooker. Follow steps 3 through 6 in the recipe.

French dip freezer meal kit with marinated roast in a freezer bag, ciabatta rolls in a bag and a package of sliced provolone all sitting on a baking sheet.

FAQs

Can I make French Dip in the Instant Pot?

For sure! Try our Instant Pot French Dip recipe. It’s simple and tasty!

How long does the beef chuck roast cook in the slow cooker?

The roast for French Dip cooks on LOW in the crock pot for 8 to 10 hours or on HIGH for 5 to 6 hours. Be sure to grab our Crockpot Cooking Times Chart here…

Is this a dump-and-go meal?

For the most part! You’ll simply dump the meat and sauce ingredients in the slow cooker in the morning and come back to it at night ready and waiting for you. But, you will still need to shred the meat and assemble the sandwiches at the end. This just takes a few minutes.

What should I do with the leftover meat?

If you have meat that you didn’t use in the sandwiches, score! Here are some ideas on how to use it:
– Freeze it in the sauce and make the same recipe a few weeks down the road.
– Serve the meat and sauce over Instant Pot Mashed Potatoes, mashed cauliflower, or polenta.
– Make Baked Nachos. Add meat, cheese, and desired toppings over tortilla chips and bake.
– Put the meat in wraps. Add sautéed bell peppers and onions. Yum!

French dip sandwiches on a baking sheet surrounding a bowl of au jus.

Tip: Make This Recipe for a Group

French Dip Sandwiches would also be an good meal to serve a group of people. You can easily double this recipe in a large crockpot.

We have lots of other recipes that would work for large groups, too. Make sure to check them out!

Easy Meals for Large Groups

Rachel Tiemeyer

As co-founder of Thriving Home, Rachel dreams about creating recipes (literally) and uses her husband, her 3 kids, and even the neighbors as guinea pigs several nights a week. She believes that good food has the power to bring families and friends closer together and continues to wake up excited about her job each day, even after 10+ years!

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