Slow Cooker French Dip Sandwiches are the ultimate sandwich made with your favorite beer with thick slices that are super tender with an amazing crust.
The recipe for Slow Cooker Philly Cheese Steak Sandwiches which posted earlier is actually based on our recipe for this post as well as the grilled cheese sandwiches. The beer in this Slow Cooker French Dip Sandwiches recipe is the secret weapon to this sandwich. 
Tips for making this the best Slow Cooker French Dip Sandwiches ever:
- In a large dutch oven, brown the heck out of the beef on both sides and season aggressively.
- Use a darker beer for more flavor if you’ve got it. If you want to avoid beer altogether use additional beef broth.
- Butter the rolls before toasting, they taste amazing buttery and toasted.
- Dip the meat slices in the slow cooker liquid before adding to the sandwich if you don’t want to dip the sandwiches.
- Let the meat cool for ten minutes before slicing, this helps it stay together more.
- There are some recipes that use beef consomme or onion soup mix. Those are totally fine to use, you can swap out the consomme for half the broth or add the onion soup instead of the fresh onion, but this way is going to make an amazing sandwich, I pinky promise.
- Make sure you’re using a chuck roast for this recipe, using cuts that are leaner will result in tougher meat.
If you’re keeping track here are the other slow cooker sandwiches we’ve got so far:
- Slow Cooker Chicken Caesar Sandwiches
- Slow Cooker Roast Beef Sandwiches with Horseradish
- Slow Cooker Pastrami Sandwiches
- Slow Cooker Philly Cheese Steak Sandwiches
- Slow Cooker Reuben Sandwiches
- Slow Cooker McRib Sandwiches
- Turkey Moist Maker Sandwich <— turkey made in the slow cooker
Tools Used in the making of these Slow Cooker French Dip Sandwiches:
Slow Cooker: Love this slow cooker and how programmable it is, it has been a workhorse for me… until…
My New Slow Cooker: This recipe was made in this slow cooker. For larger roasts I also brown the meat in the insert and not lose a bunch of the flavor by transferring the meat and leaving the browned bits behind. If you’re thinking of a new slow cooker, consider it if your budget is open.
Worcestershire Sauce: I have been using this brand most of my life and when my husband came home with the store brand one day and I figured “eh no biggie” I could immediately taste the difference. Stick with the original.
Strand Brewing Company Beer: Love their beer, if you are in California you can even buy it at Costco. No sponsorship here but just lots of delicious beer.
Recipe
Slow Cooker French Dip Sandwiches
- Yield: 12 Servings
- Prep Time: 15 minutes
- Cook Time: 6 hours
- Total Time: 6 hours 15 minutes
- Course: Sandwich
- Cuisine: American
- Author: Sabrina Snyder
Ingredients
- 4-5 pounds chuck roast
- 2 tablespoons canola oil
- 1 teaspoon Kosher salt
- 1/2 teaspoon coarse ground black pepper
- 1 cup beef broth
- 1 tablespoon Worcestershire Sauce
- 1 can beer I like a dark beer
- 1 yellow onion diced
- 6 hoagie rolls
- 2 tablespoons butter
- 12 slices Provolone Cheese
Instructions
Note: click on times in the instructions to start a kitchen timer while cooking.
- In a large dutch oven, or if you have an aluminum insert for your slow cooker add the canola oil and heat on high.
- Add the Kosher salt and pepper to your chuck roast.
Brown on both sides aggressively (3-5 minutes on each side).
- Don't move the beef before flipping (this lets the meat get a deep crust).
- In a slow cooker add the meat, any meat juices from the pan, beef broth, Worcestershire sauce, beer and onions.
Cook on low for 6 hours.
- Remove the meat and slice thickly.
- To assemble, butter your hoagie rolls and toast.
- Top with provolone cheese.
- In a small bowl add a cup of the liquid from the slow cooker and dip the sandwich in the bowl.
Nutrition Information
Yield: 12 Servings, Amount per serving: 414 calories, Calories: 414g, Carbohydrates: 1g, Protein: 36g, Fat: 29g, Saturated Fat: 13g, Cholesterol: 128mg, Sodium: 666mg, Potassium: 576mg, Vitamin A: 325g, Vitamin C: 0.8g, Calcium: 242g, Iron: 3.4g
All images and text © for Dinner, then Dessert.
Used 1 bottle of Shiner Bock we will see how the troops like it!
Making now and smells delicious! Used 1 bottle of Shiner Bock we will see how the troops like it!
My husband said these were better than the restaurant version. That means success! No beer. Just broth. But everything else I followed to a T in the half-version size (2 lbs. meat) since I am cooking only for 2.
Thanks for coming back to let me know, James! So glad you both enjoyed it.
Delicious! Made exactly as recipe indicated. I do slice the meat thinly as possible without it falling apart though and pile it in top of the provolone so it melts better
Awesome recipe. My hubbs couldn’t get enough, if i wasn’t so full off the first sandwich i would have had seconds. Did not use beer, just two cups of broth and i can’t wait to make it again.
Looks food but my recipe has a lot of spices to it. Sure is good but I will try your recipe.
Entire family loved it and even went for seconds. Used 2cup beef broth and no beer.
I always want to go for seconds with this dish! 🙂
I have to take dinner out of town next weekend. Could I make this the day ahead and keep cold in slow cooker or how would you recommend ?
I would recommend cooling in a separate container in the fridge and then reheat in slow cooker or on stove top. This will ensure that it is brought to the safe storage temperature, as the crockpot can keep residual heat for a long while.
Hi, I’m Eva, I dont mean to be a but-in-ski, but the laws must be vastly different from state to state. Oregon state requires an ice bath cool down and a Quick reheat and then into the crock pot. The Food Inspector marked me down for reheating our beef stew in the crock pot. He said that the reheating process is as important as the cooling process and a crock pot doesn’t heat up fast enough. I think that is a little anal but I got chewed out anyway. Lol.