Crock Pot Italian Beef Sandwiches are a 5-ingredient crock pot recipe version of the popular hot sandwich recipe. This easy dinner recipe is a crowd-pleaser!
“All I can say is WOW!!!! … My husband, who doesn’t get all that worked up about food and doesn’t care for roast, LOVED this recipe!! After we finished our dinner, he asked me if I could make it again soon for his men’s group!”
Recently I asked my Facebook and Instagram friends if they’d like to see a crock pot recipe on the site sooner vs later. There were so many exclamation marks in the comments, which I took to mean, ‘heck yes!’ that I immediately started brainstorming.
Everyone knows crock pot recipes are a busy person’s best friend but many of them can be heavy and unappealing at times. While brainstorming a new and interesting crock pot combo I decided the recipe would have to meet the following criteria:
- Beef-based, as I have many chicken-based crock pot recipes already.
- Easy. Nobody likes crock pot recipes with several cooking steps before you even plug the dang thing in.
- Very delicious, unique, and not gloopy whatsoever.
With the aforementioned criteria in mind, I settled on Crock Pot Italian Beef Sandwiches. A mouthwatering, 5-ingredient flavor combo that has just the right amount of zip and zing!
Watch How to Make It
Slow Cooked Italian Beef
Chuck roast is slow cooked for 10 hours in a mixture of pepperoncini peppers, Giardiniera, Italian dressing mix, and beef broth then shredded and served on a chewy hoagie bun with melted provolone cheese.
Crazy (CRAZY) good, and did I mention that it’s made with just 5 ingredients?!
My husband was skeptical about eating the crock pot version of one of his favorite sandwiches, which is typically made with thinly sliced beef.
“Oh…I’ve never heard of a shredded Italian beef sandwich before…” he said in a tone that I knew meant, I am definitely going to hate this.
But guess what? He didn’t! While I stood eating the shredded beef straight out of the crock pot like the refined woman that I am, he inhaled an entire sandwich in under 2 minutes. That is to say, this dish is a total hit!
How to Make Crock Pot Italian Beef Sandwiches:
Start by trimming any large pieces of fat off a chuck roast then cut the roast into seven or eight big hunks and place them in the bottom of a 6 quart crock pot.
Next sprinkle in a packet of gluten free Italian Dressing Mix like Good Graces brand, or Simply Organic. If you don’t need to eat gluten free, you can use Good Seasons Zesty Italian Salad Dressing Mix.
Add sliced pepperoncini peppers plus a splash of pepperoncini juice, and Chicago-Style Giardiniera which you can find in the olive/pickle aisle at the grocery store. I love Mezzetta brand for both, which is gluten free.
If you’ve never had Chicago-style Giardiniera, a type of relish made with pickled olives and vegetables that’s packed in herbs and oils, you are in for a treat! It’s typically served over Italian beef sandwiches, but I love infusing the beef with the mixture from the get-go.
Because this style of giardiniera is packed in oil, drain the mixture using a fork or fine mesh sieve before adding to the crock pot. You can get Giardiniera that’s packed in vinegar, but I find this style to be a real treat.
Finally, add beef broth then place a lid on top of the crock pot and let it cook on low for 9 hours, or until the beef can be easily shredded with a fork.
Once the roast is extremely tender, shred with two forks then slip the meat back into the slow cooker to cook in the juices for 1 more hour on low.
Lastly, scoop the meat onto hoagie buns then slap a slice of provolone on top to melt from the heat of the beef. Serve with extra pepperoncini peppers and Giardiniera, and you’re set!
This is one of my all-time favorite crock pot recipes. Could not be easier to make and the flavors from the pickled vegetables, pepper rings, and Italian dressing mix really made the beef sing. SO GOOD. Enjoy!
More Crock Pot Recipes You’ll Love
- Slow Cooker Pulled Pork
- Crock Pot Salsa Chicken
- Crock Pot Chicken and Wild Rice Soup
- Crock Pot Mojo Pork with Cuban-Style Black Beans
- Crock Pot White Chicken Chili
- Crock Pot Chicken Tortilla Soup
Equipment
Ingredients
- 3 lb chuck roast, trimmed of large pieces of fat then cut into large pieces
- 1 envelope Italian salad dressing mix, see notes
- 8 oz pepperoncini pepper slices + splash of juice, plus extra peppers for serving
- 8 oz Chicago-Style Giardiniera, drained, plus extra for serving
- 14.5 oz can beef broth
- provolone cheese slices
- buns
Directions
- Place chuck roast into the bottom of a 6 quart crock pot then sprinkle with salad dressing mix. Add pepperoncini peppers plus a splash of juice, drained Giardiniera, and beef broth then lift up chuck roast pieces to get broth underneath. Place a lid on top then cook on low for 9 hours, or until meat shreds easily with a fork. Shred then place meat back into juices inside crock pot and cook on low for 1 more hour.
- Split buns in half then scoop the shredded meat mixture on top and add provolone cheese slices (if using gluten free buns, toast/broil first). Top with additional pepperoncini peppers and Giardiniera, if desired, then serve.
Notes
- I like Simply Organic or Good Grace’s gluten free Italian Dressing Mix. Good Season’s Zesty Italian Salad Dressing Mix is a good option if you do not need to eat gluten free.
- Adapted from Pioneer Woman
Nutrition
Nutritional values are estimates only. Please read our full nutrition information disclaimer.
This sounds wonderful. I just made this using a recipe I got from my girlfriend last week. Her’s omits the Italian dressing mix and instead uses garlic, a couple Tbsp. of onion powder, Italian seasoning, a Tbsp of fennel seeds, and a Tbsp of anise extract… which I think is WAY too much. In addition to the beef broth, it calls for adding an entire jar of banana peppers… I prefer them whole… complete with all the juice from the jar for the last hour or so.
The fennel seeds add a nice flavor to the beef, though I found the anise extract kind of over does things and results in too much of a licorice flavor.
My girlfriend’s recipe calls for using the Italian seasonings available in the spice section as someone mentioned above, rather than the Italian dressing mix. But the mix sounds very good and I’ll use it next time.
Since first trying giardiniera a year or so ago, I have become an absolute giardiniera FREAK. ha. I LOVE the stuff, and tell everyone I can about it. I try it on many different things and it adds such a wonderful blast of flavor that’s strong but subtle at the same time. Love the whole vinegary, salty, crunchy veggies thing. Can’t be beat. Like you, I could eat it on it’s own.
I’ve tried several brands and each is different. Some use olive oil, others use vegetable oil. I ended up preferring good old Vienna Beef brand, which is THE Chicago style giardiniera. I also prefer mild, as the stuff packs a great flavor blast without any heat needed.
One great option is that, at least at my store, it comes in both regular, with medium sized chunks of veggies, and a relish version with the same stuff, only chopped smaller. I’ve started using the relish version as topping on Italian beef sandwiches because you can get more mixed in there and it also tends to stay in place on the sandwich a little better.
I also like to use “Better Than Bouillon” brand bouillon paste. It’s very salty, but great flavor and you can make it as strong as you wish.
I plan to try this recipe and add some garlic and onion powder and some fennel seeds and see how it comes out.
I ‘ve made this twice now. Love love LOVE it! We love spicy . . . I also whipped together done jalapeno mayo to spread on the rolls first. Hubby couldn’t get enough!
So utterly fantastic, and yet so easy.
Originally I thought it would be a pain to shred the beef, but after 9 hours on low, it picked apart so easily.
I used hot Giardiniera for a little extra spiciness. It is delicious and not too overpowering at all. (Just right.)
Thanks for an awesome recipe.
TURNED OUT PERFECT! You were right. It just needed a couple more hours and it fell apart and shredded easily. Thank you.
Hooray! I’m so glad! :) Hope you enjoy the meal and the game!
I’m panicking can you tell? I have people coming over today and I don’t have a back up meal.
Thanks for getting back to me so quick. So you just think it needs to cook longer? The meat just is not cooked enough? It seems cooked though. Is that how it is (still in chunks) before it falls apart and shreds?
The meat will stay in hunks until you shred it. You can always take one out and try to shred it!
I have a question that I hope you can answer quickly! I have been cooking for mine for 9 hours so far on low and I still have the original large chunks of the beef. It is a chuck roast and I did trim the large sections of fat off the roast. I had about 10-12 chunks. It does not seem to want to shred at all and the meat seems like it’s cooked through. I followed your recipe but doubled the recipe. Do you think it needs to cook longer or is it already overcooked and that’s why it won’t shred? NEED HELP QUICK….It’s in the crock pot now!
If you doubled the recipe it will definitely need a few more hours – maybe 3 more? Maybe (hopefully!) 2?
I could not for the life of me find the Chicago-style sandwich mix in the grocery store so I am using the regular giardiniera… I hope it turns out just as good! Will report back!
I, like many others, had problems finding the Mezzetta Chicago-style Italian sandwich mix. First, let me say I live in St Louis. So, I knew from the giddy up it would be difficult finding anything label “Chicago style” on it. LOL
After five grocery stores, I hit pay dirt! In the pickle/olive/relish section I found a spicy pizza topping named Alpino. It has all the name ingredients and even made in Chi-town! I also found from the same company, same exact ingredients but, a smaller jar labeled muffuletta.
Can I cook this recipe on high? If so, how long? This recipe looks delicious but I don’t feel like waking at up 6AM to make this dish in time for the superbowl to start:-)
Hey Rose! This cut of beef really does best cooked low and slow. It wouldn’t come out as tender if it were cooked on high, unfortunately!
Fixed these tonight and we LOVED them! I fix a lot of recipes from Iowa Girl Eats, and this one may be our favorite. Thanks so much for sharing it!
This is amazing! So easy, so good. It’s a family favorite now. Great for when you are not exactly sure of the precise time you will be eating. You can’t overcook it, it just gets better the longer it steeps in those juices.
Hey fellow Southerners – I just wanted to let everyone know you can find these ingredients (even same brands!) at Publix. I went to Whole Foods and Trader Joes first thinking I would have the best luck there and struck out so I decided to try Publix just to see and it was all there!