Shredded Beef Sandwiches

These shredded Beef Sandwiches are loaded with tender, flavorful beef, giardiniera, and cheese. Have this Chicago-style hoagie at home tonight!

Ingredients

The beef for these sandwiches has to have the tender, lusciousness of Pot Roast. Like for my favorite Pot Roast Recipe and my Shredded Beef Taco recipe, we’re using a chuck roast for the beef in these sandwiches. If you have a different cut of meat and are wondering if it would work for this, check out my Slow Cooker Roast Beef recipe where I run through the different cuts that work and don’t work.

For the beef sandwiches, we’re seasoning the meat with salt, pepper, and store-bought or homemade Italian seasoning blend. 

The seasoned beef is the cook in the slow cooker with red onion, red bell pepper, fresh garlic, canned diced tomatoes, and some beef broth. All of this together creates great flavor for the meat that you’re going to love. Note that if you’d prefer to cook the beef in the oven or in the Instant Pot, I’ve got you covered. Simply follow the instructions in my Easy Shredded Beef Recipe over here (it gives instructions for the slow cooker, oven, and Instant Pot all in one place).

To complete the sandwiches, we also need a green bell pepper, hoagie rolls or other sandwich rolls, slices of provolone cheese, and a special ingredient called giardiniera.

What Is Giardiniera?

Giardiniera is a type of condiment made with pickled vegetables. The Italian version is usually packed in vinegar, but the Chicago-style giardiniera we want here is pickled, then packed in oil and contains veggies like cauliflower, carrots, celery, and peppers. You can find this in both hot and mild varieties. In addition to using it on Italian Beef Sandwiches, you can add it to burgers or anywhere else you might add pickles or relish for a boost of flavor.

The Gravy For Italian Beef

Chicago-style Italian beef sandwiches are often served with a dipping sauce. It’s a dark liquid similar to au jus. It is sometimes called gravy even though it isn’t particularly thick. I will say that I bought this Italian Beef Gravy Seasoning on Amazon and I was planning to use it in making this recipe. However, the liquid that was in my slow cooker after I removed the beef and veggies was delicious enough on its own and dind’t need anything else added. So, I recommend just using that liquid as your au jus sandwich dip.

How To Make The Shredded Beef

First, get that chuck roast seasoned, in this case with the salt, pepper, and Italian seasonings. To the bottom of the slow cooker, add in all your prepped vegetables except for the green pepper. So, that’s the red onion, red bell pepper, garlic, and the canned diced tomatoes. You’ll nestle the roast into the mixture and then pour the beef broth over top.

Slow cook until the beef is tender enough to shred, about 6 hours on low heat or 4 hours on high heat.

Next, I should say that I prefer my green bell pepper to be fresh, crisp, and uncooked on this sandwich, as you can see in the pictures. However, if you’d like yours to be cooked and a bit soft, you’ll cook them for a bit in the slow cooker at this point. Spread the sliced green bell pepper over the roast in the slow cooker and continue to cook for another 30 minutes on high. Use tongs to grab the peppers and set them on a plate to use on the sandwiches.

Remove the beef from the slow cooker and use two forks to shred it up. Use a strainer and bowl to separate the veggies and liquid that remain in the slow cooker. Stir the vegetables into the shredded beef. Then, you can scoop any excess fat of of the cooking liquid, if desired. Taste the liquid and then add salt to taste. This makes such a great dip for the sandwiches!

Assemble Your Chicago-Style Beef Sandwiches

A 2.5 lb. chuck roast makes enough for 4 foot long sandwiches if you want very hearty servings, but I like to use 6 hoagie rolls instead. 

To simplify things, you can put the cheese and beef on cold buns. But another great option is once the beef is ready, put the split hoagie rolls on a broiling pan and put the cheese onto them. Then broil until the cheese is melted and buns are warmed.

Either way, you want to divide your meat among your sandwich buns, then add a couple tablespoons of the giardiniera to each sandwich, and some of the green pepper slices too. Don’t forget to serve the sandwiches with that dip!

More Amazing Sandwich Recipes

I love sandwiches for dinner. I’m linking to some of my favorite dinner sandwiches for you below. But, I also know that the shredded beef sandwiches are all about the beef, right? So, if you want to browse some more delicious beef recipes, head over here. You’re going to find so many amazing recipes to try!

• Tri-Tip Sandwich Recipe
• Philly Cheesesteaks
• Pulled Chicken Sandwich Recipe
• Air Fryer Panini
• Homemade Turkey Burgers
• Hot Honey Chicken Sandwich
• Thai-Flavored Pulled Chicken Sandwich
• My Best Burger Recipe
• Steak Burgers