Crockpot Italian Beef Sandwiches

Crockpot Italian beef sandwiches show off what a slow cooker does best. Sear a sirloin tip roast, set it in the crock pot with beef stock, garlic, Italian seasoning and a handful of pepperoncini, and let it go on low for about 8 hours. Pull the beef into tender shreds, keep it warm in its own juices, and pile it on sturdy rolls with giardiniera or peppers. The juice is not optional: dip the sandwich, or spoon it over.

Sirloin tip, despite its name, comes from the round, the back leg, near the knee. It is lean, with a fine grain and a clean beef flavor. That leanness suits Italian beef, a sandwich built around thin, juicy beef in a seasoned broth. The meat soaks up the juices rather than turning greasy, and there is little fat to skim.

At a glance: makes 8 sandwiches. Prep 20 minutes, slow cook about 8 hours, assemble 10 minutes.

Gray Shipley, who runs the farm, named this cut and this pot together when he talked about what he likes to cook:

“I like to go with something a little more economical. And so either something like a chuck roast or a sirloin tip, maybe in the crock pot or some short ribs this time of year.”

Gray Shipley

A sirloin tip in the crock pot is that kind of cooking: one whole roast, a few things from the pantry, and a long, quiet day that ends with enough beef for a table full of sandwiches.

Ingredients

• 1 sirloin tip roast, about 3 pounds, fully thawed
• 2 teaspoons kosher salt
• 1 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
• 2 tablespoons olive oil, divided
• 2 cups low-sodium beef stock
• 6 cloves garlic, thinly sliced
• 1 tablespoon dried Italian seasoning
• 1/2 teaspoon red pepper flakes
• 8 to 10 pepperoncini peppers, plus 1/4 cup of the brine from the jar
• 1 tablespoon Worcestershire sauce
• 8 sturdy Italian or French rolls, about 6 inches long
• 1 cup hot giardiniera, drained, or 2 green bell peppers, sliced
• 8 slices provolone (optional)

Instructions

1. Make sure the roast is fully thawed; FSIS advises against putting frozen meat in a slow cooker. Pat it dry and season it all over with the salt and pepper.
2. Heat 1 tablespoon of the oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat. Sear the roast until browned on all sides, 8 to 10 minutes, then move it to the slow cooker.
3. Pour 1/2 cup of the stock into the hot skillet and scrape up the browned bits. Pour it over the roast with the rest of the stock, the garlic, Italian seasoning, red pepper flakes, pepperoncini, brine and Worcestershire.
4. Cover and cook on low for about 8 hours, until the beef pulls apart easily with two forks.
5. If you are using bell peppers, cook them in the remaining oil in a skillet over medium heat until soft and lightly browned, 10 to 12 minutes.
6. Lift the beef onto a board and pull it into shreds with two forks, or slice it thinly across the grain if it holds together. Discard any gristle. Skim the fat from the juices, return the beef to the slow cooker and set it to warm.
7. Split the rolls, leaving one side attached, and toast the cut sides under the broiler for 1 to 2 minutes if you like.
8. Pile the beef onto the rolls with tongs, letting some juice soak into the bread. Top with giardiniera or peppers and provolone, and broil for a minute to melt the cheese if you like. Serve with small cups of the hot juices for dipping.

Add 1 sirloin tip roast to cart

Why sirloin tip works for Italian beef

Italian beef, the sandwich, is about thin, tender beef in a seasoned broth, piled on bread that can take a soaking. A lean roast suits it. Sirloin tip gives clean, beefy strands that drink up the juices. Chuck roast works too and shreds more easily, with a richer, fattier result. The guide to the best cuts for steak sandwiches below covers the options.

Lean as it is, sirloin tip needs the full time on low. Take it out too early and it is firm and chewy; give it the full 8 hours and it gives way.

Shredded or sliced?

Both are right. Shredded beef is easiest and holds the juices well. For thin slices like a sandwich shop's, cook the roast on low for 6 to 7 hours, until tender but still holding together, then refrigerate it in its juices overnight. Cold beef slices thinly and cleanly. The next day, slice it across the grain as thin as you can and warm the slices in the simmering juices on the stove until they reach 165 degrees F.

Dry, juicy or dipped, hot or sweet

Italian beef comes with its own vocabulary. Dry means the beef is lifted out of the juices and drained. Juicy, or wet, means extra juice is spooned over. Dipped means the whole sandwich is dunked in the juices before serving, which needs a roll sturdy enough to take it. Hot means giardiniera, a spicy relish of pickled vegetables in oil. Sweet means cooked green peppers. Plenty of people order theirs hot and sweet, with both.

Making it ahead

Italian beef reheats very well, which makes it a good choice for a crowd. Cool the beef and juices quickly and refrigerate them within two hours. To serve, reheat them on the stove until the juices simmer and the beef reaches 165 degrees F, then move everything to the slow cooker on warm to hold it. Do not reheat cold leftovers in the slow cooker itself; FSIS advises against it. Leftover beef also makes a good steak sandwich of a different kind, as the guide below shows.

Food safety

FSIS advises thawing meat completely before it goes into a slow cooker, refrigerating leftovers within two hours, and reheating them to 165 degrees F on the stove, in the microwave or in the oven rather than in the slow cooker. The safe minimum for a beef roast is 145 degrees F with a rest of at least 3 minutes; a roast cooked until it shreds passes that long before it is done. See the FSIS guidance on slow cookers and food safety and the FSIS Safe Minimum Internal Temperature Chart.