French dip sandwiches are a show-stopping sandwich and will forever elevate your sandwich game. Packed with flavorful tender beef, roasted red peppers, and crispy onion rings and then slathered in homemade horseradish mayonnaise, and dipped in a juicy au jus sauce, these sandwiches are heavenly.
French dips are the epitome of comfort food and the best sandwich for a crispy fall or snowy winter day.
Jump to:
Are you looking for more delicious sandwich recipes? We have so many of the best sandwiches! These yummy chicken and brie apricot sandwiches are insanely delicious and pair really well with a serving of crispy sweet potato fries. Or these unique clubhouse sandwiches are unbelievably easy and so tasty!
Want to try something a little different? Check out these authentic bierocks or blackened chicken burgers for some other tasty sandwiches!
Why You'll Love This Recipe
- Incredibly juicy and flavorful. The beef is cooked to tender perfection in a yummy stock, after the beef has been removed from the stock the stock is then used to make the most exquisite au jus dip.
- Minimal effort is required to make this sandwich. While the beef takes a couple of hours to cook, this recipe is mostly hands-off.
- It's hearty and comforting. French dip sandwiches are a great choice for a filling meal.
Summarize and Save This Recipe Using:
French Dip Ingredients
- Beef - you can use almost any kind of beef roast for this recipe. I prefer to use chuck roast, but other options that will work include beef blade, eye of round, and even stew meat works!
- Ciabatta Rolls - any crusty roll will work for this recipe; if you can't find ciabatta, then use something like a baguette, hoagie rolls, or kaiser buns will work too.
- Chicken Broth - can be substituted for a delicious homemade bone broth, vegetable or beef stock.
A full ingredient list with the exact quantities can be found in the recipe card below.
What is Au Jus?
If you were to ask me, au jus is a fancy name for gravy. The difference between au jus and gravy is that au jus is made using the drippings from the beef while it is cooking, whereas gravy is the same but it gets thickened using a roux.
Au jus is incredibly flavorful and absolutely essential for dipping the best french dip sandwiches in!
How to Roast Red Peppers at Home
Roasting red peppers at home is very easy.
- To begin wash, stem and seed your red pepper, cutting it in half. Place the peppers face down (skin side up) on a foil lined baking sheet.
- Set the oven broiler to low and roast peppers for 10-13 minutes, until the skin is blackened and charred. Remove the peppers from the oven and immediately place the peppers into a bowl and cover with a tight-fitting lid or plastic wrap. These bowl covers work exceptionally well for this!
- Let the peppers sit for a minimum of 15 minutes in the covered bowl.
- When the peppers have rested, remove the cover and peel off the outer blackened skins. Discard the skins, chop up the peppers and store in an air tight container in the refrigerator until you are ready to use them on the sandwiches.
French Dip Variations and Creative Toppings
- Cheese - you can add cheese to these sandwiches if you like! Add a couple slices of provolone on top of all the other toppings and place under the broiler for a couple of minutes until it is all golden brown and bubbly.
- Garlic Aioli - if horseradish mayo isn't your jam try out this roasted garlic aioli instead!
- Kid-friendly - instead of onion rings, let your kiddo choose their favourite kind of potato chip as a special topping.
Save This Recipe! 💌
We'll email this post to you, so you can come back to it later!
How to Make A French Dip
Making beef dip sandwiches from scratch can seem like a daunting task. But I promise that it is super easy and so worth the effort.
Preparing the Beef and Au Jus Broth
Sear. Cut the roast into chunks and sear with a bit of oil in a large, heavy bottom stock pot until the pieces are browned on all sides.
Simmer. In the same pot add the chicken stock, vinegar, oregano, thyme, black peppercorns, bay leaves, garlic, carrots and celery. Bring to a simmer, cover and cook for 2 - 2 ½ hours until the beef is tender and shreds easily.
Reserve stock. After cooking, remove the beef chunks to a separate bowl. Strain the veggies out of the stock, reserving the broth.
How to Make Au Jus for French Dip
Au Jus. Making this au jus is kind of homemade, kind of the easy method.
We are going to use the reserved broth from cooking the beef as our base, plus add an au jus seasoning packet.
Measure out 2 cups of the reserved broth into a saucepan, add one packet of au jus seasoning and ½ cup of water. Bring to a boil for 2 minutes, then remove from the heat and set aside.
Horseradish Mayo for Beef Dips
Combine the mayonnaise, horseradish, lemon juice and spices in a small bowl. Mix together and set aside.
Hot Tip - The horseradish mayo dip makes a yummy dip for crispy wedge fries or baked sweet potato fries.
Preparing the Beef
Shred. After the beef has slightly cooled, using two forks, shred the beef.
Reduce. In a large frying pan, add one cup of the prepared au jus. Over medium heat reduce by half until thickened. Add the shredded beef back into the pan and cook until the beef is heated thoroughly.
Assembly Line
Toast. Toast the ciabatta rolls under the broiler in the oven until golden brown.
Rings. Cook the onion rings until crispy and delicious. I used pre-packaged onion rings for this recipe but you can make your own, if you're feeling extra ambitious.
Roasted Red Pepper. Store-bought will also work here, but I will explain in this post how to make your own roasted red peppers at home.
Assemble the Sandwiches, First Mayo
Spread a generous layer of horseradish mayo onto both sides of the ciabatta roll.
The Rest
Pile the warmed beef on top of the buns. Then, add the crispy onion rings and roasted red peppers. Place the top bun on top, serve with a side of warm au jus and enjoy!
Serving French Dip Sandwiches
French dip sandwiches are best served immediately after being made because they will go soggy relatively quickly.
Serve your yummy french dips with homemade sweet potato fries or crunchy panko coated wedge fries for a pub-style favorite meal made completely from scratch!
Expert Tip
Hint: the reason that any kind of beef works for this recipe (even stewing beef!) is that the white vinegar helps to break down and tenderize the beef and the long cooking time assures the beef is fork tender.
Frequently Asked Questions
Nothing! They are the same sandwich. Beef dips are just another way of referencing a french dip sandwich and vice versa.
French dips or beef dips are a hot sandwich with finely shredded or thinly sliced beef on a crusty roll, served with a side of au jus sauce for dipping.
No need to get fancy here, because let's face it, beef is expensive.
Almost any cut of beef will work for this recipe. Personally, I like to use chuck roast, but you can use an eye of round, beef blade, or even stew meat!
Yes! Except you will have to freeze them broken down, not fully assembled.
To freeze the beef, place shredded, fully cooked beef in an air-tight container and freeze.
For the au jus, freeze in a separate air-tight container (not a jar, as it could explode in the freezer).
The buns can be individually wrapped in plastic wrap and placed into a zip-top bag and frozen.
As for the other ingredients, make/use them fresh when you are ready to assemble the sandwich.
To assemble the sandwich, defrost all of the frozen ingredients to room temperature and resume at step 5.
What to Serve with French Dip Sandwiches
If you made these french dip sandwiches or any other recipe on my website, please leave a 🌟 star rating, a 💬 comment and share it on Pinterest, Instagram and Facebook!
📖 Recipe
French Dip Sandwiches
↑ click the stars to rate this recipe ↑
Print Recipe Pin RecipeIngredients
- 2 ¼ - 2½ pound Chuck Roast or Beef Blade Roast at room temperature
- 2 teaspoon Avocado Oil or Vegetable Oil
- Salt & Pepper
- 4 cups Chicken Broth
- ¼ cup White Vinegar
- 1 stalk Celery cubed
- 1 head Garlic halved
- 1 large Carrot cubed
- 1 teaspoon Oregano
- 1 teaspoon Thyme
- 1 teaspoon Peppercorns
- 2-3 Bay Leaves
- 4 Ciabatta Buns 6" each
- 16-20 Onion Rings
- ½ cup Roasted Red Peppers
Au Jus
- 2 cups Reserved Beef Stock
- 1 package Au Jus Seasoning
- ½ cup Water
Horseradish Mayo
- ½ cup Light Mayonnaise
- ¼ cup Horseradish
- 1 Tablespoon Lemon Juice
- 2 teaspoon Parsley
- ½ teaspoon Garlic Powder
Instructions
- Into a large stockpot or dutch oven, add the oil and preheat until the oil shimmers. Cut the roast into 4-5 large chunks and generously season with salt and pepper. Over medium-high heat, sear the beef for 2-3 minutes per side.
- Lower the heat to medium-low and into the pot add the chicken stock, white vinegar, celery, carrot, garlic, oregano, thyme, peppercorns, and bay leaves. Bring to a simmer.
- Simmer on low for 2 - 2.5 hours until the beef chunks are fork-tender and shred easily. Remove the pot from the heat and separate all of the beef into a large bowl. Strain and reserve the beef stock. Discard the vegetables.
- Shred the beef using two forks, removing any excess fat and set aside.
Au Jus
- Into a small saucepan add 2 cups of the reserved beef stock, au jus seasoning package and water, whisk until combined. Bring to a boil and let boil for 5 minutes, uncovered. Remove from heat and set aside.
Horseradish Mayo
- In a small bowl combine the mayonnaise, horseradish, lemon juice, parlsey and garlic powder. Stir well to combine, cover and refrigerate until ready to serve.
Assembling the French Dips
- Prepare onion rings and roasted red peppers*.
- Preheat the broiler on high and toast the ciabatta buns on the top rack until golden brown, 1-2 minutes.
- In a frying pan, add 1 cup of prepared au jus. Over medium-high heat, reduce by half, 4 - 5 minutes until slightly thickened. Add the shredded beef and cook for 2 - 3 minutes until heated thoroughly.
- Onto the toasted buns, add the desired amount of prepared horseradish mayo. On the bottom side of the bun, add ¼ of the beef, 4-5 onion rings, and roasted red pepper. Place the top bun on top and serve with ⅓ cup au jus for dipping. Serve immedatley.
Save This Recipe! 💌
We'll email this post to you, so you can come back to it later!
Notes
- Almost any kind of roast can be used for this recipe, even stewing beef because the slow cooking process and vinegar breaks down and tenderizes the beef.
- Instead of horseradish mayo, use regular mayo or garlic aioli.
- Sandwiches are best eaten immediately after preparation. To store, keep bun, beef, and toppings separate until ready to assemble. Reheat the beef and au jus before serving.
- Recommended side dishes include baked breaded wedge fries, kale caesar salad, authentic poutine, or easy sweet potato fries.
-
- Wash, stem and seed your red pepper, cutting it in half. Place the peppers face down on a foil lined baking sheet. Low broil the peppers for 10-13 minutes, until the skin is blackened. Remove and immediately place the peppers into a bowl and cover with a tight-fitting lid or plastic wrap. Let the peppers sit for a minimum of 15 minutes.
-
- Remove the cover and peel off the outer blackened skins. Chop up the peppers and use as desired.
Nutrition
The nutritional information provided is an estimate based on an online nutrition calculator and it will vary based on the ingredients that you use.
Allison says
The family just had this for dinner. OMG that horseradish mayo is soooooo good. I used a 1/2 pork loin roast and a small beef steak (it’s what I had on hand). Cooked in the slow cooker with the stock and veggies.
This is so good it is definitely a pin worthy recipe.
Thanks for all you do.
Jessica says
Sounds delicious! Thank you for leaving a great review!