Make the best slow cooker French dip sandwiches with tender beef, melted cheese, and rich au jus. A simple and delicious recipe for a perfect meal!
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This is one of my favorite easy dinners. If I can't start it early in the day, I use my Instant Pot French Dip recipe, which yields the same tender and juicy results.
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What you need to make Crockpot French Dip Sandwiches
For the French Dip:
Extra thin-shaved beef chuck roast or steak. The thinner the slices, the better. You can slice a roast yourself, but I can find extra thin-shaved roast at both Walmart and Lidl which saves me the work.
Condensed French onion soup. I have used both Campbell's and store brands with good results.
Beef consommé. This is an ultra-rich beef broth that has been clarified using a multi-step process that takes hours. Beef broth and beef stock are not good substitutes.
Butter.
Salt & freshly ground black pepper.
For the sandwiches:
Hoagie rolls. Although we always make these as sandwiches, you can use slider rolls for a smaller version.
Sliced provolone cheese.
Horseradish sauce. A careful mix of mayonnaise and creamy horseradish can be used in place of horseradish sauce, but be careful with the ratio. It's a fine line between not enough and too much horseradish, and I find it's easier to just keep commercially prepared horseradish sauce on hand.
See recipe card for quantities.
How to make Crockpot French Dip Sandwiches
This super simple slow cooker recipe requires very little prep. Just trim the fat from the meat and cut it into pieces about 4" square, then place all of the ingredients in the slow cooker. Near the end of cook time, prepare the hoagie rolls by slicing them lengthwise and toasting then spreading one side with horseradish sauce and placing provolone cheese on the other side.
Remove the cooked beef from the cooking liquid, draining the excess back into the slow cooker, and place on the hoagie rolls. Strain the cooking liquid into small serving bowls to serve as au jus with the sandwiches. Serve with a salad, fries, or chips.
Tips for the Best French Dip Sandwiches
Tender meat: The key to the super tender result in this French Dip is using extra-thin shaved chuck steak. Here is what it looks like in the package (this package is from Walmart, which regularly carries it, but I often find it at Lidl too).
Add some heat: French Dip sandwiches are delicious with peperoncini peppers for added kick!
Storage
If you have leftovers, store the beef and au jus together in an airtight container in the refrigerator, reheating and assembling as sandwiches just before eating. The beef and au jus will last for 3-4 days.
Crockpot tip
You'll need to adjust the cooking time of this recipe based on your individual appliance. Slow cookers give different results based on brand, size, and how full they are, so keep that in mind when planning your cook time. A 6-quart crockpot will cook the same recipe much faster than a 4-quart or 3-quart crockpot.
On top of that, not all crockpots cook at the temperature they are supposed to (you can use this method to test your crockpot temperature). The bottom line is that unlike oven cooking, there is no way to exactly predict the time needed to perfectly cook in a crockpot because they vary so much.
I use a 6-quart crockpot—the size is perfect for the recipes I make, and it gives me the options I need without needing to learn complicated programming modes. I like the ability to choose how long to cook at high or low. It automatically switches to the "keep warm" function after the cooking time ends.
Recipe
Crockpot French Dip Sandwiches
Equipment
Ingredients
For French Dip and Au Jus
- 2 tablespoons butter
- 1-½ to 2 pounds extra thin-shaved chuck steak
- ½ teaspoon salt
- ¼ teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
- 10.5 ounces condensed French onion soup
- 10.5 ounces beef consommé
For Assembly
- 4 6-inch hoagie rolls
- 4 slices provolone cheese
- Horseradish sauce as needed, about 2 teaspoons for each sandwich
Instructions
Preparation
- Leaving slices of 1-½ to 2 pounds extra thin-shaved chuck steak layered, trim any large pieces of fat and discard.
- Still leaving the meat slices layered, slice meat crosswise and lengthwise if needed to create 4” squares of layered meat.
Slow Cooker Instructions
- If you wish, sauté the beef in 2 tablespoons butter in a skillet and transfer to slow cooker. You may skip this step and just place the meat and butter directly into the slow cooker together.
- Add ½ teaspoon salt, ¼ teaspoon freshly ground black pepper, 10.5 ounces condensed French onion soup, and 10.5 ounces beef consommé to the slow cooker. Stir gently.
- Set the slow cooker to high for 4 hours or low for 6-8 hours (time will vary based on the size of your slow cooker and how hot it cooks).
- Stir gently to mix every hour or two.
- Cook until the meat is fall-apart tender.
Sandwich Assembly
- When the meat is near the end of cooking time, prepare 4 6-inch hoagie rolls by slicing lengthwise and toasting.
- Spread Horseradish sauce as needed on one side and place a slice of provolone cheese on the other side.
- Using tongs, carefully dip the beef out of the broth, draining excess au jus back into the slow cooker, and place it onto the hoagie rolls.
- Using a ladle, strain au jus into each of 4 small dipping bowls. (Straining is optional.)
- Serve sandwiches with au jus for dipping.
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