These healthier French Dip Sandwiches can be made in the slow cooker or instant pot for an easy yet decadent meal.
I’ve been on a sandwich kick lately. After weeks of eating “Fried” Chicken Sandwiches, I figured it was time to attempt another lightened up classic.
There’s a place in Los Angeles called Phillipe’s that makes French Dip sandwiches that are absolutely to die for. If you’re ever in the area, that place is definitely worth a special trip.
I’ve driven the hour it takes to get there from my home many times, but my lazy self wanted to find a way to make it from home. And why not lighten it up in the process?
The result is the easiest and most comforting meal I’ve had in a long time. All you have to do it brown your meat, throw it in your slow cooker or Instant Pot with the rest of the ingredients, and let it cook away. Toast up some rolls when you’re ready to eat, and melt some cheese on top of that meat. Add a side salad and you’re in diner heaven, but with less calories.
This sandwich is great for cold days when you want to put minimal thought into your dinner. The result is hearty sandwich that warms you through, along with an intensely flavorful aus ju–so flavorful, in fact, that you can basically call it a side soup.
Though the perfect winter meal, I can see myself making this year round, especially when we’re in the middle of summer heat waves and the last thing I want to do is use my stove or oven.
How to make french dip sandwiches
This really couldn’t be easier! You’ll want to use a lean cut of beef to keep the calories and points lower. Since we’re cooking it for so long, it will get nice and tender. No need for the marbling of fattier cuts of meat. You can use sirloin, bottom round, top round, or eye of round. I just go with whatever is on sale.
The most effort you’ll put into the whole process is browning your meat. Of course, you could skip this step, but I don’t recommend that. Browning the meat adds a depth of flavor to the jus that you can’t get from just regular beef stock.
Now, place the meat in your cooking vessel along with the rest of the ingredients, set it, and forget it until you’re ready to eat! Your home will smell incredible.
Remove the beef roast and shred with forks. Return to the cooking vessel and let it rest in the juices for a while, so everything marries together and the meat gets extra tender.
Now you’re ready to assemble your sandwiches. Toast up some french rolls, add your meat to one side, top with cheese, and toast again so that the cheese melts. You might want to cover the side that doesn’t have meat on it with tin foil so it doesn’t burn.
That’s it! Serve with some of that delicious au jus on the side for dipping, and be prepared for food coma heaven!
Want some more good news? The beef and jus are even better the next day. Something about letting that beef marinate on the gravy for a few hours just takes it over the top. So you’ll also be in leftovers heaven!
I’d love to hear from you if you make this recipe! It makes my day when you share your pics on Instagram and tag me (@litecravings). Don’t forget to use #litecravingsrecipes to make sure I see it. If I don’t get a chance to scroll through my tags quickly enough, I won’t see your post. I always make a point to look through the hashtags, though, so I’ll see it there.
French Dip Sandwiches
Ingredients
FOR THE MEAT/AU JUS
- 2 1/2 pounds lean beef roast, like sirloin or round (see blog notes)
- 1 1/2 tsp kosher salt
- crushed black pepper, to taste
- 1 large onion, sliced
- 3 cloves of garlic, minced
- 3 cup fat free beef stock
- 1/4 cup low sodium soy sauce
- 1/4 cup Worcestershire sauce
- 1 tsp dried rosemary
- 3 small bay leaves (or 2 large)
FOR THE SANDWICHES
- reduced-fat mozzarella cheese
- french rolls or bread of choice
Instructions
- Trim all visible fat from beef roast. Season with salt and pepper.
- Spray a large skillet over high heat with a light oil spray (I used grapeseed oil spray). Sear all sides of the roast until dark brown.
- Add onion, garlic, stock, soy sauce, Worcestershire sauce, rosemary, and bay leaves to your slow cooker or instant pot. Place beef on top and cover with lid.
- For the slow cooker, cook on high heat for 4-5 hours or low heat for 7-8 hours. You'll know it's done when the meat pulls apart easily. Remove beef, shred, and return to jus. Cover and let rest on warm setting for 30 minutes, or on low if you don't have a warm setting.
- For the instant pot, cook for 45 minutes on high pressure, then quick release. Remove beef, shred, and return to jus. Cover and let rest on warm setting for 30 minutes.
TO ASSEMBLE THE SANDWICHES
- Toast your rolls in a 400F oven for 2-3 minutes. Remove and then top one side of the roll with drained beef. Top beef with 1/4 cup cheese.
- Add back to oven and bake until cheese has melted, about 3-4 minutes. Cover meatless side of bread with ton foil if it starts to burn.
- Serve with 1/3 cup of au jus on the side.
POINTS BREAKDOWN
- The points really depends on what kind of bread and cheese you use. My calculations are 7 SP for one Francisco brand French roll, 3 SP for 1/4 cup cheese, and 3 SP for the beef/jus. 13 points total.
- A typical French Dip sandwich ranges from 18-25 points, from what I can tell in the app. I'll take this 13 point version over those any day!
So delicious! I found myself closing my eyes with each bite because it tasted sooo good. Thank you! My beef has never been so tender or flavorful!
Awww love that image!
This is off the charts delicious. I halved the quantity of meat and still had enough for three meals for two!
This meat could be used for so much! It’s 11/10 and I recommended it to everyone I know!
Wow, thank you so much, Katie!! I saw someone on IG use leftovers to make pizza!
Geri, this delicious recipe was requested yet again by my family and did NOT disappoint!! Everyone loves it and I love coming home from work with dinner basically done. I told my husband, who was working from home, to throw some of our garden peppers in -yes, I sent him the website pic with peppers because…husbands…:-D. He threw in a bunch of sweet banana peppers and it was SO good. This recipe is a keeper and I look forward to having it again as the cold weather moves in. So delicious!!
Yay!! Love hearing that, Katie. Banana peppers are definitely the way to go! Thanks for taking the time to review. 🙂
This ranks up there with your all-time best recipes!! Seriously. I savored every single bite, as did my husband and son! And I quickly forwarded the recipe to my daughters, promising their husbands would love them even more than they already did if they made this for them! Using a crunchy (dutch crunch) roll made all the difference, too. That toasted crunch, with the full-flavored beef and melted cheese, we divine to dip into that savory sauce! I just used stew meat I had in my freezer that I needed to use. I can’t even describe to others how full-flavored, drool-worthy delicious this is. Was wishing I’d used a full-sized roast so as to have more leftovers! Next time! And there will DEFINITELY be a next time! Thx Geri! It’s a keeper. Your new Tuscan Chicken is next on my list to try.
This was the best French dip I have ever had. It was such a hit in our house. I have two picky eaters and they gobbled this up. Putting in weekly rotation.
OMG, best compliment ever! Thank you!
I saw a jalapeno in the photo with the meat and ingredients. It wasn’t listed on the recipe. How did you use it in the mixture? Also, can I use a Chuck Roast?
Soooo happy you loved it!
This recipe was delicious! I do have a question on points though, I’m on blue and I put it in both by the ingredients to create a recipe band just a a quick add using the nutritional information and they both came up as 8 points per serving. Am I missing something?
The meat was tender and full of flavor and I didn’t have slow cook it for 100 hours….LOL. Delicious and this will defiantly be in the slow cooker rotation.
This recipe was SO delicious! My entire family absolutely loved it and the leftovers are indeed even tastier! I made it in the crockpot for a cold, -1degree day and it hit the spot! Thanks for helping me with a new and tasty recipe to add to my weekly rotation. Your recipes are always such a hit and have helped me to stay on track with WW.
Love hearing that, Peg. I’m happy to a resource for your WW journey. 🙂
Delicious! Trying to add recipe to my WW create recipes… not working out😒. Wish I could copy and paste to add to recipes. I’ll keep trying to make it work. Will make this again and again.
We enjoyed this recipe, but the instant pot time was way off. I was skeptical of the 30 minute time, because I use my instant pot quite often and I know it takes much longer to cook a roast. Total cook time was 70 minutes to get it tender enough to shred. It was good once it was done though!
Thank you for letting me know! I’ll try it out in my IP again to see if I should adjust the recipe. 30 minutes was just fine for me the first time around. Maybe our cuts of meat were different sizes? Anyway, thanks for your tip on the time. I’ll adjust the recipe as needed. 🙂
I fixed this for dinner this evening. Oh my. I can’t believe how delicious it was. Followed recipe to the tee. This is a keeper. Thanks so much.
Great to hear that, Pam! Thank you for the comment. ❤️
This week’s suppers are all your recipes. Tonight was french dip. I prepped last night and my husband finished off the meal today. My 18 yo said it was the best she’s ever eaten. It will definitely be in the rotation.
Wow!! What a compliment. Thank you so much for sharing. 🙂
This looks delicious! If you don’t have a slow cooker, how long do you suggest cooking this for on the stove top? Excited to try it!
I would look up the Pioneer Woman’s French Dip Sandwich recipe. You could use my ingredients and her method for oven roasting. 🙂
So incredibly juicy and tasty!! And so easy to put together!!! Thank you!
Hi there! I’m planning on making this over the weekend. I noticed you have a jalapeno pepper in the mix, however you don’t mention it in your recipe or description. Can you tell me if and how many should be added? Looking forward to having this for dinner!
Hi Kris, great question! Traditionally, French Dips don’t have jalapeno’s in them, but my husband and I like things on the spicy side, so I’ll toss in a whole jalapeno or two (cut a slit but make sure it doesn’t go through all the way). Feel free to adapt it to your family’s preferred spice level! I’d start with one and then add more to taste. Let me know what you think!