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Warm, juicy roast beef, melted provolone, sweet caramelized onions, and a zippy horseradish sauce piled onto a crispy hoagie roll and dipped into a deeply flavored 5 minute beef Jus. It’s a wonderful combo of wet and crunchy at the same and tastes like french onion soup.
Table of Contents
Why This French Dip Sandwich Recipe Delivers
My goal with this recipe was to fix the usual problems with French dip sandwiches without turning it into a difficult, all-day project. The best way to do that is to NOT make every component from scratch.
Below, I spell out exactly what kind of bread and roast beef to buy, which gives you a solid foundation with almost no work. Then we make the components where homemade actually matters: properly caramelized onions, a zippy horsey sauce, and a “speed-scratch” 10-minute beef jus that tastes like it simmered all day.
The result is a seriously good French dip that doesn’t require pro-level cooking skills or an entire day in the kitchen. It’s easy enough for a weeknight, but absolutely good enough to serve at a party.
Brian’s Pro Tips
Don’t Overcook Beef -The goal here is to GENTLY rewarm the roast beef, not cook it. Deli roast beef that gets pushed much past medium-well starts to taste weird and gets noticeably tougher. The bread, cheese, and dipping jus will all be plenty hot, so the meat doesn’t need to carry all the heat. Just take off the chill and get it drippy with beef juice.
Crispy Bread – Toast the rolls briefly before adding cheese, then toast them again until the provolone melts. That creates a thin brittle layer on the outer edge of bread and in the cut middle that will stay crisp even after the sandwich is soaked with jus. This is not only textural heaven it serves an important structural function by preventing the brad from collapsing into mush.
Build Your Sandwich With Care – Sloppy sandwich builds cause me emotional pain. Please take your time to fold and ribbon each slice of beef into a clean layer edge to edge. DO NOT just lay them flat. Then spread the onions edge to edge with care and do the same with the horsey sauce. Press briefly before cutting to ensure things are glued together, then cut gently to keep things in place. This will not only make a sandwich that is more structurally sound that will not fall apart after bite 1, it will also make each bite more balanced and flavorful. A sandwich is a sculpture.
Key Ingredient Notes & Substitutions
These are the ingredients I want to specifically call out in this recipe. A full ingredient list and amounts are listed in the recipe card below.
Medium Roast Beef – Dietz & Watson or Boar’s Head brands are often the best deli meat available. I prefer a medium London Broil, personally. I would avoid the top round. Ask for thinner slices and confirm that the beef is still nice and rosy pink. You want medium rare to medium, NOT GREY. Roast beef thats brownish grey in the case not only tastes bad, it will get super tough and dry when rewarmed in the jus. If you’re an overachiever and want to make and slice your own, here’s a link to my recipe for roast beef.
“Dumb” Hoagie Rolls – This recipe calls for a totally generic “hoagie roll”. These might also be labeled a sandwich roll or baguette. The name doesn’t matter. Just make sure it’s about 16” long, soft and from the fresh baked side of the grocery store and not the bread isle. The prepacked factory sandwich rolls are full of preservatives and lack the textural qualities we’re looking for. Also avoid crusty artisan bread. Its too chewy, too crusty and will not make the kind of sandwich experience we want. Fancier is not always better.
Prepared Horseradish – Prepared horseradish brings clean nasal heat and acidity without the sweetness of a bottled horseradish cream. Mixed with equal parts mayo and sour cream, it gives the sandwich fat, tang, and just enough glue to keep the roof on. If you hate horseradish, substitute with a thin layer of Dijon mayonnaise made with 75g (⅓ cup) mayo and 15g (1 T) Dijon.
Bouillon and Gelatin – This combo simulates the beef flavor and natural gelatin that come from the meat and bones in a slow-simmered homemade stock. That’s what allows us to make a flavorful, full-bodied beef jus in 1/20th of the time. The gelatin also increases the viscosity and helps the jus cling to the meat, making it more perceivably juicy.
Provolone Cheese – Provolone is the perfect cheese for this sandwich, IMO, for the harmony of flavor and melt. You CAN sub low-moisture mozzarella or mild Swiss. Just avoid aged cheddar or something overly funky.
If you like this recipe, check out…
My french onion soup recipe. It has a lot of similar flavors and takes caramelized onions to another level.
How To Make French Dip Sandwiches
Here I’ve laid out the detailed, step-by-step instructions for this recipe. A more condensed version, including volumetric measurements, can be found in the recipe card below.
1. Melt the Onions. Julienne about 3 large onions and add them to a 5-7qt dutch oven or heavy bottomed pot with 8g salt, 50g butter, and 25g water. Cover with a lid and cook over medium to medium high heat, stirring every 5 minutes, until the onions have dramatically softened, let out their moisture and collapsed (about 10-15 minutes). At this point they should look pliable, softened and they should be taking up ½ their original volume in the pot.
2. Caramelize. Remove the lid and cook over medium low, stirring every 2 minutes or so, until the moisture evaporates and some light browning starts developing on the bottom of the pot.
At this point, add a small splash of water (3-4 tablespoons) to deglaze and stir with a. wooden spoon until the bottom of the pot is clean. Repeat this process every 5-7 minutes for 35-50 minutes. Once the onions are deeply caramelized and softened, set aside and keep warm until it’s time to build the sandwich.
Can I make extra onions? Absolutely. If you are already committing to stirring for 45 minutes you might as well double the batch and freeze the extra so you have delicious onions in the future. Keep in mind though, if you do double, you will be adding about 10 minutes of cook time.
Time Saving TIPS:
Not-Caramelized Onions: If you’re short on time, use only about 250g (2 medium) julienned onions in a large sauté pan with some oil and salt. Sauté for 5-10 minutes until softened and browned. These don’t bring the same deep sweetness of caramelized onions, but they’ll give you some soft onion flavor if you’re in a real hurry.
Multi tasking: If you’re an experienced onion caramelizer (or if you’re a great multi-tasker), you can do all of the following steps in this recipe while the onions caramelize. Caramelized onions can get away from you quickly though so stay frosty!
3. Make Beef Jus. Combine the 900g beef stock, 50g Worcestershire, 30g bouillon, and 5g salt in a saucepan. Whisk in the powdered gelatin while the liquid is still cool, then bring the jus up to a simmer over medium heat and reduce by 40-50%. This will take about 10 minutes in total. The finished jus should lightly coat a spoon but still pour like broth. Taste and add more salt only after the reduction is complete, then set it aside.
Why use bouillon and gelatin with boxed stock? Bouillon supplies the concentrated roasted beef flavor that boxed stock lacks, while gelatin supplies the body you would get from slow simmered bones/meat in homemade stock. Together they mimic a long-cooked stock surprisingly well.
4. Make the Horsey Sauce. In a small bowl combine 75g sour cream, 75g mayonnaise, 50g prepared horseradish, and 3g salt and stir until completely smooth. Taste for seasoning, then keep in fridge until you’re ready to build the sandwiches.
5. Toast the rolls and melt the provolone. Cut off the rounded end(s) of the rolls, then cut both in half so you have four 6″ rolls total. Slice each lengthwise. Place on a sheet tray and toast the split rolls in a 400°F (205°C) oven for 5 minutes. Pull the tray, lay 2 slices of provolone over the bottom half of each roll, and return the tray to the oven open-faced for 3-4 minutes. The cheese should be fully melted and the bread should feel crisp and lightly brittle when squeezed.
After removing the bread, turn off the oven and throw in your jus containers so they’re hot when you’re ready to serve. I use these wide oven-safe ramekins for my dipping.
6. Warm the beef. Bring the jus to about 350°F (175°C) if warming multiple sandwiches worth of beef at once. 130-140F (57°C) if you’re warming just one sandwich worth at a time. Add in roast beef and swirl the slices through the liquid for 15-20 seconds. You just want to warm the beef, not cook it. Transfer about 6 oz (4 large slices) of beef to each provolone-topped roll while deliberately ribboning and layering the slices evenly. What you don’t want here is a stack of flat pieces of beef.
7. Build the sandwiches. To do that…
- Return the jus to a boil to prepare for serving
- Add a thin layer of warm caramelized onions over the beef
- Add a thin layer of warm caramelized onions over the beef
- Spread a thin layer of horseradish sauce on each top roll
- Close the sandwiches, press firmly to glue everything together (very important step)
I take sandwich building very seriously and think that it has a huge impact on the eating experience. You can watch exactly how I build my ideal French dip sandwich in my video on YouTube here.
8. Serve. To serve, gently cut the sandwiches in half with a serrated knife.
Taste the jus one final time for salt. Season until almost salty and serve ripping hot in a warm ramekin next to your sandwich so you can dip each bite as you go.
Storage & Make-Ahead
You can make the onions up to 5 days ahead and the jus and horseradish sauce up to 3 days ahead. The onions and jus will freeze very well for 4-6 months. Before using, thaw both overnight in the refrigerator. I would not freeze the horsey sauce or the deli beef.
MORE BEEF SANDWICHES TO TRY NEXT:
- Italian Beef – the easiest version of this recipe I know
- Roast Beef n Cheddar – sinfully delicious
- Chopped Cheese – combines the best parts of your favorite sandwiches
French Dip Sandwiches
Ingredients
Caramelized Onions
- 1000 g onions, julienned
- 50 g unsalted butter
- 50 g water
- 80 g salt
Quick Beef Jus
- 900 g beef stock
- 14 g powdered gelatine
- 30 g Beef Better than Bouillon
- 50 g Worcestershire
- 8 g salt
Horseradish Sauce
- 75 g mayonnaise
- 75 g sour cream
- 50 g prepared horseradish
- 3 g salt
Assembly
- 2 large soft hoagie rolls, 12-14 inch
- 680 g medium roast beef, thinly sliced
- 8 slices provolone cheese
Instructions
Make the Caramelized Onions
- Combine the julienned onions, 8g salt, butter, and 25g (a splash) water in a 5-7 qt heavy bottom pot. Cover with a lid and cook over medium to medium high heat, stirring every 5 minutes, until onions have softened and released their moisture, about 10-15 minutes.
- Remove lid, reduce heat to med-low, and stir every 2 minutes until moisture evaporates and onions begin to brown and fond develops on the bottom of the pan.
- Add a splash of water (about 3-4 Tbsp) to deglaze, using a wooden spoon to scrape up any browning from the pan. Repeat this process every 5-7 minutes for 35-50 minutes until the onions are caramelized and softened.
Make the Quick Beef Jus & Horsey Sauce
- Combine beef stock, Worcestershire, bouillon, and 5g salt in a saucepan. Whisk in the powdered gelatin while the liquid is still cool, then bring the jus to a simmer over medium heat. Reduce by half. This should take 10 minutes.
- In a small bowl combine sour cream, mayonnaise, prepared horseradish, and 3g salt. Stir until completely smooth. Taste or seasoning, then keep in fridge until sandwich time.
Assembling the French Dip Sandwiches
- Cut off the ends of the hoagie rolls. Cut each in half so you have 4 rolls total, then slice each in half lengthwise. Put the halves back together then toast rolls in 400℉ (200℃) oven for 5 minutes.
- Pull rolls from the oven, open the halves, and add 2 slices of provolone over the bottom half of each roll. Return to the oven (open-faced) and toast for another 3-4 minutes until the cheese has melted.
- Bring the just temperature to a warm 130-140F (57°C) and swirl beef slices through the liquid for 15-20 seconds to just warm through.
- Transfer 4 slices of beef (170g) to the bottom of each roll, making sure to ribbon and layer each slice of beef.
- Add a thin layer of caramelized onions on top of the beef and spread a thin layer of horseradish sauce on each top roll. Close the sandwiches and press firmly to glue everything together. Gently cut in half with a serrated knife.
- Taste the hot jus one last time for seasoning. It should be borderline salty. Serve in a warm ramekin next to your sandwiches for dipping.
Like this? Leave a comment below!My Go-To Gear
Below are the tools I actually use when making this recipe. Some of these are affiliate links, which means I may earn a small commission if you purchase through them at no extra cost to you.
Frequently Asked Questions
Absolutely, and it will be excellent but it changes the scope of this recipe significantly and adds alot of time and complexity. I will link to my roast beef recipe here if you want to dabble. Its quite good.
Leave the sauce off or replace it with a thin layer of Dijon mayonnaise made with 75g (⅓ cup) mayo and 15g (1 T) Dijon. You still want a little acidity and fat on the top roll. Plain mayo works, but it makes the sandwich feel flatter and heavier.
That’s a hard no for me. While I encourage you to dip each bite in warm jus just before you eat it, dipping the entire sandwich results in a soggy slop fest. The beautiful, well-crafted sandwich you just created loses its structure and becomes way too messy.
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