I never thought this would be a recipe I would ever post. I thought the French dip was banned from our house forever after I nearly killed my husband with it at the beginning of our marriage.

I was a young, fresh new wife, and I knew how much my husband LOVED French Dip. This story will make me sound old, but I’m not old, OK?

I had no idea how to make French Dip, so I had to pull out a cookbook from the cupboard. If I remember correctly, I used the Better Homes and Garden Cookbook that nearly every new bride received as a gift.

All was going well until it said, one clove of garlic…….

I had no idea what a clove of garlic was. Was it the whole head? Was it just a piece? And friends… this is where I sound old. I didn’t have the Internet to look it up, and I didn’t have a smartphone to ask. I should have picked up the phone and called my mom, but I didn’t do that either. I decided to do it with the whole head.

I bet you can only imagine the disaster that was to follow. This beautiful meal contained so much garlic that it could kill an elephant.

So, we sat down to dinner, and I took one bite and was like… no way, I am not eating this. Gross.

But…. my dear husband had a cold, his nose was stuffed, and apparently, he had no taste or smell. He is just eating away, telling me that it isn’t as bad as I am making it seem.

And then…… his nose cleared. (Large amounts of garlic will do that.) It was like it hit him like a freight train. He was overcome by garlic. I laugh as I write this 19 years later because I still remember it.

He was so scarred by the French Dip that even at the mention of it, he was repulsed.

Well…. nineteen years later, here we are. I didn’t tell him I was making it; I just did it.

The good news is that it was a huge hit with everyone. Even my kids, who seem to be getting pickier as they get older, liked it.

I used a Chuck roast from our beef sale, and it turned out tender, juicy, and delicious. It’s definitely going on the rotation around here.

Give it a try.

By the way, one clove of garlic is one piece out of the whole head. Now imagine putting in somewhere between 10 and 15 of those pieces. AHHHH.

French Dip Sandwiches

1 tsp salt

1 tsp ground black pepper

3 lbs boneless chuck roast, 4 to 5 lbs if the bone is included

4 cups beef broth or stock

1 onion, pureed or minced

1/2 cup soy sauce

1/3 cup Worcestershire sauce

2 tbsp mustard

1 1/2 tsp minced garlic, or two cloves (not the whole head 😅)

4 bay leaves

8 buns or rolls

8 slices provolone or Monterey jack cheese

Instructions

1. Rub salt and pepper all over the roast.

2. Combine, broth, onions, soy sauce, Worcestershire sauce, mustard, garlic, and bay leaves. Add roast and marinate in the refrigerator for minimum of 1 hour or up to 12 hours.

3. Pour into a slow cooker. Cook on low for 7 hours until beef is tender.

4. Remove the roast and leave the juice.

5. Discard the bay leaves.

6. Shred the beef roast.

7. Preheat the broiler. Slice the buns, brush with avocado oil, and place on a baking sheet. Broil for 1 minute or until golden and toasted.

8. Remove from broiler, place shredded meat on the bottom half, and add a slice of cheese.

9. Broil for 30 seconds until the cheese is melted.

10. Remove from oven and add the top bun.

11. Ladle the remaining juice into small bowls for serving.

12. Dip your sandwiches in the jus.

So, after years of never being able to eat French Dip, I finally got it right. Dipping the tender beef sandwich into this delightfully flavorful juice makes me happy.

Having beef in my freezer from our half cow that we kept is so handy. I could pull in out without running to the store. We had the other ingredients on hand, so within 24 hours, we had an amazing meal that we could eat after soccer games.

I hope you give it a try.

Want more delicious beef recipes?

Grab my ebook, Eight Go-To Recipes for Nourishing Your Family, which includes eight of my favorite ways to use all the cuts of beef from your 1/4 or 1/2 cow.