Italian beef prepared with pantry ingredients. This is wonderful for Super Bowl and parties! Adjustable according to how spicy you like it. I serve it on sub rolls with mozzarella cheese.
This is almost the same beef that I have made for years. I'm not sure about the "pickled" giardinera (yuk) I use regular hot or mild giardenera drained, but not rinsed (it takes away from the flavor). I also use Vlasic sliced pepper rings instead of pepperoncini's (so that there is no need to cut off the stem, by the way, make sure that you DO cut the stem off, because it will fall off of the pepper after a period of cooking). Use ZESTY Italian dressing mix, 2 (10.75 oz.) cans of beef broth (campbells is best), a few cloves of minced garlic, and a 1/2 bag of frozen pearl onions. Make sure that you cook it atleast 15 hours (I usually start it at midnight if I'm going to serve at 3p.m. the next day) and the beef will fall apart. Also, I learned this the hard way, if the roast has strings, cut them off because they will be hard to find when the meat falls apart. Everybody loves this, it is one of my most requested recipes! Enjoy! :)
Read MoreGreat taste as far as the au jus but DON'T use rump roast, ew. Not sure which roast to use, will try others.
Read MoreThis is almost the same beef that I have made for years. I'm not sure about the "pickled" giardinera (yuk) I use regular hot or mild giardenera drained, but not rinsed (it takes away from the flavor). I also use Vlasic sliced pepper rings instead of pepperoncini's (so that there is no need to cut off the stem, by the way, make sure that you DO cut the stem off, because it will fall off of the pepper after a period of cooking). Use ZESTY Italian dressing mix, 2 (10.75 oz.) cans of beef broth (campbells is best), a few cloves of minced garlic, and a 1/2 bag of frozen pearl onions. Make sure that you cook it atleast 15 hours (I usually start it at midnight if I'm going to serve at 3p.m. the next day) and the beef will fall apart. Also, I learned this the hard way, if the roast has strings, cut them off because they will be hard to find when the meat falls apart. Everybody loves this, it is one of my most requested recipes! Enjoy! :)
This is a very good recipe, be sure you cook it the full 18 hours. Then remove the meat, refrigerate the juice overnight and skim off the fat. Then the next day you can either slice or shred the meat as you choose.
This recipe is awesome! When I make it, I use hot giardinera and do not drain oil. Also instead of whole pepperoncini, I use Vlasic hot pepper rings, drained. It turns out good and spicy ! Meat just falls apart which, is great for sandwiches ! I recently moved to AZ from Chicago and could not find giardinera so, I substituted hot banana peppers ( in a jar ) and it turned out just as good !
This always gets rave reviews whenever I take it to pitch-ins! I use the Mild Giardinia Mix packed in olive oil found in the Italian section of the grocery store (what the recipe calls pickled vegetables). It's not the stuff with cauliflower which happens to be called Giardinia though. I take out the olives from the giardinia mix and drain and chop the pepperoncinis and Giardinia peppers. Then when it has been in the crock pot 18-20 hours, the beef falls apart and mixes in with the chopped peppers...just right to spoon in Italian rolls with a little of the broth. YUM!!
My family enjoyed this. Next time though, I don't think I'm going to add the veggies, but I will add the peppers. I'm not really sure why the veggies were included. They don't look very appetizing after cooking for 18 hours. THe peppers were excellent -- we used them on our sandwiches (we had to sort them out of the vegetables).
This came out great. I followed some of the suggestions and added 4 cloves of garlic, sliced and a bag of frozen pearl onions that were languishing in my freezer and I'm glad I did. My husband really liked it as well. We're having the leftovers tonight for dinner. I will be making this again.
Very yummy! I omitted the mixed vegetables and used only half the pepperoncini (hot style) and added 6 oz. sweet roasted red peppers and 8 oz. hot pepper & olive giardiniera and the juices/oils of all three. Eighteen hours seemed ridiculous but since this is made with such a lean roast I decided I'd see how it went and found it wouldn't have been the same if I hadn't gone the full 18 hours. After about 12 hours I flipped the roast over so the top could cook in the juices for a while. One reviewer noted the unpleasant smell and I noticed the same thing around hour five but it went away and soon smelled delicious. I was very surprised to be able to actually slice the meat after that long in the slow cooker. I sliced it as thin as I could and then let the slices sit in the juices while I buttered & browned the bread (I used the Fabulous French Loaves recipe divided and shaped into hoagie-style rolls). A slice of provolone between the warm toasted rolls and the hot juicy beef and peppers was a delicious combination that melted in my mouth.
I used MC_MA_OF_3's recommendations (left out the onions, though). It was my first time using a crockpot (bridal shower gift)... I'm hooked!! We had my parents over to watch the Lions (lose), and with how delicious this smelled, we couldn't wait for halftime! Everyone had two sandwiches, dipping them in the tangy juice. My husband's already planning when we'll make this again. Super easy and super tasty!
This was so simple to make and turned out excellent. I made this for a few friends and thier kids for dinner and everyone loved it and requested that I make it again soon!
This is a very tasty, easy, cheap recipe. The whole house smells great the last couple of hours. The recipe I have only cooks for 8-9 hours. Probably too spicy for most small children. Note the pickled vegetables are a substitute for the oil packed gardinieri which you can't get outside of the Chicago area.
Really liked this recipe, but it was a little too spicy for some of the kids. Took the broth and made a gravy with it, adding some brown sugar to tone down the pepperonici, and this turned a good dish into something that 12 people ate up immediately. Leftovers the next day were indeed great for sandwiches.
OH MY GOSH!!! This was amazing! I followed this recipe exactly and I'll be honest I was a little worried that I shouldn't have put the juice from both bottles in w/ the meat. Every time I would wake up in the middle of the night, I would smell it and think it smelled to vinegary. But all worry went right out the window when we tasted this masterpiece of a recipe. This will definetly go down in the FAMILY COOKBOOK! Thanks to the chef!
My husband and I loved this recipe. However, we did adjust it a little. He is not a fan of the pickled mixed veggies, so we left those out. I did cut the stems off of the whole pepperocinis. I was unsure, but I went ahead and added the juice from the jar. Otherwise, we followed the recipe exactly. The meat fell apart on its own. I served it with a slice of provolone on a kaiser roll. Yummy!!
This is heaven! I cooked it only 8 hours and it was still wonderful. I'm sure it would absolutely fall apart if cooked for 18 hours. I followed the recipe except I added more italian seasoning, and used fat free, reduced sodium beef broth. This was the first time I cooked Italian Beef and it certainly will not be the last. This is a keeper.
Made this yesterday and it was awesome even though I did not follow it as written. I didn't have a packet of dry Italian dressing mix like I thought I did and didn't realize it til the last minute. Subbed about 1/4 cup of the bottled kind and it still turned out great. I did include 1 onion sliced and the whole jar of peppocini's that I sliced as well as a smidge of juice from the jar. Didn't include the jarred vegetables since it just didn't seem to go to me. Since I had so much liquid I cut way down on the broth too. Coooked on low for about 15 hrs (my roast was a bit smaller than noted in the recipe). Served on ciabatta rolls toasted with provolone and it was a hit. BF who used to live in Chicago raved that it was better than any he had there, including Carms!
I like the addition of the pickled vegetables over the just the Pepperocini others simply use. I added a bottle of beer. Really great party food!
I started this 18 hour recipe the evening of our surprise Hurricane Charley in 2004--after the first 3 hours, we lost our power for two days! Of course, I had to throw it away--ready to buy all the ingredients again!! I rated 5 stars because I KNOW how yummy it will be!!
Holy buckets!! This recipe was AMAZING!! I did skip the pickled mixed veggies and instead of whole jare of whole peppers, used half a jar of the shredded (with half the juice in the jar) and cooked it on high for 6 hours. Served it on hoagies with provolone cheese and it was outstanding!! Will SO make this again!!
Great taste as far as the au jus but DON'T use rump roast, ew. Not sure which roast to use, will try others.
Excellent Recipe! I served it with sub rolls that I spread mayo on and toasted in the oven on broil. I also layered the meat, veggies and added cheese. I then broiled it again in the oven to just melt cheese. Everyone loved it!
This has become a family favorite. I make it just as the recipe describes and serve it with fontina cheese. It's always a hit and everyone wants the recipe. I live in Chicago so I have access to Italian Beef and this is a great home made substitute.
This was good. Nice flavor. I used half a jar of pepperoncini and half a packet of Italian dressing for fear the flavor would be too strong for my kids. I Served it on toasted kaiser rolls with melted provolone. KIds, and I loved it.
I don't know if my slow-cooker just cooks hotter (It's a West Bend Crockery), but 18 hours was way too long! I turned it to warm about 3 or 4 hours early and all the juices were burned at the bottom. Overall, the meat was pretty dry. I do want to try it again, just for a shorter amount of time. Oh, and they carry the special mixed veggies (whatever they're called) at our local Walmart here in Wyoming. Unfortunately most of the veggies were burned, but the ones that were intact on top of the meat were YUMMY!
This was very good, however tasted pretty much the same as Pepperoncini Beef also on this site (which is cheaper to make). I shredded the beef and piled it on some hoagies and toasted them with provolone cheese. My friends loved the sandwiches, as did I.
I had a 1.5 lb top round roast, still frozen. I halved the rest of the ingredients since that amount of meat was about half the recipe called for, and used 1/2 jar of mild giardiniera and 1/2 jar of hot banana pepper rings (instead of pepperoncini, they seem very close to me). Instead of the pre-packaged italian dressing I pulled from my stash of "Italian Dressing Mix" recipe from this site. This is the first time I ever tried cooking beef from frozen in the slow cooker and it worked great! Since it was a much smaller roast, and from frozen, after about 4 hours I turned it over. After about 8 hours (from the start) it was still pretty tough but I forked it into some smaller chunks, submerged the meat into the slow cooker juices, then let it go longer for a total of 12 hours on low. Perfect texture of the meat. Served on toasted french rolls with provolone and a side bowl of au jus for dipping sauce. My only criticism is the au jus was a tad too vinegary, and I love strongly vinegar flavored stuff. Not sure if that is my fault for substituting the banana peppers, or maybe these juices were never meant to be a dipping sauce (the recipe never says to, it just looks and smells so good I had to dip). Next time I'll hold back on the brine from that jar and still dip! Still, this turned out fabulous. Next time I'll have to try the 18 hour thing with a bigger roast.
This is a Wonderful recipe!!! My husband kept coming back for more! I love the tartness that comes from the peppers; it reminds me of German Sauerbraten, but with a bit more spice.
I love this! I didn't use the mixed veggies, but I poured the whole jar of pepperoncinis and all the liquid with it. Too hot for hubby, but I just shredded it and made the best burritos I have ever had. (I know it's "Italian" beef, but it is a great base for shredded beef mexican recipes with just the pepperoncinis). For hubby I make his own with just the roast, italian dressing mix and the beef broth. Still very tasty.
I thought the flavor was nice. I noticed at the halfway point that most of the liquid had been absorbed, so per a friend who makes a recipe similar, I added a can of beer. By the time the 18 hours were up, the meat was very dry. I think I'll try cooking only 8 hours or so with the same amount of liquid. I don't think it would affect the taste much at all.
This recipe was fantastic! So easy to make too. The only bad part is it smells so good it is hard to wait 18 hours to eat it....but worth the wait.
I tried this at a potluck, and loved it, but I wasn't sure if I should drain the vegtables, or not. The recipe wasn't clear.
Very easy and SO good. I made this for mother's day and it was a hit. The meat becomes very tender and perfectly flavored. This is one I will make often!
Best shredded beef I have ever made. I added a lot more broth and instead of pickled mixed vegetables and italian dressing I used a jar of marinated mushrooms in italian dressing. Everyone just loved it. I also removed the meat and vegies at the end and whisked in some corn starch to thicken slightly. Served on onion rolls. Will definitely make again and bring to potlucks.
Very Very Good! I improvised just a bit from some of the other ladies comments & this was such an easy and Good Meal!!! Thanks!
We were fairly pleased with this as an everyday meal. I made it without the pepperocinis (didn't have them on hand) and Italian dressing mix. Instead I used some garlic powder and fresh garlic. After 8 hours it was done enough for our tastes. I untied the roast, and the meat shredded easily with a fork. The sauce was nice soaked into the bread.
WONDERFUL!! Will make again and again! Made exactly as written and actually cooked for almost 19 hours
I made this for Christmas dinner and it made a big hit, everyone asked for the recipe. Very easy, the crockpot does all the work.
This is a fantastic recipe, exactly as written. The only problem is trying to sleep while it cooks...
My husband and I love this minus the pickled vegetables. I usually make it without the dressing mix, but loved the addition of it so I will continue to add the salad dressing mix!
Had a much larger cut of meat, 5.75 lbs, but cut it in half and then approximately doubled the other ingredients. After 18 hours, I took the meat out and shredded it, then put it back in the liquid with about a cup of Franks Red Hot for about an hour! It was great!
Make it, for the love of your crockpot, and you'll love your crockpot even more. I have made this twice now, once with mild giardiara (sp?) and once without; because we have a toddler, we skipped the pepperoncini entirely. Spicy and toddler palates typically don't mix well. Keep that in mind. I will make this for every gathering I hold at my house. Really, it's that good. I got compliments from everyone, and frankly, if a local restaurant made this, I'd go there every week for one of these things. I strain off the liquid, remove the fat, and keep it for dipping if anyone wants it. Bonus: I keep the reserved liquid after the meat is gone so I can use it in soup later.
This tastes nothing like ITALIAN beef. Without the gravy the beef had minimal flavor. With the gravy all you tasted were the pepperoncini. I gave it 1 star for the ease.
Absolutely delicious!! We didn't use the giardinera, instead increased the amount of pepperchinni and their juice. Also used french onion soup instead of beef broth. We have made this about 5 times in 4 months and are making it again for friends. My husband grew-up outside chicago and now living in MN this is the best italian beef he has had that reminds him of home!
This was a big hit! I used hot giardinara which definitely gave it a big KICK! next time i might try mild or medium.
This recipe is just as good (if not better) than any italian beef I've had. And talk about easy! I am going to double the recipe next time though, as we ran out of juice to qujickly.
I've made this for years and it never fails to get rave reviews. It's so easy, you just need to plan ahead that 18 hours.
This is a good recipe I have been using it for years. Can be too spicy for kids as an earlier review stated. Some people prefer meat sliced though. Sometimes the meat shredded as it tends to do after 18 hours in a slow cooker can put some people off. After many times cooking this I have learned that you can cook it in half the time still have all the flavor and then slice the meat. But don't bother slicing unless you have an automatic slicer.
Love the flavor from the pickled veggies! I used pork shoulder. Works served like a stew or on a sandwich.
Started with a frozen roast so I added a couple of hours to the cooking time. Everyone loved it! Used left over meat for tacos the next night.
This smelled strange as it was cooking. The meat was tender but tangy. The taste was too strong for the kids. Only one person in my family liked it. I will not make this again.
Very good! Used rump roast-didn't have 18 hours to cook, but was still tender (cooked about 8 hours in crock pot)-served on hoagies with melted cheese-yum!
This was very easy and VERY yummy!! Great dish for a crowd, but it is a little to singy for the kids. I served with american cheese, mayo, and bulky rolls. This was a great hit and it is ALL gone! Thanks - this one is a keeper!
This is a good recipe. I used pre-sliced mild pepperoncinis, and it wasn't too spicy for the kids. I didn't care for the pickled veggies after they had cooked, but my husband ate them up. I will definatly make this on a regular basis!
Didn't really care for this one. The beef was tangy and tasty but I don't see it as a sandwich or something I'll fix again. Took it to work and my coworkers lapped it up! The pickled veggies kinda disappeared and I think most of the flavor came from the hot peppers. I like it hot so maybe I'll consider them for a pot roast in the crock pot for flavor, but with regular veggies added later on and a nice salad.
I liked the flavor of this alot but I was a bit dissappointed in the texture...I thought it would be more tender. My family liked it ok, but my husband said he would be ok if I never made it again.
I had half of a jar of mild giardenera (Thanks to I'm nuts, too for that idea) that I drained but did not rinse and I used my homemade italian dressing mix. Because I doubled the recipe, I kept the amounts of the giardenera and pepperoncini the same but I doubled the spices and beef broth. I did braise my meat before adding it to the crockpot. This was okay, but I've had better drip beef sandwiches. I was the only one who liked the vegetables, to be honest. It pretty much was a waste of giardenera because I was the only one that ate it on my sandwich and the rest got thrown out. It didn't add anything to the roast that I could tell. Great way to use meat that's been sitting in the freezer for a while. It always comes out tender and really flavorful.
Excellent! I made it exactly as written and it's wonderful! I didn't drain the pickled vegetables, because the recipe didn't say to, so it may have been juicier than necessary. I put it over egg noodles and all five of us love it, including my ridiculously picky 7-year-old son. IMO much too juicy for sandwiches, but I'm sure one could reduce the liquids and solve that problem. I prefer it over noodles. Loved it and it'll be a staple recipe from now on. Thanks!
I've been an pro all-recipes cook for a couple of years and I've never rated a recipe. I have to say that this is a recipe my family loves, it's easy and it's GREAT!! Love it! Thank you.
I would have rated this a 3 but only because I'm not a big fan of the pickled vegetables. My half-Italian husband loved it so we compromised.
I really loved this. Like, I salivated thinking about even coming home for leftovers - it was that good. I halved the recipe and only cooked it for 12 hours. Truly superb!
I decided to try this recipe for my first slow-cooking experience. I followed the recipe exactly and had plenty of liquid. My husband and I loved it -- we ate the beef and peppers on crusty bread with provolone cheese and it tasted wonderful! One weird note -- I have an Allrecipes cookbook with this exact recipe in it, but the cookbook states to cook for one hour on high and only eight additional hours on low for a total of nine hours. I followed the instructions online and cooked the roast on low for the full eighteen hours.
Excellent!! I added a jar of roasted red peppers and halved the pepperoncinis. Do not substitute chuck roast...the texture is not as good. A staple in our house!
This was spicy and good the first couple of times but unless you have a small army to feed....
Having lived all my life in Chicago until just a few years ago, I can tell you this is pretty darn close to the Italian Beef I grew up eating. I made it exactly as written except I left out the pickled vegetables in oil (I like to serve those on top of my sandwich). If you like your beef sandwiches 'wet' or 'dipped' as we say in Chi-Town, add more beef broth. I also like to use the sliced pepperonici (half a jar) rather than the whole peppers. I serve these on hard rolls and they are always a hit. This recipe is a life saver over the holidays when company drops in or the kids come home from school with their college friends.
I used steamship roast beef, larger than what recipe called and found that I had plenty of juice but the beef for dry. After it cooked, it had plenty of fat that I pealed off to discard so it shouldn't had been so dry. I used the exact cooking time as listed but would use less time next time. To resurrect the beef, I put in the chunks of beef in BBQ sauce for sandwiches.
We liked this. I'm not sure if it's because I had to size it down to fit a 1.12 lb roast or what, but it was too salty. (Also, with the smaller roast, I cooked it a shorter period--about 10 hours). At the 8 hour mark, the juice was so salty I was afraid my meat was going to be ruined. I added a half cup of water and just hoped for the best. It worked out fine, though still a bit saltier than was strictly necessary in the end. I mashed my pickled mixed vegetables into mush and we ate those too--perhaps in the future I'll skip those as I'm not sure what they added other than salt and another step. Thanks for the recipe--I'll make this again :)
This is so good, and easy since it just cooks away in the slow cooker all day. Waiting to eat it is the hard part! Don't forget to dip your sandwiches in the au jus - that's what makes the recipe. The main change I made was to use a chuck roast and only cook it for 8 hours. The meat was still very tender and falling apart. Other modifications included adding a bit of parsley, oregano, basil, garlic, and dried minced onion in place of the salad dressing mix. Also, I eliminated the pickled veggies due to a picky eater. Two last tips - trim the roast well before cooking and chop up the pepperoncinis before they go into the pot. Enjoy!
Did not add the veggies since I had none of hand but did add 1 onion sliced. We served on crusty homemade bread with broiled cheese and added lettuce and oil/vinegar for a sandwich. So good I am considering making these sandwiches for superbowl party.
Very good. Cooked for about 12 hours. Moist and tender. Left out the vegitables however. Nice bite to the juice. Will make again!
Definitely will make again as our guests immediately wanted to know when the next Italian beef dinner would be scheduled. Prepared and served exactly as specified in the recipe, the beef was so tender and flavorful. Some guests added a slice of provolone to their sandwiches but they were great with or without the cheese.
Wonderful! My in-laws lived in Chicago for several years and brought back the love of Italian Beef. My mother-in-laws version is a staple in our family, I can't wait to share this recipe with her! Thanks so much!
I love this! I've been making several times a year for myself and company. I use a 2 1/2 - 3 lb Chuck roast and 3 - 4 cans (15 oz) of broth to nearly cover the roast in the cooker. Maybe the different roast or more broth, but I only need 8 - 9 hours cooking time on low. It smells and tastes vinegary during the first few hours cooking but mellows out by the end. I always make sloppy wet sandwiches on Kaiser rolls. So good.
Yummm!! I forgot the broth but didn't notice any lack of flavor. I used mild peppers/veggies since my 2 year old would (hopefully) be eating it. She did & we all loved it!!! I did 3 hours on high and 4 hours on low. I can't wait to try this with hot peppers!!
I hate to give less than great reviews when everyone is raving but...this came out good. I followed the recipe exactly except for the use of a little more broth (since I have a huge crock pot). It may be it was only ok since I had a similar problem to another reviewer that 18hrs seemed way to long. The meat was falling apart after 9hrs and was better then. After 18hrs everything else (other than the meat) in the pot was essentially mush. I would recommend that individuals do a taste test at about half the time to see if the flavor is good and the meat is falling apart. Not all crock pots are equal (especially at 18hrs) and yours may cook faster as well. Honestly, though I had hoped it would be more tasty either way.
Great...everyone loved it. I used zesty italian and mild and medium pepperoncini instead of the pickled vegetables.
This was about as close as I have found to the real thing! The cook time is really long, but in the end it was totally worth it!
Delicious recipe, but made my own adjustments: 2 cloves fresh garlic (minced), drained roasted red peppers (instead of pickled veggies), Zesty Italian dressing instead of regular, and 1/4c pickle spicy pickle juice. Added fresh peppers for a nice crunch and some of the spicy pickles...YUM!
This was so good. Like another reviewer I didn't drain off the juice frrom the mixed vegetables or the peppercinis which made this pretty spicy. Didn't stop my husband from eating it though. I took it to Bible study and didn;t bring home any left overs. I will diffently be making this again
