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My Slow Cooker Italian Beef is tender, juicy, and loaded with zesty Italian flavor. The secret’s in the way you sear the beef! This creates melt-in-your-mouth meat perfect for sandwiches or hearty dinners.
A Reader’s Review
This was a delicious meal and required little time to make it. We will make more often now that we know how good it is. We soak the roll in the juice before we add the meat and cheese. Yummy!!
What Makes This So Addicting
- Set It and Forget It. The slow cooker does the work while your kitchen fills with the most incredible, zesty aroma.
- Fall-Apart Tender. Each bite melts in your mouth thanks to rich marbling and that long, low simmer.
- Flavor That Hits Different. Tangy pepperoncini and Italian herbs infuse every strand of beef with bold, crave-worthy flavor.
Slow Cooker Italian Beef Ingredients
- Chuck Roast: Use top round, bottom round, shoulder, or chuck roast, but boneless chuck works best. Its marbling breaks down beautifully for that melt-in-your-mouth texture.
- Shredding: For the best flavor, shred the beef, return it to the crockpot, and heat for 30 minutes so the flavor soaks in completely.
Slow Cooker Italian Beef Recipe
The secret to the best flavor of this Italian Beef recipe is searing the beef. Searing the meat caramelizes the natural sugars and creates a brown crust that is packed with flavor! Don’t skip this step! Then let the slow cooker do its thing!
- Season & Sear Beef Sides: Season the chuck roast with salt and pepper. Heat a large skillet over high heat with the canola oil. Add the roast and sear each side for 2-3 minutes until it forms a golden seared crust.
- Put in Slow Cooker: Place the seared roast in a 5-quart slow cooker.
- Add the beef consommé, Italian dressing mix, garlic powder, Italian seasoning, and pepperoncini to the slow cooker, then top the roast with butter slices.
- Cook on low for 8-10 hours or high for 5-6 hours. Shred the roast with a fork. Serve on hoagies topped with provolone cheese and additional pepperoncini if desired.
Alyssa’s Pro Tip
Drain: Use a slotted spoon to remove the beef from the slow cooker once ready to serve, so it doesn’t make your hoagies soggy.
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Slow Cooker Italian Beef
Ingredients
- 3-4 pounds beef chuck roast
- salt and pepper
- 2 tablespoons canola oil
- 2 cups beef consommé or beef broth
- 1 package dry Italian salad dressing
- 1 teaspoon garlic powder
- 1 tablespoon Italian seasoning
- 1 (12-ounce) jar sliced pepperoncini, drained
- ¼ cup sliced butter
Instructions
- Season 3-4 pounds beef chuck roast with salt and pepper. Heat a large skillet over high heat with 2 tablespoons canola oil. Add the roast and sear each side for 2-3 minutes until it forms a golden seared crust. Place the roast in a 5-quart slow cooker.
- Add 2 cups beef consommé, 1 package dry Italian salad dressing, 1 teaspoon garlic powder, 1 tablespoon Italian seasoning, and 1 (12-ounce) jar sliced pepperoncini, drained, to the slow cooker. Top the roast with ¼ cup sliced butter.
- Cook on low for 8-10 hours or high for 5-6 hours. Shred the roast with a fork. Serve on hoagies topped with provolone cheese and additional pepperoncini if desired.
Video
Notes
- Refrigerate: Store leftover Italian beef with its juices in an airtight container for up to 4–5 days.
- Freeze: Keep beef with some juices in a heavy-duty freezer bag, pressing out excess air. Freeze up to 3 months.
- Reheat: Warm thawed beef in the microwave, on the stovetop, or in the slow cooker until heated through.
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
Different Ways to Serve it Up
This recipe is great for making Italian Beef Sandwiches. But you can serve it over rice or mashed potatoes, stir it into pastas like mac and cheese or garlic mushroom noodles. Here are a few more ideas of what to serve it with.
My husband put a straw in the juice afterwards to drink it , he loved it that much?. It turned out perfect and loved the heat of pepperoncinis in there. We had it in a bowl with shredded white cheese, no bread for us. The flavor is outstanding!! We will definitely have it again this month and possibly many times after.
Best ever. Easy to make and it tastes like the sandwiches I would get back home. Use a good roll that’s soft on the inside with a good crusty outside, it will soak up a lot of juice and still hold up. Or just make the sandwich, pick it up with your tongs and dunk the whole thing in the juice, that’s how it was done at my favorite place in Chicago.
I have been craving a sandwich like this since my favorite Italian beef shop owner died a few years back…this was dangerously close to his legendary mix! Thank you for this, it’s likely the best thing I have ever made and I make a lot of pretty good things 😉
Does it make a difference if you do not sear the meat?
Searing the meat helps it to become tender and it will seal in the flavor.
Very delicious and great for a crowd! Definitely had to leave it in for longer then expected but I still loved it!
Do I need dry Italian? Will it make a big difference with taste?
Hi! I would suggest dry Italian seasoning. What were you thinking of using instead?
Is that 4 Large sandwiches? Im having a party
Of about 20 people do you think doubling would work. I will cut rolls in half so not huge
Yes! I think if you were to put them onto smaller rolls, then I think that doubling it would work!
Have u ever marinated overnight and started it in the morning to save time and maybe add to tenderness?
I haven’t tried that! Let me know if you do and how it turns out!
Add tenderness? The beef is already completely shredded
I just did that a few days ago. Seared the beef and added everything else. Stored in the fridge overnight and put the crockpot on the next morning. Worked perfectly.
Do you add water to the consomme
No, I just use 2 cups of beef consommé (or Beef broth).
This was a delicious meal and required little time to make it. We will make more often now that we know how good it is. We soak the roll in the juice before we add the meat and cheese. Yummy!!
I have never cooked with pepperoncinis, does that make it spicy? If so, can they be eliminated without losing flavor? I cannot have spicy food.
The pepperoncini do add a hint of spice as well as a sweetness. Reducing or eliminating them may help if you don’t want that extra heat.
A bit too spicy for me. Maybe I bought the wrong pepperoncinis. Not bad though.
Can you use a instant pot for any of these recipes. I love your recipes. Thanks
Yes, the instant pot is a great appliance to use too. Let me know how it turns out.
We LOVED this meal! The Recipe Critic is one of my favorite food bloggers and this recipe did not disappoint. I used 2 tsp better than beef boullion and added it to 2c boiling water in lieu of the beef broth. I also added garlic powder to the meat prior to browning. I needed 10 hours for my 2.5lb roast to pull. It was delish!!! We will definitely be adding it to our dinner rotation.
It says not to drain the pepperoncini but then under ingredients it’s says drained. Which is it?! So excited to try this and don’t want to mess it up!!
Thank you for catching that! It is best to drain the pepperoncini. I edited the site to read it better.
I don’t even need to make it as a sandwich (I try to skip the bread) since the flavor is already there, and love the pepperoncinis, thank you
Oh my goodness, my husband and I LOVE big pepperoncinis with pulled pork or any kind of meat! I love the Italian twist on this and he usually does it in the instant pop, we are going to try your method in the slow cooker for sure. Thank you!!