3-Ingredient Crock Pot Italian Beef

This dish is all about elevating the flavor of the beef. The magic is in the method.

Italian beef is most often my go-to when I choose to take a meal to a family. I’ve found this to be a bullet-proof recipe, and it makes enough to feed my family and theirs so I don’t have to cook twice. Yes and amen!

The beef is warming, filling, and deeply comforting. Knowing that I am gifting that to someone brings me such joy! Inevitably, I get asked what the recipe is and find my recipient delighted that it’s so simple! 

The most important part of this recipe is to get a good sear on the meat. This will take 4-5 minutes per side.

Then, when you are done searing the meat, you’ll add beef broth to the pan to deglaze it. The sear and added flavor of the tasty bits on the bottom of the pan do something magical to the meat when combined with the vinegary bite of pepperoncinis!

3-Ingredient Crock Pot Italian Beef

Recipe by Elizabeth SwetsCourse: Main DishesCuisine: Italian

Servings

6

servings

Prep time

12

minutes

Cook Time

6-8

hours

This beef is warming, filling, and deeply comforting.

Ingredients

• 2 tablespoons olive oil

• 2.5-3 lb chuck roast

• 1/3 can sliced pepperoncini peppers with the juice

• 1 cup beef broth

• Salt and pepper

Directions

• Add olive oil to the bottom of a cast iron skillet or Dutch oven and place over high heat.
• Pat each side of the roast dry with a paper towel and season both sides liberally with salt.
• Place meat in hot pan and let sear. It usually takes about 4-5 minutes of searing per side to get good color.
• Remove meat and place in slow cooker. Add a generous amount of cracked pepper.
• Turn the heat to low on your pan and add the beef broth. Scrape all the flavor bits off the bottom of the pan with a wooden spoon.
• Once your broth has reduced to about 1/2 a cup, add the broth to the slow cooker.
• Add pepperoncinis to the slow cooker with the meat.
• Let meat cook on low for 6-8 hours or until its falling apart.
• Taste for salt and pepper.
• Serve on French rolls (or a gluten free alternative*) with au jus on the side.

Recipe Video

Notes

• Store bought gluten free rolls can tend to be dense, so I will usually take sliced gluten free bread (or sourdough if you can tolerate it) and cube it, place them on a tray, drizzle with olive oil, and bake at 350 degrees for about 10 minutes to make croutons. Then I place the croutons on top of my beef when serving. You still get the satisfaction of bread with the meat, but with no gluten and an added crunch!