Easy Instant Pot French Dip

These Instant Pot French Dip sandwiches are loaded with tender, juicy, shredded beef that cooks in just about 90 minutes from start to finish! This one will quickly earn a spot in your monthly family dinner rotation!

You Will Love These

• These sandwiches are amazing. Seriously – the beef just falls apart it’s so tender and juicy. And the instant pot does all the work for you in a relatively short amount of time! Start dinner around 4pm and you’ll be eating by 530-6! And do you know what else you can do in that time? Throw together the most perfect Baked Fries ever to serve alongside these shredded beef sandwiches.
• If you’re new to the instant pot, this is a simple, easy recipe that would be great for your first try! You get some practice using the sauté function, you can test out the manual setting AND get to see how the natural release work – which, spoiler alert, is pretty underwhelming! The steam just slowly escapes. But it’s great for keeping the meat juicy! If you’re ready to try more instant pot recipes be sure to check out my Instant Pot Pulled Pork or 20 Minute Instant Pot Taco Soup!
• If you don’t have an instant pot, fear not! You can use a slow cooker instead! I would recommend still searing the roast in oil and sautéing the onion and garlic in a pot on the stove. But other than that, the process is pretty much the same. Add the seared roast, sautéed onion and garlic, broth, Worcestershire, thyme, oregano, and salt and pepper to a crockpot and set on high for 4-6 hours (or on low for 8-10 hours) or until the beef shreds easily.

Ingredients and Substitutions

• Olive Oil — I like a good olive oil, but we’re just searing the roast, here, not eating the oil raw, so you can use your favorite cooking oil or whatever you have on-hand.
• Chuck Roast — You can use a chuck roast or a rump roast for a good French dip. Basically, you want a good hunk of beef with white marbling throughout. Bone in or boneless will work well!
• Yellow Onion — Yellow onions add a nice sweetness, but white onions will add a similar flavor if that’s all you have on hand.
• Garlic — No need to mince the garlic in this recipe, just smash it to release some flavor. If you don’t have fresh garlic on hand, you can use garlic powder instead.
• Beef Broth — Remember that broth is essentially flavored water that just adds flavor to a recipe where water would … well, water it down. If you don’t have beef broth (or just don’t have enough) you can substitute with another kind (veggie would be best here). Warning: There are other options (red wine, beer, soy sauce, etc.) if you Google “beef broth substitute,” but those are generally for replacing a smaller amount of broth. Don’t pour 32 ounces of soy sauce into your instant pot French dip if you forgot to get beef broth!
• Worcestershire Sauce — Worcestershire has a pretty distinct flavor, but if you’re out you can mix in ¼ cup of soy sauce instead.
• Thyme and Oregano — I love the layers of flavor that dried oregano and dried thyme bring to this dish. If you’re out of one you can just double the other. Skip the packet of onion soup mix for this recipe – you can make a delicious French dip recipe from scratch with a few simple ingredients! Feel free to add a couple bay leaves if you’ve got them on hand as well – they’ll really boost for the herb flavors.

Instructions

Heat oil in the instant pot set to the sauté function. Season roast on all sides with salt and pepper.

Sear roast, cooking for about 2-3 minutes on each side or until a dark golden brown crust forms on all sides. Set roast aside.

Keeping the instant pot on the saute function, add onion and garlic along with a large pinch of salt and pepper and cook for 4 minutes, stirring frequently.

Add a splash of beef broth to the pot and deglaze the pan, scraping all the yummy bits off the bottom of the pot with a wooden spoon.

Add beef roast back to the instant pot.

Add beef broth, Worcestershire, thyme, oregano and a couple large pinches of salt and pepper to the instant pot.

Seal the instant pot lid making the sure the valve is sealed and pressure cook for 75 minutes using the manual setting. Let the instant pot naturally release. Shred beef with two forks.

Fill sliced French baguette with shredded beef and provolone or Swiss cheese, then broil to melt the cheese and enjoy!

Use a fine mesh strainer to strain cooking liquid from the instant pot and serve with French dip sandwiches. Drizzle sandwiches with horseradish sauce and garnish with fresh parsley if desired.

Tips

• Don’t skip the sear! The sear is really going to add another layer of flavor to the meat and help it to lock in all the juices and keep it moist. It’s so convenient that the instant pot has the sauté function built right in so instead of dirtying another dish and firing up the stove, you can sauté the roast right in the instant pot! Trust me, it’s worth the extra few minutes.
• It can be tempting to just use the quick release setting when you’re finished cooking the beef. I urge you not to, however! The natural release setting is going to slowly allow the pressure to reduce and the steam to escape. This will ensure that the meat stays tender and juicy and doesn’t dry out. The quick release setting is going to allow the steam to escape quickly and along with the steam will go all of the juices leaving you with a dried out roast!
• You can also cook a larger roast – say 3-4 pounds – using this recipe too! You’ll just need to increase the pressure cooking time. I’d recommend for a 3-4 pound roast cooking for 90 minutes and then testing to see if it’s tender. If it’s not, just seal it up again and cook for another 15-20 minutes.
• If you want to take the flavors up a notch, try spreading butter on your baguette and giving it a quick toast in the oven before adding the cheese and meat.

Make-Ahead, Storage, Freezing, and Reheating

• Make-Ahead: This shredded beef can be made up to a week in advance which is what makes it one of my favorite recipes!
• Storage: Store leftover shredded beef in an airtight container in the fridge for up to 7 days. Store the cooking liquid with the shredded beef.
• Freezing: Store leftovers in the freezer an airtight container for up to 2 months. Freeze the cooking liquid with the shredded beef. Thaw overnight in the fridge before reheating.
• Reheating: Reheat shredded beef in a large sauté pan over medium heat, stirring occasionally until warmed through.

FAQ

More easy family dinners to try!