French Dip Sandwiches

I guess I was late to the Instant Pot Party.  Really L.A.T.E.

In fact, I just got to the party this week.  After a couple weeks of staring at it sitting on my counter, looking through the manual and walking over to my Instant Pot and thinking NO WAY, I finally got up the courage to try it.  I made sure our homeowner's insurance was current, I put on an asbestos HazMat suit, and got a frozen roast out of the freezer.

After reading I don't know how many Instant Pot New Users suggestions online, and looking up several thousand Instant Pot recipes, I finally decided to try French Dip Sandwiches as my first attempt.

The main reason I chose to make French Dip Sandwiches was because my son was raving about the French Dip and Philly Cheesesteak Sandwiches he had this week at a restaurant close to where he works.  I wanted to see if I could come up with a reasonable facsimile at home.  

After looking at quite a few recipes, I decided to combine and/or tweak them, and see what came out of the pot!  The result:  REALLY GOOD!  I could not believe how tender and juicy the beef was, and the dipping sauce was yummy!  

I immediately was SOLD on the Instant Pot!  

Here is the recipe:

French Dip Sandwiches:  (very easy to make gluten free)

4 lb. top round roast, thinly sliced (put in the freezer for about 2 hours to make slicing easier)

1 can (14 oz.) beef broth

1 can (10 oz.) French Onion soup 

1 can (10 oz.) beef consommé

1/2 teaspoon garlic powder

1/2 teaspoon salt

8 hoagie rolls, split and toasted  (I used a Schar ciabatta roll for my gluten free sandwich!)

16 slices Provolone cheese, if desired

1.  Spray the removable pot from the Instant Pot lightly with cooking spray.

2.  Place the sliced beef, beef broth, French onion soup, consommé, garlic powder, and salt into the cooking pot.

3.  Place the pot into the Instant Pot base.  Cover and lock.  Make sure the valve is on Seal.

4.  Select the Meat button, and adjust to High Pressure and 15 minutes.

5.  When the timer beeps, turn the Instant Pot off and do a natural release for 10 minutes.

6.  After 10 minutes of natural release, do a quick release to release any remaining pressure.

7.  Remove the meat from the broth.  Strain the broth to remove any fat.

8.  Top each toasted roll with slices of meat and two slices of provolone cheese, if desired.  Serve with small bowls of au jus (broth) for dipping.  

What I learned is, it takes the Instant Pot time to preheat.  So even though you set the timer for 15 minutes, it actually takes about an extra 10 minutes to preheat plus the pressure release time.  So it isn't as fast as I thought it would be, BUT it is still way faster than a slow cooker!  And you can put the meat in FROZEN!  We also liked the texture of the beef much more than we do when it comes out of the slow cooker.  All in all, I loved making dinner this way!