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Made with tender beef piled on a garlic-toasted bun with cheese, and served with a rich au jus, this Instant Pot French Dip recipe creates the ultimate sandwich with only minutes of prep!
Looking for more melt-in-your mouth Instant Pot Beef recipes? Don't miss my recipes for Instant Pot Brisket, Instant Pot Italian Beef, and Instant Pot Short Ribs.
French Dip Made Fast
When it comes to making a tender, juicy, melt-in-your-mouth French Dip Sandwich, nothing is faster (OR easier) than using the Instant Pot to make this classic recipe.
The Instant Pot works its magic to break down the beef in just over an hour to create insanely delicious beef, complete with a nuanced, rich au jus dipping sauce. When that tender beef is piled high on a garlic-toasted bun and smothered in gooey cheese, you have the ultimate French Dip.
With only minutes of prep work for the cook, and rave reviews from the family, Instant Pot French Dip Sandwiches will quickly become a favorite.
Happy Cooking! xo Kristen
Recipe Highlights
Notes on Ingredients
- Beef Roast: A chuck roast is the best type of beef roast to use when making French Dips. The marbling in the beef will render out as the roast pressure cooks, flavoring the au jus and resulting in incredibly tender beef. A bottom-round roast, sirloin roast, or top-round roast will work but will not become as tender as a chuck roast.
- Beef Stock: Use low-sodium beef stock or broth to help control the added sodium in this recipe. There is a lot of liquid in this recipe. Do not be tempted to cut back on the amount used. Not only does it create a delicious dipping sauce for the French Dips, but it also keeps the beef super moist and the cooking time was calculated using the full 4 cups of beef.
- Onion & Garlic: Garlic and onion add to the flavor of the au jus and beef.
- Soy Sauce: Don't be tempted to omit the soy sauce from these French Dip Sandwiches, that extra flavor adds just the right umami flavor.
- For Serving: To make a French Dip Sandwich you need buns and sliced provolone cheese. For the buns, use hoagie or sub rolls for an authentic French Dip, but in a bind use hot dog or hamburger buns. Parenting Tip: Use hot dog buns for smaller appetites!
How to Make Instant Pot French Dip Sandwiches
The following tips are provided to help you achieve perfect results. You will find the ingredient quantities and detailed instructions in the recipe card at the bottom of this post.
Sear the Beef
Searing the chuck roast adds texture to shredded beef, in turn adding texture to the French Dip.
Deglaze the Inner Pot
In order to prevent a burn notice, it is crucial to scrape up any browned bits off the bottom of the inner pot. This is easiest if you remove the roast first, then add in some broth and scrape up those browned bits.
Layer Ingredients
Add the remaining beef stock, sliced onion, garlic, and soy sauce to the inner pot. Nestle the seared beef into the stock.
Pressure Cook with Natural Pressure Release
The amount of time this recipe needs to pressure cook is based on the size of your chuck roast. The beef needs to cook for 20 minutes per pound with a full natural pressure release to stay tender.
Shred Beef
Once pressure has been released, remove the cooked roast from the inner pot, place it in a large mixing bowl, and shred it with two forks. It should fall apart.
Reduce Au Jus
While assembling the French Dips, allow the rich cooking liquid to reduce and intensify in flavor, by turning the Instant Pot to Sauté and letting the liquid simmer.
Assemble French Dips
To prevent the buns from getting soggy, it is best to toast them before layering the beef and cheese on the bun. For added flavor, spread the buns with softened butter. Once toasted, rub the buns with a garlic glove. Layer the toasted buns with the shredded beef and sliced cheese and briefly return to the oven to melt the cheese.
Serving Suggestions
Serve your toasted Instant Pot French Dips with the reduced cooking liquid. I also recommend a side of Oven Baked Fries, Sweet Potato Fries, or Instant Pot Corn on the Cob.
Recipe Modifications
- Gluten-Free French Dip Sandwiches: Use tamari in place of soy sauce and your favorite gluten-free bun. It is best practice to check to ensure your beef stock or beef broth is gluten-free as well, as this can vary from brand to brand.
- Swap Mayo for Butter: For richer results, try swapping out the butter for mayonnaise when toasting the sandwiches.
- Dairy-Free Modification: Use mayonnaise in place of butter for toasting the buns and omit the sliced cheese from the sandwiches.
- Crockpot French Dips: Sear the meat in a heavy-bottomed skillet over high heat on the stove in 1 tablespoon oil. Once seared on all sides, place the roast into the slow cooker with the broth, garlic, onion, and soy sauce. Cook on high for 6-7 hours or low for 9-10 hours. Shred the meat and assemble the sandwiches as the recipe directs.
Recipe FAQs
No! While searing the beef adds flavor and texture to the French Dip, it is not necessary. If you are on a time crunch or your beef is frozen, skip this step.
One of the many reasons I love using my Instant Pot to prepare these French Dips is that it can be made using a frozen chuck roast. To do so, skip searing the meat and cook for 30 minutes per pound, instead of 20 minutes per pound.
Yes! To speed up the cooking time, cut your chuck roast into large 2-inch chunks. Skip searing the beef and cook for 30 minutes on high pressure with a full natural pressure release.
More Instant Pot Recipes Using Chuck Roast
- Instant Pot Pot Roast
- Instant Pot Mississippi Pot Roast
- Instant Pot Italian Beef
- Instant Pot Beef Stew
- Instant Pot Beef Bourguignon
- Instant Pot Beef Barbacoa
Did you make this recipe?
If you enjoyed this recipe, please leave a comment with a 5-star review at the bottom of the post. Thank you!
Instant Pot French Dip Sandwiches
Video
Ingredients
- 3 pound chuck roast
- kosher salt and pepper
- ½ tablespoon olive oil, or canola oil
- 4 cups low-sodium beef broth
- 3 cloves garlic, divided
- 1 small onion, thinly sliced
- 1 tablespoon soy sauce
- 8 hoagie buns
- 1 tablespoon unsalted butter, softened, optional
- 16 slices provolone cheese
Instructions
- Hit Saute on the Instant Pot, add oil, and let heat. While the oil is heating, season the chuck roast liberally on each side with salt and pepper. Once the oil is heated, add the seasoned roast to the inner pot and sear on each side until golden, about 2-4 minutes per side.
- Once the roast is evenly seared, turn the instant pot off by hitting cancel, and remove the roast to a plate. Pour 1 cup of the beef stock into the inner pot and scrape up the browned bits on the bottom of the inner pot.
- Pour in the remaining 3 cups of stock. Add in 2 garlic cloves, sliced onions, and the soy sauce to the pressure cooker. Return the seared beef to the inner pot.
- Place the lid on the pressure cooker and be sure the vent knob is pointed towards sealed. Set to cook on high pressure for 20 minutes per pound. For a 3-pound roast, this is 60 minutes.
- Once the cooking time has elapsed, allow the pressure cooker to naturally release for AT LEAST 10 minutes, but 15-20 minutes is best, before manually releasing pressure.
- Remove the roast from the inner pot, place it into a large mixing bowl, and turn the pressure cooker back to saute. (Hit Cancel/Off THEN Saute). Let the cooking liquid reduce with the instant pot open. so that it intensifies in flavor and reduces slightly. While the au jus simmers, shred the beef with two forks.
- Place the rolls, opened, on a sheet pan. Spread a light layer of butter or drizzle with olive oil. Toast for 5 minutes in a 400℉ oven or carefully and quickly using a broiler until just browned. Remove the rolls from the oven and rub the garlic clove over the inside of the roll.
- Layer meat and 2 slices of cheese on each roll and return to the oven until cheese melts, cooking for about 3 minutes.
- Turn off the saute function on the inner pot. Lade up the au jus into bowls, straining first if desired. Serve with the french dips.
Notes
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
This post was originally published in 2017 but was updated in 2020 with a new video and tips.
These are so good! The beef comes out so tender and the sandwiches are so tasty! Loved it!
Did yoy use 3 whole bulbs of garlic that you divided?
Hi Linda. Yes, I used 2 in the french dip broth and then 1 to rub the toasted bread with 🙂 I hope you enjoy!
I was so excited about the ease of this recipe! But my 4 pound roast came out unable to shred all of it (just the edges), and I used 60 minutes. So I put it back in for 20, still using 15-20 minutes for slow release, and the same happened.
My family loved the taste! But I was really sad that it wasn't shreddable...that's our favorite.
Any thoughts? I followed the recipe EXACTLY....
Hi Sue. If you did a quick release the first time, your meat may have seized up a bit, making it tougher even with the added time. Also, was your roast a chuck roast or another cut of beef? Chuck roasts are the most tender.
I rarely leave comments because I just don’t......but this recipe was EXCELLENT! I only buy meat from our local butcher shop so the roast I used was locally grown and grain free, and I made my own broth using Better Than Bouillon (beef) so I could adjust the flavor better. This was really really good! Thank you for sharing the recipe!
I am so glad you enjoyed Kathleen and thank you for taking the time to comment.
Hi Kristen, this is my first instant pot recipe ! I was a nervous wreck preparing but was so happy when the countdown began. Some questions, when I sear the meat, I adjust the sauté function to “more” right ? Versus less or normal. Also when you say sear on all sides, does that include the sides of the roast too? You mentioned scraping off the brown bits on the bottom. After I added the beef broth and other ingredients, I couldn’t quite see the bottom and ended up lifting my meat slightly, and did my best to scrape off the hard bits. How crucial is it to scrape off all the bits ? Lastly, after cooking time and naturally release have completed, do I need to shred the meat immediately, or can I let the meat sit on “keep warm”? Just wondering if I get busy and can’t get to the shredding right away. Thank you so much Kristen, I appreciate all your help😄.
Hi Erica! I understand your nerves. For searing, yes you adjust to "more." And I do dear all sides of the roast--so that is 6 if you count the ends (but this step is not as crucial.) As long as you don't have a burn notice, you don't need to worry you did not scrape enough off bottom of inner pot. Sometimes I take the meat out and scrape the pot and then put the meat back in, but I bet my lifting meat, you did a pretty sufficient job 😉 As for shredding, feel free to leave on keep warm for as long as you like before shredding. Sometimes, I will shred the meat and put back in instant pot and leave on warm until ready to serve as well--either option works. I hope you enjoy!
Made this last night and everyone loved it, but my stepmom was not so crazy about the Dr. Pepper. Can that be subbed out? I’ve read you can swap sodas for beer or extra stock in shredded meat recipes, would that work for this?
Well, I don't use DR. Pepper, I call for beef broth which I find makes a much more flavorful aus jus. I would try that instead 🙂
This was fantastic! I tried to follow the recipe exactly as written, but my hubby insisted on searing the meat in a cast iron skillet - he layered and rubbed in sea salt, garlic powder and pepper. Also, I didn't have provolone cheese, so I subbed with mozzarella. I WILL be making this again!
I am so glad your husband and you enjoyed! The extra step of searing meat is always a good idea if time persists too--good call there.