Portillo's-Style Italian Beef That Spends the Day Getting Tender

It is 9:15 on a Sunday morning and you are about to do something slow and slightly shameless to a chuck roast: nothing at all, for most of the day. This italian beef recipe is the long-term relationship of sandwiches, and by dinner the whole apartment smells like garlic and whoever you invite over will assume you have been planning this seduction for weeks.

Five minutes of work, a lot of waiting, and then you pile it high.

It is a Portillo's-style sandwich, which means inspired by the Chicago beef stands and not their recipe: salty, garlicky shredded beef soaked in its own jus, tucked into a roll, topped with giardiniera and dunked. SwipeCart has no connection to Portillo's, and we have nothing but respect for the original. This is just the version you can make at home while the day does whatever it was going to do anyway.

How to make it

1. Mince 6 garlic cloves and slice 8 pepperoncini, setting both aside (about 5 minutes).
2. Season 3 lb beef chuck roast on all sides with 1.5 tsp salt, 1 tsp black pepper, 2 tbsp italian seasoning, and 1 tsp onion powder.
3. Place the roast in a slow cooker or Dutch oven with 3 cups beef broth, the minced garlic, and sliced pepperoncini.
4. Cook on low for 6 to 7 hours (or covered in a 325 F oven for about 3.5 hours) until the beef shreds easily with two forks.
5. Shred the beef in the cooking liquid, then keep it warm in the juices so every bite stays soaked.
6. Split 6 sub rolls, pile high with the shredded beef, top each with some of the 1 cup giardiniera, and dunk the sandwich briefly in the remaining jus before serving.

Notes

Cooked leftovers keep three to four days refrigerated, per USDA FSIS. Store the beef in its jus, not dry, because the liquid is what keeps day-two sandwiches from tasting like roast beef that gave up.

It improves overnight, in the sense that the garlic and pepperoncini settle into the meat and the jus gets a little more savory. Reheat it gently in a saucepan with the juices rather than in a dry pan, and pile it onto fresh rolls rather than the ones that already got dunked.

It freezes fine in the jus. Thaw it in the fridge, warm it slowly, and the texture is close to what you started with.

The method gives you two routes: low in a slow cooker for 6 to 7 hours, or covered in a 325 F oven for about 3.5 hours in a Dutch oven. This italian beef recipe lets you pick by what the day looks like. The slow cooker is the one you can leave while you go out, and the oven is the one for when dinner is at six and you only remembered at noon.

The beef is done when two forks pull it apart without an argument.

Salt is already built in at one and a half teaspoons, along with the salty pepperoncini and the giardiniera, so taste the jus before you add anything. Chances are it is exactly where it should be.

Swaps that actually work

The chuck roast is the point. It is a cut with enough fat and connective tissue to turn soft and shreddable over hours, which is why it earns the long cook. If you swap it, swap for another braising cut of beef, and expect the time to move with it.

The sub rolls matter more than they look. You want something sturdy with a crust, because a soft roll will collapse under a dunk and turn into wet bread before you reach the middle. Hoagie or French-style rolls both do the job. Toast them lightly if yours are on the soft side.

If the pepperoncini are not your thing, you can leave the sliced peppers out of the pot and let the giardiniera carry the heat on top. The sandwich will be less tangy through the middle, and that is the price. Going the other way, a spoonful of the pepperoncini brine in the jus adds punch without adding anything new to the cart.

Giardiniera comes in mild and hot. Mild is the easier call for a table with mixed company, hot is for someone who likes being a little tested. Put the jar on the table and let people top their own, which is also a fine way to find out who at dinner enjoys a risk.

The swap that costs you the dish is skipping the dunk. Without it you have shredded roast on a roll, which is a decent sandwich and not this one.

If it goes wrong

The beef is tough and will not shred. It has not had long enough, or the heat is too low for your cooker. Put the lid back on, give it another thirty minutes to an hour in the liquid, and test again with two forks.

The sandwich falls apart in your hands. The roll was too soft for the dunk. Dunk briefly, as the method says, not a long soak, and next time toast the cut sides first or reach for a sturdier roll.

The jus tastes flat. Taste it before the sandwiches are built. If it is thin, simmer it uncovered for a few minutes to concentrate it, and if it needs lift, a splash of the pepperoncini brine will wake it up. Check the salt only after that.

It is greasy. Chuck roast carries fat. Skim the surface of the jus with a spoon before you dunk, then stir the shredded beef back through what is underneath.

What to serve with it

With this italian beef recipe, the default is nothing at all, because a sandwich this wet deserves your full attention and a napkin or four. Put a plate under it and lean forward.

The better version of the default is something cold and crisp next to it: a bowl of plain salted cucumbers, or a green salad with a sharp vinegar dressing. The sandwich is rich and soft, and a crunchy sour side resets your palate between bites.

The thing in the fridge that lifts it is a little extra giardiniera and a small cup of hot jus on the side, so each person can dunk on their own terms.

It works as lunch the next day, built from fresh rolls and beef warmed in its juices. It does not work cold, so give it a few minutes in the pan.

Why this one earns its place

This italian beef recipe is the dish for when you want to look like you tried hard and mostly did not. The work is in the first five minutes and the last five, and everything in between is the oven or the slow cooker doing it for you. That is a good trade on a day you would rather spend on something else.

It also feeds six without a single person being asked to compromise. A big pile of beef in the middle of the table makes a sandwich night feel like an occasion. If you swipe it into your week, SwipeCart's agent can shop the cart, and your only job on Sunday morning is to season a roast and close the lid.

If you cook it once, you will probably want a plan for the leftovers, and meal prep for the week is where that starts. For another slow, soaked-in-sauce beef dish that rewards patience, try birria tacos. And when the question at 5:30 is what to make, what's for dinner tonight gets you from a blank fridge to a decision.

More like this: all American recipes in Crave Corner.