Slow Cooker Italian Beef

Name: Slow Cooker Italian Beef
Prep time: 5 min
Cook time: 480 min
Total time: 485 min
Yield: 6 -8
Ingredients: 3-4 pound boneless beef chuck roast; 16 ounces (2 liquid cups) organic low sodium beef stock; 3/4 cup jarred pepperoncinis (plus their juice (I used sliced, but whole pepperoncini will work, too)); 2 Tablespoons dried Italian seasoning; 1/2 teaspoon kosher or sea salt; 1/2 teaspoon ground black pepper

Oct 27, 2014 · 46 Comments

Slow cooker Italian beef is a one pot meal that’s so easy to make, you’ll put the ingredients into your slow cooker and forget about it…until the incredible aroma calls you back to the kitchen!

Disclosure: I partnered with Collective Bias and Pick ‘n Save to bring you this recipe. I was compensated for my work, but all thoughts and opinions are my own.

My slow cooker Italian beef recipe was created with one-pot convenience in mind.

It starts with a budget-friendly beef chuck roast. It’s a cut of meat that has a good deal of cartilage in it, so it tastes best when it’s cooked low and slow to melt away that fat and produce lots of flavor. In other words, it’s the perfect cut to make in a slow cooker or to send for a long stint in a Dutch oven.

Making recipe is truly the easiest thing ever. Just put your roast into a slow cooker or Dutch oven. Cover with beef stock, a few spices, and a half of a jar of pepperoncinis. Ohhhh, how I adore those yellow, mildly spicy peppers. FOOD FACT: Pepperoncini are also known as banana peppers. They’re delicious sprinkled on the top of my slow cooker BBQ sticky rice.

After you’ve set the slow cooker to go for about 8 hours on low heat, you can get outside and enjoy the Fall weather, head off to help your kids with their homework, do a little yard work, or just hang out and forget about it. After the meat’s ready to be shredded, the aroma of the chuck roast will lead you back into the kitchen.

Now SHRED IT!

Take 2 forks and pull apart the meat, then you can pile it onto buns, eat, drink, and be happy. Serve up the juices in the cooker to use as an au jus dipping sauce. Yum!

OR, just transfer the beef and all of the juices to the refrigerator. Leave them there overnight and in the morning you’ll see a layer of white, hardened fat at the top of the container. Use a spoon to skim it off and you’ve just saved yourself about 4 grams of fat and 100 calories per serving from the meal. You’re welcome 🙂 Separate the meat from the juices (I used a colander to do it) and reheat everything. If you’re having a game day party, you can even put everything back into the slow cooker and reheat it there. People can serve themselves right from the slow cooker. Are you in love with the ease of this dish yet?

Another convenient part of this meal is its versatility. You can pile it onto buttered and toasted buns like I did, put it over mashed potatoes or rice, or if you’re trying to cut back on your intake of carbs, you can toss it with some leafy greens and call it an Italian beef salad. There’s no shame in making healthy eating choices, my friend.

Enjoy your slow cooker Italian beef!