When I visit home, one of my favorite comfort foods is Open-Faced Roast Beef Sandwiches. This crowd pleaser is made with just a few ingredients that provide layers of flavor and texture. The roast beef is made in a slow cooker for an easy hands-off recipe with minimal prep. It comes out hot, juicy, and perfectly tender!
Easy Open Faced Sandwiches
Brace yourself: I am about to blow your mind with this delicious Open-Faced Roast Beef Sandwich recipe! Crusty bread is topped with creamy mashed potatoes, slow cooker roast beef, and a sprinkling of cheese and au jus.
These hot open faced sandwiches make the perfect lunch or dinner. Be sure to save any leftovers because you’ll want to eat these over and over again!
Why You’ll Love Open Faced Roast Beef Sandwiches:
- Set it and forget it: Cook the roast beef in a slow cooker and walk away. So easy!
- The flavors are amazing: The two seasoning packets that cook with the beef add so many layers of complex flavors. Everyone will want your recipe!
- It’s make-ahead friendly: You can fix all of the elements in advance and simply reheat when you’re ready to eat!
What is an open faced sandwich?
An open faced sandwich is a slice of bread topped with meat and other ingredients/toppings. It’s like a sandwich but without the top slice of bread!
Much like this one, they’re usually quite hearty and filled with enough ingredients that you wouldn’t be able to eat it like a sandwich anyways. You’ll definitely want to use a fork and knife to eat this hot roast beef sandwich!
How to Make Open-Faced Roast Beef Sandwiches
You can jump to the recipe card for full ingredients & instructions!
- Spray a slow cooker with nonstick spray and add in the beef, the au jus mix, and dry salad dressing.
- Pour in the broth and let the slow cooker work its magic.
- Shred the slow cooked roast beef and save the juices.
- Prepare the mashed potatoes and toast the bread.
- Top the toasted bread with the mashed potatoes followed by the beef, au jus, and cheese.
Flavorful Slow Cooker Roast Beef
It’s so easy to make this wonderfully flavorful roast beef in a slow cooker. It’s such a great way to cook the meat with minimal effort. This method means it will get super juicy and tender, so it will be absolutely perfect for open faced sandwiches.
The beef, au jus and dressing mixes go into the cooker and a few hours later, you’ll have melt-in-your-mouth tender beef with a spectacular broth. As an added bonus, any leftovers can be used for beef au jus sandwiches!
Can you make these Open-Faced Roast Beef Sandwiches ahead of time?
The sandwiches are best served as soon as they are made so that the bread doesn’t get soggy. However, you can easily make all of the components ahead of time, then assemble and reheat when you’re ready to eat.
These sandwiches are the perfect choice for when you have a busy day planned and a rushed lunch or dinner is inevitable.
- Beef: The roast beef can be made in the slow cooker up to four days in advance, and kept in the fridge in an airtight container. Store the au jus separately.
- Mashed potatoes: Use my make-ahead mashed potato recipe that can be made two days in advance.
- Bread: You can even pre-toast the bread! Keep it in an airtight container for up to four days.
Serving Suggestions
These hot roast beef sandwiches are a pretty hearty dish on their own. Piled up with mashed potatoes, slow cooked beef, cheese, and au jus sauce, you have a full meal here. But you could serve up extra mashed potatoes on the side, make some potato wedges, add some baked beans, or add some spicy broccoli to get your veggies in.
I recommend using chuck or rump roast for this recipe. Since you’re slow cooking the beef, you want a fairly tough cut that will soften without falling apart. After a few hours in the crock pot, it will be perfectly tender.
I love gruyere for these sandwiches! It tastes amazing melted over the beef and slathered with au jus. But you could also use swiss cheese, or any cheese you really love.
Use these make ahead mashed potatoes if you want to prep ahead of time. Or else you can try these easy boiled mashed potatoes, or store-bought/pre-made potatoes.
Cooking the beef in a crock pot will take about 6-8 hours on HIGH, or until it’s tender and easy to shred.
Absolutely! These open faced sandwiches are mouth-wateringly delicious when served hot, but they taste great cold too. Especially if you’re eating leftovers for lunch the next day!
How do you slice the beef for these sandwiches?
Slice the beef into relatively thin slices. It’s easiest to cut the beef after it has been refrigerated for some time, but that isn’t necessary if you want to eat the sandwiches right away.
For this recipe, we cut the beef while it’s still warm. If the roast beef is extra well-done, it might be easier to shred it with two forks! Since you’re eating this meal with a fork, it doesn’t have to be in neat slices.
I just know you are going to gobble up these savory Open-Faced Roast Beef sandwiches!
Tips!
- Be sure to spray the slow cooker with nonstick spray before adding the other ingredients.
- The beef is the star of the show, so use the best quality you can. You won’t regret it!
- Use a thick, crusty, hearty bread to make sure it holds up under all those ingredients.
- Don’t assemble the sandwiches until right before serving, or else the juices will cause soggy bread.
- If you have leftovers, store ingredients (beef, potatoes, au jus) in separate airtight containers, and keep in the fridge for 3-4 days.
Nothing is more delicious than tender slow cooked roast beef, creamy mashed potatoes, and cheese piled onto a hot open faced sandwich. I love the way the bread sops up the au jus!
More Slow Cooker Recipes We Love
- Crockpot Buffalo Chicken Sandwiches
- Crockpot BBQ Pork Sandwiches
- Slow Cooker Stuffed Peppers
- Crockpot Beef Carnitas
These open faced roast beef sandwiches are perfectly hot and delicious! And slow cooking the roast beef means it’s super juicy and tender. Serve these up for lunch or dinner, and everyone will be happy!
More Beef Sandwiches to Try
- Slow Cooker Italian Beef Sandwiches
- Reuben Sandwiches
- Meatball Subs
- Maid Rite Sandwiches
- Philly Cheesesteaks
- Crockpot French Dip Sandwiches
If you make this recipe be sure to upload a photo in the comment section below or leave a rating. Enjoy! You can also jump to recipe.
Open-Faced Roast Beef Sandwiches
Ingredients
- 5 lbs. beef roast such as chuck, or rump
- 2 packages au jus seasoning mix 2 ounces each
- 2 packages dry Italian salad dressing mix 2 ounces each
- 32 ounces beef broth homemade or packaged
- 4-6 slices bread thick and crusty, such as Texas Toast
- mashed potatoes (See Note 1)
- 1/2 cup gruyere cheese shredded
Instructions
- Spray slow cooker with nonstick spray. Place the beef roast inside and sprinkle with the four packets of seasoning.
- Pour Beef Broth over the roast.
- Cook on high for 6-8 hours or until tender.
- When cooked, strain the broth into a bowl and reserve.
- Shred or slice the beef into small bite-sized sections. Discard away any fat and gristle.
- Prepare the mashed potatoes. (See Note 1.)
- Toast the bread. For extra-thick slices, broil for 2-4 minutes until golden.
- Assemble the open-faced sandwiches by placing the toasted bread on a plate and topping it with mashed potatoes. Add a generous portion of the shredded/sliced beef. Drizzle a couple of spoonfuls of the reserved au jus over the meat and sprinkle with gruyere cheese.
- Serve with a knife and fork. Enjoy!
Last step! Don’t forget to show me a pic of what you made! Upload an image or tag me @thecookierookie on Instagram!
Becky’s tips
- Use my recipe for make-ahead mashed potatoes, cook up your own, or buy prepared mashed potatoes at the store.
- Be sure to spray the slow cooker with nonstick spray before adding the other ingredients.
- The beef is the star of the show, so use the best quality you can. You won’t regret it!
- Don’t assemble the sandwiches until right before serving–the juices will make the toast soggy.
Nutrition Information
Recipe specifies to cook on HIGH 6-8 hours. Is a LOW setting for a longer period of time (if so how long) not recommended & if so, is it because the meat will be too dry? I’m out of the house for 9 hours a day during the week so 6-8 hrs does not work since my crockpot does not have the delayed cooking option. Recipe still looks amazing & I definitely going to try.
Low for 9 hours should work!
Wow! I could almost read the recipe. I was hoping maybe you could cram some more crap on this page so that there were 0 pixels with the actual recipe. Absolute deumoster fire.
Hi! As you can see in the picture, there is a “jump to recipe” button that will take you directly to the recipe card! Hope that helps!
I tried to update my post because it was a really good recipe and I honestly don’t want to hurt your business with a bad review.
But man, the site is frustrating. I found that button and it took me to the attached view. There is roughly 15% of the screen available for reading.
Feel free to delete my original comment to up your rating.
I’m sorry for your frustration! The “jump to recipe” button does take you to a place just above the recipe card, so you do have to scroll just a little bit more to get there. Once at the recipe card, you can print or save it so that you have an ad-free version for next time!!
If I wanted to use an instapot instead of a slow cooker would it work as well?
I think so! I would probably do 1½-2 hours on the stew function.
Would you mind sharing your favorite brand names of Italian seasoning packets as well as you au jus packets? I’d love to try the exact ones you use if possible.
I use ones that I find at my local supermarket so the brand may not be where you are! All are great!
Looks amazing I can’t wait to try
Thanks Shirley!
I am making this right now! One question… shouldn’t the meat be fully covered with fluids? I’m using a serloin roast and its only about half submursed in the broth. Should I add water, if so how much? Thanks!
Hey Caitlin, yes you could either add more water or more broth so that its covered. Hope that helps! Thanks so much for stopping by!
I’m making this recipe right now. You mention a “box” of beef broth, but not a size. Is it one of the big boxes (32oz) or the smaller size like from Swansons?
Hey Jeanette,
I use the 32 oz. box of broth. Thank you for trying one of our recipes and please let us know if you have further questions. Susie (Becky’s mom).