Chef Tom fires up the Yoder Smokers YS640s Pellet Grill for Chicago Style Italian Beef Sandwich, smoke-roasted on the grill, sliced thin and topped with scratch-made Giardiniera and dipped in rich beef jus!
WHAT YOU'LL LOVE
- Roasting the mirepoix and bones before adding the meat: Browning the beef bones, onions, carrots, and celery in the tomato paste first builds a deep, roasted flavor base for the jus before the eye of round ever goes into the pan.
- Deglazing with red wine before adding stock: Wine lifts the fond stuck to the bottom of the roasting pan, so the beef stock added afterward builds on those concentrated drippings instead of just diluting them.
- Chilling the roast before slicing: Letting the cooked eye of round rest fully in the refrigerator firms it up enough to slice paper-thin on a meat slicer — slicing it warm would tear the meat instead of producing clean, even slices.
- Brining the giardiniera vegetables before pickling them: Salting the diced vegetables overnight draws out excess moisture, so the finished giardiniera stays crisp in the jar instead of turning watery and diluting the vinegar brine.
Chicago Style Italian Beef Sandwich
Tom Jackson
Rated 4.8 stars by 6 users
Category
Entree
Cuisine
American
Servings
20
Prep Time
20 minutes
Cook Time
3 hours 35 minutes
Calories
956
Tantalize your taste buds with this delicious Chicago-style Italian beef sandwich! Our chef Tom smokes-roasts them on Yoder Smokers' YS640s Pellet Grill for maximum flavor, then adds the perfect toppings: hand-made Giardiniera and flavorful beef jus.
Ingredients
- 1 1/2 lb beef bones
- 4 cups yellow onion, large dice
- 2 cups carrots, large dice
- 2 cups celery, large dice
- 6 cloves garlic, smashed
- 1/4 cup tomato paste
- 4 sprigs thyme
- 4 sprigs rosemary
-
2 tbsp Jacobsen Salt Co. Tellicherry Black Peppercorns, whole
-
1/4 cup Cattleman’s Grill Italiano Seasoning
-
1/4 cup Yoder Smokers Beef Rub
- 1 cup dry red wine
- 1 5 lb Creekstone Farms Prime Eye of Round Roast
-
2 tbsp worcestershire sauce
- 3 quarts beef stock
- French bread sandwich rolls
- 1 cup serrano peppers, small dice
- 1 cup cauliflower, small dice
- 1/2 cup red bell pepper, small dice
- 1/2 cup carrot, small dice
- 1/2 cup celery, small dice
-
1/2 cup Jacobsen Salt Co. Kosher Sea Salt
- 1/2 cup sport peppers, small dice
- 1/2 cup green olives, small dice
- 4 cloves garlic, minced
- 1 tbsp red pepper flakes
- 1 1/2 tsp dried oregano
- 1/2 tsp celery seeds
-
Jacobsen Salt Co. Tellicherry Black Peppercorns, fresh ground, to taste
- 1 cup white vinegar
-
3/4 cup extra virgin olive oil
-
1/4 cup Colonial Chile Oil
- 1 green bell pepper
- 1 red bell peppers
For the Beef Roast & Jus:
For the Chicago Giardiniera (Hot Peppers):
For the Sweet Peppers
Directions
- To make the Chicago Giardiniera, combine the Serranos, cauliflower, red bell, carrot and celery in a small container. Add the 1/2 cup salt and toss to coat. Cover and let brine in the refrigerator overnight. The next day, rinse the veggies and discard any collected water. Place the veggies in a mixing bowl and add the sport peppers, green olives, garlic, red pepper flakes, oregano, celery seeds and fresh cracked black pepper. Toss well. Transfer to a quart sized mason jar. Add the vinegar and oils. Store in the refrigerator. Best after 2-3 days of sitting.
- To make the sweet peppers, roast the peppers over direct high heat (425ºF+) in the grill until blackened on all sides. Transfer to a container with a lid or zip-top plastic bag and let steak for about 10 minutes. Remove from the container. Remove the blackened skins and seeds and discard. Dice the flesh. Store in refrigerator until ready to use.
- Preheat your Yoder Smokers YS640s Pellet Grill to 425ºF set up for indirect grilling.
- Combine the quarter cup Cattleman’s Grill Italiano Seasoning and quarter cup Yoder Smokers Beef Rub in a small container and mix well.
- Combine the beef bones, onions, carrots, celery, garlic, fresh herbs, black peppercorns and tomato paste in a roasting pan, and mix by hand to coat all ingredients in the tomato paste. Season the mixture with three tablespoons of the seasoning mixture.
- Place the roasting pan on the main cooking grate of the grill and roast until the veggies begin to brown and soften, about 30 minutes.
- Trim the eye of round roast to about one quarter inch fat cap, where applicable. Remove any visible silver skin. Coat the surface of the roast in worcestershire sauce. Season with the remaining five tablespoons of the seasoning mixture.
- Deglaze the pan with the red wine, scraping up the fond from the bottom of the pan with a wooden spoon. Stir the veggies, distributing evenly, then place the eye of round roast on top of the veggies, in the center of the pan. Add the fresh thyme and rosemary, then pour in the beef stock.
Roast the beef until it reaches an internal temperature of 120ºF-125ºF, about 3 hours.
- Remove the roast from the pan. Transfer to the refrigerator to chill.
- Strain the liquid from the pan and discard the solids. Store the liquid in the refrigerator until ready to serve.
- When the beef is fully chilled. Slice very thin, preferably on a meat slicer. Reheat the liquid until just below a simmer.
- To build the sandwich, dip a portion of thin sliced beef into the hot liquid, then place directly inside the split French roll. To serve the sandwich “wet” dip the entire sandwich in the hot beef broth. Top with your choice of sweet or hot (giardiniera) peppers.
Recipe Note
Recipe FAQ
Why roast the bones and vegetables in tomato paste before adding the beef?
Browning the bones, onions, carrots, and celery in tomato paste first builds a deep, roasted flavor base for the jus. Adding the beef straight into an unbrowned pan would skip that foundational layer of flavor.
Why deglaze with red wine before adding the beef stock?
Wine lifts the browned fond stuck to the pan into the liquid first. Pouring in stock afterward builds on that concentrated flavor instead of just diluting fond that's still stuck to the pan.
Why chill the roast before slicing it instead of slicing it warm?
Chilling firms up the meat enough to slice paper-thin on a meat slicer. Slicing it warm would tear the roast into ragged pieces instead of clean, even slices.
Why salt-brine the giardiniera vegetables overnight before pickling them?
Salting draws excess moisture out of the diced vegetables. Skipping this step would leave extra water in the jar, diluting the vinegar brine and leaving the giardiniera softer instead of crisp.
What internal temperature should the eye of round roast actually reach?
This recipe pulls it at 120-125°F, a rare finish. As a whole-muscle cut of beef, this is safe and standard practice — there's no minimum cook temperature requirement the way there is for ground meat.
Why dip the sandwich in the hot beef broth before serving it "wet"?
Dipping the bread briefly in the hot jus lets it soak up flavor and moisture without falling apart, giving the sandwich the classic juicy texture Chicago Italian beef is known for.
How indoor-friendly is this recipe?
3 out of 5 — the roast, jus, and giardiniera can all be made in a regular oven and stovetop; the pellet grill mainly adds a bit of smoke flavor to the roast and roasted vegetables.
Recipe Highlights
Roasted mirepoix base: Builds deep flavor into the jus before the beef is added.
Wine deglaze: Lifts pan fond into the stock instead of leaving it behind.
Chill-then-slice method: Produces clean, paper-thin slices for the sandwich.
Salt-brined giardiniera: Keeps the pickled vegetables crisp instead of watery.
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Nutrition
Nutrition
- Nutrition Serving Size
- 7.55 oz
- per serving
- Calories
- 956
- Carbs
- 59 grams
- Protein
- 104 grams
- Fat
- 31 grams
- Sodium
- 1302 milligrams
