Italian Beef

Do you ever have a craving that hits you out of nowhere? This feeling happened to me last month. Out of the blue, I remembered a delicious dish that I had eaten at a friend’s house in high school. I knew that my mom had gotten the recipe from his parents, and that the star of the dish was a jar of peppers. I remembered very little else about it, other than it being delicious. I instantly texted my mom, and luckily, she still had the recipe. However, I was surprised the recipe only included a processed seasoning packet, a jar of pepperoncini peppers, the beef, and some water. I decided to take the base of that recipe, but take my own spin on the seasonings and added flavors. This dish has been a huge hit, and Cole has already requested that I make it frequently. This is a little shocking considering he usually doesn’t love dishes that aren’t poultry centered. I’m very happy to add this easy slow cooker recipe into the rotation of dishes I make often. As an added bonus, this recipe makes a lot of food! It is definitely something I would consider feeding to a crowd if I have a lot of company in my household for dinner or lunch. 

Ingredients

3-4 lb Rump Roast

3 cups Water

16 oz jar Pepperoncini Peppers – liquid included

1 tbsp Sugar

1 tsp Salt

1 tsp Black Pepper

1 tbsp Dried Parsley

2 heaping tsp Minced Garlic

½ Yellow Onion

2 tsp Soy Sauce

Directions

1. Pour all the liquid from the pepperoncini jar into the bottom of the slow cooker. Then slice the tops off each pepper, throwing the stems away. This process will allow more of the flavors from the inside of the peppers to escape into the meat while it is cooking. 

2. Chop the onion in half and then into slices. 

3. Place the roast (fat side up) in the slow cooker and dump the onion slices and peppers all around it. 

4. Pour in the water and soy sauce, and sprinkle the seasonings, dividing them among both the meat and the liquid. 

5. Cook on high for 2 ½ hours, then turn down to low and cook for another 3 ½ hours. 

6. Break the roast in half to allow the middle portion to be immersed in the liquid. Turn the slow cooker down to warm and let it rest for an hour.

7. Remove the roast from the pot, throw out the fatty chucks and shred the rest into small tender pieces. 

8. Remove ¾ of the liquid that is in the slow cooker before placing the shredded meat back into the pot. Soak the shredded meat in the warm slow cooker for another 20 minutes before serving. 

This dish can be eaten two different ways – on a hoagie as a sandwich, or just the meat by itself. Cole and I have tried it both ways and enjoyed them equally. If you are looking to feed a larger group, I recommend serving this as a sandwich so that the meat will spread out throughout the crowd more and you don’t need as many sides. If you are serving a smaller group, keep in mind that this dish can be frozen for future meals too!