The Art of Barbeque
One of my favorite styles of meat is shredded, pulled meat. I love carnitas, shredded chicken, shredded beef, and pulled pork sandwiches. These types of dishes have usually been cooked low and slow, making for a tender and flavorful bite. However, dishes like pulled pork sandwiches used to feel intimidating because there’s such an art to barbeque and smoked meats. I honestly don’t have a lot of experience in that department, so I avoided making barbeque meats for the longest time. But you know what they say: you’ll never know if you never try. So in the spirit of summer barbeques, I finally dipped my toes into creating barbeque sandwiches, and I’m so glad I did. These Slow Cooker BBQ Beef Sandwiches turned out better than expected, and I can’t wait to share them with you!
Low and Slow
One of my best purchases in the past 2 years has to be my slow cooker. Despite how intimidating the process for barbequed meats seems, the slow cooker makes it so much easier and approachable for those of us making it at home. The combination of the slow cooker and barbeque sauce is almost like a cheat code to barbeque. All the magic happens in the pot, and the only difficult part is having the patience to let it cook down for a number of hours. The cooking time is also important because it’s the key to creating tender and “fall of the bone” style meats. When meats are cooked at a low temperature for a longer period of time, the muscle fibers have time to break down, creating the most tender, juicy pieces of meat.
Break It Down
To start, combine salt, pepper, chili powder, smoked paprika, garlic powder, oregano, cumin, coriander, and cayenne in a bowl. This combination of spices is going to infuse into the beef and add a slight smoky flavor that’s reminiscent of barbeque.
Set the spice mix to the side and let’s move over to our beef. We’re using beef chuck roast, which is a great cut of meat to use for this recipe because it’s typically a tougher piece of meat with a lot of connective tissue. While that doesn’t exactly sound tasty, it works amazingly for slow cooker recipes because all of that connective tissue and tough muscle fibers break down during the cooking process, making for a tender and juicy product.
Pat the beef chuck roast dry with paper towels and brush a coating of dijon mustard all over. Then sprinkle the spice mix on all sides so that the beef is completely coated. Place the beef into the slow cooker with some water and a portion of your favorite barbeque sauce. Cover it with a lid and cook it on high for 5-6 hours or on low for 10-12 hours. The beef is going to cook down and absorb the flavors from the spices and barbeque sauce. When it’s finished cooking, the meat should be falling apart without any effort!
The Countdown
After this initial cook-time, you’re essentially already 85% done with the recipe, which is crazy because it was so easy. Remove the beef from the slow cooker and use forks to shred it into pieces. Reserve some of the cooking liquid in the slow cooker then discard the rest. Add the shredded beef back into the slow cooker with the reserved cooking liquid and a bit more barbeque sauce. Cook it on high for 30 minutes so that the beef and sauce become homogenous and develop even more flavor.
When the barbeque beef is ready, serve it on your favorite style of buns and load it up with toppings! I kept my sandwiches on the simpler side. Barbeque is such a dominant flavor and I really wanted it to shine. I finished it with a slice of pepper jack cheese — that I melted under the broiler — and some pickled jalapeños.
Barbeque at Home
These Slow Cooker BBQ Beef Sandwiches actually blew me away with how tender and tasty they turned out. My boyfriend isn’t the biggest fan of barbeque sauce, but he said that these sandwiches were one of his favorite recipes I’ve made. I think what really takes it to the next level is combining the barbeque sauce with the cooking liquid. A lot of the time, prepared barbeque sauces can taste very sweet, artificial, and intense. Because we combined the barbeque sauce with the cooking liquid, which also has its own flavor profile, it turns into a whole new sauce!
If you’re hosting a barbeque this summer, you can make this ahead of time and keep it warm in the slow cooker until people are ready to eat. Who knew you could bring delicious barbeque to your home so easily and effortlessly?! Make these Slow Cooker BBQ Beef Sandwiches at home this summer and you’ll be wondering why you didn’t start sooner! Let me know how you like it in the comments below and I’ll catch you with my next recipe!
Looking for more recipes to add to your summer barbeque cookout? Try out these recipes:
Green Goddess Kale Caesar Salad
Slow Cooker BBQ Beef Sandwiches
Ingredients
- 2 tsp Kosher Salt
- 1 tsp Ground Black Pepper
- 1 tsp Chili Powder
- 1 tsp Smoked Paprika
- 1 tsp Garlic Powder
- 1 tsp Dried Oregano
- ½ tsp Ground Cumin
- ½ tsp Ground Coriander
- ¼ tsp Cayenne
- 2¼ lbs. Boneless Beef Chuck Roast
- 1 Tbsp Dijon Mustard
- 1 Tbsp Worcestershire Sauce
- ¾ cup + 2 Tbsp BBQ Sauce
- ¼ cup Water
- 4 Buns (for serving)
- 4 slices Pepper Jack Cheese
- As Needed Pickled Jalapeños
Instructions
- In a small bowl combine the kosher salt, black pepper, chili powder, smoked paprika, garlic powder, dried oregano, cumin, coriander, and cayenne until the spices are evenly distributed.
- Pat the beef chuck roast dry with paper towels. Brush a coating of the dijon mustard all over the chuck roast. Then evenly sprinkle the spice mixture all over until the beef is well coated. Place it into a slow cooker along with ¼ cup of the bbq sauce and water, Mix until combined. Cover the slow cooker with the lid and cook for 5-6 hours on high or 10-12 hours on low. The beef should be tender and easy to pull apart.
- Remove the beef from the slow cooker and shred it. Reserve ½ a cup and 2 tablespoons of the cooking liquid that's inside the slow cooker. Discard the rest of the cooking liquid. Place the shredded beef back into the slow cooker along with the remaining ½ cup and 2 tablespoons of bbq sauce. Cook on high for another 30 minutes.
- Prepare the buns to your liking. Add a mound of the shredded bbq beef to each bottom bun. Top them with a slice of pepper jack cheese. To melt the cheese, place the open-faced sandwiches onto a baking sheet and under the broiler for about 2 minutes until melted.
- Remove the sandwiches from under the broiler and top with pickled jalapeños and the top bun. Enjoy!
