Small-Town Cafe Hot Beef Sandwich
Slow-roasted beef piled on white bread and smothered in beef gravy, served open-faced with mashed potatoes. It's a lunch counter staple at cafes across small-town North Dakota.
- Prep
- 20 min
- Cook
- 180 min
- Total
- 200 min
- Servings
- 6
- Difficulty
- Medium
- Calories
- 520 kcal
Equipment
- •Roasting pan
- •Saucepan
Nutrition
Per serving, approximate
- Calories
- 520 kcal
- fat
- 22
- carbs
- 44
- protein
- 34
- calories
- 520
Instructions
- 1
Preheat your oven to 300°F. Season the chuck roast with salt and pepper.
- 2
Put the roast into a roasting pan. Add the sliced onion and 2 cups beef broth.
- 3
Cover the pan. Roast for 3 hours until the beef shreds easily with a fork.
- 4
Remove the beef and let it rest. Slice it thin against the grain, or shred it.
- 5
Pour the pan drippings through a strainer into a saucepan. Skim off the extra fat.
- 6
Whisk the remaining broth with flour. Stir it into the drippings and cook until thickened into gravy.
- 7
Lay bread slices on plates. Top the bread with the sliced beef.
- 8
Add a scoop of mashed potatoes alongside. Ladle gravy generously over both.
- 9
Serve hot.
Chef's tips
Roast the beef until fork-tender and shred or slice it thin against the grain so it holds the gravy well.
Storage
Store beef and gravy together, refrigerated, up to 4 days.
Reheating
Reheat gently on the stovetop, adding a splash of broth if the gravy has thickened too much.
Common mistakes to avoid
- •Slicing the beef too thick, making it hard to cut and eat with a fork
- •Leaving the gravy too thin, which makes the bread soggy instead of rich
Serving suggestions
Cooked Small-Town Cafe Hot Beef Sandwich?
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