"Heart Attack" Philly Cheesesteak Sliders Recipe

No doubt about it, the Philly cheesesteak is one of the best sandwiches of all time, and it's one with which Philadelphia-based recipe developer Patterson Watkins is quite familiar. Contrary to popular belief, she tells us, the absolute best cheese for a cheesesteak isn't always Cheez Whiz, since in-the-know folks will often order a secret(ish) menu item called the heart attack that includes a trio of cheeses (Whiz, provolone, and American) along with double steak and cooked onions. Besides being delicious, tripling up on the cheese also serves a practical purpose. Watkins explains that it "creates a protective, cheesy coating" that keeps the juices from making the bread all soggy. While she admits "You won't find a garlic-butter brushed roll at a cheesesteak place" and calls it "pure indulgence" on her part, we've long believed that garlic is a secret ingredient that should be added to all homemade cheesesteaks.

If you're looking for a side dish that will really encapsulate the Philly cheesesteak experience, Watkins recommends crinkle-cut fries with extra Cheez Whiz for dipping. She also enjoys using pickled cherry peppers as a palate cleanser but suggests that you might want to balance out the meal with a green salad, as well.

The filling for these Philly cheesesteak sliders is made from shaved sirloin, yellow onion, Cheez Whiz, provolone, and American cheese. You'll also need slider rolls, along with butter, garlic, parsley, and sesame seeds to embellish them, and olive oil, salt, and pepper for cooking.

Preheat the oven to 350 F.

Heat the olive oil in a large skillet or griddle over medium-high heat.

Once hot, add the shaved steak to one side of the skillet and add the onion to the other.

Season the steak and onions with salt and pepper.

Cook for 10 to 15 minutes, stirring occasionally but keeping the ingredients separate, until the steak is cooked through and the onions are golden.

Meanwhile, place the melted butter, garlic, and parsley in a medium bowl and stir to combine.

Place the slider rolls on a parchment-lined baking sheet.

Remove the top buns.

Divide the Cheez Whiz between the buns (approximately 1 tablespoon per bun) and spread it out evenly.

Top the buns with the cooked steak.

Top the steak with the cooked onions.

Top the steak and onions with slices of provolone cheese (it's okay to overlap the cheese).

Top the provolone with slices of American.

Cap the sandwiches with the top buns.

Brush the top buns with the garlic butter.

Sprinkle the buns with the sesame seeds.

Place the baking sheet in the oven and bake for 15 minutes, or until the cheese has melted and the buns are lightly toasted.

Serve hot from the oven.

While shaved steak seems to be readily available in the Philadelphia area, it may be somewhat harder to source in other locations. The first place to check would be the meat section, of course, and if your supermarket actually has a butcher on staff or you typically shop at a meat market, you could always try asking if they wouldn't mind shaving some steak for you. Failing that, you could check the frozen foods section over by the meatballs, although please note that neither Steak-Umms nor fajita steak are quite right for making Philly cheesesteaks.

If you can't find shaved steak available for purchase, you can always make your own. For this recipe, you'll need a pound and a half of sirloin, and it'll be easier to shave if you chop it into four chunks weighing around 10 ounces each. Freeze the meat for three to four hours, then shave it using a Japanese-style mandoline (This utensil can be purchased from KAI for under $20).

There are many different ways to change up Philadelphia cheesesteaks in general and these sliders in particular, beginning with the cheese. Keep the Whiz for texture, but you can opt to use either American or provolone instead of both, or maybe even go with a completely different cheese, such as cheddar or pepper Jack. You can also skip the onions if you don't care for them or swap them out for crispy fried onions to give your sliders some crunch.

You might also want to add some additional toppings to your Philly cheesesteaks. Instead of serving whole cherry peppers on the side, you could go with cherry pepper relish or giardiniera, Another option would be to slather the sliders with ketchup as they do in North Philly, or pile on hash browns, bell peppers, and A-1 sauce (it's a Jersey thing).

If you're looking to simplify the recipe, you can also skip the garlic and parsley butter and the sesame seeds for the buns. With so much else going on in the sandwich, such embellishments, while nice to have, aren't entirely necessary, since the sliders will still taste great without them.