Messy But Delicious French Dip Sliders Recipe

There are some dishes so elegant and refined that they're meant for exclusively formal occasions and need to be consumed with the utmost attention to table manners. Then there are those dishes that lean into the more laid-back side, those fun dishes that you eat with your hands and dunk into sauce for extra dripping, messy goodness. These messy but delicious French dip sliders, courtesy of recipe developer Patterson Watkins, definitely fall into that latter category. You might get a little messy eating these meaty, cheesy, juicy handhelds, but boy oh boy, you'll think it's worth cleaning up once you taste the layers of rich, savory, peppery, tangy flavors packed in these little sandwiches.

Watkins was largely inspired to create this recipe to remind herself just how satisfying a French dip can be, and she tells us she's in love with the resulting recipe. "I can't remember the last time I had a French Dip. It was long overdue for a revisit," she says. "That cheesy, meaty, au jus-dippable combination (not to mention a wowzer homemade horsey sauce) is so classic and so delicious and so easy to make." Here, she's transformed the familiar French dip sandwich into a potluck-friendly, shareable slider version, one that certainly doesn't skimp out on any savory flavor, from the roast beef all the way down to the au jus dip.

For the beef portion of the sliders, you'll need water, an au jus gravy packet, Worcestershire sauce, and of course, roast beef. "When shopping around for roast beef, I go for the freshly sliced stuff at the deli counter. I want to see a juicy/moist red center and a nicely seasoned outer 'crust,'" Watkins says, advising to go for the fresh stuff (as opposed to what you'd find in the lunch meat section) and ask for a thickness that's not too thin and not too thick. 

For the horseradish cream, grab mayonnaise, sour cream, prepared horseradish, fresh chopped scallions, fresh chopped parsley, salt, and pepper. Finally, to actually assemble the sliders, you'll also need slider rolls, french fried onions, provolone, softened unsalted butter, and white sesame seeds.

Preheat the oven to 400 F.

Place water, au jus mix, and Worcestershire sauce in a medium saucepan, whisk to combine.

Bring the au jus to a boil over medium-high heat, whisking frequently.

Once boiling, add the roast beef, and reduce heat to low. Cook for 5 minutes, stirring occasionally, or until the roast beef is hot.

Meanwhile, make the horseradish cream by placing mayonnaise, sour cream, horseradish, scallions, and parsley in a medium bowl. Whisk to combine. (Refrigerate if you're not using immediately.)

Place the bottom buns in a casserole dish.

Divide the roast beef evenly between the buns, letting any excess au jus drip off. Reserve the sauce for dipping.

Sprinkle the roast beef with french fried onions.

Top the sandwiches with provolone, folding the provolone in half to best fit the sliders.

Cap the sandwiches with the top buns.

Brush the buns with softened butter.

Sprinkle the buns with sesame seeds and place the casserole dish in the oven.

Bake for 10 minutes or until the cheese has melted. Serve the sliders with au jus and horseradish sauce on the side for dipping and slathering.

There's a wonderful convenience to this recipe, largely thanks to the use of pre-sliced deli roast beef and an au jus gravy packet. If you wanted to take a truly DIY approach to this recipe, however, Watkins has some suggestions. "Eye round, top sirloin, or rump roast will do, just make sure that your large format roast has a hearty fat cap (this will keep the roast juicy and flavorful)," she says. Also, be sure to have a meat thermometer on hand.

To cook the beef, you'll start it out in a 475 to 500 F oven for about 15 to 20 minutes, then reduce the heat to 300 F to finish cooking, until it reaches your desired temperature (125 F will put it at medium rare). Once it's done roasting, allow the beef to first rest at room temperature, then transfer it to the fridge overnight.

As you cook the beef, you'll want to reserve any pan drippings to make the au jus. "For your homemade au jus, simmer a combination of your drippings (add some beef broth if your drippings are minimal), skimmed beef fat (off the top of the drippings) or butter, red wine, and Worcestershire sauce," Watkins advises. Then, once you have your completely homemade elements ready to go, simply slice up the beef and assemble the recipe as written.

These little sliders, easy as they may be to whip up, make for a well-rounded handheld as written. You've got the buttery bun, roast beef, melty cheese, crispy fried onions, horseradish cream, and even extra au jus for dipping. However, if you're an absolute toppings enthusiast who wants to load these bad boys up even more, you've come to the right place. 

One place to start would be to add some veggies to the mix. An addition that immediately comes to mind for Watkins is garlicky sauteed spinach, which would also help add a little greenery to these sliders. Another option that  Watkins suggests is some kind of pepper. "Roasted red bell peppers would work well, as would roasted long hots for a zesty addition." Otherwise, you can easily switch up the onion situation. "If you're not a fan of french fried onions, sauteed, grilled, or caramelized onions would be a nice sub," Watkins suggests. 

You could also level up the umami flavor by turning this into a mushroom burger, either with sliced sauteed mushrooms or a whole small portobello for each bun. If you want to go all-in with the mushrooms, you could even cater to the vegetarians in your life by making a meat-free version, one that showcases mushrooms in place of the beef (and don't forget the mushroom jus on the side).