Chef John's Mississippi Pot Roast Cheesesteak takes the classic slow-cooked, flavor-packed Mississippi pot roast and turns it into an irresistible sandwich. Tender, juicy beef, tangy pepperoncini, and melted cheese come together on a toasted hoagie roll for the ultimate comfort food. In this video, learn how to make this delicious mashup that’s perfect for game day.
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00:00Hello, this is Chef John from FoodWishes.com with Mississippi Pot Roast Cheesesteak!
00:09That's right!
00:10I made a cheesesteak with what is arguably the best braised beef recipe ever, and it
00:15was so amazing I had to share.
00:18And according to my sources in New Orleans, the timing for this is perfect.
00:23So with that, let's go ahead and get started with the 5 ingredients we're going to need
00:27for the beef, which will be 4-5 lbs of beef chuck roast, and then we'll also need 2 packets
00:32of Magic Dust in the form of powdered ranch dressing mix, as well as some powdered au jus,
00:40and then we'll also need some mildly spicy pepperoncini peppers, as well as half a cup
00:44of the brine they're packed in, and then last and certainly never least, an entire stick
00:50of unsalted butter that we've cut into slices.
00:53And please notice, I had to buy 2 beef chuck roasts to make 5 lbs.
00:57Alright, a common mistake with this recipe, people just buy one of these roasts, but then
01:02use the same amount of the other ingredients, which ends up coming out way too salty in
01:06my opinion.
01:07So make sure you buy enough beef, or cut the other ingredients in half, and what we'll
01:12do is take our meat and head to our slow cooker, or in my case, instant pot, and what I did
01:17is poured in a little bit of vegetable oil, since besides the slow cooker setting, an
01:22instant pot also has a saute setting.
01:25So I figured, hey, let me go ahead and brown the meat first, since brown meat always tastes
01:29better than non-brown meat generally.
01:31Right in the classic recipe, the meat is not browned first, so if you are using a slow
01:35cooker, you can just transfer the meat right in, or of course, brown it in a pan first,
01:41and then transfer it in.
01:42But anyway, since this machine browns and slow cooks, I figured, why not?
01:47And yes, that's probably going to take you an extra 5 or 10 minutes, but we're going
01:51to be slow cooking this thing for like 8 to 10 hours, so I don't see how those extra
01:55few minutes are going to be a problem.
01:58But anyway, once I had both pieces of meat nicely browned on both sides, I went ahead
02:02and dumped in my pepper brine, so I could quickly deglaze the bottom before switching
02:07to the slow cook mode, and once any of that seared on goodness was dissolved off the bottom,
02:12I went ahead and transferred my meat back in, which yes, for 5 pounds of beef was a
02:16tight fit, but eventually I got that meat snuggled together nicely.
02:21And then no matter what cooking vessel you're using, whether it's a slow cooker, instant
02:26pot, or dutch oven, we will drizzle over a small splash of water, at which point we'll
02:31take our powdered ranch dressing, and we will sprinkle that evenly over the top.
02:36And then we'll do the exact same thing with our au jus gravy mix.
02:39And yes, there are definitely things on the ingredient list of these, that we don't want
02:43to be eating on a regular basis, but a couple times a year, for a recipe like this, I think
02:48we're all going to be fine.
02:50And that's it.
02:51Once those have been applied, we'll finish up with our slices of butter, that we will
02:54distribute evenly over the top, and then lastly we will place some pepperoncini peppers on
03:00top.
03:01Or you pick the number, I think there's like 5 or 6 in the original recipe, but a few more
03:05or a few less is totally fine.
03:08I mean, you are after all the Robin Chapman of how to do this beef man.
03:13And as the inventor of this recipe, I don't think she cares how many you put.
03:16And that's it.
03:17I popped on the lid and set that to low slow cook mode for 8 hours, but it did not work.
03:23It just stayed on preheating for like a half hour.
03:26So then I tried the higher slow cook setting for 4 hours, and that did not work either.
03:32It just stayed on preheating mode for like a half hour.
03:36So I did what any great chef does when faced with adversity, I gave up, and I transferred
03:41everything into the slow cooker, which is where I should have just started in the first
03:45place probably.
03:47And by the way, apparently the problems with slow cooking in an instant pot are well documented,
03:52but I don't get around or read much, so I did not know that.
03:56But anyway, like I said, I transferred everything in, and after arranging those peppers over
04:01the top for no apparent reason, I popped on the lid and set my slow cooker to low mode
04:06for 8 hours.
04:08And the important point to remember here is it doesn't matter what you cook this in, as
04:12long as it cooks low and slow for about 8-10 hours, and your meat is very, very fork tender
04:18and will easily pull apart, you're done.
04:22And this is me checking the meat after about 8 hours, and it was technically fork tender,
04:27as in that fork slid in fairly easily, but it did not seem to be easily shreddable yet,
04:32which is actually the point we want to get it to.
04:35So I let it go for another hour or so, and I continued to test and observe, since contrary
04:40to popular belief, you can actually overcook something like this, and the meat can get
04:45kind of dry and chalky, so once it is perfect, we don't want to cook any further than that.
04:51And right here I'm going to show you what perfect looks like, right, fork tender plus
04:54the meat breaks apart very, very easily.
04:58And besides all this beautiful, soft, succulent meat, this method also produces a ton of beautiful
05:03buttery cooking liquids, which usually get spooned over the meat once it's served on
05:07mashed potatoes, or rice, or pasta, or biscuits, or bread.
05:12But we're about to build a cheesesteak, so before we break this up with a couple forks,
05:17I'm going to go ahead and ladle some of the juices out and reserve those for later, since
05:21it's going to be a little easier to pull apart that way.
05:24Plus, we don't need it quite as saucy for a sandwich.
05:27And if you've never actually tasted Mississippi pot roast before, prepare to be shocked, right?
05:33This stuff is so super flavorful, and insanely rich and beefy, it really is hard to describe.
05:39All right, I'm not exactly sure what happens when those potent powders penetrate the meat,
05:44but whatever it is, it's borderline magical, and I think you're going to be just as stunned
05:49as I always am by just how delicious this is.
05:53And the good news is, if you do the five pound batch, you're going to have plenty to try
05:57in lots of different formats.
05:59But if we are going to make a cheesesteak, what we'll do is cut open our favorite sandwich
06:03roll, and we'll place in a couple slices of provolone.
06:06Oh, and don't worry, I'm going to use some Cheez Whiz also.
06:10And once our bun has been cheesed, we will transfer that into the center of a 400 degree
06:14oven for about 7 to 10 minutes, or until our cheese is melted and the edges of the bun
06:20start to toast, at which point we will top this with as much Mississippi pot roast as
06:25we see fit, which for me is going to be a lot, which, by the way, is why I only used
06:31two thin slices of provolone, right?
06:33This beef is very rich and unctuous, so we really don't need a ton of cheese here.
06:38And that's it.
06:39Once my bun was beefed, I garnished with the other Philly cheesesteak cheese, which of
06:43course is Cheez Whiz.
06:44Oh, and don't forget, when you call this cheese, make sure you use the air quotes.
06:50And that's it.
06:51We'll finish up with a whole bunch of pickled peppers, obviously using the pepperoncini,
06:55as well as I also tossed in some sweet pickled red peppers.
06:59And that's it.
07:00I grabbed my sandwich and took way too many pictures before I plated it up, and then grabbed
07:05a knife to cut this in half, which in real life I would never do.
07:10But of course, here we have to do the big reveal.
07:13And as magnificent as this stuff is on mashed potatoes, or some other kind of starchy side,
07:18this just did not make one of the best cheesesteaks I've ever had.
07:21It actually made for one of the best beef sandwiches I've ever had.
07:25And no, I did not call this a Philly cheesesteak, since that is put together much differently.
07:31Plus I did not want people to think I was honoring the Philadelphia Eagles, since I'm
07:35a long-suffering Giants fan.
07:37But this was obviously inspired by the Philly cheesesteak, and if you're a fan of those,
07:42you are definitely going to be a fan of this.
07:44Which is why I really do hope you give this a try soon.
07:48So please follow the links below for the ingredient amounts, a printable written recipe, and much
07:53more info as usual.
07:56And as always, enjoy!