This Italian Beef turns our perfect thanks to my Meater thermometer.
If you’ve ever had an Italian Beef sandwich, you know what a delicious meal it is. Tender beef is interspersed with spicy giardinera and tucked in a toasted hoagie roll with some extra pan juices. It is meaty, delicate, just spicy enough and packed with flavor. When cooked up on the Traeger, this Italian Beef comes out shredded and is a super easy recipe that will make your family happy for dinner tonight and leftovers later in the week!
WHAT IS ITALIAN BEEF?
A very traditional version of Italian Beef has paper-thin slices of roast beef dipped in au jus and put in a hoagie roll with hot peppers and a side of au jus for dipping. It’s like a French Dip, minus the cheese. If you can find it in a traditional deli, it’s an amazing bite of food.
For this version, cooked up in our backyard, we took inspiration from a traditional Italian Beef sandwich and created shredded Italian Beef, which is extremely versatile. I like how shredded beef comes out when it’s cooked, because the pieces are small enough to be used in a variety of ways (hello tacos!) but substantial enough that you don’t feel like you’re eating mush. And the flavor the meat takes on in an application like this cannot be beaten.
More and more, you’ll see Italian Beef recipes these days that result in shredded tender beef. It’s far less common for you, at home, to cook up a roast beef and then slice it paper thin unless you have a deli slicer. So give this shredded version a try!
ITALIAN BEEF VS POT ROAST
As noted before, a traditional Italian Beef is thinly sliced roast beef served with au jus and spicy peppers. But with the delicious results that come from low-and-slow cooking like is done on a Traeger, shredded Italian Beef is definitely the way to go these days.
So you may be wondering what shredded Italian Beef and pot roast have that differentiates them? In reality, I think they’re pretty similar and the biggest change is how you season and use the meat. Pot roast, in our house, is most often served with a scoop of mashed potatoes and some braised vegetables. It’s the perfect comfort meal, straight off the Traeger, that warms you to your bones and is so satisfying!
With Italian Beef, we season it differently and like to serve it on a toasted hoagie roll for sandwich enjoyment. As a result, the sauce is a little thinner (less like gravy) and it has more punches of flavor (and spice) than a traditional pot roast recipe.
BEST CUT OF MEAT FOR ITALIAN BEEF
To make Italian Beef on the Traeger, you need to start with a nice piece of chuck roast. Ideally, get one that is at least 1 inch thick because that will allow you to put the Meater thermometer into the meat which will help you monitor the cook throughout. Anything thinner than that will tend to be hard to track the temperature with, and I think that knowing the temp of your cook throughout the process is very important.
A chuck roast is a cut that is commonly used for braised dishes– like pot roast– and the good marbling through out the meat lends lots of flavor and moisture to the final result. If you want a spendier version of Italian Beef on the Traeger, you could use short ribs or brisket, but I don’t think that either makes the end result better– just more expensive!
WHAT ABOUT SEASONINGS?
For Italian Beef, what sets it apart from other similarly braised beef recipes is the strong Italian flavors throughout. Some people like to use a bottle of Italian salad dressing as part of their cook. I don’t think the extra oil is really necessary, so instead I amp up the flavor with lots of dried seasonings that are found in Italian dressing. Basil, oregano, red pepper flakes, marjoram, thyme and rosemary are the most common ingredients.
If you don’t have marjoram, you can omit that ingredient and just add more basil and oregano to your blend. In this recipe, which was intentionally quick and as easy as possible, I used the Grill Dads’ Badda Bing Italian blend (now Italian Juicy Bird) on the beef. Their blend is normally used as a dry brine for poultry, but it was perfect in this application. I seasoned all sides of the chuck roast before putting it on the Traeger to smoke, and the flavors were incredible.
Later in the process, when you’re putting everything together in a braising pan, you can and should add some more basil and oregano at least to keep the Italian flavors coming through strongly.
HOW SPICY IS TOO SPICY?
Now pre-covid, I would have told you that there was never a time something was “too spicy” for me. But something happened when I got covid a couple years ago and now my ability to handle spice has really been diminished. And after making a Mississippi Pot Roast a few weeks ago that had too much Spiceology Jalapeño Popper seasoning on it, I’m a little gun-shy on my spiciness.
So, for this recipe I took a tempered approach and started with pepperoncini peppers. They’re tasty, slightly briny and have some subtle heat. But they won’t blow your socks off. And then we added a couple scoops of giardinera to the mix, which we knew would add a lot of flavor and heat. So being cautious to add some but not too much, we started small.
As the meat braises in the liquid, the peppers melt into the mixture and becomes more subtle. There is still some definite spice, but with a hefty piece of meat at the start, you will have great flavor without being overpowering. And don’t forget– you can always add more spice to the dish when you serve it (or let your diners do the honors)– it’s much harder to remove spice from a dish!
HOW LONG TO COOK ITALIAN BEEF
Using my Meater thermometer system, this Italian Beef took about 6 hours start-to-finish. I started this recipe by smoking the seasoned roast in the Traeger at 225* with the super smoke feature enabled for about an hour. It’s less about temperature at this point and more about adding some amazing wood-fired flavor.
Once it had smoked for a while, I cranked up the heat on my Traeger Flatrock griddle and gave the meat a hard sear on all sides. This added some caramelization to the meat, sealing in some of the juices but also just adding amazing flavor. If you don’t want to get your griddle hot for this step, just heat up a cast iron skillet in your Traeger or on the stove to get the same result.
After the meat was seared, into the pot it went with beef broth, more seasoning, some butter and the peppers. I kept the Meater thermometer in the meat during this step too, and bumped up the temperature on the Traeger Ironwood XL to 275*. My goal temperature was about 202*– cooked all the way through and to the point of shredding. I knew that the Meater would guide my cook, and the ultimate test would be seeing how the meat would fall apart when pressed with a fork. About 5 hours of braising in the flavorful bath and this Italian Beef on the Traeger was ready!
PRIMARY INGREDIENTS
- Chuck roast
- Italian Seasoning (we used Spiceology Italian Bird)
- Oil (we used Fresh Vintage Farms almond oil)
- Beef broth or bullion cubes
- Water
- My Garlic Junkie seasoning from Spiceology
- Dried oregano, thyme and basil
- Pepperoncini peppers
- Butter
- Spicy Giardinera (we used a great one from Potbelly Subs)
WHY COOKING ITALIAN BEEF ON THE TRAEGER WORKS
Cooking a big beef roast like a chuck roast low and slow on the Traeger is the best way to cook Italian Beef because the results are tender, juicy and insanely delicious. In this cook, I smoked the meat first, which imbued it with tons of wood-fired flavor. Then the meat was seared on the Traeger Flatrock griddle, creating an amazing crust and some caramelized depth of flavor. And finally it was braised in a flavorful liquid of beef broth, seasoning and peppers until fall-apart tender. All three techniques happened on my Traeger grills, in my backyard, resulting in an amazing dinner. It was fun, easy and the cleanup was a breeze. As you know, my goal is to cook everything on my Traeger grills and this Italian Beef on the Traeger is a great example of a super dinner idea.
STEP-BY-STEP
- Preheat Traeger grill to 225*.
- Apply a thin coat of almond oil on all sides of the meat, coating well.
- Season the meat with the Italian seasoning blend and allow the meat to sweat for 10 minutes.
- Insert a Meater thermometer probe in the thickest part of the roast and pair the probe with the app.
- Set the desired temperature to 202*.
- Place the seasoned meat in the preheated grill and cook for 60 minutes.
- After an hour has elapsed, turn on your griddle or heat up a cast iron pan until very hot.
- Transfer the meat to the hot griddle or pan and sear on all sides until golden brown.
- Place the seared meat in the bottom of a heavy dutch oven pan.
- Add the beef broth, seasonings, butter, and peppers and mix to combine.
- Cover the pan with a lid and return it to the grill.
- Turn up the grill to 275* and allow the meat to cook for about 5 hours, checking occasionally.
- When the meat reaches an internal temperature of 202*, remove the pan from the grill and allow to cool on the counter for 15 minutes.
- Using gloved hands or two big forks, shred the meat until an even consistency is achieved.
- Return the shredded beef to the pan with juices and include the juices when serving.
- Serve the Italian Beef straight off the Traeger on warmed hoagie rolls with additional peppers if desired.
Smoke the chuck roast for 1 hour Sear the chuck roast
ALTERNATE RECIPES/PRODUCT LINKS
Here are some other braised meat recipes similar to Italian Beef on the Traeger:
Products used in this cook:
Meater Thermometer, which is now integrated with the new Traeger grills for ease of use. Some of the features I love about the Meater:
- Longer Range: Bluetooth to WiFi range extension built-in up to 165ft. Stand-Alone Mode: Cook without the use of your smart phone.
- Multiple Probes: Dual temperature sensors in each probe can monitor internal meat temperature up to 212°F and ambient / external temperature up to 527°F simultaneously.
- Guided Cook System: Walks you through every step of the cooking process to guarantee perfect and consistent results. You can also set up custom alerts / notifications based on temperature and/or time.
- Advanced Estimator Algorithm: Estimates how long to cook and rest your food to help plan your meal and manage your time
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Italian Beef on the Traeger
Equipment
- Traeger Ironwood XL
- Traeger Flatrock Griddle (or cast iron pan and stove)
- Cast iron dutch oven with lid
- Meater thermometer
Ingredients
- 1 3- pound chuck roast
- 1/2 cup Italian Seasoning we used Spiceology Italian Bird
- 4 tbsp oil we used Fresh Vintage Farms almond oil
- 1.5 cups beef broth or bullion cubes dissolved in water
- 1/4 cup My Garlic Junkie seasoning from Spiceology
- 2 tbsp Dried oregano thyme and basil
- 1 cup Pepperoncini peppers
- 1/2 stick butter cut in pats
- 1/4 cup Spicy Giardinera we used a great one from Potbelly Subs
Instructions
- Preheat Traeger grill to 225*.
- Apply a thin coat of almond oil on all sides of the meat, coating well.
- Season the meat with the Italian seasoning blend and allow the meat to sweat for 10 minutes.
- Insert a Meater thermometer probe in the thickest part of the roast and pair the probe with the app.
- Set the desired temperature to 202*.
- Place the seasoned meat in the preheated grill and cook for 60 minutes.
- After an hour has elapsed, turn on your griddle or heat up a cast iron pan until very hot.
- Transfer the meat to the hot griddle or pan and sear on all sides until golden brown.
- Place the seared meat in the bottom of a heavy dutch oven pan.
- Add the beef broth, seasonings, butter, and peppers and mix to combine.
- Cover the pan with a lid and return it to the grill.
- Turn up the grill to 275* and allow the meat to cook for about 5 hours, checking occasionally.
- When the meat reaches an internal temperature of 202*, remove the pan from the grill and allow to cool on the counter for 15 minutes.
- Using gloved hands or two big forks, shred the meat until an even consistency is achieved.
- Return the shredded beef to the pan with juices and include the juices when serving.
- Serve the Italian Beef straight off the Traeger on warmed hoagie rolls with additional peppers if desired.
RECIPE CARD PLUGIN
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