Beef Week Recipe #4: Italian Beef

I know beef week lasted a little longer than a week, but this recipe was worth waiting for. It’s basically just a kicked up pot roast recipe with an Italian twist that is super easy to put together in the crock pot. My family devoured this. The kids had two helpings and ate it without any sauce at all, which rarely happens. I served it with homemade macaroni and cheese and steamed vegetables.  My husband loved it and had it left-over the next day on a toasted hoagie roll topped with melted mozzarella cheese. This beef has a spectacular flavor…it’s a recipe that should definitely be saved in your recipe box. It will be one that you will want to make again and again. You can use any type of roast for this, but I used chuck arm roast. Arm roast has very little fat so it is easy to trim and shred and the juice has very little residual fat in it after cooking the roast. I returned the roast to the juices after I shredded it to keep it nice and moist and to take advantage of the wonderful spices it cooked in.

Thanks again to the Texas Beef Council for sponsoring beef week and for providing me with a stipend to purchase delicious lean cuts of beef. For more information on cooking with lean beef, you can visit their website or check out this PDF with information on the fat content of various cuts of beef. Next time you’re planning a healthy meal, consider lean cuts of beef as a great alternative to chicken or other lean meats. 

Italian Beef

1 2-lb. roast

1/2 tsp. garlic powder

1 tsp. dried basil

1/2 tsp. dried oregano

1/4 tsp. paprika

1/2 tsp. red pepper flakes

1 pkg. dried onion soup mix

2 c. water

Mix soup mix and spices into water. Place beef in the crock pot and cover with the water/spice mixture. Cook on low for 8 to 10 hours or on high for 4 to 5 hours. Remove roast from crock pot, remove fat and shred, and return to cooking juices. Serve alone or on a toasted roll topped with melted mozzarella cheese.