Root Beer Roast Beef French Dip with Greek Yogurt Horseradish Sauce

Root Beer Roast Beef French Dip is roast beef braised in the slow cooker until tender and served on a roll with Greek yogurt horseradish sauce!

I’m a pretty boring person beverage-wise.  Day in and day out, I drink two coffees and water the rest of the day, with an occasional glass of red wine in the evening (pinot noir all the way). 🙂  

Soda is never an option for me — I just don’t care for it.  Why did I braise a beautiful cross rib roast in root beer then?  I’ve been intrigued by the many savory root beer recipes that I’ve seen floating around the blogosphere lately, so it was time to try it.  

And I just realized I put the words “root beer” and “floating” in a sentence.  That could not have been an accident. 😉

My supermarket sold single bottles of root beer, and I grabbed one, hiding it in the garage fridge so nobody would scoop it up and drink it. 

The thought of braising beef in root beer just made perfect sense to me because root beer has such a deep, robust flavor.  

My biggest dilemma was should I smother it in barbecue sauce after or treat it like a French dip?  

Man, I have such big decisions to make in my line of work.

Slow cooker roast beef french dip

It actually wasn’t that hard to decide what I wanted to do, because a friend of mine had just given me some freshly prepared horseradish that she’d made.  I was over the moon excited, because creamy horseradish sauce is one of my favorite things on the planet.

 I knew that horseradish would be put to great use with this here sandwich.  We’re talkin’ creamy, horseradish-y goodness friends, and it’s lightened up with Greek yogurt, so you can eat as much as you want.  

No guilty pleasures here. Except for the root beer braised beef, of course. 🙂

I’m so glad I went French dip with this sandwich, because besides the horseradish sauce, we get to dip our sandwich in a beefed up root beer jus.  How often do you get to do that?  It was a first for me, and it was tasty.  

The root beer had gotten all nice and savory with our roast beef cooking away in it, so all it needed was a good strain and some S&P to make it perfect for dipping.  

My older son asked if he could drink the root beer liquid straight up.  I was taken aback, but I realized two of his biggest loves, soda and beef, were combined in this one.  I said no of course, but I really should’ve seen that one coming. 😉

Serve this slow cooker roast beef on Homemade Whole Wheat Burger Buns or your favorite store bought rolls with the onions, sliced cheddar, and plenty of Greek yogurt horseradish sauce, and you’ve got one terrific Game Day meal.

This recipe will also make a few meals for busy weeknights.  I’ve never seen people more excited for leftovers than they were for this.  

I may not drink root beer straight, but I’m certainly going to continue cooking with it. 🙂

Need more Game Day worthy sandwiches? Try these:

How to grill burgers

Slow Cooker Pulled Pork Sandwiches 

Crock Pot BBQ Beef Sandwiches by This Gal Cooks

Slow cooker barbecue pulled chicken

Slow cooker barbecue meatballs

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Yield: 8-10 servings

Root Beer Roast Beef French Dip with Greek Yogurt Horseradish Sauce

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Root Beer Roast Beef French Dip is roast beef braised in the slow cooker until tender and served on a roll with Greek yogurt horseradish sauce!

Prep Time 15 minutes

Cook Time 8 hours

Total Time 8 hours 15 minutes

Ingredients

For the roast beef:

• 2 - 2 1/2 lb. chuck shoulder cross rib roast
• 2 teaspoons salt
• 1 1/2 teaspoons garlic powder
• 1/2 teaspoon black pepper
• 1 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil
• 1 large onion, peeled, halved, and sliced thickly into half moons
• 12 ounce bottle root beer (I used Berghoff brand)

For the horseradish sauce:

• 1/2 cup plain Greek yogurt (I used Chobani 0%)
• 2 tablespoon freshly prepared horseradish
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1/4 teaspoon Worcestershire sauce
• 1/4 teaspoon fresh lemon juice
• 1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
• rolls or buns and sliced cheddar, for serving

Instructions

Prepare the roast beef:

1. Combine the salt, garlic powder, and black pepper in a small bowl. Rub the roast generously with the mixture. Heat the olive oil in a large sauté pan over medium heat. While the pan heats, place the sliced onion in the bottom of the slow cooker. Add the roast to the pan and brown on all sides, about 2 minutes per side, or until golden brown. Place over the onions in the slow cooker. Degrease the sauté pan, if necessary, and add the root beer, scraping up the brown bits at the bottom of the pan. Pour the root beer over the roast, cover, and cook on low heat for 8-9 hours, or until very tender.

Prepare the horseradish sauce:

1. Place the Greek yogurt, horseradish, salt, Worcestershire, lemon juice, and pepper in a medium bowl and stir to combine. Cover and chill until ready to serve.
2. Remove the roast from the slow cooker, shred, and place in a bowl. Remove the onions from the slow cooker and place in a bowl. Season the root beer liquid with salt and pepper, to taste, and add enough liquid to the bowl of shredded roast beef to keep it moist. Strain the remaining liquid, and serve warm as a jus for dipping if desired. Serve the roast beef on rolls with sliced cheddar, the onions, and plenty of horseradish sauce. Enjoy!

Notes

• Total time above includes 8 hours for the roast beef to cook.
• I purchased a cross rib roast for this meal, which was fairly lean. If your roast is fatty, trim off as much fat as possible and allow the liquid to set and separate, skimming off the fat and using only the clear liquid for the jus.
• 2 teaspoons of salt may sound like a lot for the roast, but it's absorbed by the sweet root beer so the beef and liquid aren't salty by any means. You will definitely need to season both some more after cooking.
• You may add the roast to the slow cooker without browning first, but the browning and deglazing the sauté pan with the root beer gives the dish more flavor.
• If you're watching sugar content, diet root beer may be substituted.
• Sour cream may be substituted for the Greek yogurt in the horseradish sauce.

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