Slow Cooker Italian Beef or Venison
Slow cooker Italian beef is the perfect meal this time of year. It’s comfort food that feeds a family with plenty left over.
Autumn in southern Illinois is when Mother Nature can’t decide if she’s going to be hot or cold. We go from 65 degrees to near 100 degrees over the course of just a few days. I’ve lived here my whole life and I’m still not used to her mood swings! Nonetheless, it’s also the time of year my slow cooker takes up permanent residency on the kitchen counter. One of my favorite meals to fix in my slow cooker is Italian Beef. This is typically what I do with venison roasts, but if I can find a rump roast on sale at the grocery store, I’ll grab it up for this recipe, too.
This is a combination of recipes from my family and JD’s cousin, Lori Marie. I decided that using “the best of both worlds” makes a pretty amazing sandwich!
It’s really a combination of beer and Lawry’s Italian dressing mix that makes this to delicious. Dark beer is best, but anything you have will do. If I’m making this for a crowd, I use a whole jar of pepperoncini peppers, with juice, in the slow cooker. Otherwise, I leave them out and just put peppers on each sandwich for dinner … I’m the only one in the family who really eats them! It’s my dad’s fault … he used to challenge me to see who could eat the most before “burning up”!
Enjoy!
Slow Cooker Italian Beef
This makes an easy weeknight meal or dinner for a crowd!
- 1 4 lb beef or venison roast
- 2 Tablespoons Lawry’s Italian Dressing mix
- 1 bottle dark beer
- Water to nearly cover the roast
- Steak rolls and pepperoncini peppers for sandwiches
- Place roast in slow cooker.
- Sprinkle Italian dressing mix over the roast.
- Pour beer over the roast. The beer may foam a bit when it hits the dressing mix.
- Pour enough water into the slow cooker to cover 2/3 of the roast.
- Place lid on slow cooker and cook on low for 8 hours.
- Roast should be tender enough the “shred” with tongs while in the slow cooker. You can also remove the roast to a cutting board and shred with forks, then place back into juice.
- Build sandwiches as desired and serve with a little au jus on the side.
Depending on the size of sandwich, you should get 6-8 from this recipe.
Store the shredded beef in liquid in the refrigerator for up to 3 days, freeze any leftover shredded beef in the juice for up to 6 months.
sounds really delicious, thanks for sharing this.
Simon
I hope you enjoy it!