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Skip the deli and make your own delicious and Easy Roast Beef for Sandwiches! Just fifteen minutes of prep, then the oven does all the work!

Easy Roast Beef for Sandwiches - A Family Feast

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How to make Easy Roast Beef for Sandwiches

You don’t have to pay expensive prices at the deli counter when you want to serve delicious roast beef sandwiches. Following today’s recipe, you can make your own roast beef for sandwiches at home with a budget-friendly top of the round or eye of the round beef roast.

This roast beef recipe couldn’t be any easier! It’s a great option to cook for a game day party or to have on hand for weekday sandwich lunches. You can also enjoy slices of this roast beef on salads, or with your favorite side dishes.

After slathering your roast with Dijon mustard and spices, simply roast the beef in a super-hot oven for five minutes per pound. Then shut off the oven, and let the beef sit in the hot oven for approximately two hours. (Ours was a four-pound roast.) That’s it!

Just be sure that you don’t open the oven door during those two hours. You want every bit of residual heat to stay in the oven and cook the roast beef to a perfect medium rare.

Then, remove from the oven and let the roast rest for ten minutes before thinly slicing. Serve on crusty bread with a zesty horseradish sauce on the side.

Why should a roast “rest” before slicing?

When meat (such as beef, pork, and poultry) is roasted, the heat from the oven causes the muscle fibers in the meat to contract which forces all of the juices to the surface of the meat. If you immediately cut the meat after cooking, all of those juices will run out onto your cutting board and your meat will taste dry. When you allow the meat to rest, this gives the muscle fibers a chance to relax and those juices will redistribute back to the center of the meat. When this happens, the meat stays juicy as it is sliced. A larger cut of meat – such as the roast in this recipe — needs more time to rest than an individual serving. One more thing to note: When meat or poultry rests, the residual heat will also continue to cook the meat as it rests. Many recipes (including ours) will often tell you to take the meat out of the oven when the internal temperature (as measured using a probe thermometer) measures a few degrees before done. As it rests, the meat will finish cooking to a perfectly done temperature.

Key Ingredients & Substitutions

Beef – You can use a top of the round roast, or an eye of the round roast. Both of these cuts are from the muscle on the cow’s hind leg. The top round cut has more fat marbling and a richer flavor, but the eye of the round is still flavorful but it’s a leaner cut of beef.
Extra Virgin Olive Oil – Used to coat the roasting pan. (Other oils can also be used.)
Dijon Mustard
Spice Blend – Use your own herb and spice blend, or use ours – it includes dried parsley, basil, tarragon, thyme, oregano, garlic powder, onion powder, kosher salt, and freshly ground black pepper.

What’s the best way to slice a roast?

For the most tender bite and texture, you should cut your roast “against the grain” which is another way of saying perpendicular to the direction of the muscle fibers. When you do this, the long muscle fiber strands are cut into short pieces making each bite easier to chew.
It’s sometimes easier to tell which way the grain runs before you cook your beef roast – so note that before you slather the roast with the Dijon mustard in this recipe. You’ll see faint parallel lines running along the surface of your meat.
Be sure your knife is sharp so you can easily slice the beef into thin slices.

Cooking Tips & Tricks

Note that our roast was exactly four pounds, so we roasted it for 20 minutes (5 minutes per pound), then shut off the oven for two hours.
Any size roast will work if you follow five minutes per pound at 500 degrees F and two hours in a hot oven with the heat turned off.

Frequently Asked Questions

Can I make this Easy Roast Beef for Sandwiches ahead of time? Yes, this recipe is meant to be roasted and cooled, then sliced for sandwiches. So, advance preparation is totally fine.
How do I store leftovers? Store the roast and/or slices covered in the refrigerator for up to three days.
Can I freeze the leftovers? You can – just note that this beef is best freshly cooked.

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