Steak Chopped Subs
I have been obsessed with the recent trend of chopping up all the ingredients of a sandwich instead of layering them on. The first time Georgina and I saw one, we bought the stuff to make them immediately and tried it that same night!
Of course I immediately started thinking about what sandwiches would benefit from this method and my first thought was steak. One of my favorite sandwich combos is steak with roasted red pepper and arugula, but it doesn’t always work great structurally. Sometimes the steak slices can slide out when you take a bite.
This chopped version was amazing. I mixed in provolone, some shallots, cucumber, and then tossed it with a buttery sauce. I realized half way through this process that the whole idea is basically just making chicken salad sandwiches but with other ingredients and I am OK with that.
A nice thick ribeye seared with just salt. I would have also used pepper but I just moved and forgot that I didn’t have any. Make sure to sear the sides as well so the fat can get nice and soft.
Chop up all the veggies and cheese first – roasted red pepper, cucumber, shallot, provolone, and arugula.
The sauce is butter, mayo, mustard, hot sauce, cider vinegar, smoked paprika, and pepper flakes. Spread half on the bread before toasting, then pour the rest into the mixture.
This is one of the best sandwiches I have had in a long time. Every bite was perfectly balanced, and the steak was so tender from being chopped up small. The butter sauce was dripping into the bread making it so juicy and flavorful.
Steak Chopped Sub
Ingredients
Steak
- 1.25 pound ribeye steak
- salt and pepper
Sauce
- 1/2 stick butter melted
- 1 tablepoon mustard
- 1 tablespoon mayo
- 1 tablespoon cider vinegar
- 1 teaspoon hot sauce
- 1/4 teaspoon smoked paprika
- 1/4 teaspoon red pepper flakes
Veggies and Bread
- 1 small red bell pepper
- 3 inches of an English cucumber
- 1/2 a small shallot
- 1/4 pound sliced sharp provolone
- 1 packed cup baby arugula
- 1 large baguette
Instructions
- Season the steak aggressively with salt and pepper and allow it to come to room temperature.
- Sear the steak on high heat, then turn to medium and continue cooking until the internal temp is 140, making sure to sear all the sides and edges to fully render and soften the fat. Rest for 10 minutes before chopping.
- Meanwhile, mix the butter with all the sauce ingredients and stir to fully combine.
- Toss the red pepper with a little oil and broil it on high to char on all sides. Once blackened, remove from the oven to a small bowl and cover with plastic wrap tightly. Allow to cool for 15 minutes. Then peel and remove the seeds.
- Start cutting all the veggies. I like to start with a rough slice, then bring them all together and just keep chopping. I didn't want everything to be super finely chopped like some people make these sandwiches. I kept it a little chunky.
- Slice the meat thin removing excess chewy fat, but make sure you keep the good soft melty fats. Continue to cut the meat until it is in pea sized pieces. You can find some of the bigger fat pieces and really mince those so they aren't as chewy and add a nice luxurious texture and coating to the whole mixture. Stir in the veggies, only using as much as you need to create your desired meat to veggie ratio.
- Remove the ends of the bread and any extra bread parts. Cut the bread down the center and pull out a little of the middle bread parts to help the bread to meat ratio. Spread half of the butter mixture over the inside of the bread. Broil the bread on high to toast lightly.
- Microwave the sauce if needed to melt. Put the meat mixture onto the bread. Pour the butter mixture evenly over the filling. Close, cut in half, and serve.
