Slow Cooker BBQ Beef Sandwiches

Slow Cooker BBQ Beef Sandwiches made with a chuck roast, bbq seasoning rub and barbecue sauce will feed a crowd without firing up the grill or the smoker!

Looking for delicious sandwiches? Look no further than these BBQ Beef Sandwiches. Or, you know, these Philly Cheese Steak Sloppy Joes or my newest favorite – Bacon Brown Sugar Sloppy Joes.

Slow Cooker BBQ Beef Sandwiches
 Slow Cooker BBQ Beef Sandwiches

Slow Cooker Sandwiches are quick, easy and feed a crowd. Plus, we love the fall apart tender meat bathed in sauce. These Slow Cooker BBQ Beef Sandwiches are fall apart tender and taste AMAZING thanks to the homemade bbq seasoning rub.

How do you make pulled meat sandwiches in the slow cooker? Here are some great tips!

  • Use an adequately fatty cut of meat: Use a chuck roast, not an eye of round. Use chicken thighs, not breasts. Use pork butt/shoulder, not pork tenderloin.
  • Season after searing: If you season then sear the meat hard you’ll scorch the seasonings. Plus with the long cooking time you’ll find the seasonings have plenty of time to flavor the meat.
  • Let it cook without a bunch of added liquids: This chuck roast will release a bunch of liquid, you don’t want the meat floating in liquid.
  • Let it cook another hour after adding sauce: Warmed sauce is infinitely more delicious that cold bottled sauce and the meat will stay moist in the slow cooker with the added sauce.

BBQ Beef Sandwiches

Homemade BBQ Rub Seasoning Recipe:

  • 1 tablespoon brown sugar
  • 1 tablespoon paprika
  • 1 teaspoon ground black pepper
  • 1 teaspoon kosher salt
  • 1 teaspoon chili powder
  • 1 teaspoon garlic powder
  • 1 teaspoon onion powder

If you prefer to buy your BBQ rub my absolute favorites are this one, this one and this one. Plus I have extra love for the Traeger rub as I just got a new Pro 34 Traeger smoker I’m absolutely in love with.

Things I’m in love with in this recipe? Not standing outside in the heat looking at the smoker. It’s been over 100 degrees outside all week!

Slow Cooker pulled beef

You can make these sandwiches infinitely better toasting the hoagie rolls with a bit of brushed on melted butter. If using hamburger buns you can use brioche rolls like I do anytime we enjoy sloppy joe recipes.

If you’re making these sandwiches ahead of time for lunches just be sure to package the filling in a separate container or ziplock bag or saran wrap pouches.

Want to make the bbq sauce from scratch? THIS one is the one I ALWAYS make.

Crockpot BBQ Beef Sandwiches

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Slow Cooker BBQ Beef Sandwiches
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Slow Cooker BBQ Beef Sandwiches

Slow Cooker BBQ Beef Sandwiches made with a chuck roast, bbq seasoning rub and barbecue sauce will feed a crowd without firing up the grill or the smoker!
Course Main Course, Sandwich
Cuisine American
Keyword bbq, bbq sauce, beef, beef sandwiches, crock pot, slow cooker, Slow cooker BBQ beef sandwiches
Prep Time 15 minutes
Cook Time 8 hours
Total Time 8 hours 15 minutes
Servings 8 sandwiches
Calories 788 kcal
Author Sabrina Snyder

Ingredients

  • 2 tablespoons canola oil
  • 5 pound chuck roast
  • 1 tablespoon brown sugar
  • 1 tablespoon paprika
  • 1 teaspoon ground black pepper
  • 1 teaspoon kosher salt
  • 1 teaspoon chili powder
  • 1 teaspoon garlic powder
  • 1 teaspoon onion powder
  • 2 cups barbecue sauce
  • 8 hoagie rolls
  • 8 slices sharp cheddar (or your favorite cheese)

Instructions

  1. Add the canola oil to a heavy bottomed skillet or aluminum slow cooker insert.
  2. Heat the oil on medium high heat and sear the meat until well browned on all sides (about 2-3 minutes on each side).

  3. In a small bowl mix the brown sugar, paprika, black pepper, kosher salt, chili powder, garlic powder and onion powder.
  4. Rub the spices all over the chuck roast and add it to the slow cooker.
  5. Cook on low for 8-9 hours or on high for 4-5 hours.

  6. Shred the beef with two forks and mix in the barbecue sauce.
  7. Cook on low for 1 hour.

  8. Serve on toasted hoagie roll with cheese.
Nutrition Facts
Slow Cooker BBQ Beef Sandwiches
Amount Per Serving
Calories 788 Calories from Fat 405
% Daily Value*
Fat 45g69%
Saturated Fat 20g125%
Cholesterol 225mg75%
Sodium 1434mg62%
Potassium 1163mg33%
Carbohydrates 32g11%
Fiber 1g4%
Sugar 25g28%
Protein 62g124%
Vitamin A 985IU20%
Vitamin C 0.4mg0%
Calcium 276mg28%
Iron 6.8mg38%
* Percent Daily Values are based on a 2000 calorie diet.

 

About the Author: Sabrina Snyder

Sabrina is a professionally trained Private Chef of over 10 years with ServSafe Manager certification in food safety. She creates all the recipes here on Dinner, then Dessert, fueled in no small part by her love for bacon.

Dinner, then Dessert, Inc. owns the copyright on all images and text and does not allow for its original recipes and pictures to be reproduced anywhere other than at this site unless authorization is given. If you enjoyed the recipe and would like to publish it on your own site, please re-write it in your own words, and link back to my site and recipe page. Read my disclosure and copyright policy. This post may contain affiliate links.

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Comments

  1. Made this a couple of weeks ago and my family loved it. I used the leftovers to make a BBQ Beef pizza the next day and that was a hit as well and let me use up most of the leftovers. Making this again today to take over to my parents’ for dinner.

    I wish I could find a stainless steel insert for my slow cooker as mine is a glazed ceramic.

    Thank you for the recipe!

  2. Wonderful recipe! I normally make pulled chicken or pork in the slow cooker for pulled bbq sandwiches. I was in the mood for something different, yet easy. It’s way too hot to monitor my smoker all day! Even my picky husband loved them. Very flavorful and delicious! The only change that I made was using smoked paprika in place of regular. A sweet, smoky bbq sauce really brought it all together. We will definitely make these again! Thanks!

  3. Any tips to convert this recipe for an instant pot? It seems like it would work well for it, especially searing the meat first, but I’m not sure how long to pressure cook it for.

    1. I haven’t tested it but I’m sure if could be adapted. You might be able to find a recipe online using similar ingredients and use that as a guideline.

  4. Do you haft to sear the meat before you put it in the crock pot? Or can you just rub all the spices on the meat then place it in the crock pot?

  5. I’ve made this 7 ir 8 times so far and it has become a family favorite. We don’t use the bbq sauce. The juices and the spot on seasoning mix makes it just as delicious as can be. Thank you for changing my mind about meat in the slow cooker. It’s 2 am and I just got it in the slow cooker again for us to smack on all weekend.

    1. It’ll still work just use the slider tool to adjust the recipe card and it’ll give you new measurement for the other ingredients. Enjoy!

  6. I like this. However when I make it, it produces a *lot* of liquid, even though I don’t add any – the beef & spices go into the slow cooker “dry.”

    Might I not be searing the beef enough? Or searing it too much? Or what else might be causing this? Or is this normal? (How much liquid is normal?)

    1. It will cook down and create liquid but it shouldn’t be a lot of liquid coming from the chuck roast. Next time, make sure it’s fully thawed and seared. Some brand do pump liquid into their meat also so check the label and ensure nothing is added. Hope this helps!

      1. It turned out to be the searing. Previous attempts were fully thawed and with injection free chuck roast, and gave a lot of liquid as I noted above. This time I made sure to sear thoroughly, and ended up with much less liquid: A reasonable amount rather than a huge excess.

    1. Yes, just make sure to store it in a freezer safe container. It should last 3-4 months in the freezer. Enjoy!

  7. Another DELICIOUS recipe. This came out tender and perfect. I loved the sandwiches. The cheddar adds a nice balance. I think you are my food soulmate!

  8. My slow cooker is glazed ceramic, do I need to adapt anything for this recipe or is my slow cooker just not suitable for this recipe? Thank you

    1. It’ll still work for this recipe but you’ll need to sear your meat in a skillet before adding it to the slow cooker.
      Hope this helps. Enjoy!

  9. The roast was so good with the seasoning I thought about no adding the BBQ sauce. I was concerned about no adding any liquid but the roast made enough natural juices and this allowed the outside to get a nice crust. Thanks Again

  10. Definitely deliciousness on a roll. I used homemade bbq, because hubby freaked out when he saw how much HFCS was in our (and your) favorite bbq. Other than that this recipe is a home and camping staple. Thank you.