Welp. I had to do it. I finally used the very last two beef tenderloin steaks from the freezer. And that beef tenderloin went out with a BANG!! These cheesy French Dip Steak Sliders & Au Jus absolutely ROCKED!!

If you’ve been following my blog, you may remember me telling you about the crazy insane sale our grocery store had many months ago.

They were selling whole beef tenderloins for LESS than the price of hamburger per pound!!!

I know!!!! OMG.

So, needless to say, we were “greedy” and bought TWO of them. When I got them home, I sliced each of them into 1-inch thick steaks, individually wrapped them in plastic wrap, then popped them into freezer bags and stashed them in the big scary garage freezer.

Those little suckers lasted us a LONG time!! I so hope they have that sale again soon, though!! Because what a deal!! And now they’re all gone…*sigh*….

So. Since these were the last two, I really wanted to stretch them as much as possible to make them last…well…at least TWO days, anyways! Gotta have leftovers!

So I simply seasoned them well with kosher salt, coarse ground black pepper, and garlic powder, and then lightly with just a little onion powder also. I fried them on my griddle until gorgeous on the outside, and perfectly rare on the inside!

This is how we enjoy our steaks, especially a very high quality cut of beef such as tenderloin.

If you prefer yours more done, go for it, (but I can’t guarantee that it will be as juicy and tender.)

I made my own baguettes using frozen bread dough. I simply sliced the thawed loaf in half down the middle lengthwise, rolled into slightly thinner ropes, twisted them, and placed them onto a sprayed baking sheet.

I sprayed them, covered them with plastic wrap, and popped them into the oven with just the light on for warmth to rise until doubled.

I then seasoned them with lots of seasoned salt, coarse ground black pepper, and garlic powder, and a little onion powder. Then popped them back into a now preheated oven and baked them for about 20 minutes at 350º.

This works SO well for sandwiches, subs, hoagies, and sliders! You can then just slice them into whatever size you need!

The steaks get thinly sliced crossways against the grain, piled onto the sliced and split baguette rolls, and topped with cheese! (*One steak made four large sliders!)

I topped them with havarti first, since it’s a softer cheese and melts faster, then a piece of swiss. *Doing it this way will ensure that they both melt evenly at the same time!

And don’t worry! The meat will NOT get overdone. They’re only under the broiler less than a minute, and just the outside edges may take on slight color only on the very outside, but will STILL be rare inside each piece. (And any meat under the cheese stays perfectly rare through and through).

This cheese was delicious too, by the way! I had won 3 packages of Finlandia Cheese from a Facebook contest, and the havarti and swiss made for the perfect blend for these! The cheeses both melted beautifully and was a very nice quality to boot!

Just look how gorgeous and inviting these babies turned out to be!!

I even made my own simple Au Jus to accompany them for dipping ‘n dunking, because, I mean, what would French Dips be without some Au Jus, right?

But I stay far, far away from those packets. To me they taste AWFUL. And this is so easy to make homemade! Honestly, it takes about the same amount of time, only with flavor!! Ha!

I thought about caramelizing some mushrooms and onions for this, but decided not to, as I didn’t want to mask the wonderful flavor of the beef tenderloin!

We were both VERY happy that I kept it simple and just let the few basic ingredients shine!

“Elegance in simplicity”.

And absolutely perfect just as they were!

These were absolutely the BOMB.

A super fun weeknight sandwich that you can easily make in 30 minutes! And actually economical, too!! We got 8 sliders out of just two steaks!! ONE, with a side dish, was PLENTY for me, and my hubby polished off three!! But those two steaks lasted us two days, and we were stuffed to the gills!!

They’d also be perfect for watching football on a Sunday afternoon, and easy enough to whip up for guests, too! If you really want to share…

So keep this one handy! They were truly fantastic!! And so easy and fun to make! Hope you enjoy!!

Side Dish Suggestions:

Sour Cream & Onion French Fries! (Just like the Chips!) *I served this! Awesome combo!
Copycat FIVE GUYS Fries!
Garlic Asiago Potato Wedges
French Onion Dip Potato Salad
Jo Jo Potatoes
Easy Swiss Scalloped Potatoes with Bacon, Onions, & Mushrooms
Beer-Battered Sweet Red Cubanelle Pepper Rings
Beer-Battered Sweet Baby Carrots with Honey Mustard Ranch Dipping Sauce
Rustic Home-Fried Red & Sweet Potato Chips with Sea Salt

8 sliders

French Dip Steak Sliders & Au Jus

Ingredients

2 (1 inch thick) beef tenderloin steaks
kosher salt, coarse ground black pepper, garlic powder, and onion powder to taste
2 Tbl. butter
1 Tbl. vegetable oil
8 slider rolls, depending on size of rolls and how much meat you want
soft butter for inside of rolls
4 slices good havarti cheese, torn into fourths (I used Finlandia for this)
4 slices good swiss cheese, torn into fourths (I used Finlandia for this)

For Au Jus:

2 cups water
1 level Tbl. Superior Touch Better Than Bouillon Beef Base
1 tsp. red wine
1/8 tsp. dried thyme
1/8 tsp. garlic powder
1/16 tsp. instant espresso powder

Instructions

In large glass measuring pitcher, add all Au Jus ingredients, stir, and microwave on High until just to a boil. Remove, stir well until bouillon base is dissolved, cover and set aside.

Season steaks to taste with the salt, pepper and garlic powder. Add butter and oil to frying pan, heat over medium-high heat. Stir butter and oil together and fry steaks in hot pan for 4 - 5 minutes per side for rare. (Longer if you like your steaks more done inside.)

Remove to a plate and let rest, covered.

Heat oven to broil.

Split open rolls or baguette slices, butter insides lightly. Place onto baking sheet.

Slice steaks thinly against the grain, and place strips of meat onto bottom rolls. Top each with 2 pieces of havarti, then 2 pieces of swiss. Run under broiler until cheese has melted and inside of top rolls are toasted. WATCH so they don't burn!

Remove, place on tops and serve with warm Au Jus for dipping & dunking! Enjoy!