Biscuits Are Better Stuffed With This Sandwich Filling

Biscuits may be breakfast sandwich champions, but there are so many other classic sandwich recipes that will love a little Southern twist. What makes biscuits great for sandwiches isn't just the flaky, buttery texture (of course, that's a plus). It's that they're so easy to make fresh at home. If you're in the mood for a sandwich, you aren't going to be whipping together some French bread or a fresh focaccia on a whim, but even great, fluffy Southern biscuits can go from craving to plate in a half hour. So you should always be considering them for your next sandwich, and you should start by making a biscuit French dip.

Now you could really go all out by making homemade roast beef as well, but the whole point of the biscuit French dip is the high ratio of deliciousness to the minimum amount of work. With rich biscuits, a tasty au jus for dipping, and some cheese and horseradish as a topping, some quality deli roast beef will be more than enough for your sandwich. For cheese, you can pick any good melting style you want, but provolone and Swiss both offer a good level of mild flavor to complement the tangy sauce and savory au jus. Once the biscuits are baked, all you need to do is cut them in half, top one side with roast beef and cheese, then throw those halves under a low broiler to melt the cheese. Then they're ready to be topped off with your favorite horseradish sauce and the other biscuit half.

The one question mark you'll have to decide on with a biscuit French dip is the au jus. If you aren't making roast beef from scratch, you won't have the normal base for making fresh au jus, but there are a few easy shortcuts. The first are instant au jus packets, which you can find at the grocery store. These can be prepped in minutes and will get the job done perfectly well. If you want to go a little harder, you can make an au jus using beef broth without the pan drippings. Just make a classic roux, then add the best beef broth you can find. To add a little more depth of flavor that you're losing without the drippings, you can also add some Worcestershire sauce or a little red wine, along with spices like onion and garlic powder, and black pepper.

Being such a simple sandwich, you can also make some other additions to a French dip biscuit. Caramelized onions are a great choice that will bring some sweetness and give the sandwich a French onion soup feel. You can double down on meaty, earthy flavors with sauteed mushrooms, especially if you're using Swiss cheese. If you want things to get a little spicy, use pepper jack for the cheese and add pickled jalapenos. You're already messing with the normal French dip formula, so have a little fun with it.