For The Easiest Cheesesteaks, Grab This Store-Bought Shortcut

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You would be remiss, on your travels to the City of Brotherly Love, not to pick up a cheesesteak. This iconic American sandwich is loaded with copious amounts of steak, peppers, onions, and cheese (usually one of three types), all packed into a delicious hoagie roll. If you don't have Philly in your upcoming travel plans, though, rest assured that you can whip up a decent homemade Philly cheesesteak with the help of one ingredient: frozen steak dinners.

Repurposing a frozen steak dinner for this sandwich isn't just smart; it also will take the flavor of the entrée from good to great. Traditionally, the sandwich uses ribeye, sirloin, flank, or strip steak. When you reheat and use the meat portion of a frozen steak dinner, though, you will save yourself a ton of time and allow yourself to focus more on the other essential components, namely the veggies, cheese, and bread. You can use leftover peppers and onions — perhaps from fajita night — and toss the reheated, sliced pieces of steak in a skillet with them. Once you're ready to serve, stack your meat and veggie filling on a toasted hoagie roll, add your melty provolone (or Cheez Wiz), and enjoy.

The reality is that not all frozen dinners will work for this hack. Obviously, the consistency of frozen Salisbury steak isn't going to be anywhere near a high-quality sirloin, so you'll need to be tactful about which one you select. Since you're probably going to be adding some of the quintessential Philly cheesesteak seasonings to your pan, be sure to select a basic, non-gravy-smothered piece of meat to work with so that it soaks up all of those flavors.

Frozen fajita meals are a great place to start; Walmart sells a Great Value steak fajita meal for an affordable price (and it comes with the peppers and onions). Once the meat is in the pan, be sure to add your favorite spice blends to take its flavor from Tex-Mex into Philly cheesesteak territory. You may also want to take a glance at our ranking of frozen steak dinners to find ones that are not only high-quality but can be the easiest homemade Philly cheesesteak upgrade you've ever heard of.