Easy Homemade Au Jus Recipe

This Easy Homemade Au Jus Recipe is so simple you won’t believe it, and once you try homemade Au Jus, you’ll never go back to a package mix!

“Au Jus” is a French term that means “with juice”. It sounds fancy, but in reality, is very basic. When I was a kid, my Dad made French dip sandwiches for us after my mom cooked pot roast in her pressure cooker.

I’ve carried this tradition on in our family and make French Dip Sandwiches with Au Jus whenever we have leftover pot roast. French Dip’s were a regular on our meal rotation when our kids were growing up. It was always quick and easy, and (BONUS!) everyone loved it.

When our kids grew up and were able to drive home for lunch, I often made French dip sandwiches for their friends. It was quick and easy, and all kids love this meal. One of the kids named it “Foster Friday” and it stuck. I always served French Dips, Tater Tots (because all teenage boys LOVE Tater Tots) homemade fry sauce, fruit or salad and always always always, Tried and True Chocolate Chip Cookies.

Easy way to make french dip sandwiches:

This is by far the quick and easy way to make homemade French Dip Sandwiches!

• How much meat to purchase? Deli meat works if you don’t have leftover roast. As a rule of thumb, I usually purchase about 1/3 lb of deli meat (roast beef sliced very thin) per person.I recommend a good quality brand such as Boar’s Head meat.
• I like a crusty French roll, (toasted on a grill to keep the bread from getting soggy), and of course, the Au Jus (recipe below)! Any type of roll will work.

How to make The very Best French Dip Sandwich (a little more time, but worth it!)

Taking your French Dip game to the next level is easier than you think! Here are the steps to make the best French Dip Sandwiches:

1. Cook the roast. I use this Instant Pot recipe to cut down on time, but the oven method for cooking roast works too. I don’t cook the carrots and potatoes when I make a pot roast for French Dip sandwiches, just the roast.
2. After cooking the roast, shred the meat and remove any visible signs of fat from the meat and discard.
3. There should be juice remaining in the pot or pan. Drain the juice into a bowl or large jar, removing any fat as well. Quickly remove any residual grease from the juice by placing the juice into the fridge or freezer for a few minutes or use a fat separator (which also comes in handy when making gravies). The fat will rise to the top of the bowl or jar of juice and can easily be removed with a spoon and discarded. This is an important step as you do not want greasy Au Jus.
4. If you don’t want to use the juice from the roast, or you purchased deli meat, just follow the directions on the Au Jus recipe below. This recipe calls for water and beef flavoring, instead of the traditional method of making Au Jus with beef drippings. No beef drippings are required to make this easy Au Jus recipe!

The Rolls:

As mentioned earlier, I usually purchase a crusty French roll for this recipe. If you want to make a next level French Dip Sandwich, make your own rolls! ABK’s No Fail French Bread (photo below) can easily be made into French rolls. Just separate the dough into small pieces, and follow the recipe directions for baking.

I can usually get about 12+ generous size French rolls out of one recipe. I highly recommend using bread flour when making homemade rolls for French Dip. The texture of the bread is more dense and holds the sandwich together better.

Secret Method for making the best homemade french dip sandwich:

The secret to taking a French Dip sandwich from ho-hum to “THE BEST French Dip Sandwich EVER” is first, make homemade Au Jus. Then, using tongs, dip the meat into the warm Au Jus, let excess juice drip back into pan of sauce and place the meat inside of the toasted bun.

To toast the bun, butter the inside of the bun and place onto a griddle over medium heat until golden. Your family will think they have died and gone to heaven. Juicy meat, on a slightly softened toasted bun. Serve with a hot cup of Au Jus for more dipping!

If you love melted cheese and grilled onions you can add those as well, but I think a French Dip is best enjoyed with meat, bun and lots of piping hot Au Jus on the side!

Recipe updated with new content December 2025