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Jul 12, 2020

Beef on Weck

Beef on Weck is a delicious sandwich originating from Buffalo, New York. It's made with thin cut rare roast beef, horseradish, and a kaiser-like roll topped with salt and caraway seeds and dipped in a beef au jus gravy.


Beef on Weck with dipping sauce on the plate





Outside of Western New York, I'm not sure that beef on weck is a "thing," but it really should be. The sandwich is delicious.

The sandwich involves slow roasted beef which is thinly sliced and piled into a Kimmelweck roll that has been dipped in au jus gravy and browned on a griddle and topped with a an amazing horseradish sauce.

It's a pretty simple yet delicious sandwich. I don't understand how it hasn't caught on across the country!!


Beef on Weck with the bread dipped in au jus





For the beef, I used a sirloin tip round roast. It's a less expensive cut of beef and is easy to slow roast.


How to make roast beef for beef on weck:


To make the roast beef, heat the oven to 200˚F. Generously salt the exterior of the roast beef, and add pepper to your taste. Place on a rack on a sheet pan, and cook until the internal temperature reaches 125˚F. Tent the beef and let cool for about 15 minutes before slicing.


Because the cut if beef is less expensive, be sure to slice the roast beef against the grain.

Slow roasted roast beef, sliced




I love that with this roasting method, the beef is medium rare from end to end. No gray beef!

While I'm including a recipe for au jus, I'm not averse to using Laury's Beef Au Jus packets for this recipe. It's pretty darn delicious, plus, it's really easy and there's lots of umami.

About Kimmelweck rolls: 


There are two ways you can make kimmelweck rolls. If you are like me, you'll probably want to make them from scratch. However, if you don't want to start from scratch, you can make your own kimmelweck rolls by taking some Kaiser rolls and topping them with coarse sea salt and caraway seeds.

Just take your favorite Kaiser roll or hard roll, brush it with an egg wash, and sprinkle it with sea salt and caraway seeds. Bake at 350 for about 5 to 10 minutes.


Kimmelweck rolls





The final ingredient in a Beef on Weck Sandwich is the horseradish sauce. To make it, mix some horseradish, mayonnaise, and some granulated garlic.

That's all you need to make Beef on Weck!

Serve the sandwich with some dipping au jus and enjoy!


Beef on Weck with the bread being dipped in au jus





While I've never been to Buffalo, one of my bread baking friends introduced me to kimmelweck rolls back in 2013. I've since made several versions of Kaiser rolls. Any one of these recipes will give you great kimmelweck rolls. Just change out the topping for an egg wash, salt, and caraway seeds.




Beef on Weck with horseradish sauce




This is one of my favorite beef sandwiches. It's simple, super easy, and delicious. In fact, I love to make extra roast beef just so I can have lots of leftovers.

Beef on Weck:


A beef on weck sandwich is a traditional Buffalo dish. While I've presented a recipe for Kimmelweck rolls, the rolls are also commonly called Kummelweck rolls.

Beef on Weck Sandwiches from Buffalo with horseradish sauce




This week, the From Our Dinner Table group is posting regional recipes. It might seem kind of odd for me to post a Buffalo New York recipe since I've only lived in Southern California.

I fell in love the rolls for this sandwich, after being introduced to them from my dear bread baker friend Anthony who hails from western New York.





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We share Recipes From Our Dinner Table! Join our group and share your recipes, too! While you're at it, join our Pinterest board, too!


For the Kimmelweck rolls in this recipe, you can make them from scratch or doctor up some Kaiser rolls. Be sure to check the links above.




Beef on Weck Recipe

Print
Beef on Weck Recipe
Author: Karen Kerr
Beef on Weck is a delicious sandwich originating from Buffalo, New York. It's made with thin cut rare roast beef, horseradish, and a kaiser-like roll topped with salt and caraway seeds and dipped in a beef au jus gravy.

Ingredients:

For the Beef
  • 2 pound beef sirloin tip round
  • Salt and pepper to coat the roast
For the Horseradish Sauce
  • 1 tablespoon prepared horseradish
  • 1/3 cup mayonnaise
  • 1/2 teaspoon garlic powder
For the Au Jus Gravy
  • 1 tablespoon olive oil
  • 1/4 cup red onion chopped
  • 1 teaspoon garlic ,minced
  • 1/8 cup white wine
  • 1 tablespoon Worcestershire sauce
  • 2 1/2 cups beef broth
  • 1 teaspoon flour optional
For the Kimmelweck Rolls
  • 6 kaiser or hamburger rolls
  • 1 egg (beaten) with 1 tablespoon of water
  • 1 tablespoon caraway seeds
  • 1 tablespoon salt

Instructions:

To make the Roast Beef
  1. To make the roast beef, heat the oven to 200˚F. Generously salt the exterior of the roast beef, and add pepper to your taste. Place on a rack on a sheet pan, and cook until the internal temperature reaches 125˚F. Let cool completely before slicing.
  2. Thinly slice the roast beef. 
To Make the Horseradish Sauce
  1. Whisk the ingredients in a bowl. Spread on the sandwiches when assembling. 
To Make the Au Jus
  1. Saute the onions in  the olive oil. Add the garlic and cook for a minute or two more.
  2. Deglaze the pot with the white wine, and then add the Worcestershire sauce. Cook for another minute, stirring constantly.
  3. Add the beef broth and bring the mixture to a simmer. Simmer for about 3 minutes.
  4. Strain the broth and then return it to pot. Add the flour and simmer an additional 5 minutes.
  5. Set aside for dipping. 
To Make the Kimmelweck rolls
  1. Brush the tops of Kaiser rolls with the egg wash. 
  2. Sprinkle the tops with kosher salt and caraway seeds. 
  3. Bake the rolls for five minutes in a 350 degree F oven for about 5 to 10 minutes. 
To Assemble the Sandwiches
  1. Cut the rolls in half.
  2. Dip the interior of the halved rolls in the au jus and place them on a hot pan to sear for about 2 to 3 minutes. 
  3. Dip the thinly sliced roast beef in the hot au jus and place the slices on the toasted bread. 
  4. Spread the roast beef with the horseradish sauce. 
  5. Top with the other half of the roll and serve. 
kimmelweck, kummelweck
sandwich
New York, Germany
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Would you like to comment?

  1. I love French Dips so I know I would love these sandwiches. I'm sure you have a recipe on your blog for those homemade rolls....Off to search LOL

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I totally do! There's link near in the second paragraph under the first photo!

      Delete
  2. I've never had this but I'd eat it in a second! Some of my favorite flavors for beef together on a roll!

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  3. Never heard of this heavenly recipe! I am sending your post to our former post-doc who now works in Buffalo, maybe he's had it and if not it will be something for him to try

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I'd love to hear! I got the roll recipe from a bread baking friend who lives there.

      Delete
  4. Kind of like a French Dip but rare and with horseradish. Love French dip and this sounds even better!

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  5. What a delicious sandwich. I have not heard of it before living in the Midwest, but I love everything on there, and that yummy dip into the au jus as well!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thanks! I heard about it from a bread baking friend from Buffalo.

      Delete
  6. Oh my, I would devour this sandwich. You are right that it needs to be a thing throughout the country! Foodies unite! haha.

    ReplyDelete
  7. French dips are so good, and your version looks amazing. Isn't it crazy how local recipes can be so yummy, yet unheard of in other states??

    ReplyDelete
  8. This is one of my hands down fave sandwiches. All the flavors and the roll so perfect together.

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  9. It doesn't travel outside its native Buffalo (It barely makes it to Rochester.) because the salt topping makes the rolls super-perishable, turning them first slimy then rock-hard before the day is out. They're the consummate oven-to-table baked good.

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  10. Born & raised in Buffalo back in the 50's-60's. R/B on weck, meatball subs and wings were everyday eating in my teen years. Figured out how to make wings with Franks but have been missing the r/b on wick as I called it. Tried an attempt yesterday but no cigar. Just wasn't right. Did a search for kimmelwick rolls & came upon your site. Thank you for that! Thought they might have disappeared or been forgotten in all these years.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. The recipe for the rolls was given to me by a bread baking friend who is a Buffalo native!

      Delete

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