French dip sandwich: ultimate “dippability”

• Features, Food & Drink, Recipes
• 12th March 2026
• Cumbria Guide

French dip sandwich

This indulgent sandwich was reportedly invented in 1900s America by Philippe Mathieu, a French restauranteur who accidentally dropped a beef sandwich into a roasting tin of meat drippings – legend has it the customer wanted to eat it nonetheless and suffice to say, the creation was born.

Here we add in a few tweaks that make our version as British as it gets – a crusty roast beef sandwich with a silky thin gravy companion (or “jus”, as the French would prefer), for ultimate “dippability”.

Serves: 2
Prep Time: 10 minutes
Cook Time: 20 minutes

Ingredients:

For the gravy:

• 20g butter
• 1 tbsp plain flour
• 200ml red wine
• Few sprigs of fresh thyme
• 400ml good quality beef stock
• 4 tbsp Opies Pickled Walnuts brine
• Large handful of watercress

For the sandwich filling:

• 2 crusty sourdough baguettes, sliced lengthways
• 250g medium-rare roast beef, thinly sliced
• 150g stichelton cheese (or blue cheese)
• 2 tsp English mustard
• 4 tsp hot horseradish sauce
• 2 Opies Pickled Walnuts, thinly sliced

Method:

1. Preheat the oven to 180°C/160°C fan/ gas 4.
2. Melt the butter in a pan then add the flour, stirring until it forms a roux.
3. Turn the heat up then add the red wine, thyme, beef stock and pickled walnut brine. Once it comes up to boil give it a final stir, reduce heat to medium and leave to simmer uncovered for around 30 minutes until it darkens and thickens, stirring occasionally.
4. Slather the mustard and horseradish liberally onto the baguette halves (use more if you prefer it hot), then divide the roast beef up between them and crumble over the stichelton cheese.
5. Place the 4 open halves onto a baking tray and warm in the oven for 4-5 minutes or until the cheese has just started to melt.
6. Remove from the oven, add the pickled walnuts and watercress then bring the halves together to enclose the filling.
7. Pour the hot gravy into two small bowls, and serve  alongside each baguette for leisurely dipping.

Hints & Tips:

This recipe works brilliantly using leftover gravy, if you’re lucky enough to have some going spare from your roast dinner. Simply warm through and loosen it with some hot beef stock – the dipping gravy should be the consistency of double cream.

Recipe courtesy; www.bennettopie.com

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