Dusted Philly Cheesesteak
I’ll be honest, I love a good Philly Cheesesteak, but I wouldn’t have called myself a philly cheesesteak connoisseur…until we started experimenting with our own recipe. I grew up in Michigan, not Philly, so I won’t claim to be an expert either BUT I do know that the ORIGINAL philly does not have peppers at all, just onions, and that the REAL DEAL cheese you’re supposed to use is cheez-wiz. I can appreciate a good old fashioned OG philly that meets all the requirements of being dubbed a true philly by the locals, but so many fantastic renditions have been created since the original. Hundreds of foodies have played around with the numerous flavor combinations for decades, and I decided it was about damn time I because part of that elite group of philly foodies.
So here you have it, my favorite philly cheesesteak creation using red peppers and white American cheese because…that’s what tickled my tastebuds the most.
What’s crazy to me is that phillys never have a sauce. Some people scrape garlic on the bread, some butter the bread, and some like me, even mayo the bread, but you really don’t have to do any of that.
I always thought it would be dry or lacking flavor if you didn’t have a sauce, but I honestly think the caramelization of onions, and yes, the hint of sweetness from the red pepper, give this sandwich a phenomenal juiciness as if it was dunked in an au jus.
You also need to make sure you’re using a good hoagie roll if you want to get the best results. I found it REALLY hard to find the perfect hoagie roll that was going to live up to my philly expectations. There are some name brand rolls you can buy from the grocery store that have pretty good reviews, but I felt like I needed to do better than that. I called the ONE place in town that I feel really delivers on a good philly cheesesteak, and I asked them if their homemade rolls were for sale. Unfortunately, they said they wouldn’t be able to keep up with business if they sold the rolls AND made the sandwiches for customers. Damn, tough crowd, and talk about a hot commodity! It was fair enough, but I was back to the drawing board. I finally found a local bakery that sold hoagie rolls baked fresh every morning and they did not disappoint.
A hoagie roll needs to be fresh. You can toast it a little bit, but it needs to stay soft. The beauty of a philly cheesesteak is that the bread soaks in all those amazing flavors so you get a juicy burst in every single bite. You don’t want it too greasy, but if the juices and cheeses are dripping down the sides, then you’ve got yourself a good sandwich.
I’ve grown to really appreciate the philly cheesesteak craft, and it really is a craft. I’ll never forget my first TRUE philly cheesesteak. I was on a work trip for a VERY important meeting in Philadelphia and they told us they would be catering lunch for us. I don’t know why I didn’t expect this given the location of the meeting, but they showed up with platters full of philly cheesesteaks…with and without peppers, cheez-wiz and regular cheese…it was glorious…well, glorious for the first 5 seconds while my mouth watered until I remembered I needed to be coherent for the rest of the meeting. I was not in a position to devour every cheesesteak on the platter and put myself into a food coma haha, but I was able to try a bite of a few of them and fell in love.
By adding Dusted to these phillys it elevates the flavor even more, and I hope that you fall in love too. I know my families mouths water every time I even mention the name!
Dusted Philly Cheesesteak Recipe
Ingredients:
- 2 hoagie rolls
- 2 tbsp mayo
- Dusted Seasoning
- 12 oz shaved ribeye
- ½ large yellow onion
- 1 red pepper
- 4 slices white American cheese (you can substitute for provolone or even cheez-wiz)
Recipe Instructions
- Heat the flattop grill to medium high and let it warm for at least 10 minutes
- Meanwhile, start the prep work. Dice the onion and red peper, cut your hoagie rolls in half keeping them connected at the seam, and spread mayo on each side of the bread
- Sauté the onion and red pepper together on the flattop for about 7 minutes, flipping and stirring as you go
- Move onions to far side of the flattop away from the direct heat and put the shaved ribeye on the grill front and center
- Season the ribeye generously with Dusted Seasoning and start to break apart and chop up the meat
- Once the meat is browned move the peppers and onions over to the center and mix in well with the meat
- Split the pile of meat, peppers, and onions into two long even piles then top each pile with 2 slices of white american cheese
- Close the lid to the flat top (if you don’t have a lid you can just cover the meat piles with a sauté pan) and let the cheese melt for 2 minutes
- While cheese is melting, throw your hoagie rolls, mayo side down, on the grill to get a light toast
- Once toasted and cheese is melted move the hoagie rolls directly on top of the melted cheese and meat.
- Using a spatula scrap the entire pile from underneath and flip the hoagie roll to create the perfect stuffed philly cheesesteak
Recipe Video
Perfect Dusted Philly Cheesesteak with Carmalized Red Peppers and Onions
