French Dip Biscuit Casserole
If you love a French dip, you already know the best part isn’t the sandwich. It’s that last bite you drag through the au jus before it’s gone. This French Dip Casserole gives you that specific bite over and over, in a 9×13 pan, on a Tuesday. And in my book, that’s a WIN!
It’s a French dip taken apart and put back together as a bake. Roast beef gets folded into a quick onion gravy you make right in the skillet, then it all goes into the pan under a blanket of provolone. Topped with split biscuits so they bake through in the oven. Forty minutes later the top is golden, the cheese is melted underneath, and roast beef is piping hot and juicy. Add a salad or a vegetable and dinner is done!
Ingredients For French Dip Biscuit Casserole
Nothing on this list is hard to find, which means it’s easy to add them to the grocery list and take at least one worry off your plate for dinnertime this week.
- butter
- yellow onion
- garlic
- all purpose flour
- beef broth
- Worcestershire sauce
- onion powder
- garlic powder
- black pepper
- salt
- deli roast beef
- provolone cheese
- refrigerated biscuits
- Optional ingredient: Bottled Au Jus (for dipping or drizzling as needed)
- Optional ingredient: Chopped Parsley
You can warm a bottle of premade au jus if you like the idea of dipping or drizzling more gravy goodness over your finished casserole. Of course you’re making a homemade gravy to go under the cheese and biscuits and it doesn’t really need this step. BUT you can add it if you need it. Warmed au jus bumps up the homey-ness of this casserole just a bit.
Changes You Can Make To This Casserole
Switch out the cheese! Provolone is what makes it taste like a French dip. But Swiss melts beautifully and mozzarella will absolutely work if that’s what’s in the drawer. And in the end any cheese will work, yes, even cheddar if that’s what you have. It’s not perfect and the finished flavor will be a little different.
If you love onions, let them go cook longer in the butter until they’re deep and jammy, the flavor deepens with longer cooking. But just following the directions for cooking the onions pulls the whole recipe in on time. Choose your outcome, quicker dinner, more flavor.
Sliced mushrooms or green peppers cooked down with the onions makes this more cheesesteak instead of french dip. Add them if you like them!
Swap out the sliced lunch meat with leftover roast or pot roast. Chop it up and use it the same way you would use lunch meat.
What Can Go Wrong
Things happen and things go wrong all the time. Here’s how to fix the most common problems with this casserole.
Gummy biscuit bottoms: Split every biscuit in half horizontally like the recipe says. Whole biscuits brown on top and stay raw underneath, and you won’t know until you’re serving it! So be sure to use regular sized biscuits and split them in half.
Runny gravy: If you rushed that 3 to 4 minute simmer, you’ll have broth instead of gravy. Fix this before the adding the beef and your casserole with be so much better. Let it bubble until it thickens up and the gravy coats the back of a spoon. You might need an extra minute or two but they’re worth it.
Too salty: Deli roast beef and beef broth are both salted already. Taste the gravy first and add the half the salt at the end of the recipe. You may not need it so don’t add it until you taste the finished gravy with roast beef.
Dark tops, doughy middles: Oven temperatures vary, so if your biscuits are golden on top before the casserole is done baking tent the dish loosely with foil and finish with the recommended bake time.
Got Leftovers?
Store leftovers in an airtight container in the fridge for 2 to 3 days. To reheat, cover the dish with foil and warm it in a 350°F oven until it’s hot through, about 15 to 20 minutes. Peel back the foil in the last couple of minutes to crisp the biscuits.
The air fryer works for this step too if you can put the leftovers in a small container that will fit in the basket. Cover and reheat on 350°F, peel back the foil to crisp up the biscuits in the last couple of minutes
The biscuits won’t be as crisp on day two as they were coming out of the oven on day one. They’ll still be good, just softer and not freshly baked. We’re a leftovers kind of family so it doesn’t bother us at all. But it’s worth noting.
French Dip Biscuit Casserole
Ingredients
- 2 tbsp unsalted butter
- 1 small yellow onion diced
- 2 cloves garlic minced
- 2 tbsp all purpose flour
- 2 cups low sodium beef broth
- 1 tbsp Worcestershire sauce
- 1 tsp onion powder
- 1 tsp garlic powder
- 1/2 tsp black pepper
- 1 lb deli roast beef roughly chopped
- 1/2 tsp salt optional, taste before adding
- 12 slices provolone cheese
- 2 cans refrigerated biscuits 8-count
Optional Ingredients
- 1 jar prepared au jus
- chopped parsley
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350°F
- Spray a 9×13-inch baking dish with nonstick cooking spray, set aside
- Melt the butter in a large skillet over medium heat, add the onion and cook for 8-10 minutes, stirring occasionally, until softened and lightly golden
- Add the garlic and flour and cook for 1 minute
- Slowly whisk in the beef broth until smooth
- Stir in the Worcestershire sauce, onion powder, garlic powder, and black pepper
- Simmer for 3-4 minutes, or until slightly thickened
- Add the chopped roast beef to the skillet and stir until coated in the gravy and heated through
- Taste for flavor and add more Worcestershire sauce, onion powder, garlic powder, black pepper
- Add the salt if needed, it may be salty enough at this point
- Spread the beef mixture evenly into the prepared baking dish
- Lay the provolone cheese slices over the top
- Separate each biscuit in half horizontally to make thinner biscuit layers. Arrange them evenly over the cheese, covering most of the casserole
- Bake for 30-35 minutes, or until the biscuits are golden brown and cooked through
- If using the prepared au jus warm it up in the last 10 minutes of baking, serve alongside the casserole if desired
- sprinkle baked casserole with chopped parsley if desired
- serve in big deep bowls or blates with a little dish of au jus (if using) on the side
Video
Notes
- Keep in the refrigerator for 2-3 days in an airtight container.
- Separating the biscuits in half helps them bake all the way through while giving you more biscuit coverage.
- Provolone gives this casserole classic French dip flavor, but Swiss or mozzarella are delicious too.
- If you like extra onions, caramelize them a little longer for an even richer flavor.
