Philly Cheesesteak

Inspired by Jim’s Steaks - Philadelphia, PA

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You can find a cheesesteak just about anywhere in this country but the moment you have your first authentic Philly Cheesesteak you realize that everything else is a weak impostor. You have to use quality ingredients. You have slice everything paper thin. You have to treat this sandwich like the legend that it is. What I’ve laid out here is better than anything you can find outside of Philadelphia and just as great as many of the cheesesteaks you can find in it’s place of origin.

This recipe is inspired by the cheesesteaks served at Jim’s Steaks in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Many folks will tell you the battle for the best cheesesteak stops at Pat’s or Geno’s. However, I spent alot of time searching out where the locals go and Jim’s is where I found the best cheesesteaks. Keep this in mind next time you’re in the City of Brotherly Love.

INGREDIENTS

PHILLY CHEESESTEAK (Makes 1 sandwich but serves 2):

  • ¾ lb Ribeye steak

  • 1-2 TBS beef tallow (see notes)

  • 1 small yellow onion, roughly chopped

  • Salt

  • 5 slices provolone cheese (or cheese whiz)

  • 1 large hoagie sandwich roll

GO FOR IT

PHILLY CHEESESTEAK:

  1. Place steak in freezer for 1 hour to stiffen up

  2. Using a sharp knife, trim any excess fat from your steak, then slice steak as thin as possible (the stiffness from the freezer will help here)

  3. In a cast iron or large skillet, heat tallow or oil over medium-low heat, then add onion with a few pinches of salt and stir until very soft and slightly brown but before they caramelize (took me about 10 minutes)

  4. Remove onions and set aside

  5. Turn heat up to medium then add in sliced ribeye

  6. As steak cooks, break it up as much as possible (almost to a minced consistency) using a scrapper or large spatula (take note that it will cook very quickly if you sliced thin so you will have to work quickly)

  7. When steak is broken up, add back in onion and mix well, then form into a rectangle the size of your sandwich roll

  8. Top with 5 slices of provolone cheese, then cover skillet for 30 seconds so the cheese steams and melts

  9. While cheese melts, cut your sandwich is half without cutting it into 2 separate pieces (you want to stuff this sandwich and be able to close it

  10. Remove cover when cheese is melted and place sandwich, interior side down, to finish steaming cheese while also warming your bread an additional 30 seconds

  11. Using a large spatula, move your meat onto your sandwich, then slice in half and enjoy

NOTES:

I don’t know too many people that have beef tallow or fat just sitting around in their refrigerator. If not, you can use canola oil. However, I took the excess fat that I trimmed off the ribeye steak and rendered that on low heat while I sliced the rest of the steak. I even threw in some of the larger pieces of fat from the slices as I sliced. At the end I had about 2 TBS of liquid tallow in my pan and was the able to remove the solids and then cook the rest using the beef tallow left over in the pan. This may seem excessive but will give you a great beefy taste throughout your sandwich and is crucial in making your sandwich taste just as great as what you’ll find in Philadelphia.

While I did use provolone here, many people will say that cheese whiz is the proper way to enjoy a Philly Cheesesteak. Having had both versions in Philadelphia I can certainly say that cheese whiz is actually pretty fantastic when served this way. However, provolone is just as acceptable and delicious and what I decided to use so that I didn’t find myself left with a mostly full can of cheese whiz in my cabinet which I would probably never touch again. Feel free to do as you please or try making it both ways and come to your own conclusion.

The proper way to make an authentic Philly Cheesesteak is using ribeye steak. This may seem like a waste of a great cut of beef but is indeed crucial to achieve great flavor due to the marbled fat. Leaner cuts simply will not be as tender, taste as good, or have the ability to break up in the way that is needed. Don’t skip on this rule. Even using ribeye I wasn’t able to quite get the level of minced steak that I’ve seen at Jim’s Steaks in Philadelphia. But that’s probably more due to the fact that I don’t have a deli slicer, giant flattop grill, or sharper scrappers to really dig in. But I do promise that following all my rules here that this is better than 90% of what you’ll find in Philadelphia. It’s fantastic. Enjoy!