Philly Cheesesteaks are an iconic sandwich for good reason.
Thinly sliced steak is simply seasoned, cooked with a handful of caramelized onions, topped with cheese, and nestled in a toasted bun.
This recipe is as good as it gets, hearty, easy to make, and oh, so delicious!
Why We Love This Recipe
- While it has simple ingredients, it’s so yummy.
- Philly Cheesesteaks are a favorite, and they’re easy to make.
- These come together in just 30 minutes, great for feeding a crowd or a potluck!
- Keep it simple like this version or add in your own favorites from green peppers to mushrooms.
Serve with potato wedges or Oven Baked French Fries, or kettle-cooked potato chips for a comforting, hearty meal!
What is a Philly Cheesesteak?
The Philly cheesesteak sandwich was created by Pat Olivieri in the 1930s (in Philadelphia of course)! Pat ran a hot dog cart and served this up one day for lunch and the rest is history! 90+ years later, the Olivieri family still runs Pat’s King of Steaks serving up this iconic sandwich.
This Philly cheesesteak recipe keeps it simple with a combination of thinly sliced steak simple season with kosher salt and black pepper, melted cheese, and fried onions in a hoagie roll.
Ingredients/Variations
Steak – The steak is simply seasoned with salt & pepper. The best steak for Philly cheesesteak is ribeye as it is so tender and has lots of flavor (although it can be pricey). Round steak or sirloin are great options too.
Onions – Caramelized onions add to the flavor of this sandwich! Feel free to add sliced green peppers or sauteed mushrooms if you’d like!
Cheese – We think the best cheese for cheesesteaks is Provolone cheese. Other favorites include Cheez Whiz or American cheese.
The cheese is melted on the steak right in the pan. Add the toasted roll on top and flip the beef over with a spatula.
Buns – Hoagie rolls are easy to find in almost any supermarket. This recipe toasts them with garlic butter for extra flavor. Italian, pretzel, brioche, or even hot dog buns will all work!
How to Make Philly Cheesesteak
- Cook onions in a large skillet until tender and golden. Set aside.
- Thinly slice, season, and cook the beef (per the recipe below).
- Stir in the onions and melt the cheese on top of the meat in the pan.
- Top with toasted hoagie rolls and use a spatula to flip the meat over into the bun.
This homemade Philly cheesesteak is one of the best, hearty sandwiches!
Feeding a Crowd? Try Crockpot Philly Cheesesteak Sandwiches for an easy make-ahead meal!
Leftovers
It’s best to store the fixings separately from the hoagie rolls. Keep the meat mixture in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to 5 days.
To freeze, scoop the mixture into a zippered bag and label it with the date. It should keep about a month in the freezer.
To thaw, refresh the flavors with a few dashes of salt and pepper and heat on the stovetop or in the microwave.
More Hearty Sandwiches We Love
Did you love these Philly Cheesesteaks? Be sure to leave a rating and a comment below!
Philly Cheesesteaks
Equipment
Ingredients
- 1 ribeye steak or round steak or sirloin
- ½ large white onion or 1 small white onions, thinly sliced
- 1 tablespoon butter
- salt & pepper to taste
- 1 tablespoon olive oil
- 2 hoagie rolls
- 2 tablespoons garlic butter
- 3 ounces provolone cheese or American cheese
Instructions
- Place steak in the freezer for 30-60 minutes.
- While steak is freezing, add onions and butter to a pan and cook on low heat until golden, stirring occasionally. Be sure to use low and slow heat. Remove from pan and set aside.
- Remove beef from the freezer and slice as thinly as possible.
- Heat a skillet or griddle over medium heat. Cut hoagie rolls in half (not all of the way through) and butter with garlic butter. Grill rolls on the skillet, butter side down, or broil until golden. Set aside.
- Turn the heat on the skillet/griddle up to high.
- Season the thinly sliced beef with salt & pepper. Add 1 tablespoon olive oil to the hot skillet and add beef. Stir until browned, this should only take a couple of minutes. Turn heat down to low, add onions and stir to combine.
- Top beef in the skillet with cheese slices and leave for about 1 minute or until cheese begins to melt. Place rolls over top of the cheese and using a large spatula, transfer mixture to rolls.
Video
Notes
2 small green bell peppers and/or sliced mushrooms can be added to the onions once they’re softened. If you don’t have garlic butter, spread butter over the rolls and sprinkle with garlic powder before broiling or grilling.
Nutrition Information
Nutrition information provided is an estimate and will vary based on cooking methods and brands of ingredients used.
Course Beef, Main Course
Cuisine American© SpendWithPennies.com. Content and photographs are copyright protected. Sharing of this recipe is both encouraged and appreciated. Copying and/or pasting full recipes to any social media is strictly prohibited. Please view my photo use policy here.
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I’m looking at the Philly Cheesesteak sandwich recipe, can you tell me the amount of beef, in pound weight.
Many thanks
You will want approximately 1 pound of beef. Enjoy Linda!
Totally awesome and easy! Only thing I did different was place some banana peppers on top.
Banana peppers would be so good on these!
I made this for summer tonight. Absolutely delicious . Thank you for all your great recipes.
I am so glad you are enjoying the recipes Regina!
I loved the Philly cheese steak, thank you so much for sharing your recipes,
So glad you loved this Mary Ann!
Hi Holly, how do you grill the buns in a skillet if they’re not split? Just in the middle of making it, I’m sure it will be great.
I generally cut them in half, butter and grill or broil.
a GREAT sandwich
I’ve been looking forever, for a good tasting Philly cheesesteak.
This was delicious .
Thank you.
Love your recipes. For many years now I’ve been a follower and hige fan.
Great recipes & wonderful website you have. I always share the recipes I try on Facebook or with family and friends.
So glad you loved these Darlene, thank you so much for following along and sharing the recipes on Facebook!
Delicious, easy to make, recommend this for any night or during a game’
Glad you enjoyed it, Tom.
This was so easy and delicious! I couldn’t believe how quickly it all came together once I had all the ingredients prepared and ready. So tender!
Yay! That is wonderful Sharon! Glad you enjoyed it.
Save yourself some trouble and ask your butcher for shaved ribeye. Mine stalls it in packs next to the ground beef. Just season it and chopp it up a bit and it’s perfect for cheesesteaks.
Thank you for sharing your tip!
Delicious! Have made twice aleady!
This recipe is so easy to make and it was delicious!
We tried this recipe and it was delicious!! Putting the steak in the freezer to cut beef thin, was key to the success of this sandwich!! We are making it again tonight!!! I recommend this sandwich!!! Yum!!!!
Easy and good! I added a little Worcestershire sauce when seasoning the steak and it tasted great.
Holly, OMG this is the best ever. Followed your recipe exactly and it came out delicious. What an easy recipe. The hardest thing was just slicing the meat after being in the freezer. My husband used to buy Philly steak subs and I knew he was missing it. But he said this topped it all. Thank you so much for sharing all your recipes, as I look forward all your recipes you post on FB daily.
Thanks again.
So happy to hear this Ferryal! I am glad we were able to help you make his day! :)