The Best Steak Sandwich with Arugula and Caramelized Onion

Say hello to your new favorite steak and arugula sandwich! This sandwich is piled with steak, gruyere cheese, caramelized onion and pepper, and arugula. It is mouthwatering good and a true crowd-pleaser.

This sandwich is actually a play on a recipe that I grew up eating as a kid. We called them peanut oil sandwiches. Sounds gross, right? I agree but I can promise that they were the exact opposite of gross...they were delicious! The version that we had growing up was simple. We boiled the steak to cook it in this peanut oil mixture. We then put it on a roll with mayonnaise and nothing else. It seemed like such a treat back then so now when I make this more exciting version, it seems absolutely heavenly!

Ingredient Highlights:

This steak and arugula sandwich doesn't have any crazy ingredients, but they do have a few key ingredients that you should note.

• Steak: I use flank steak for this recipe but you are welcome to use whatever steak you would like. I like trying to find steaks with as little amount of fat as I can. I hate it when I'm eating a steak sandwich and get a chewy piece. If you buy a steak that has a lot of fat, I would recommend trying to trim the steak before cooking it. If you'd like to save time, you can also purchase shaved steak or stir fry steak.
• Boar's Head Pepperhouse Gourmaise. You should be able to find this in your local grocery store. However, I found it on amazon as well. I absolutely love this sauce and it goes excellent with this steak sandwich or most other sandwiches you traditionally make!
• Gruyere Cheese. I have used plain gruyere cheese and smoked gruyere cheese for this recipe. Both are delicious. You can substitute for another kind of cheese if you'd like such as provolone!

Tools to Make this Steak Sandwich:

Like the ingredients for this steak and gruyere sandwich, the tools needed are also simple. Below is a summary of the main tools you'll need for this recipe.

• Nonstick Pan. I got a Calphalon nonstick pan from my mom as a birthday gift and I'm obsessed with it! It's oven safe which is great for when you need to start something on the stove top but finish it in the oven. I used it to caramelize my onions.
• Sauce Pan. This is great to have for a variety of recipes. It's needed in this recipe to cook the steak! You'll heat up the oil in it then drop the steak in and boil until cooked.
• Sheet Pan. This will be needed to cook the steak sandwiches in the oven. It's always good to have a few sheet pans in your kitchen for cooking sandwiches like this or baking delicious cookies!
• Silicone Pastry Brush. Use this to brush the butter mixture on the tops of the sandwiches before baking. If you don't have one of these, I suggest you buy one. I use mine all the time for a variety of recipes!

📖 Recipe

Steak Sandwich with Arugula and Caramelized Onion

This steak and arugula sandwich is bursting with flavor! Steak is caramelized by boiling it in an oil mixture before assembling a sandwich with steak, gruyere cheese, caramelized onions and peppers, and arugula, all on ciabatta bread. Say hello to mouth watering goodness! Give it a try and be sure to tag @andees_apron on Instagram!

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Total Time: 1 hour hour 15 minutes minutes

Servings: 7 Sandwiches

Author: Andee

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Ingredients

  

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Caramelized Onion and Pepper

• 1 Red Bell Pepper
• 1 Red Onion
• 2 tablespoon Butter unsalted
• 2 cloves Garlic
• 1 teaspoon Brown Sugar
• 1 ½ teaspoon Balsamic Vinegar
• Salt and Pepper to taste

Steak Mixture

• 1 ½ lb Flank Steak
• 1 cube Beef Bouillon
• ¾ c Peanut Oil
• 1 tablespoon Soy Sauce
• 2 tablespoon Teriyaki Sauce

Sandwich Topping

• 2 tablespoon Butter unsalted
• ½ tablespoon Pepperhouse Gourmaise Boar's Head Brand
• 1 teaspoon Dried Parsley Flakes

Sandwich Assembly*

• 2 c Arugula
• 7 Ciabatta Rolls
• 8 oz Gruyere Cheese
• ⅓ c Pepperhouse Goumaise Boar's Head Brand

Instructions

 

To Caramelize the Onion and Pepper:

• Thinly slice onion and pepper.
  1 Red Bell Pepper, 1 Red Onion
• Melt butter in a large pan over medium heat. Add garlic and stir for a minute until fragrant. Add onion and pepper and stir to coat.
  1 Red Bell Pepper, 2 tablespoon Butter, 2 cloves Garlic, 1 Red Onion
• Reduce heat to medium-low and cover for 20 minutes, stirring occasionally.
• Remove the lid and cook for another 20 minutes, stirring occasionally. By the end of the second 20 minute time block, the onions should be golden. If they are not, increase the heat a little bit and continue cooking until golden.**
• Add brown sugar, vinegar, salt, and pepper. Cook for another 10 minutes or until the onions are to the desired color and consistency that you like.
  1 teaspoon Brown Sugar, 1 ½ teaspoon Balsamic Vinegar, Salt and Pepper

To Cook the Steak:

• Combine beef bouillon, peanut oil, soy sauce, and teriyaki sauce in a medium saucepan. Heat over medium-high heat until boiling. While you wait for the mixture to boil, thinly slice the steak.***
  1 cube Beef Bouillon, ¾ c Peanut Oil, 1 tablespoon Soy Sauce, 2 tablespoon Teriyaki Sauce, 1 ½ lb Flank Steak
• Once boiling, reduce heat to medium and stir mixture, ensuring that the bouillon cube has dissolved completely.
• Begin adding steak strips to boiling oil. This will need to be done in increments. I cooked my steak in 3 rounds. The steak that you place in the saucepan needs to be fully covered by the oil.
  1 ½ lb Flank Steak
• Boil steak until cooked to desired doneness. Remove with slotted spoon and place on a plate lined with a paper towel.

For the Sandwich Topping:

• Melt butter in a small bowl in the microwave. Mix in pepperhouse gourmaise and dried parsley.
  2 tablespoon Butter, ½ tablespoon Pepperhouse Gourmaise, 1 teaspoon Dried Parsley Flakes
• Set aside until ready to brush tops of ciabatta rolls.

Sandwich Assembly:

• Preheat oven to 350°F.
• Slice ciabatta bread and lay the bottom halves in a single layer on a sheet pan. Cover the bottom half with your desired amount of pepperhouse gourmaise.
• Top with steak slices, caramelized onions and peppers, gruyere cheese, and arugula, in that order.
• Place tops on sandwiches and brush with butter mixture.
• Bake for 10 minutes, or until cheese has melted.

Notes

*Amount of each ingredient in this section may vary. You can use more or less of each ingredient here depending on how you like you're sandwiches. These amounts are approximations based on how I made my sandwiches.

**For efficiency when making this recipe, I began working on cooking the steak once I removed the lid to begin the second 20 minute time block. Doing so allowed the caramelized onions and steak to be done at approximately the same time so I was ready to assemble the sandwiches.

***You can slice the steak as thinly as you would like. Once I thinly sliced my steak, I also had to cut them into shorter strips so they would fit on my bread nicely without having to fold it over. 

Tried this recipe?Mention @andees_apron or tag #andeesapron!