Slow Cooker BBQ Beef Sandwiches–tender shredded beef with an easy homemade barbecue sauce served on a toasted bun. An easy and delicious dinner!
Get the INSTANT POT BBQ Beef Sandwiches recipe here

Slow Cooker BBQ Beef Sandwiches
Roast was on sale 2 for 1 last week at my Smith’s so I stocked up on chuck roast, the best cut for the slow cooker. This roast gets ultra tender and shreddable and is the perfect cut of meat to make barbecue beef sandwiches.
My family absolutely loved these slow cooker BBQ beef sandwiches. They are so easy to make and the BBQ sauce was perfect too–not too sweet and lots of flavor. We served our meat on homemade rolls (okay not homemade, they were Rhodes rolls). Next time I make this barbecue beef I am going to serve a scoop of coleslaw on top of the sandwich as well. Yum!
A few notes about the recipe:
Cutting the meat–I like to cut the meat into about 6 pieces to cook. This allows the meat to get more tender than when there is a big hunk of meat. It also cuts down on the slow cooking time. If you want to cook a frozen roast you can. Increase the slow cooker time by 2 hours for a big 3 pound frozen roast that is in one piece.
Barbecue sauce–I chose to make an easy homemade BBQ sauce and it tasted wonderful on the meat. If you want to make it super easy on yourself you can use bottled BBQ sauce. I like the Sweet Baby Ray’s brand.
More recipes you’ll love…
Slow Cooker 3-Ingredient Rump Roast
Slow Cooker Philly Cheese Steak Sandwiches
What Slow Cooker Did You Use?
To make Slow Cooker BBQ Beef Sandwiches I used my Ninja Auto-iQ 6 Quart Slow Cooker.* My favorite feature of this slow cooker is that it has a stove top function. This is perfect for sauteing or browning before you slow cook. This slow cooker has four manual cooking functions: slow cook, stove top sear/Saute, steam, and bake.


Slow Cooker BBQ Beef Sandwiches
- Prep Time: 10 minutes
- Cook Time: 8 hours on low
- Total Time: 43 minute
- Yield: 6–8 servings 1x
Description
Tender shredded beef with an easy homemade barbecue sauce served on a toasted bun. An easy and delicious dinner!
Ingredients
- 3 pound beef chuck roast
- 1 tsp kosher salt
- 1 tsp pepper
- 1/2 cup ketchup
- 2 Tbsp brown sugar
- 2 Tbsp red wine vinegar
- 1 Tbsp Dijon mustard
- 1 Tbsp Worcestershire sauce
- 1/2 tsp liquid smoke
Instructions
- Cut your roast into 6 even pieces. Cut off excess fat.
- Sprinkle the roast with the salt and pepper.
- In a small bowl whisk together the ketchup, brown sugar, red wine vinegar, mustard, Worcestershire sauce, liquid smoke. Pour the mixture over the meat and stir to coat the meat.
- Cover and cook on low for 6-8 hours depending on your slow cooker.
- Shred the meat and add it back into the pot and stir to coat the meat in the sauce.
- Serve the meat on toasted buns or rolls.
- Category: Beef
- Method: Slow Cooker
- Cuisine: American

*Karen Petersen is a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for sites to earn advertising fees by advertising and linking to amazon.com.
Can a sirloin tip roast be used instead of a Chuck roast?
You could use tri tip roast for 6-7 hours on low for more sliceable beef. It wouldn’t be the shredded beef you see here though.