Easy Po’ Boy Steak Sandwich

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Sink your teeth into this grilled, chilled, and marinated Po’ Boy Steak Sandwich, dressed with mayo, Romaine, and a bunch of deliciousness!

Got steak? You won’t need all but a pound and a half of beef to garner SIX of these gorgeous, over-stuffed poor boy steak sandwiches.

Get ready to sink your teeth into this grilled, chilled, and marinated steak and pepper combination, loaded into garlic-butter-toasted hoagie rolls lathered with mayonnaise, crisp chopped Romaine, and a whole lot of tangy deliciousness!

Now that we are moving into playoff game territory, I am dreaming of easy and fun handhelds and finger foods to outfit dinner in front of the big screen! That’s right. FOOTBALL. America’s pass time that we go out of our way to cook for. This easy steak sandwich is great for lunches, dinners, game day tailgates, and while watching the game from the sofa.

Ladies, I’ll only say this – if you can’t beat ’em, just join ’em and bring really good grub to the living room with you when you do. In all honesty, I find that the weeks leading up to the playoffs and to Super Bowl are easier to fix food for because it has to be handleable. So, snacks, sandwiches…you know what I’m talking about.

Do You Have What’s Needed To Make A Poor Boy Chilled Steak Sandwich? Check The List!

steaks
poblano chili pepper
yellow bell pepper
red bell pepper
red onion
canola oil
apple cider vinegar
fresh lime juice
chili powder
Kosher salt
black pepper
granulated sugar
prepared horseradish
hoagie rolls or torpedo rolls
butter
fresh garlic cloves
mayonnaise
Romaine lettuce

optional

crumbled Bleu cheese

How This Recipe Came About…

This concept isn’t my own, rather one that dates back to late 1800s New Orleans, Louisiana. And today, the Po’ Boy is a popularized menu item in nearly every southern state to include Louisiana, Southeast Texas, Alabama, Mississippi, Georgia, South Carolina, Southeast North Carolina, and the Florida Panhandle.

Here in South Carolina I often see both fried shrimp or fried oyster poor boy sandwiches. But as you travel to inland Georgia and into Alabama, you start to see them stuffed to the gills with thinly sliced hot and rare roast beef or thin strips of chargrilled steak.

The recipe I am sharing today is a take off of that chargrilled steak poor boy sandwich. Grab any cut of beef steak you like for this. I am using strip steaks, but with the exception of cube steaks, any cut will do.

What Kind Of Meat Is On A Poor Boy?

Poor boys usually consist of some form of meat or fried seafood on French bread. Think fried crawfish, fried shrimp, fried oysters, or roast beef. Poor boys are “dressed” with lettuce, tomato, pickles and mayonnaise.

How To Make A Poor Boy Steak Sandwich?

Fire up your grill, and liberally add Kosher salt and black pepper to all sides of 1 1/2 pounds of steak. Allow the steaks to sit for thirty minutes at room temperature for the salt to work its magic.

Grill your steaks to about 145°F, then remove to a platter and double wrap with heavy gauge aluminum foil. While your freshly grilled beef rests on the counter under the foil, work your peppers and your onion.

The peppers and the onions need to be the thinnest strips you can slice. I use my mandolin for this step, but a super sharp kitchen knife used carefully works just as great.

In a small mixing bowl, whisk the oil, vinegar, lime juice from a fresh lime, chili powder, salt, sugar, and horseradish until emulsified. I use a zippered plastic bag to marinate everything, so in go the peppers, onions, marinade, and momentarily, the steak.

I’ll be sure the steaks are somewhat cool and the juices have had an opportunity to redistribute before I slice it too, super thin. I add the strips of beef to the marinade and vegetables along with any accumulated juices.

The bag is sealed and goes into the fridge to chill for at least four hours and as long as eight. Then it’s time to build some po’ boys!

You needn’t toast the hoagie rolls if you don’t want to. I know for me and mine, we like to place them under the broiler for 2 to 3 minutes until they just begin to brown and the garlic butter is fragrant. If when shopping you are unable to find hoagie rolls, torpedo rolls or traditional poor boy sandwich bread, French baguette, is available by all means grab it.

Modifying The Norm To Make It Not Entirely Average…

I gave this recipe to a friend years ago. She built grilled and chilled steak and chicken combo po’ boys for an outdoor concert we brought a picnic to and they were fabulous.

I have done these sandwiches hot but only after grilling, marinating and chilling, and then lightly and loosely re-grilling. They begged for crumbled bits of Bleu cheese this way, and again fabulous.

If mayonnaise is not a favorite, consider a basic horseradish cream or a zesty homemade remoulade.

How Long Does This Sandwich Recipe Take To Make?

Look to at least 4 1/2 hours in terms of time for this method from start to finish. Recipes like this one are great because the grilling is the hardest part, IF you can even call that hard!

All in all, the prep work slicing the vegetables and grilling my steaks takes me about 25 minutes. Then there is the marinating and chilling which is sufficient at four hours, but can go longer if you aren’t ready to eat right away.

What To Serve With A Steak Po’ Boy?

Keep it simple. French fries or nothing. Yep. You read me right…

What To Drink With A Steak Po’ Boy?

New Orleanians regard cold beer as the ideal liquid pairing to a roast beef or beef steak po’ boy, which really goes without saying. That said, amber ales are bright and superiorly refreshing here.

My second recommendation may surprise you…an ice cold root beer.