Philly Cheesesteak with tender ribeye steak, melted gooey cheese, and caramelized onions hugged by a toasted garlic butter hoagie roll. This is the classic way to make Philly Cheesesteaks. Watch the video tutorial below, and you’ll know why everyone is talking about this sandwich.
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Helpful Reader Review
” This recipe rates 5 stars! I made this tonight. I did not change a thing. It was absolutely delicious!! My family loved it!” – Diane ★★★★★
Philly Cheesesteak Video
This classic Philly Cheesesteak recipe is one of my family’s favorite meals for a cookout. I love that you can make a big batch of them on a flat cooktop or griddle. We also make these every year when we go camping because it’s an easy and memorable way to feed a crowd.
Philly Cheesesteak is a sandwich made with super-thinly sliced ribeye steak, caramelized onion, and provolone cheese. That simple combination is the original classic as made popular on the East Coast. The Philly Cheesesteak has been modified on the West Coast to include green bell peppers and mushrooms, but a true “Philly” only has steak, onion, and cheese served over a roll.
We love re-creating restaurant-quality sandwiches such as Crispy Chicken Sandwiches, French Dip, and Hamburgers! Recreating this Cheesesteak recipe is easier than you think.
Which Cut of Beef Should I Use for Cheesesteaks?
Ribeye is the steak of choice for Philly Cheesesteak sandwiches. It is well-marbled and tender when cooked. Another cut that we have used with great results is flank steak, which is lean but very tender when cut against the grain. You will need a little extra oil on your cooking surface if using flank steak.
The Best Cheese for Philly Cheesesteak?
The most popular cheese is mild provolone. We have tested a variety of provolone brands, and the only one we didn’t enjoy was “aged” provolone from Costco. The flavor of aged provolone cheese was overpowering. Another popular option is white American cheese or even mozzarella cheese. Some restaurants in Philadelphia add ‘Cheeze Whiz’ – a Velveeta-like cheese, but I like provolone best for its flavor and melty cheese-pull.
The Key to Thinly Sliced Beef
The key to a great cheesesteak is super thinly sliced pieces of beef. For easier slicing, cover and freeze your steak for 20-30 minutes (freeze a thicker steak for 30 minutes and a thinner steak for 20 minutes). Cut away any excess fat and silver skin (if present), then use a sharp knife to thinly slice against the grain. You can watch me demonstrate this technique in the video tutorial above.
Time Saving Tip: Ask your butcher to slice your beef super thinly. If you pre-plan this, they could place the steak in the freezer while you do your shopping to achieve those paper-thin slices.
How to Make Philly Cheesesteaks
This is one of our easiest sandwich recipes with quick prep and even faster cooking. It is a 30-minute meal. You can cook this in a large skillet on the stovetop, flat cooktop or griddle.
- Butter hoagie rolls, dice onion and thinly slice beef
- Sautee onions and remove (if you’re adding mushrooms or bell peppers – add them at this time)
- Sautee beef until cooked through and season with salt and pepper, then add back onions
- Divide into 4 portions, top each with 2 slices of cheese
- Cover with buns and scrape into buns with a spatula
Creative Ways to Serve Philly Cheesesteak
I love to serve a Philly Cheesesteak with Air Frier French fries, Baked Potato Wedges, or Onion rings. If you’re craving that beefy cheesy filling and want to skip the bun, there are so many fun ways to serve this mix, including some fantastic keto (low-carb) Philly Cheese Steak ideas!
- As a topping for cooked pasta or stuffed into pasta shells.
- Sliders – Make Philly Cheesesteak Sliders (like my French Dip Sliders)
- In Tortillas – Philly Cheesesteak Quesadillas or in Pita Bread
- Low Carb Options – try Philly Cheesesteak Stuffed Bell Peppers, or Stuffed Portobello Mushrooms
There’s something so satisfying about sinking your teeth into a hot, cheesy, and beef Philly Cheesesteak sandwich. Are you craving one yet? Let me know if you make this classic version or add your own twist.
Philly Cheesesteak
Ingredients
- 1 lb Ribeye steak, trimmed and thinly sliced*
- 1/2 tsp Sea salt, or to taste
- 1/2 tsp Black pepper, or to taste
- 1 sweet onion, (large), diced
- 8 slices provolone cheese, mild (not aged provolone)
- 4 Hoagie Rolls, sliced 3/4 through
- 2 Tbsp unsalted butter, softened
- 1 garlic clove, pressed
- 2-4 Tbsp mayonnaise, or to taste
Instructions
- Slice hoagie rolls 3/4 of the way through with a serrated knife. Dice onions and thinly slice beef.*
- In a small bowl, stir together 2 Tbsp softened butter with 1 pressed garlic clove. Spread garlic butter onto the cut sides of 4 hoagie roll. Toast the buns on a large skillet, flat cooktop or griddle on medium heat until golden brown then set aside.
- Add 1 Tbsp oil to your pan/cooktop and sautee diced onions until softened. Sprinkle lightly with salt and cook until caramelized then transfer to a bowl.
- Increase to high heat and add 1 Tbsp oil. Spread the super thinly sliced steak in an even layer. Let brown for a couple of minutes undisturbed then flip and season with 1/2 tsp salt and 1/2 tsp black pepper. Sautee until steak is fully cooked through then stir in the caramelized onions.
- Divide into 4 even portions and top each with 2 slices of cheese and turn off the heat so the cheese will melt without overcooking the meat.
- Spread a thin layer of mayo on the toasted side of each roll. Working with one portion at a time, place a toasted bun over each portion and use a spatula to scrape the cheesy beef into your bun as you flip it over. Serve warm.
Notes
*Variations – If you want to add more veggies or substitute the onion, try sliced bell peppers and/or mushrooms.
Nutrition Per Serving
Filed Under
More Favorite Sandwich Recipes
- Smash Burger – restaurant-style
- Grilled Cheese Sandwich
- Breakfast Sandwiches
- Reuben Sandwich
- Salami Cream Cheese Sandwich
- Chicken Bacon Avocado Sandwich
- Chicken Sandwich Melts
- BLT sandwich – with the best sauce
Love your recipes, Natasha. Also makin’ for da Philly Superbowl…woohoo 😉
Sounds like a great plan, enjoy all the recipes that you will try!
I am looking forward to making these cheesesteaks for the Super Bowl tomorrow. Go Eagles! I’m looking forward to the toasted garlic butter rolls, and ribeye steak (it is definitely a step up from the frozen minute steaks). I am with you cheese whiz is like a science experiment – provolone all the way. I grew up in the suburbs of Philly and haven’t had one of these for years. Thanks for all your great recipes.
Hi Kathy! I sure do hope you love this recipe. Have a great weekend and enjoy the Super Bowl tomorrow!
I haven’t tried a recipe of Natasha’s that was NOT terrific,keep choosing and you’ll love them! The apple pie is one of my favorites.
Thank you so much, Penny!
Hi Natasha,
Thanks for another great recipe. My husband called this a no sauce sandwich in other words it was perfect just the way I made it, no additional sauces needed!. That’s no small compliment! Thanks again! If I had to rate it, the sandwich was a 10 out of 10!
Awesome feedback, thank you for the perfect rating!
Spent 8 years in Philly; it’s my second home. I was watching your video and thought, “Hmm… butter and garlic on a roll? Not really. But okay, whatever.” Then when I saw you put that mayo on, I literally shouted “NO!” outloud before I even thought the words. I don’t think I’ve had a physical reaction of revulsion to watching something like this since watching a horror movie. (Btw, I actually like mayo.) Provelone… yeah, it’s a choice some places give you in Philly, but the true steak has Whiz.
Funny, that’s my reaction to ‘whiz’. This is one of our most popular recipes and I personally love mayo on my sandwiches. Maybe one day you’ll give it a try.
Love the real cheese and the addition of a little mayo and garlic bread? Really? how can anyone go wrong using that it adds so much flavor. All I do differently is once the beef is cooked and the onions mixed in I add about a 1/4 cup of beef stock to the meat and mix it well the meat just soaks it up adding another layer of flayer then I finish the sandwich as you do –Yum!!! it is a great cheesesteak sandwich. I say never marry yourself to a recipe even though it may be good it is adventurous to branch out. Especially for someone like me who has been cooking for over 50 years. I love to cook and now more than ever crave something new and different your recipes offer the variety I am looking for
This is great.
Just make sure you let your cheese of choice melt THROUGH the beef before transferring to the fresh roll.
The cheese and the beef should come together as one. If the cheese is primarily between the beef and the roll it’s not a Philly steak.
And use a fresh roll from an Italian bakery whenever possible.
These are key differentiators between Philly Cheesesteaks and all the other stuff.
Thank you so much for sharing that with me, Brendan! I’m glad you enjoyed this recipe.
Hi Natasha
Hope you are doing well today. I wanted to let you know that Philly-Cheesesteak recipe was amazing. I made it last night at home and everyone in the family loved it although my steak was little over cooked because didn’t had the idea for how minute should I cook the steak although it was my first time did something in the kitchen but it was delicious and I asked my butcher to cut very thin Ribeye steak used Cheddar Cheese on my philly-cheesesteak sandwich. For the next time do tell me for how long I should cook the steaks.
So happy to see your great comments and feedback. Thank you so much for sharing!
I am from Philadelphia and your recipe is very good and close to ours. One thing we do put on our cheese steaks are long Italian hot peppers. As far as the cheese goes, I like provolone but the original from Pat’s steaks on 9th St. in Phila where the cheese steak was created uses a basic cheese whiz or American cheese. The roll and Ribeye are what make the sandwich. The Phila rolls are unique they come from Sarcone’s Bakery on 9th St.
Thank you for sharing, Rick! 🙂
This was an absolute hit with my family! We are from the West Coast…so we small diced then sautéed red bell peppers and button mushrooms then mixed them with the onions. This recipe is a keeper, we will be making it again!
So glad they were a hit! Thank you for sharing.
You are my new best friend. This was simple to make and the taste was perfect. My wife has ordered me to fix these every week. Thank you very much.
I’m so glad you loved it, Mike! Thank you so much for sharing that with me.
I made these today for relatives and it turned out so well! Really appreciate that its just simple ingredients I had on hand and not too much fuss to make. I did garlic aioli instead of mayo and it was awesome. I don’t care about it being “authentic.” If it turns out delicious and everyone loves it, then to me its a success. Good food draws people together and that is the heart of it all.
Hi Tina! I love that you take this recipe and make it your own. I’m glad it was delicious. Thank you for sharing your experience.
I think bell peppers and any hot peppers are great adds.
Mayo is disgusting and not needed as is butter.
Put garlic in the beef and onions if you want that flavor.
It’s not a Philly cheese steak if you put bell peppers on it. Same with the provolone. Maybe you can add hot cherry peppers but not bell. And definitely does not need to be rib eye. In Philly we used cheaper meats, like from a knuckle roast but as long as it’s cut thin and can be pulled apart when cooking it’s ok. And we don’t use provolone. It’s either white American cheese or cheese wiz. I prefer white American because it’s a little sharper and will melt all the way through. Provolone won’t melt like that.
So if you add bell pepper and provolone like you said, it might be a version of a cheese steak but it’s not a Philly cheese steak.
Thank you for sharing that with us, Mike! I hope you try and love our version soon!
Just FYI, despite what the owners of Pat’s and Geno’s may allow tourists to think, the original Philly cheese steak used provolone. Cheese Whiz was not invented or sold for at least 25 years after cheese steaks were first sold in Philly. Just sayin’. I agree that peppers, mushrooms, lettuce, jalapeno, or tomatoes have no place on an original Philly.
And mayo is absolutely a no no on a P. Cheese Steak. South Jersey gal.
Love your simplicity on this Natasha!
Your recipe and technique allows the authenticity and true greatness of the ingredients to come through without over-complicating.
Keep ’em coming!
You’re so nice! Thank you, Chris!
As a Jersey girl only 20 minutes from Philly, it irritates me seeing “Philly” steaks with peppers. If you order in the city, it’s a whiz wit. That’s Cheez wiz with fried onions.
I’ll try the provolone next time I make at home.
These came out great. Always nice when rib roast is on sale for $6 a pound and they slice uber thin for me. Bought 8 lbs and then cut it up even more. I actually slice the bread and put cheese in the roll and wrap in foil and put in oven for 15 mins, then when ready open them to find melted cheese bliss to hold the cheesteak. Just my twist.
Thank you so much for sharing that with me, Drew!
EASY. DELICOUS. FLAVORFUL. JUICY. CHEESY. PERFECT SANDWICH. I will be making this again….you ROCK with this sandwich
So glad you loved it, Crystal! Thank you for the review.
I love your recipe – I, however, used it with turkey. I discovered that making Philly – cheeseturkey sandwiches is a great way to use all that leftover turkey from thanksgiving.
That’s a great idea! Thank you for sharing, Beth! I’m glad you loved the recipe.
This is bland. The meat is so boring. It needs marinade. It was completely underwhelming. Search for a better recipe with marinade. This one is disappointing (especially to non-Americans who like better food). My 10 year old son who just likes meat loved them. Everyone else started piling on condiments after the first bite. C-
If you like marinated/spicy food then Philly cheese steak is not for you. Some people need to taste spices rather than the true taste of the meat. I think you are looking for your ethnic non- American recipes. Better food (?) )is in the eyes of the beholder!
A cheesesteak does not have any marinade. It sounds like you’re just not a fan of cheesesteaks, not that there’s anything wrong with this recipe
As an American I find your comment demeaning. Non–Americans like better food is quite condescending.
Great and easy recipe. I made some aioli and like that much better than mayonnaise because it adds more flavor. Give it a try. Natasha has a great recipe for aioli
Thank you for the feedback, Andrea! So glad you enjoyed this recipe.