Cold Roast Beef Sandwich

Cold Roast Beef Sandwich with Horseradish Cheese

Looking for roast beef sandwich ideas? My tailgate cold roast beef sandwich with horseradish cheese is a two-handed, eyes-rolling-back-in-your-head mouthful that is perfect for tailgating, picnics and parties. The best roast beef sandwich starts with the bread (a soft, sturdy homemade boule) thinly sliced roast beef and a savory horseradish cheese spread, plus your favorite veggies.

making horseradish cheese

You’ve never had a roast beef sandwich like this before. Most of them start with plain bread and mayonnaise, maybe some lettuce and tomato.

Not this one. It uses leftover roast beef with a homemade boule and the most outrageously creamy horseradish cheese that will melt on your tongue.

Why you’ll love this recipe:

  • It’s easy to make and feeds a crowd.
  • It travels well for picnics or a day at the lake.
  • It can be made ahead of time
  • You can customize it to your tastes.

Ingredients:

  • Eye of Round Roast – easiest to slice when it’s cold.
  • Amish Bread – or other soft boule loaf.
  • Beefsteak tomatoes – or other vineripe tomatoes.
  • Arugula – I use baby arugula because it’s very tender.
  • Red Onion – or use pickled red onion for even more tangy flavor.
  • Cream Cheese – the base for the horseradish cheese.
  • Prepared horseradish – make sure it hasn’t expired yet.
  • Chives – for an onion flavor in the cheese
  • Kosher Salt – we prefer Diamond Crystal Kosher Salt.
  • Black Pepper – freshly ground will give you the best flavor.
perfect bread for the best roast beef sandwich.

Make The Horseradish Cheese

Let’s start with the horseradish cheese. When I think of cream cheese, my mind automatically drifts to bagels… never sandwiches, however, that’s a mistake because cream cheese is a blank canvas that you can transform with the right mix-ins.  Unlike a slice of swiss, the cream cheese practically melts on your tongue. It flavors the sandwich in a way that a slice of cold cheese can’t — and with these simple mix ins, this horseradish cheese spread is a real eye opener.  Combine cream cheese, worcestershire sauce and chives into a piquant flavored cream cheese that melds beautifully with the cold roast beef.

Newsletter Signup
Join our community of food lovers!

Get my latest recipes, helpful kitchen tips and more good things each week in your inbox.

Best Bread for Tailgate Sandwiches:

For tailgate sandwiches, I prefer to use a round boule-style bread.  One that’s soft, but sturdy.  A bread that can handle big sandwich fillings and travel time in a cooler. Round bakery bread is a good option if you don’t have time to make your own, but my favorite bread for this cold roast beef sandwich is this Amish bread.  The beauty of this Amish bread is the texture — solid but with a soft, squishable crumb which easily handles all the fillings in this tailgate sandwich.

building cold roast beef sandwiches.

Liberally spread both sides of the bread with the horseradish cheese, then top it with peppery arugula, thinly sliced roast beef (I used leftover meat from my homemade roast beef recipe) red onion and the ripest tomatoes that you can find.

pressing best roast beef sandwich under a cast iron skillet.

If you’re eating the cold roast beef sandwich immediately, just cut it into wedges and serve, but if this tailgate sandwich is traveling to a game, press it between two flat surfaces, weighed down by a heavy pot or cast iron skillet (above) for 30 minutes to an hour then wrap it tightly with plastic wrap and foil.  

This will ensure that the sandwich stays together without leaks, drips or tears.

When you arrive at your venue, use a long, sharp bread knife and slice it into pie-shaped wedges to serve. (Note: If you also take the additional step of weighting down the sandwich, the compression will compact the bread and filling into  tight layers, that can be held with one hand — making it an ideal walking-around tailgate sandwich.)

slicing cold roast beef sandwich into wedges.

Emily’s comment when she first tried this cold roast beef sandwich was,” Oh My God!!! This is the best roast beef sandwich I’ve ever had!” It’s big, it’s meaty and the horseradish cheese gives it a tangy, creamy finish.  No sooner did we take our last bite before Em was requesting we make it again for game day munching…  who was I to argue…

a slice of cold roast beef sandwich with horseradish cheese

We made this behemoth three days later and since Scott had been out of town when we made it the first time, he got first tastes and proclaimed it “blog-worthy”.

make cold roast beef sandwich with horseradish cheese for your next tailgate sandwich.

The combination of homemade bread, thinly sliced roast beef and that tangy horseradish cheese that melts in your mouth are the things that tailgating dreams are made of.

eating a wedge of cold roast beef sandwich with horseradish cheese.

Tried this recipe? Leave a rating and review.

Your comments and shares are invaluable to me and the thousands of readers who use this site daily. If you've made the recipe, leave a star rating and review. We want to hear how you liked it.

We'd love it if you shared the recipe with your friends on social media!

Cold Roast Beef Sandwich with Horseradish Cheese
Print Pin
3.80 from 20 votes

Cold Roast Beef Sandwich with Horseradish Cheese

With a luscious horseradish cream cheese spread and loaded with hand-sliced roast beef, piled with ripe tomatoes, peppery arugula and red onion, this is no ordinary roast beef sandwich
Author: Lisa Lotts
Course Main Course
Cuisine American
Keyword roast beef, sandwich, tailgate
Prep Time 15 minutes
Total Time 15 minutes
Servings 8

INGREDIENTS:

FOR HORSERADISH CHEESE:

  • 8 ounces cream cheese
  • 3 tablespoons prepared horseradish
  • 2 teaspoons worcestershire sauce
  • 1 tablespoon chopped fresh chives
  • ½ teaspoon kosher salt
  • ¼ teaspoon black pepper

FOR COLD ROAST BEEF SANDWICH:

  • 1 loaf round Amish Bread (or other bakery boule)
  • pounds leftover eye of round roast sliced thin
  • 2 large beefsteak tomatoes sliced thin
  • 3 cups arugula
  • ½ cup red onion sliced thin
  • horseradish chive cream cheese spread (recipe above)

DIRECTIONS:

FOR THE HORSERADISH CHEESE

  • In a small bowl, combine the cream cheese, horseradish, worcestershire sauce, chives, kosher salt and pepper.  Use the back of a fork to mash the ingredients together into a creamy paste. Set aside.

ASSEMBLE THE COLD ROAST BEEF SANDWICH

  • Slice the boule in into two halves (top and bottom).  Divide the cream cheese spread evenly over both halves.
  • Add the arugula to the bottom half of the bread and top with roast beef, onions and tomatoes.
  • Place the top half of the bread on the sandwich.  Use a very sharp knife to slice the sandwich into 8 wedges and serve.

FOR A TAILGATE SANDWICH:

  • Assemble the sandwich and wrap it tightly in foil. Place a flat cutting board (or other flat surface) on top of the sandwich and weight it down with a cast iron pan or other heavy object to press the sandwich together. Let the sandwich rest with the weight on it for 20-30 minutes.
  • Pack the well wrapped (and flattened) sandwich in a cooler.  When you’re ready to serve, use a very sharp knife to cut the sandwich into 8 wedges.  Serve.

NUTRITION:

Calories: 107kcal | Carbohydrates: 3g | Protein: 2g | Fat: 9g | Saturated Fat: 5g | Cholesterol: 31mg | Sodium: 277mg | Potassium: 107mg | Sugar: 2g | Vitamin A: 575IU | Vitamin C: 3.7mg | Calcium: 47mg | Iron: 0.3mg

Pin The Best Roast Beef Sandwich” For Later!

The ultimate tailgate sandwich is this cold roast beef sandwich with horseradish cheese. Make in advance, travels well - it's the best roast beef sandwich. #roastbeefsandwich #coldroastbeefsandwich #tailgatesandwich #horseradishcheese #horseradishcheesespread #flavoredcreamcheese #savorycreamcheese #bestroastbeefsandwich #tailgateroastbeefsandwich #tailgatefood #tailgatingfood #makeaheadsandwich #picnicsandwich #picnicfood

More Tailgate Sandwiches:

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Recipe Rating




This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.

4 Comments

  1. This sounds so delicious! I’ve been trying to find a quality recipe for horseradish cheese. Hoping I found the winner!

    1. What I like about this blend of horseradish and cream cheese is that it actually does melt on your tongue — unlike hard cheeses. Let me know what you think!

  2. 5 stars
    I made a few of these and spread them out as appetizers for a get together we had the other night, they were such a big hit! Gone in seconds!! I managed to get a slice and it was sooooo good! The horseradish was perfect with this, just the right amount of kick. Thanks for sharing!

    1. That cheese is the BOMB, isn’t it? So glad you and your friends enjoyed it — and great idea to serve as an appetizer! Bravo!