My mother-in-law taught me this little trick back in the late 1970s, when money was tight but Sunday still called for something that felt special. She’d come home from the store with a packet of thin beef, a can of French onion soup, and a handful of cheese slices, and somehow that was enough to make the whole house smell like a fancy supper club.
Ingredients
1 1/2 pounds very thinly sliced beef (such as round steak or sandwich steak)
8 slices provolone cheese
2 (10.5-ounce) cans condensed French onion soup
Directions
Preheat your oven to 350°F (175°C). Lightly grease a 9×13-inch glass casserole dish or similar baking dish.
Lay the thin beef slices out on a clean cutting board or work surface. If any pieces are very large, cut them into smaller rectangles, about the size of your hand, so they’re easy to roll.
Place a slice of provolone cheese on each piece of beef. If your beef pieces are small, cut the cheese slices in half so they fit without hanging over too much.
Starting at a short end, roll each beef slice up snugly around the provolone cheese, like a little jelly roll. Tuck the end underneath so it doesn’t unravel. If a piece feels loose, you can roll it a bit tighter, but you shouldn’t need toothpicks.
Arrange the beef rolls seam-side down in the glass casserole dish, packing them in close together in a single layer so they help hold each other in place.
Pour the condensed French onion soup evenly over the top of the beef rolls, making sure each one is coated. There’s no need to add water; the condensed soup will thin out as it bakes and turn into a rich brown onion gravy.
Cover the casserole dish tightly with foil. This helps the beef braise gently in the soup and turn very tender, just the way my mother-in-law showed me.
Bake, covered, for 1 hour. Carefully remove the foil, then continue baking for another 15–20 minutes, until the beef is very tender and the onion gravy is bubbling and slightly thickened around the rolls.
Let the beef rolls rest for about 5 minutes before serving. Spoon some of the rich brown onion gravy from the dish over the top of each serving, making sure everyone gets a bit of melted provolone tucked inside the tender beef.