The Easiest Way To Make Philly Cheesesteak Sandwiches Is With A Sheet Pan

When it comes to crowd-pleasing meals, homemade Philly cheesesteak sandwiches have to be near the top of the list. The ingredients are simple and the payoff is huge. It's not so easy to cook everything on a home stovetop, however, without making a bit of a mess, which is why a sheet pan is your best friend if you have a group to feed. All you have to do is prep the ingredients and fire up the broiler and you can have all the sandwiches ready in minutes, with zero time spent standing over a pan on the stove.

If you've ever been to an authentic cheesesteak stand, like rivals Pat's and Geno's in Philadelphia, you've probably noticed how the ingredients are typically cooked all together on a hot griddle. A sheet pan is not much different, but it's important to make sure you choose the right cut of meat for the steak, and prep the veggies properly for cooking in the broiler.

There are a couple of ways to tackle the steak half of a sheet pan steak and cheese. If you prefer meat that is cooked any less than medium well, keep the steak in one piece, cook it to temperature, then slice it when it's cooked. If you like the meat cooked all the way through, pre-slice it before it's cooked.

Regardless of how you choose to cook the steak, select a cut of beef that has plenty of marbling, like ribeye or sirloin. The intramuscular fat will stay tender and juicy under the high heat of the broiler, which can reach temperatures of more that 500 degrees Fahrenheit. Unlike working on the stove, you don't have as much control over the heat so if you notice the food is cooking too fast, adjust the oven racks to move the sheet pan farther away from the heat. Also, don't forget to preheat the broiler.

As for the veggies, the goal is to cook everything evenly, because you won't be able to stir them as often as in a pan on the stove. Cut all the onions and peppers into ¼-inch strips and spread them in a single layer across the entire pan; if anything is stacked, the food will steam instead of broil. Preheating the sheet pan will help, and a single layer will also make it easier to cover everything evenly with cheese during the last few minutes under the heat. A nice perk of using a sheet pan for cheesesteaks is that if someone doesn't like a particular veggie, or even the meat itself, you can sequester them off to one quarter of the pan and mix them in later. Even better, when the sandwich filling is ready, everyone can serve themselves right from the pan.