Grilled Philly Cheese Steak Sandwich

If there were a Mount Rushmore of Sandwiches, the Philly Cheese Steak Sandwich would definitely be on the short list of finalists of that lofty honor. Hamburger, grilled cheese, po’ boy, lobster roll, hot dog (yeah, it’s a sammich, prove me wrong), pastrami on rye, French dip, sub sando, and a few others would be in the discussion. For me, it would be the hamburger (this cheeseburger to be specific), grilled cheese, lobster roll and the Philly for my top four, not necessarily in that order. With this recipe, we are going to make the Grilled Philly Cheese Steak Sandwich a few different ways, but all of them will be Philly cheese steak on a charcoal grill. I encourage you to try some different options to find your favorite.

Grilled Philly Cheese Steak Sandwich Ingredients

Per sandwich:

• 1/4 cup chopped onion
• 1/4 cup chopped bell peppers (optional)
• Olive oil
• 1/2 lb shaved beef
• Your favorite beef or steak rub
• Salt and pepper
• 2 slices of provolone cheese
• 1 hoagie bun
• Spray oil

Don’t forget the Reynolds Wrap® Non-Stick Foil

How to Prep a Grilled Philly Cheese Steak Sandwich

Let’s start with the most basic ingredient of the Philly. Chop those onions:

Then set up the grill for two zone or indirect grilling with coals on one side and nothing on the other. Then tear off a long sheet of Reynolds Wrap® Non-Stick Foil:

Place one end of the foil over the hot side of the grill and drizzle some olive oil. Make sure the dull side of the foil is facing up. That’s the non-stick side:

The oil isn’t really to keep the ingredients from sticking. Reynolds Wrap® Non-Stick Foil will take care of that. It’s to help transfer the heat to the ingredients. See, foil is outstanding at dissipating heat. The oil here will help cook the food faster, and at the same time, keep it from burning. 

Wait for the oil to get close to 300F:

How to Make a Grilled Philly Cheese Steak Sandwich

Next, drop the onions for however many sandos you plan on cooking on the end of the foil over the hot coals:

Season the onions with salt and pepper:

Once the onions soften a bit and get a little color on them, grab a couple plastic turners and flip the onions over:

A little browning is a good thing:

Then add the meat:

I know that a 1/2 pound sounds like a lot for some, but after it cooks, it will not be a 1/2 pound. It will lose some water weight. 

Pick your favorite steak or beef seasoning:

Season that beef with as much salt, pepper and seasoning as you like:

After some browning on the bottom of that beef, grab those plastic turners again and flip everything over, working the onions into the meat:

Then form the meat and onions roughly into the shape of a bun. It’s OK if the meat is larger than the footprint of the bun. In fact, that is encouraged:

Then top with a couple slices of cheese:

Form a foil pouch

Next, slide the foil to the side of the grill with no heat and fold the Reynolds Wrap® Non-Stick Foil over the meat, onions and cheese and form a pouch:

Set that on the side with no heat and let the cheese melt.

Always toast the buns

While the cheese is melting, let’s prep our buns. One way of preparing the buns is to toast them. Who doesn’t love some toasty buns, #AmIRight? Start by coating them with some oil spray on the sliced side:

Then set the oiled hoagie buns over the coals but don’t go far. Don’t go to the bathroom. Don’t grab an adult beverage. These things burn quick even with the oil on there which slows the process down by a few seconds. Also, keep peeking every 30-60 seconds:

Once some grill marks form, rotate 45 degrees, and THAT is how we make beautiful, cross-hatched buns:

Time to assemble the Philly Sando

Our cheese should be melted by now so get the foil ready and let’s plate this bad boy:

Set one of the buns on top of that pile of cheesy, savory deliciousness:

Then lift the foil on one side and lean the meat, onion and cheese onto the bun:

BOOM!

My Favorite Version of the Philly

Now we will make my preferred method of a Grilled Philly Cheese Steak Sandwich. The traditionalists will be all up in arms about this one. Start off by chopping some sweet bell peppers. There are four main kinds of sweet bells which are all just various stages of ripeness of one bell. Green, yellow, orange and red. Only the latter three are acceptable. Green bell peppers are simply not ripe:

Now, lay down that Reynolds Wrap® Non-Stick Foil again, dull side facing up, and drizzle the oil. Once the oil gets up to temp lay down the peppers first and let them sizzle for a couple minutes then drop the onions:

Season the peppers and onions with salt and pepper. Wait for the peppers and onions to brown a bit on the bottom and get the plastic turners out:

Once both the peppers and onions are soft and have some color, drop that meat:

And then hit the meat with some seasoning:

Once the meat has browned somewhat, flip everything over, making sure to mix the peppers and onions in with the steak:

And once the meat browns a little more, form the meat/peppers/onions into a bun shape and lay down a couple slices of cheese on each pile:

It’s OK if the meat is a little pink when you top with the cheese. When we close up the foil, the meat will cook the rest of the way. So slide the foil over to the side with no heat and close the foil over the meat/peppers/onions/cheese. It’s also a good idea to make these a couple at a time so your guests don’t lose it from a combo of hunger and smelling these cook:

It won’t take long for the cheese to melt. In just a couple minutes, we can repeat the process of assembling the sandwiches:

And look at that. Despite all that ooey, gooey, melty cheese, we don’t have any stuck to the foil thanks to the Reynolds Wrap® Non-Stick Foil:

Let’s take it up a notch

But let’s proceed to our final step, which is simply to take one of those sandwiches and wrap it in foil:

The heat from the meat/peppers/onions/cheese will steam the buns and make them warm and soft which is absolutely sandwich heaven.

And after all that, pick your options:

• Just onions
• Peppers and onions
• Toasted bun
• Warm and soft bun
• Toasted bun that is then steamed inside the foil

And of course, all the combinations of the above you can think of:

Almost forgot the greenery:

Grilled Philly Cheese Steak Sandwich Summary:

What can I say about this iconic sando? Savory steak, soft onions (and optional peppers), melty cheese, and either a toasted bun or a warm/soft bun (or both). I could eat one of these every day. And they are really simple to make. It will take longer to grab the ingredients than it will to cook and assemble a Grilled Philly Cheese Steak Sandwich. 

Thank you

This post was brought to you by the fine folks from Reynolds Wrap® whom I’ve been working with since 2015. I’m honored and humbled to have partnered with such a revered brand for that long. Not only that, their products are vital to the backyard and competition cookers alike. I can’t imagine how much Reynolds Wrap® Foil and aluminum pans I go through in a year.

If you have any questions, feel free to leave them below or shoot me an email. 

Also, you can follow us on our GrillinFools Facebook page, Instagram, and YouTube feeds

Print Recipe

Grilled Philly Cheese Steak Sandwich

Shaved beef, seasoned and mixed with grilled onions (and optional peppers), before being topped with cheese and made into a Grilled Philly Cheese Steak Sandwich

Prep Time20 minutes mins

Cook Time20 minutes mins

Total Time40 minutes mins

Course: Entree, Finger Food, Main Course, Sandwich

Cuisine: American, American Fare, Finger Food, Grilling, Philly Cheese Steak, Sandwich, Street Food

Keyword: Aluminum Foil, Beef, Charcoal Grill, Cheese Filling, Cheese Steak, Cheesesteak, Foil Boat, Philly, Philly Cheese Steak, Philly Cheesesteak, Sandwiches, Shaved Beef, Shredded Beef, Steak

Servings: 4 People

Equipment

• Reynolds Wrap® Non-Stick Aluminum Foil

Ingredients

• ¼ cup onion chopped
• ¼ cup bell pepper chopped, optional
• olive oil
• ½ lb shaved beef
• your favorite beef or steak rub
• salt and black pepper
• 2 slice provolone cheese
• 1 hoagie bun
• spray oil

Instructions

• Chop the onions
• Chop the peppers (optional)
• Prepare the grill for two zone grilling, with coals on one side and nothing on the other
• Place a long sheet of Reynolds Wrap® Non-Stick Foil on the grill, dull side up (that's the non-stick side), with half of it over the coals
• Drizzle a tablespoon of olive oil on the foil
• Add the onions and optional peppers once the oil reads close to 300F
• Season peppers and onions with salt and pepper
• Brown up the peppers and onions until slightly browned and soft
• Add the shaved beef and season with steak or beef rub
• Once the meat has browned, flip over to brown the other side
• After most of the meat is browned, form the meat/peppers/onions into a bun shape and top with two slices of cheese
• Slide the foil over to the side with no heat and fold the foil over and pinch off to form a pouch
• While the cheese melts, toast the buns by spraying the buns with oil
• Place the buns over the hot side of the grill to toast
• Once grill marks appear, rotate the buns 45 degrees
• Once they are cross hatched, remove from heat
• Open the foil pouch and slide the meat/peppers/onions/cheese onto the bun and serve
• Optional, wrap the assembled Philly Cheese Steak Sandwich in foil and place over the heat for a couple minutes to steam the bun
• Serve

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Scott Thomas

Scott Thomas, the Original Grillin’ Fool, was sent off to college with a suitcase and a grill where he overcooked, undercooked and burned every piece of meat he could find. After thousands of failures, and quite a few successes, nearly two decades later he started a website to show step by step, picture by picture, foolproof instructions on how to make great things out of doors so that others don’t have to repeat the mistakes he’s made on the grill.

Scott Thomas

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