3 packets and 3 pounds! That’s it! … well, that and a little water. This slow cooker shredded beef recipe is so simple and it tastes and smells absolutely amazing! My friend had me scribble down this recipe on a piece of scrap paper a couple of years ago, and I am so glad she did because I have made it several times since, and it is a big hit EVERY. SINGLE. TIME.

Sometimes I serve the shredded meat on egg noodles to make beef stroganoff and other times I serve it on buns for Italian roast beef sandwiches, but you could even just eat it by itself with some veggies if you wanted to! Today I am showing you how I use the meat to make shredded Italian beef sandwiches.

How much does it make and how many points is it worth?

These sandwiches are great for when you are feeding a crowd. The recipe calls for 3 pounds of meat. Once the fat was cut off of our beef and it was cooked and shredded it measured to 4 cups of shredded beef. I used 1/3 cup on each sandwich so it was enough meat for 12 sandwiches. According to my WW recipe builder, if I divide my 4 cups of shredded meat into 12 servings then one (1/3 cup) serving of meat is 3 WW FreeStyle Smart Points*. This does not include the bun or egg noodles you would serve it on, which can vary by brand and size/amount.

Here is all you need to make this 3-packet, 3-pound shredded beef:

3 lbs. lean Sirloin beef, fat removed
1 (.7 oz.) packet Italian seasoning
1 (.88 oz.) packet Brown Gravy mix
1 (1 oz.) packet dry Ranch mix
1-1/2 cups water
12 buns, optional

Making these sandwiches really is as simple as this:

Mix the Italian seasoning, gravy mix, and Ranch seasoning with the water.

Put your meat in the slow cooker. Pour mixes in water over the meat.

Cook on low for 6-8 hours.

Once cooked, shred the meat in the sauce and serve 1/3 cup meat on each bun.

1/3 cup meat was 3 green, 3 blue, and 3 purple points* and the buns we used were not the light kind so they were 5 WW SP, making my sandwich 8 WW SP total. If five smart points seems like a lot for a bun you can go here for a list of buns that you can get at the store that are just 2 WW SP each!

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*WW FreeStyle SmartPoints® calculated by Meal Planning Mommies; Not endorsed by Weight Watchers International, Inc. All recipe ingredients except optional items included in determining nutritional estimates. SmartPoints® values calculated WITHOUT Weight Watchers Zero Points fruits and vegetables using the WW Recipe Builder.