Skip The Sandwich: Turn Philly Cheesesteaks Into A Filling Snack

If you were to come up with a list of the most essential American sandwiches and didn't include Philly cheesesteaks, you might as well be talking about another country's cuisine. There are countless variations on the classic, including one made with three ingredients sourced from Aldi. However, they're all pretty much adaptations of the same sandwich formula. What do you do when you want those flavors but in a different form?

@chef.geof

Philly Cheesesteak Bread Twists Ingredients: Shaved beef(or ribeye and slice it thin yourself) Green bell pepper Red bell pepper Onion Cheese Whiz(or cheese of your choice) Bread dough (store bought or homemade) Egg Unsalted butter Avocado oil Salt Pepper Paprika Garlic powder Mushroom umami seasoning Soy sauce Steps: Start by slicing and dicing your red and green bell peppers and onion. Put your shaved beef in a bowl and add a splash of avocado oil before seasoning with salt, pepper, paprika, garlic powder, mushroom seasoning, and a splash of soy sauce. Mix together well. Take your bread dough and roll into discs. Cut slits on each side of your disc, add a spoonful of the cheesesteak filing to the middle, then take the right side, fold of the disc and fold over until you have created your bread twist(for a better guide to this, see @pastalimpus and follow!) Place on a baking tray and coat with an egg wash. Place in the oven at 3:50 for 15 to 20 minutes. Brush the bread, twist with melted butter, and drizzle some more cheese whiz on top. Plate, serve, and enjoy! #cheesesteak #phillycheesesteak #beef #bread #food

♬ original sound – Geoff

Using bread dough to create twists, you can enjoy a Philly cheesesteak in a smaller format that's just the right size for a snack. For the best textural experience, make sure to chop the vegetables instead of slicing them, which prevents you from having stringy pieces of onion and bell pepper dangling from these twists when you take a bite. Sweating the vegetables also helps draw out moisture, preventing the dough from getting too soggy. Cook the mixture well to evaporate any excess liquid before assembling your twists.

To prevent them from splitting while baking, be sure to pinch each pleat well, and for added insurance, brush them with a little egg wash, which will not only help seal them but also provide a beautiful sheen. As for seasoning, you can replace the soy sauce and umami powder with other ingredients that will impart a great deal of savoriness, like Worcestershire sauce or even a pinch of MSG if you're up to it.

While taking bread dough and turning a cheesesteak into a twist is a genius idea that can give you a filling snack, it's not the only way to make little mouthfuls of this classic preparation. As the TikToker mentioned, you can use store-bought dough for these. Try using refrigerated crescent dough or even puff pastry to make the twists. The former has a buttery flavor and soft, bread-like texture, while the latter is rich and flaky, with many layers that bake to a crisp finish.

And you don't even need to make twists if the technique seems a little too fiddly. Simply use a muffin tin to create little cups and fill them with the meat, veggies, and cheese. You can also change the format and make little pockets or even roll-ups. And if you'd like an extra-crispy experience, use phyllo dough and make little parcels that can serve as elegant hors d'oeuvres for your next party.

When it comes to the filling, there are a lot of things you can do to switch things up, starting with the protein you use. If you like beef, try using ribeye, the best cut of beef for Philly cheesesteaks. You can also substitute the beef with chicken or pork, or make a vegetarian version with mushrooms. As for the vegetables, you definitely need to include onions and peppers for a true Philly cheesesteak experience, but you can incorporate red and yellow peppers for a more eye-catching presentation. And while traditional cheesesteaks use provolone, American cheese, or Cheez Whiz, you can actually combine all three or use an alternative, like Velveeta, to formulate your own unique creation.