Start your own Sunday dinner tradition with this delicious vintage recipe! It's inexpensive and melt-in-your-mouth tender!
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❤️ Why you'll love it
If you think of chewy meat chunks (of questionable origin) in gloppy, bland gravy when you read the words beef tips and gravy then you've got it all wrong. I'm going to fix your perception right now.
I think the dish was created to use up the pieces of beef that were too small for stew meat -- although some people do use stew meat.
This beef tips recipe can be made from almost any cut of beef.
I prefer to use a chuck roast and then cut the pieces about half the size that I would for stew. The beef simmers on the stove or in a slow cooker until it's just melt-in-your-mouth tender.
My version of beef tips and gravy is done so that the gravy thickens while the beef is cooking and you don't have to do anything else - unless you'd like it thicker.
And, y'all know... I have to get my Texas flavors in it so in went poblano and guijillo chiles. The poblano has a velvety heat to it - just comfortable not overwhelming - while the guijillo adds a fruity-spicy flavor that blends well with the beef and other ingredients.
Yep - it's definitely mid 20th century diner food but I promise you've never tasted anything quite like it - you'll love this hearty meal!
🧾 Ingredients
Is there anything that screams Mom's (or Grandma's) kitchen more than beef tips and gravy?
This classic comfort food has been warming hungry bellies for decades.The whole family will love this updated version with a lighter gravy and a little punch from poblano and guijillo chiles.
Next time try the beer marinated roast or crockpot roast with potatoes and carrots !
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- chuck roast
- butter
- mushrooms
- smoked paprika
- onion
- beef stock
- red wine
- flour
- poblano pepper
- guijillo pepper
🔪 Instructions
- Cut in bite sized pieces. MIx the flour, salt, pepper, and smoked paprika in a large bowl.
- With your hands mix the cut meat in the flour until all sides are covered. Set aside.
- Melt the butter in a heavy iron skillet or dutch oven. Add the mushrooms and saute until golden brown.
- Add the onion and poblano pepper. Saute about 3 minutes.
- Remove the vegetables from the skillet and set aside. Add oil to the skillet and heat until it pops. Add the beef and quickly sear the meat on all sides - it should be a nice golden brown.
- Remove the beef from the skillet and set aside. Add the wine and most of the beef stock.
- Bring the broth mixture to a simmer and drop in the Guijillo pepper.
- Add the beef and the onion mixture to the simmering broth. Cover, leaving a small crack for steam to escape and simmer on low heat for 3 hours, stirring and scraping the bottom once in awhile to keep the meat from sticking.
🥄 Equipment
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You'll need the following items to make this recipe successfully.
- dutch oven or cast iron skillet with high sides
- crock pot
🥫 Storage
Store leftover beef tips and gravy covered with plastic wrap or in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to 4 days.
Reheat in the microwave or on top of the stove.
You can add the leftovers to freezer bags or freezer containers and freeze for up to 3 months.
💭 Tips
Expert Tip: When you are working with hot oil watch it carefully! It can catch fire if left unattended. Don't let it get to the point it is smoking.
- If you don't like mushrooms leave them out
- If you adore mushrooms add a few more
- Use a full bodied red wine like a pinot noir
- If you'd like a bit more onion flavor add an envelope of onion soup mix
- Dredging the meat in the flour mixture helps the sauce to thicken as it simmers. If you'd like it thicker at the end of cooking remove the cover for the last 30 minutes and let the liquid reduce - but watch it carefully so it doesn't go dry. If it's still not thick enough for you add cornstarch as suggested in the recipe.
👩🍳 FAQs
You may sometimes find a package of meat labeled beef tips but more often your choices will be stew meat, sirloin tip, or chuck roast. You can actually use tenderloin, steak, or whatever cut of meat you happen to have on hand.
Cook low and slow. My recipe also contains wine in the simmer sauce which helps tenderize the meat as well.
2 to 3 hours at least or 8 hours in the slow cooker.
If you have a particularly tough cut of meat you can pound the cut pieces with a mallet or marinate overnight.
Cook covered at 325F for 3 hours.
📚 Related recipes
- This easy hot turkey and gravy sandwich is classic diner food!
- There's nothing like slow cooked salisbury steaks.
- Swiss steak is another diner food I remember.
Is there anything that screams Mom's (or Grandma's) kitchen more than beef tips and gravy?
This classic comfort food has been warming hungry bellies for decades.
The whole family will love this updated version with a lighter gravy and a little punch from poblano and guijillo chiles.
Serve these fall-apart-tender beef tips over jalapeno-cheese grits, mashed potatoes, rice, or noodles for a delicious dinner.
Next time try the beer marinated roast or crockpot roast with potatoes and carrots !
🍽️ Serve with...
I think you'll love this updated beef tips and gravy recipe. The addition of red wine, poblano, and guijillo adds SO much flavor!
Want to get the whole experience of eating from a vintage 1950s diner menu? Give this a try! It's perfect for a chilly day!
- Egg Noodles or Mashed Potatoes or Jalapeno Cheese Grits
- Wedge Salad or Southern Green Beans
- Dinner Rolls
- Candy Apple Pie or Chocolate Cream Pie
If you click on the number of servings in the recipe card you can adjust the measurements up or down for the exact number of servings you need. Don't forget that you can click on "add to collection" to save it to your own, private recipe box!
If you love this recipe please give it a 5 star rating. ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
📖 Recipe
Beef Tips and Gravy
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Equipment Needed
Ingredients
- 3 pounds beef tips, or boneless chuck roast
- ⅓ cup flour
- 1 teaspoon smoked paprika
- ½ teaspoon salt
- ½ teaspoon pepper
- ¼ cup butter
- 8 ounces button mushrooms, sliced if large
- 1 ½ cups onion, chopped
- 1 Poblano pepper, diced
- ¼ cup oil, your favorite
- 3 cups beef stock, from a 32 ounce carton - reserve the other cup of stock in case you need it
- ½ cup red wine
- 1 guijillo pepper, seeds removed...optional
Instructions
- Remove the silvery membrane from the roast with a sharp knife.
- Cut in bite sized pieces.
- MIx the flour, salt, pepper, and smoked paprika in a large bowl.
- With your hands mix the cut meat in the flour until all sides are covered. Set aside.
- Melt the butter in a heavy iron skillet or dutch oven.
- Add the mushrooms and saute until golden brown.
- Add the onion and poblano pepper.
- Saute about 3 minutes.
- Remove the vegetables from the skillet and set aside.
- Add oil to the skillet and heat until it pops. Watch carefully!
- Add the beef and quickly sear the meat on all sides - it should be a nice golden brown.
- Turn the heat down to low. Remove the beef from the skillet and set aside.
- Add the wine and most of the beef stock, reserving about a cup and a half. You may or may not need it.
- Bring the broth mixture to a simmer, scraping the bottom with the spatula to scrape up any meat that stuck, and drop in the Guijillo pepper.
- Simmer for 5 minutes.
- Add the beef and the onion mixture to the simmering broth.
- Cover, leaving a small crack for steam to escape and simmer on low heat for 3 hours, stirring and scraping the bottom once in awhile to keep the meat from sticking. Make sure it doesn't boil dry - add more stock if you need to!!!
- At the end of 3 hours the meat should be very tender and the gravy will have thickened - if it hasn't you can bring it up to a boil and boil for a few minutes with the cover off to let the liquid reduce.
- If it still doesn't seem thick enough to you add 2 tablespoons of cornstarch to ½ cup of the reserved beef stock and stir until dissolved. Add to the pan and stir. Simmer until thickened.
- Serve over mashed potatoes, rice, noodles, grits, biscuits, or whatever you like.
Slow Cooker
- Follow steps 1 through 11 above, browning the meat and sauteeing the vegetables.
- Add everything to the slow cooker and set on low.
- Cook for 8 hours.
Oven
- Follow through step 11.
- If you've made the beef tips in a cast iron or enamel over cast iron dutch oven you can cover it and put it in your oven at 325°F for 3 hours. OR you can ladle the mixture into a large casserole, cover tightly with aluminum foil and bake at 325°F for 3 hours. Be sure to check that it doesn't go dry.
Notes
- If you don't like mushrooms leave them out
- If you adore mushrooms add a few more
- Use a full bodied red wine like a pinot noir
- Dredging the meat in the flour mixture helps the sauce to thicken as it simmers. If you'd like it thicker at the end of cooking remove the cover for the last 30 minutes and let the liquid reduce - but watch it carefully so it doesn't go dry. If it's still not thick enough for you add cornstarch as suggested in the recipe.
Nutrition Facts
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Do you remember the old diners or am I the only one?
We used to go to one that, in retrospect, looked like an Airstream trailer. It was all chrome and Art Deco design on the outside but on the inside it smelled like everything good.
Yeasty dinner rolls, beef gravy, apple pie, chocolate cake... all of those smells mingled to make a scent I wish a candle company would make. The aromas would band together and just snuggle up to your nose the minute you walked through the doors.
The floor was big red and white squares of vinyl tile and the booths had over-stuffed, cherry red seats with a wide white stripe vertically down the center.
The tables had chrome edges and red marble looking tops with a little personal juke box right by the salt and pepper shakers and catsup at each table.
I never wanted to sit at the tables. I always led my dad over to the counter where chrome stools with bright red seats stood in a line ready to support whoever wished to sit there.
The stools were my favorite because they twirled. The counter was my dad's favorite because that's where they kept the chocolate cake in big glass domes.
Blue plate specials were cheap and hearty with generous servings... and quite often consisted of beef tips over mashed potatoes.
Nine times out of ten that was what I ordered so I guess this recipe is kind of an homage to that diner.
First published February 5, 2018. Last updated October 6, 2021 for better images and editorial content.
Deborah
I make mine in a crockpot. I use cut up beef, stew meat, steak, roast, whatever I have. Then I use Pioneer brown gravy mix and the amount of water on the package. Cook on low all day. Served over rice, or mashed potatoes. So, so good.
Red87
What's done with the chile?
Marye
It's added to the broth in step #14 and removed before serving.
Joe Johnston
Where does the wine go into this recipe. I assume with the beef broth
Marye Audet
yes. 🙂
sue | theviewfromgreatisland
This makes my mouth water, I can't wait to try it, I know how tender Certified Angus Beef is!
Marye Audet
Thanks Sue! I just love it!
Marisa Franca @ All Our Way
Instead of the beef screaming, I think I would be loudly sighing in pleasure. I love the Texas flavors that go to a classic. And I would serve it with my poblano polenta. ?