Beef Tips in Gravy:
Tender beef tips smothered in a smooth, herbed gravy with tasty mushrooms is a midweek luxury. Rich flavors develop in the slow cooker as the beef becomes melt-in-your-mouth tender.
Serve slow cooker beef tips over potatoes, pasta, or rice, for a hands-off dinner that’s hands-down delicious.
I certainly serve my share of salads and stir-frys, but sometimes nothing but a hearty beef dinner will do.
In my mom’s day, that was a roast in the oven. But I prefer slow cooker beef tips.
They cook in their own gravy. Not only is the meat more flavorful and tender, but there’s no separate step at the end—just serve the beef tips and gravy directly from the crock pot, so I can enjoy my family or guests right up to serving time.
And then I can enjoy how much they love this dish.
What kind of meat is used for beef tips?
Well, technically, anything that’s beef can be cut up and called a beef tip. Here’s the breakdown:
The most expensive, most tender cuts of meat come from the tenderloin—the cut that also gives you filet mignon. Those cuts will cost you, and deserve quick, hot cooking rather than stewing, which will allow their natural tenderness to shine.
Sirloin steak (cut pieces will sometimes be labeled as “sirloin tips”) is often diced and served as “steak tips.” Again, these are true pieces of steak that should be grilled or seared. This slow cooker recipe is not how you should utilize those cuts of meat.
Luckily for you, beef stew meat, chuck, or round is what is mostly commonly used for beef tips. Stewing tenderizes the more muscular cuts, and flavor from the stewing liquid infuses the meat. Making them melt in your mouth tender without paying for pricier cuts.
How do you cook beef tips so they are tender?
Chuck, round, or stew meat are considered “muscle meat.” It’s not well suited for grilling and roasting because the muscle fibers don’t have time to break down with fast cooking methods. They key to tender meat is braising or stewing—cooking it slowly in liquid. Braising gives you a bonus advantage: flavors and seasonings in the liquid infuse the meat, making it even tastier.
What about cooking beef tips in a slow cooker?
Slow cooker preparation is PERFECT for beef tips. It’s important to not just boil meat in liquid, which will leech the flavor out rather than put it in. In a slow cooker you can use very little liquid, a very low temperature, and a very long time, which work together to make beef tips turn out perfectly.
Alternate: Do you want to try the Instant Pot?
Go ahead! The Instant Pot is not a magic pot that cooks all things in all ways, but it WILL do magic on beef tips. Read my Instant Pot User Guide if you’re just starting out, but if you’re looking for a recipe to cook TONIGHT, Instant Pot beef tips could be on the menu. If you use the Instant Pot for this slow cooker beef tips recipe, the meat should be done in about 25-30 minutes.
There’s a lot more to slow cookers than stew and pot roast. Beef tips and gravy is just a start. If a dinner that cooks itself while you do other things works for you, check out these other slow cooker meals:
- Slow Cooker Roast Lamb with Lemon, Rosemary, and Garlic
- Chicken Enchilada Soup
- Slow Cooker Pork Carnitas Tacos
- Slow Cooker Pineapple Chipotle Ribs
- Five-Cheese Slow Cooker Macaroni
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Beef Tips and Gravy Slow Cooker
Ingredients
Beef
- 1 Tablespoon olive oil
- 2 pounds stew meat or chuck roast cut into 1 inch cubes
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 1/2 teaspoon pepper
- ½ teaspoon garlic granules
Gravy
- 3 tablespoons butter divided
- 1/4 cup all-purpose flour
- 3 cups beef broth
- 1/2 cup dry red wine or additional beef broth
- 1 Tablespoon worcestershire sauce
- 1 Tablespoon red wine vinegar
- 2 tsps tomato paste
- 1/2 tsp dried parsley
- ½ tsp dried oregano
- 1/4 tsp dried thyme
The Rest
- 1 yellow onion diced
- 1 Tablespoon minced garlic
- 12 ounces cremini mushrooms sliced
Instructions
- Chunk meat into 1 inch cubes, pat dry with paper towels, then season with salt, pepper, and garlic granules.
- Heat 1 tablespoon olive oil in a large skillet over medium high heat, and add beef to skillet, browning it on all sides. Try not to stir too much so you can get a nice sear and a good crust.
- Transfer beef to a 6-QT crock pot. Leave any juices in skillet for gravy.
- Add 2 tablespoons butter, to the juices in skillet, and add in your onions, minced garlic and mushrooms. Quick saute for 3-5 minutes until mushrooms start to release their juices, then add mushrooms, garlic, and onions to slow cooker. Leave any juices in pan.
- Return pan to medium high heat and add an additional 1 Tbs of butter to the pan juices (2 if you accidentally poured the juices into your slow cooker). Let butter melt.
- While still over heat, whisk flour into the butter, until a thick paste has formed. Then add the beef broth, dry red wine, worcestershire, red wine vinegar, tomato paste and herbs stirring it all together.
- Bring to a boil then reduce heat and allow gravy to simmer until thickened to the consistency of thick gravy.
- Pour gravy into slow cooker, and stir.
- Place lid on slow cooker, and cook on high for 3-4 hours or on low for 5-7 hours, until beef is tender. Taste and season with additional salt and pepper as needed.
- Serve over mashed potatoes, pasta or rice.
Nutrition
Our recipe card software calculates these nutrition facts based on averages for the above ingredients, different brands, and quality of produce/meats may have different nutritional information, always calculate your own based on the specific products you use in order to achieve accurate macros for this recipe.
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Mallory Lanz says
This is delicious! Perfect for Sunday Dinner!
Jamielyn says
The ultimate comfort meal! Looks so easy and delicious!
Emily Hill says
This slow cooker recipe sounds like the perfect comfort food. Pinning!
Kristy says
Oh my gosh making these ASAP. My husband will die! Looks sooo good!
Pam Dana says
My husband would LOVE this recipe! I can’t wait to try it! It looks soooo good!
Rachael says
Thank you Pam!
gta5moneyonline.net says
Nice.
Tristi says
This looks delicious! Substitutions for dry red wine, or omit?
Rachael says
You can use beef stock. Thanks for asking.
Erin says
I can’t wait to make this. I have been looking for another good crock pot recipe,
Andrew says
How many servings does thia recipe yield??
Rachael says
4 servings. Thanks
Kristena says
What would be the details for cooking this in the instant pot?
It’s still a tad confusing.
Rachael says
I would be happy to help you out. The recipe card is for the slow cooker.
If you want to cook it in the instant pot, do the following:
Chunk meat into 1 inch cubes, pat dry with paper towels, then season with salt, pepper, and garlic granules.
Heat 1 tablespoon olive oil in the instant pot on Saute. Brown it on all sides.
Try not to stir too much so you can get a nice sear and a good crust.
Add 2 tablespoons butter, to the juices in skillet, and add in your onions, minced garlic and mushrooms.
Saute for 3-5 minutes until mushrooms start to release their juices, then turn off the saute function by hitting cancel.
Add the beef broth, dry red wine, worcestershire, red wine vinegar, and scrape the bottom so there is no browned bits on the bottom of the pan.
Add the tomato paste and herbs stirring it all together.
Put the lid on, and lock it into place. Set on manual pressure for 30 minutes.
When the time is up let pressure naturally release for 15 minutes, then quick release remaining pressure.
Remove the lid and Remove the beef with a slotted spoon, turn the instant pot to saute again, and
Whisk flour into the sauce, and let it simmer until it thickens to a gravy like consistency.
Taste and season with additional salt and pepper as needed.
Add the beef back in, and serve over mashed potatoes, pasta or rice.
Geoweo says
Looks delicious, but…is it really over 2000 calories and 6000mg of sodium per serving?
Rachael says
No I don’t think so, my recipe card nutrition calculator is not great, I have a disclaimer on it because of that. LOL. I would recommend running the macros yourself.
Jen says
This is comfort food at its finest! Nothing better than coming home to this for dinner after work knowing the slow cooker has done all of the work for you.
Chelsea says
This dish is absolutely AMAZING!! So simple but sooo flavorful! Thanks for sharing!!
Steph says
This was so easy and the beef turned out so tender and the gravy was amazing! Great recipe!
April says
I love this! This reminds me of a meal we used to have when I was a kid. Total comfort food for me!
Sarah says
1/2 c flour into 2 tbs of butter makes a paste? I tried this exactly as described twice and it didn’t work. It wasted a lot of ingredients.
Rachael says
Yes, it does make a thick paste if you stir them together over heat. It is how you make a roux base like you would for a mac and cheese or any other sauce you want to thicken. I would love to help you trouble shoot if you want to give me more details.
Heather says
Agreed. There was not enough fat for 1/2 c. of flour. I’ve made pleanty of rouxs in my time. I should have used my better judgment. The gravy was lumpy because of it.
Ashley McMaster says
This looks delicious! Would the flavor or consistency/texture be affected if I assembled everything in the slow cooker the night before and refrigerate it so that in the morning all I would have to do is turn on the crockpot and leave for work?
Rachael says
I haven’t tried it, but I can’t imagine it would change it. So go for it. Let me know how it goes.