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Beef tips might just be the ultimate comfort food. Rich, nourishing, and delicious, and it is even better when you make it yourself at home.
You can learn how to make your own Cornstarch Slurry for this recipe as well!
Beef Tips and Gravy
Beef tips are fast, easy, and, above all, incredibly affordable to feed your entire family while still giving them plenty of flavorful protein and nutrients.
Easy to make in a Dutch oven or an Instant Pot, this is the kind of recipe to throw together when you don’t have the time for anything complicated, and you are looking for good down-home comfort food!
Beef Tips and Gravy Ingredients
Make sure you look at the recipe card at the very bottom for the exact amounts.
• Cubed beef
• Vegetable oil
• Butter
• White onion
• Fresh mushrooms
• Minced garlic
• Flour
• Beef broth
• Worcestershire sauce
• Browning Sauce
• Bay leaf
• Mashed potatoes
• Cornstarch slurry
How To Make Beef Tips and Gravy
• Season the beef with salt & pepper
• Heat a tablespoon of oil in a Dutch oven or lidded braising pan to medium-high heat
• Add the beef and brown on all sides
• Add in the butter and then the onions and cook until the onions begin to brown
• Add in the minced garlic and cook until fragrant
• Sprinkle the flour over the top and stir until it dissolves
• Deglaze the bottom of the pan with some of the beef broth
• Scrape the bottom of the pan to get the browned bits off
• Add in the remaining beef broth, Worcestershire sauce, and some of the browning sauce
• Stir and then cover, bring it to a low simmer and cook for 60 minutes, or until the beef is tender
• Remove the bay leaf, thicken using a cornstarch slurry and serve with fresh parsley over the top
What Kind Of Beef Should You Use For This Recipe?
The rather general description of “beef tips” isn’t extremely helpful for figuring out what kind of beef to buy for this recipe.
The description of tips really just means the leftover bits of beef from cutting other parts of the cow up. Those leftovers then get cut into little cubes, which, when cooked for a good long time, soften and slightly fall apart.
The actual type of meat you use is definitely up to you. Common choices might be some stewing meat or even a whole beef chuck that you slice up. If you happen to be making a lot of meat at home, you could save your leftover cuttings in the freezer and use this recipe as a way of using them up.
You could also ask your local butcher for any beef tips, though maybe emphasize that you mean leftover pieces of meat and not advice for how to cook beef.
What is “Browning Sauce”?
Outside of North America, not many people may have heard of browning sauce; it sounds something like brown gravy, but browning sauce is actually its own, entirely delicious thing.
Browning sauce is basically just a blend of caramel colorings, along with vegetable concentrates and intense seasonings. Added to some gravy, it not only gives it that deep, dark color that all good gravies have, but it also gives it plenty of slightly vegetable flavor, as well as plenty of umami intensity.
It can be thought of as a bit of a hack for bringing extra color and flavor into an already delicious dish. Used on its own, it definitely isn’t as amazing as just making your own gravy, but added to an already great gravy, it is a really excellent, delicious addition that every home chef should use!
Looking for more delicious beef recipes? Try these out:
Enjoy!
Love,
Karlynn
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Beef Tips and Gravy
Ingredients
- 2 pounds cubed beef stewing beef, beef tips, chuck
- 2 tablespoons of vegetable oil
- 2 tablespoons butter
- 1 large white onion diced
- 1 pound fresh mushrooms cleaned and sliced
- 1 tablespoon minced garlic
- 1/4 cup flour
- 4 cups beef broth
- 2 tablespoons Worcestershire Sauce
- 3-4 drops browning sauce
- 1 bay leaf
- 4 servings mashed potatoes
- cornstarch slurry
Instructions
- Season the beef with salt and pepper.
- Place a tablespoon of oil into a lidded braising pan or Dutch oven and heat on medium-high heat.
- Add 2 tablespoons of cooking oil to the pot. Add the beef to the heated pan and brown on all side. Transfer to a plate.
- Add in the butter and then the onions and cook until the onions begin to brown.
- Add in the sliced mushrooms and saute until the mushrooms are cooked and the onions have browned.
- Add the minced garlic and cook until fragrant, around a minute. Sprinkle the flour over top and stir until it dissolves.
- Deglaze the bottom of the pan with some of the beef broth, scraping the bottom of the pot to remove the browned bits and dissolving the flour into it.
- Add the beef cubes in, the remaining beef broth, Worcestershire sauce and a few drops of browning sauce. Stir in completely then cover the pot and bring to a low simmer.
- Simmer on low for 60 minutes, or until the beef is tender.
- Remove the bay leaf. If desired ,thicken the gravy using a cornstarch slurry.
- Serve beef tips and gravy over a side of mashed potatoes and garnish with fresh parsely.
Helene LeBarron says
How long do you cook beef tips in an instant pot.
Becky says
HI, I haven’t tried this recipe yet, but it looks delicious! Can you omit the browning sauce? I used to have a bottle of Kitchen Bouquet in the cabinet for years and barely made a dent in it. I hate to get some for just a few drops. If it makes a big difference in the taste and appearance, I would certainly buy some and try and use it for other recipes. My mom always had a bottle in the cupboard, so maybe there are lots of other uses. Can you recommend other ways to use the browning sauce? Do you use the Kitchen Bouquet brand?
Althea says
Oops! Should read before I post. I’m asking where to * buy in greater Vancouver.
Althea says
Do you have a brand name for browning sauce? Or where I can but it in the greater Vancouver area?
Nancy says
How long would you cook it in the Instant Pot? Thank You!
Mike P says
When do you add the beef back into the pot?
shl says
Step 8, after deglazing the bottom of the pan.
Cat says
Where is the nutrition information? Thanks.