These beef tips and gravy are hearty comfort food easily made in the crockpot. This slow cooker recipe delivers tender meat smothered in a rich gravy!
If you love crockpot beef stew or slow cooker beef bourguignon, you will love these sirloin beef tips! It’s one of our favorite easy beef recipes.
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Crockpot Beef Tips with Gravy
If you love my easy pot roast, you’ll love crockpot beef tips with gravy, too. The tender meat and flavorful gravy is pure comfort food. Try it alongside fluffy twice baked potatoes; it’s the perfect pair for the flavorful brown gravy.
Add some Parmesan roasted carrots, green beans, and a basket of dinner rolls on the side. Now you have a flavorful and filling feast!
Why You’ll Love This Slow Cooker Recipe
- Rich gravy. The savory gravy from this recipe for beef tips is perfect for sides like mashed potatoes, egg noodles, or rice.
- Easy to make. Even though it’s homemade, all of the ingredients for this slow beef tips with gravy are easy to find and affordable.
Ingredients
Find the full printable recipe with specific measurements below.
- Beef. Any type of beef steak or roast will work; just make sure you trim away the excess fat.
- Spices. Make your own combination of herbs and spices to bring out the flavors that you want. I kept it simple with garlic, onion, salt and pepper, bay leaf, parsley, paprika, oregano, and thyme.
- Beef broth. This is the basis of this gravy recipe. For a thicker mouthfeel, use beef stock. Add a splash of worcestershire sauce to the broth for a more savory taste.
- Gravy thickener. Make a cornstarch slurry using beef broth to naturally thicken the gravy.
How to Make Beef Tips and Gravy
This isn’t exactly a set-it-and-forget-it recipe like most of my easy slow cooker recipes, but each step is so important to turn beef roast into tender beef tips.
- Sear the steak. Cut the beef into bite-sized pieces, season them, and then sear them on the stove.
- Slow-cook the steak. Add the steak, onions, garlic, and bay leaf. Then, pour in the beef broth, cover with the lid, and let it cook low and slow for about 5 hours.
- Make the gravy. When you’re ready to serve the beef, make the gravy. You’ll make the gravy in the same pan you used to sear the steak. Melt butter and whisk in cornstarch. Add the mustard, bouillon, parsley, paprika, oregano, and thyme. Then, you’ll slowly add broth from the slow cooker until the gravy is as thick as you like.
- Serve. Place the beef tips on your plate and top it with fresh hot gravy.
Tips and Variations
- Cut the beef into small bites. It’s really awkward to have to use a knife on beef tips, so make sure they are cut small enough.
- Don’t overcrowd the pan. As you sear the beef tips, don’t overcrowd the pan. This allows the beef to brown rather than steam.
- Let the gravy cook down. Before you try to thicken it by adding more cornstarch, let the gravy cook down for a bit. The longer it simmers, the thicker it will be.
- If gravy is still too thin, remove 1/4 cup liquid from the pan and whisk in an extra Tablespoon flour. Then whisk back into gravy and allow to simmer a few minutes. Repeat as necessary.
- If gravy is too thick, continue to stir in more drippings or liquid until your desired consistency is reached.
- Creamy gravy: Before serving, add a splash of heavy cream like I do in my smothered pork chops recipe.
More delicious beef recipes include this easy salisbury steak recipe, Mississippi pot roast, and beef stroganoff!
More Slow Cooker Beef Recipes
Recipe FAQs
No, you don’t have to brown the beef cubes first. Just remember that if you brown them, they will have a stronger flavor and taste juicier. If you skip this step, the beef will have a drier texture, even if it is topped with gravy.
Since the beef is cooked slowly in the crock pot, you don’t have to use a tender cut of beef, like I do in my easy beef tenderloin. Typically, beef tips are made from sirloin, tenderloin, flank, or ribeye steak.
Cooking steak in the slow cooker tenderizes it, so you can use tougher stew meat or brisket if that is what you have on hand, though, and know it will fall apart in your mouth.
You can make this on the stove. If you do, I suggest using a tender steak, like sirloin. Brown meat as directed and the instead of using a crockpot add the next ingredients to a large pot on the stove. Cover and cook for an hour. Follow directions for making gravy. Serve the beef tips with gravy!
Store leftover beef tips and gravy in an airtight container and keep them in the fridge for up to 4 days. You can also freeze the gravy with beef tips because it doesn’t contain any cream! Keep it stored in a freezer bag or freezer-safe container for up to 3 months. Store it in individual portions so then you can only thaw what you need.
Beef Tips and Gravy
Video
Ingredients
- 1 ½ pounds beef chuck roast or sirloin , trimmed and excess fat, cut into bite-sized chunks
- 1 ½ teaspoons Kosher sea salt
- ½ teaspoon ground black pepper
- 1 Tablespoon vegetable oil
- ½ onion , chopped
- 4-6 garlic cloves , minced (1 teaspoon garlic powder)
- 1 bay leaf
- 4 cups beef broth
- 3 Tablespoons unsalted butter
- ¼ cup cornstarch
- 1 teaspoon Dijon mustard
- 1 ½ teaspoons beef bouillon
- ½ teaspoon dried parsley
- ½ teaspoon paprika
- ¼ teaspoon dried oregano
- ¼ teaspoon dried thyme
Instructions
- Brown meat. Toss 1 1/2 pounds bite-sized beef tips with 1 1 /2 teaspoons salt and 1/2 teaspoon pepper. In a large skillet, heat 1 Tablespoon oil over medium high heat. Sear beef, working in 2 batches if needed, on each side 2 minutes per side.
- Slow cook in crockpot. Transfer to a lightly greased 6-quart (or larger) crockpot and top with 1/2 chopped onion, 4-6 garlic cloves, and 1 bay leaf. Add the 4 cups beef broth. Cook on high 3 to 4 hours or on low 5 to 7 hours until beef is tender. Season with salt and pepper.
- Melt butter in skillet. In the same skillet, melt 1 to 4 tablespoons butter, depending on how much juices/fat are left. You want about 1/2 cup between the juices and the butter. Whisk in 1/4 cup cornstarch and cook 2 minutes over medium heat.
- Make gravy. Whisk in 1 teaspoon dijon mustard, 1 1/2 teaspoons bouillon, 1/2 teaspoon parsley, 1/2 teaspoon paprika, 1/4 teaspoon oregano, and 1/4 teaspoon thyme. Slowly whisk in 2 cups liquid from the crockpot, alternating whisking and adding liquid until you reach the consistency you like. Bring to a light simmer. Cook 3 to 5 minutes, or until it has thickened. If you'd like a thicker gravy, add less liquid. Add more liquid for a thinner gravy.
- Serve. Serve beef tips topped with gravy.
Last step: Please leave a comment and rating after you make the recipe.
Notes
Nutrition
Nutrition provided is an estimate. It will vary based on specific ingredients used.
Julie
This is one of my family’s very favorite meals! I buy the pack of stew meat at Costco to use for this recipe and it turns out fabulous every time!
It has such great flavor and we love it with mashed potatoes or egg noodles.
Jamielyn Nye
Great idea! Thanks for the tip Julie!
Kelsey Pilgrim
Great for a simple weeknight dinner. Everyone enjoyed it! We had it over egg noodles. Will be making again 🙂
jess
this is one of my favorite dishes to amke when I just want something cozy and protein packed! thank you so much for sharing this amazing recipe
Jamielyn Nye
So glad you enjoyed the beef tips and gravy recipe!
Matt
This beef tips and gravy recipe is amazing. It is extremely flavorful and super easy to make. It makes great leftovers too.
Colleen G
All of my kids give this 5 stars!! Especially my son in college, he wants me to send him back with it lol!
Abby
Turned out so tender and savory! My whole family loved it, even my picky kiddos. Great recipe!
Alisha C
Turned out great! We loved the gravy and it was easy to pull together.