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My Slow Cooker Beef Tips and Gravy is a one pot dinner that takes comfort food to the next level! With a totally hands-off cook time, this is an easy slow cooker recipe you and your family will love after a long day. Perfect for serving over mashed potatoes, roasted vegetables, rice, or egg noodles. Enjoy!
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Best Slow Cooker Beef Tips
After a long day, we all deserve a little comfort food for dinner. The only problem with that is having to come home and actually make dinner! Slow cooker recipes like these beef tips and gravy are the perfect solution. I make them all the time at home for my family – they were a lifesaver during football game season!
The best part about this beef tips recipe is how easy it is to set it and forget it. Once you have all your ingredients prepared, it’s just a matter of letting everything cook low and slow in your crockpot. And what could be more comforting than a bowl of slow cooker beef?
One bite of my tender beef round roast and you will completely understand how delicious, easy, and flavorful this recipe is. There is something special about recipes that feed your soul, and these slow cooker beef tips with gravy will have you feeling all warm and cozy in no time. Just like snuggling up under a big blanket next to a warm fire.
Crockpot Beef Tips FAQs
Beef tips are smaller cuts of meat that are come from breaking down any of the larger, more tender sections. For example, a top sirloin is a large, tender cut of meat, and a sirloin tip is an outer piece from that particular section.
Beef tips are naturally gluten-free, and so is this recipe! It uses cornstarch, not flour, to thicken the gravy, so this is a recipe everyone in the house can enjoy.
It is safe to put raw beef in a slow cooker before cooking, but for this recipe (and for maximum flavor) we recommend searing the beef tips first. This will lock in the flavor of the beef and make for a delicious gravy.
Cutting meat against the grain simply means cutting crosswise through the long muscle fibers in the meat, and doing so makes meat more tender. This, along with cooking the beef on a low and slow setting in your crockpot, will guarantee tender beef tips every time.
Beef tips are usually the more tender parts of the tenderloin top. Or they can be sirloin tips that come from larger roasts often sold as beef tips. Stew meat usually refers to cuts of beef that require a longer cooking time to break down the muscle fibers.
Keep beef tips in the refrigerator in an airtight or covered container for up to 4 days.
An undercooked chuck roast can sometimes be a little tough, which would make your beef tips the same. To avoid this, be sure to use a cut of beef that has been cut against the grain, sear your beef first, and cook it low and slow in a slow cooker.
How to Make Slow Cooker Beef Tips
- Season beef tips with salt and pepper. Melt butter in a skillet over medium-high heat, then add the tips and sear on each side for 4 minutes. Then, place the tips in the slow cooker, and top with sliced yellow onions, garlic cloves, and fresh thyme.
- Reduce heat of the skillet and melt more butter. Add sliced mushrooms with salt and stir. Saute for 5 minutes until they soften, occasionally scraping brown bits up from the bottom of the pan. Add water and beef base to the skillet, stir, then add to the slow cooker with the beef tips.
- Cover and cook on low for 5 hours or on high for 2½ hours, until the beef is fork-tender. Once the beef is tender, combine red wine with cornstarch in a bowl, then add to the slow cooker. Turn the heat up to high and cook for 20 minutes until the gravy thickens.
- Serve over mashed potatoes, and enjoy!
Recipe Tips
- Searing the beef in a skillet before adding to the slow cooker is worth the little bit of extra effort, as it makes a big difference in the flavor of crockpot beef tips and gravy. Don’t skip this step!
- Sautéing the mushrooms for the gravy before adding them to the crockpot brings out the savory mushroom flavor.
- I recommend using a beef base/water combination in this recipe. You can find beef base in the soup aisle of your grocery store. Beef base will give the gravy a deep and rich flavor. However, you can also substitute 1½ cups beef stock in place of the water/beef base combination. Be sure to use beef stock (not broth) for maximum flavor results.
- Using the slow cooker for this easy beef dish allows us to purchase a leaner and less expensive cut of beef because we are cooking it low and slow until it melts in your mouth.
- Adding the thickener at the end elevates the flavor of the gravy with a hint of red wine. It really makes a difference in the overall results. Adding the red wine/cornstarch mixture to the slow cooker and cooking on high for about 20 minutes should thicken the gravy nicely.
How to Serve Beef Tips
There is nothing more appeasing than a big pile of creamy mashed potatoes in a bowl, covered with beef tips and gravy!
Sometimes, I like to place the beef tips on a large platter, sprinkle with fresh parsley, and bring it out to the table to serve family style to my family or guests. Serving food this way is always the best way to get the conversations flowing!
What to Serve with Beef Tips
- Try my creamy garlic mashed potatoes to pair with beef tips
- Don’t forget the slow cooker beef gravy!
- Cheesy Orzo Risotto Recipe
- Make your favorite pasta and toss it with my Easy Garlic Butter Sauce Recipe
- Gluten Free Au Gratin Potatoes
- Parmesan Garlic Roasted Carrots
- Honey Sriracha Brussels Sprouts Recipe
Try more of my favorite slow cooker recipes, like Slow Cooker Steel Cut Oats!
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Slow Cooker Beef Tips and Gravy
Equipment
Ingredients
Beef Tips
- 1½ pounds Beef round Roast cut into chunks
- 1 teaspoon kosher salt
- ½ teaspoon black pepper freshly cracked
- 1 tablespoon unsalted butter
- 1 yellow onion sliced (about 1 cup)
- 5-6 cloves garlic peeled
- 1 sprig fresh thyme or 1 teaspoon dried thyme
Gravy
- ½ tablespoon unsalted butter
- 8 ounces white mushrooms sliced
- 1 pinch salt
- 1½ cups water
- ½ tablespoon beef base I use Better Than Bouillon
- 1 tablespoon red wine
- 1 tablespoon cornstarch
Instructions
- Season beef roast with salt and pepper. Melt 1 Tbsp. unsalted butter in a skillet over medium-high heat, then add the beef. Allow it to sear for 4 minutes on each side to give it a caramelized coating. Once seared, add the beef tips to your slow cooker. Top with sliced yellow onion, peeled whole garlic cloves, and thyme.1½ pounds Beef round Roast cut into chunks, ½ teaspoon black pepper, 1 tablespoon unsalted butter, 1 yellow onion, 5-6 cloves garlic, 1 sprig fresh thyme, 1 teaspoon kosher salt
- Reduce the heat of the skillet to medium and melt ½ tablespoon unsalted butter. Add sliced mushrooms with a pinch of salt and stir to coat with the butter. Saute for 5 minutes, until the mushrooms are soft. Stir occasionally, scraping up the brown bits from the bottom of the pan. Add water and beef base to the skillet and stir to combine. Then, add the contents of the skillet to the slow cooker with your beef tips.½ tablespoon unsalted butter, 8 ounces white mushrooms, 1 pinch salt, 1½ cups water, ½ tablespoon beef base
- Cover your crockpot and cook on low for 5 hours, or on high for 2½ hours, until the beef is fork-tender. If you have more time, you can cook for 6 hours for even greater flavor.
- Once the beef tips are done cooking, combine red wine with cornstarch and add it to the slow cooker. Turn heat up to high and cook for 20 minutes to thicken the gravy. Alternatively, cook gravy in a pan (see note 3).1 tablespoon red wine, 1 tablespoon cornstarch
Notes
- You want a nice caramelized coat on the beef from searing, so make sure to properly sear for enough time to brown the meat.
- 5 hours on low or 2 and a half hours on high should be enough time to tenderize the beef, but if you find you’d like it more tender, you can leave it for longer.
- Alternately, you can add the gravy to a skillet over medium heat and add the cornstarch/red wine mixture to the gravy and heat until thickened, which will only take a minute or two.
- I recommend using a beef base/water combination in this recipe. You can find beef base in the soup aisle of your grocery store. Beef base will give the gravy a deep rich flavor, however, you can also substitute 1 and a half cups beef stock in place of the water/beef base combination. Be sure to use beef stock (not broth) for maximum flavor results.
Nutrition
Images by Marion Myers
That gravy looks fantastic! Yum!
I’ve never made beef tips but these looks scrumptious!
My family would love this for dinner!