Slow cooker beef tips and gravy is an easy slow cooker dinner that is super comforting and flavorful! When you’re craving comfort food, nothing beats gravy beef tips, especially during the colder months! One bite of the tender beef round roast over creamy homemade mashed potatoes with mushroom gravy will have you feeling all warm and cozy, just like snuggling up under a fluffy blanket next to a fire. Without a doubt, this will become one of your favorite slow cooker comfort food recipes!
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 this beef tips and gravy are the solution.
Slow cooker comfort food recipes give you the opportunity to prep your meals the night before, then let them cook all day long the next day in the slow cooker for when you get back home at night. We can’t recommend them enough if you’re short on time and need more easy comfort food in your life!
Beef Tips Recipe Ingredients
The best part about this beef tips recipe is how easy it is to set it and forget it! Once you have all of your ingredients prepared, it’s just a matter of letting everything cook low and slow in your slow cooker. And what could be more comforting than a bowl of slow cooker beef? Here are all of the ingredients you need to make crockpot beef tips:
Ingredients for Beef Tips Recipe:
- 1 1/2 lbs. beef round roast, cut into chunks
- 1 tsp. kosher salt
- 1/2 tsp. black pepper, freshly cracked
- 1 Tbsp. unsalted butter
- 1 yellow onion, sliced (makes about 1 cup)
- 5-6 garlic cloves, peeled
- 1 sprig fresh thyme
Ingredients for Beef Gravy Recipe:
- 1/2 Tbsp. unsalted butter
- 8 oz. white mushrooms, sliced
- 1 pinch salt
- 1 1/2 cups water
- 1/2 Tbsp. beef base (I use Better Than Bouillon)
- 1 Tbsp. red wine
- 1 Tbsp. cornstarch
What are beef tips?
You may also hear people call beef tips stew meat—and that’s essentially what it is! Beef tips are simply beef chuck roast or sirloin cuts of beef cut into small chunks. For this beef tips recipe, we use beef round roast.
Slow Cooker Beef Recipe Instructions
With under 30 minutes of prep time, this gravy beef tips recipe is easy to make and the perfect comfort food dinner after a long day. Follow these instructions to make this easy beef tips recipe:
- Season beef round roast chunks with salt and pepper.
- Melt 1 Tbsp. butter in a skillet over medium-high heat, then add the beef tips. Let the beef round roast chunks sear about 4 minutes on each side for a nice caramelized coating.
- After searing, place beef tips in the slow cooker and top with yellow onion slices and peeled whole garlic cloves, along with the sprig of fresh thyme.
- Reduce the heat of the skillet to medium and melt another 1/2 Tbsp. of butter. Add the mushrooms with a pinch of salt, and stir to coat in the butter. Saute for 5 minutes, until the mushrooms soften and start getting juicy. Stir, occasionally scraping the brown bits from the bottom of the pan (those brown bits are flavor!).
- Add water and beef base to the skillet and stir to combine.
- Add the mushroom mixture to the slow cooker with the beef tips. Cover the slow cooker and cook on low for 5 hours, or on high for about 2 1/2 hours, until the beef is fork-tender. Cook longer as necessary to get that “melt-in-your-mouth” goodness out of the beef.
- Once the beef is tender, combine red wine with cornstarch and add to the slow cooker. Turn the heat up to high and cook about 20 minutes until the gravy thickens. Alternatively, you can add the gravy to a skillet over medium heat and cook until thickened, which takes about a minute or two.
Beef tips, onions, garlic, and thyme in slow cooker Adding the cooked mushrooms to the slow cooker Stirring the beef tips and gravy in the slow cooker Slow cooker beef tips and gravy, ready to serve and enjoy!
Slow Cooker Beef Tips and Gravy Recipe Tips
- We recommend using Certified Angus Beef® brand beef round chunks for best results. You just can’t beat the flavor and tenderness of their beef!
- Searing the beef in a skillet before adding to the crockpot is worth the effort as it makes a big difference in the flavor of the dish. Don’t skip this step!
- Sauteing the mushrooms for the gravy prior to adding to the crockpot brings out the savory mushroom flavor. Don’t skip this step, either!
- We 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 1 1/2 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 allows us to elevate 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.
- This beef tips recipe is perfect for the busy family! Quick, easy to prepare, and so delicious, it is always a favorite Sunday dinner recipe at our house.
Serve over mashed potatoes or au gratin potatoes and you have one delicious Sunday dinner recipe!
More of our favorite easy beef recipes:
- Beef Chuck Roast Recipe
- Instant Pot Pot Roast
- Slow Cooker Mississippi Pot Roast
- Dutch Oven Pot Roast
- Easy Slow Cooker Roast Beef Recipe
- Slow Cooker Short Ribs
Slow Cooker Beef Tips and Gravy
Ingredients
Beef Tips
- 1 1/2 pounds Beef round Roast cut into chunks See note #1
- 1 teaspoon kosher salt
- 1/2 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
Gravy
- 1/2 tablespoon unsalted butter
- 8 ounces white mushrooms sliced
- 1 pinch salt
- 1 1/2 cups water
- 1/2 tablespoon beef base I use Better Than Bouillon
- 1 tablespoon red wine
- 1 tablespoon cornstarch
Instructions
- Season beef tips with 1 teaspoon kosher salt and 1/2 teaspoon freshly cracked black pepper.
- Melt 1 tablespoon butter in a skillet over mid-high heat and add the seasoned beef tips to the hot skillet. Allow the beef to sear about 4 minutes on each side. You want a nice caramelized coating on the beef.
- Place seared beef tips in the slow cooker and top with 1 cup of sliced yellow onions and about 5-6 whole garlic cloves (peeled), along with a sprig of fresh thyme.
- Reduce the heat of the skillet to medium and melt 1/2 tablespoon of butter. Add the sliced mushrooms to the skillet with a pinch of salt and stir to coat in the butter. Saute for about 5 minutes until the mushrooms soften and start to release their juices (sweat). Stir occasionally scraping the brown bits from the bottom of the pan.
- Add 1 1/2 cups water and 1/2 tablepoons beef base to the skillet and stir to combine.
- Add this mixture to the slow cooker with the beef tips. Cover the slow cooker and cook on low for about 5 hours or on high for about 2 1/2 hours until the beef is fork tender. You want the beef to melt in your mouth, so cook longer if needed.
- Once the beef is tender, combine 1 tablespoon red wine with 1 tablespoon cornstarch and add to the slow cooker. Turn heat up to high and cook about 20 minutes until the gravy is thickened. 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.
- Serve over mashed potatoes and enjoy!
Notes
- For best results we recommend Certified Angus Beef® brand beef
- We 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 1/2 cups beef stock in place of the water/beef base combination. Be sure to use beef stock (not broth) for maximum flavor results.
Nutrition
This post was updated on August 13, 2019.
That gravy looks fantastic! Yum!
I’ve never made beef tips but these looks scrumptious!
My family would love this for dinner!