These Beef Tips are slow-cooked until tender and served with a rich, savory onion gravy that is full of comforting flavor. Served over mashed potatoes, this hearty dish makes an easy and satisfying dinner the whole family will enjoy.
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Holly’s Recipe Highlights: Beef Tips
Flavor: This is rich and savory, with tender beef, sweet onions, and a deep, comforting gravy.
Skill Level: This recipe is easy to prepare, and the long simmer means minimal effort.
Technique: Slow cooking is a great way to tenderize the beef, and it adds so much flavor.
Serving Suggestions: Serve these tender beef tips over creamy mashed potatoes, fluffy rice, or egg noodles to soak up the rich, savory gravy.
Total Time: 2 Hours Serves: 4 Cooking Method: Stovetop
Ingredient Notes
- Beef Tips: Use steak, stew meat, cubed chuck roast, or beef tips in this recipe. Beef tips are usually the tender parts of the tenderloin top. They can also be sirloin tips that come from a larger roast or tri-tip.
- Beef Broth: Beef broth creates the flavorful base for the gravy. Low-sodium broth works well when using condensed soup, since the soup already adds extra salt.
- Yellow Onion: Yellow onion adds a sweet, savory depth to the gravy as it cooks down. Dice it finely so it softens and blends smoothly into the sauce. Add mushrooms with the onions for a mushroom gravy version.
- Condensed Soup: This canned soup adds deep onion flavor and helps create a rich, savory gravy with minimal prep. Use condensed soup rather than dry onion soup mix for the best texture and consistency.
- Variations: Stir in a splash of cream after thickening for a softer, richer finish.
How To Make Beef Tips
- Season and brown the beef (full recipe below). Cook the onion in the same pot.
- Add the beef back with broth, condensed soup, Worcestershire sauce, and bay leaf. Simmer.
- Once tender, thicken the gravy with a cornstarch slurry.
Tips for Tender Beef
- Brown in Batches: Browning the beef in small batches sears it instead of steaming.
- Do Not Rush the Simmer: Chuck roast needs time to become tender.
- Cover the Pot: Keep the pot covered while simmering so the beef stays moist and the gravy does not reduce too quickly.
- Cut Beef Evenly: Cut beef into similar-sized cubes for even cooking.
- Make Perfect Gravy: Add the cornstarch slurry a little at a time. Stop when the gravy is as thick as you like it.
- For Extra Gravy: Add a splash more beef broth before thickening.
Leftover Beef Tips
Keep leftovers in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to 4 days and in the freezer for up to 2 months. Thaw overnight in the refrigerator. Reheat on the stovetop or in the microwave, adding a splash of broth or water if the gravy has thickened too much.
Cozy Beef Dinners
Did you enjoy the this Beef Tips Recipe? Leave a comment and rating below.
Equipment
- Dutch Oven with a lid
Ingredients
- 2 pounds beef chuck roast cubed or stew meat
- ½ teaspoon salt
- ½ teaspoon black pepper
- 2 tablespoons olive oil
- 1 yellow onion chopped
- 1 (10.5 ounce) can beef broth
- 1 (10.5 ounce) can condensed French onion soup or condensed onion soup
- 1 tablespoon Worcestershire sauce
- 1 bay leaf
- chopped fresh parsley for garnish, optional
To Thicken Gravy:
- 3 tablespoons cornstarch
- ⅓ cup water
Instructions
- Trim any fat from the beef and toss with salt and pepper.
- Heat 1 tablespoon of oil over medium-high heat in large pot or Dutch oven. Add the seasoned beef and cook in small batches until browned. Transfer the beef to a bowl and set aside.
- Reduce the heat to medium and add the remaining oil. Add the onion and cook until softened, about 5 to 7 minutes.
- Add the beef, beef broth, condensed onion soup, Worcestershire sauce, and bay leaf to the pot. Bring to a boil, cover, and reduce heat to a simmer. Simmer for 1½ to 2 hours or until beef is fork-tender.
- To thicken the gravy, combine cornstarch with ⅓ cup cold water. Pour into the beef mixture a little at a time while stirring until it reaches the desired consistency.
- Taste and season with additional salt and pepper if desired. Discard bay leaf and serve over mashed potatoes.
Video
Notes
- The onion soup in this recipe is canned condensed soup. It can be found in the soup aisle at your local grocery store.
- Serve over mashed potatoes, rice, or pasta noodles.
- Store leftovers in an airtight container in the fridge for up to 4 days. Reheat in the microwave or on the stovetop until heated through.
Nutrition Information
Nutrition information provided is an estimate and will vary based on cooking methods and brands of ingredients used.
Course Beef, Dinner, Entree, Main Course
Cuisine American© SpendWithPennies.com. Content and photographs are copyright protected. Sharing of this recipe is both encouraged and appreciated. Copying and/or pasting full recipes to any social media is strictly prohibited. Please view my photo use policy here.
Can I make this recipe in a slow cooker?
Hi Katie, I haven’t tried this recipe in the slow cooker however other readers have had great success with it. I would suggest browning the beef before adding it and cooking about 8 hrs on low or 4-5 hours on high. We would love to hear how it turns out for you!
Easy prep. My husband loved it. I would cut the Worcestershire sauce in half. For me the flavor overwhelmed the beef taste I was expecting. I normally won’t make any changes to a new recipe. I have to admit I added sliced mushrooms about 5 minutes before I added the broths and meat as we’re mushroom freaks. It really worked well.
When I made this I used beef tenderloin and cubed it. It only needed to cook a short time so it was a quick meal and very good. I served it with mashed potatoes and a salad.
I have made this recipe many times now and it gets more delicious every time. I, too, have taken to adding minced garlic to the beef as it browns, and have taken to using a packet of Knorr Brown Gravy Mix instead of the cornstarch.. In My opinion, it makes the beef taste a little more robust and intense. I also only use the beef broth instead of the condensed onion soup.. Hope this might help someone else out there..
I was wondering , with the can of beef broth and the can of onion soup…do you also add the recommended can of water as well to the pot or omit the water that it states on the can label ?? Also
Will this serve 4 adults
Thank you
Hi Lucy, we do not add water to this recipe (except when thickening gravy). But this recipe does serve 4. Hope you enjoy!
I cooked ther beef separate and first. I put it in a crock pot with beef broth and let it cook 4 hours. did not brown. it came out fall off the bone tender and delicious. I had my roomy chop the veggies. she’s very good at it and fast.
Sounds delicious, thanks for sharing Chris.
I swap the soup for Lipton onion soup mix (and water) to make it gluten free and used my instant pot (high pressure 1 hour) and it was fabulous. Thank you!
Can this be made in the slow cooker? If so, do I toss everything in the slow cooker together? Do I need to brown the beef still?
I haven’t tried this recipe in the slow cooker however some readers have had great success. I would suggest browning the beef before adding it and cook about 8 hrs on low or 4-5 hours on high. Please let us know how that turns out for you!
I’ve tried this recipe twice now, both times it came out wonderfully. This time around I’d like to try adding some carrots and potatoes to it, how would you recommend going about this?
Hi Bibi, I would add the carrots and potatoes towards the end to ensure they are not overcooked. You may need to add some additional broth since the potatoes will soak up some of the liquid while cooking. We would love to hear how this recipe turns out for you!
Great recipe ❤❤❤
This is the second time i’ve made this recipe and both times it has been a huge hit. My family loves it. We make it with egg noodles as the starch. Today, i needed to add to it for extra mouths about 10 minutes after i’d started the simmer and i didn’t have another can of french onion soup, but i did have a bag of french onion soup mix so i added that and some more broth and it turned out just as delicious as the last time. The gravy was so good and jsut the right consistency. Big hit even with my reluctant 6yo.
Thanks for the delicious recipe!
Your recipes are one of my go to’s. Have tried several. Always turn out great and are a hit with my family. And they don’t break the bank. I add to this one mushrooms to take it up a notch.
Thank you for all of your wonderful recipes I will be trying more soon.
Can this be made the night before I’m wanting to serve it without making tips tough? I’ve made this numerous times and there’s never any left overs.
Hi Amber, this recipe makes for great leftovers, so I am sure it would turn out okay. Just keep refrigerated in an airtight container until ready to reheat. Then reheat on the stovetop and refresh the flavor with a dash of salt and pepper.
This was fantastic!!! I did double the gravy, but made everything else as written. This will definitely be on the monthly dinner rotation!!
Can I omit the soup?
Hi Chiquita, instead of soup you can use extra beef broth (or even another type of broth) or a little bit of onion soup mix combined with water.
My husband made this tonight for dinner served over gluten free pasta and it was delicious!
The only thing we did differently was to add garlic and to not add any extra salt.
This was so salty it was inedible. I followed the recipe exactly, and we couldn’t eat it…
Hi Laura, I’m sorry to hear that. This recipe is a reader favorite and one of my personal favorites. To reduce the salt I would recommend trying a low sodium beef broth and omitting any additional salt. I hope that helps!
I’ve never used canned onion soup before. Would a packet of dried onion soup soup mix render less stellar results? Or should I go back to the store…
You could replace the condensed soup with beef broth and add the dried onion soup mix to the beef broth for extra flavor. Hope that helps!
Found this recipe and decided to use it for tonight’s Sunday dinner… I used pre seasoned pork loin boneless chops and cut them in cubes. Going to put them over rice with mac-n-cheese and green beans. I will come back to add review once it’s finished!
How do I avoid clumps when I sprinkle in the corn starch? I whisk as I go but every time, I get small clumps. Should I use flour instead?
The cornstarch should be mixed with cold water or broth before adding to the gravy. As the gravy is simmering add this mixture while you stir and you won’t have any clumps.
So sad that today simple things like this arent taught to our children. I give you an A for effort for looking up recipes and trying to teach yourself.
Made this twice recently and love the simplicity and great flavor.