When you want a Sunday-dinner caliber meal on a random Thursday, beef tips with gravy over egg noodles may be your new best friend. Loaded up with mushrooms and onions, this comfort dinner is as hearty as it is delicious. The sirloin is fork-tender. And the gravy is perfect to sop up with some homemade rolls or garlic toast.
I started making this a few years ago when I needed something hearty my kids would eat without complaining. Back then, I could smother anything in mushroom gravy and pile it on egg noodles, and I could count on a bunch of quiet peeps at the dinner table because they were digging in!
But it’s not just for busy weeknights. This beef tips with mushrooms and onions meal is fancy enough to serve to company. It’s seriously a no-miss recipe. Pair it with a fresh green salad, and you’ve got an elegant meal on the table in no time.
And it’s super easy, too. 10 minutes of prep, then your Dutch oven does the heavy lifting. You can also make slow cooker beef tips and egg noodles. Just make the meat in the slow cooker and cook the noodles right before dinnertime.
Why You’ll Love This Recipe
Sooooo many reasons to love this beef tips and gravy recipe. And not just because it’s delish, either.
- Super simple prep: Brown your beef in a heavy skillet, mix the gravy, go relax. Easy peasy! The Dutch oven does all the work for you.
- Basic pantry ingredients: Cream of mushroom soup, dried onion soup mix, milk, red wine vinegar. No special trip to the strore needed, if you’ve got some sirloin in the freezer.
- Picky eater friendly: Even the most discerning palates love creamy gravy and soft egg noodles!
- Affordable eats: You’re gonna get 4-5 solid servings from one meal. That’s hard to beat.
Ingredient Notes and Substitutions
There are tons of ways to make this beef tips and gravy recipe using different ingredients.
- Sirloin tips: You can cut up a sirloin steak or buy pre-cut beef tips. You can honestly use any cut of beef. But for tougher cuts, go with the slow cooker beef option so the meat becomes nice and tender.
- Red wine vinegar: If you don’t have this, you can use white wine vinegar or apple cider vinegar. It WILL affect the taste a little, so that’s only for a pinch.
- Onion: You gotta have that onion flavor! But if you have someone who picks onions out of their food, use onion powder instead. All the flavor, none of the complaints.
- Whole milk: You can use skim milk with very little noticeable difference. Non-dairy milk options work, too. For super thick gravy, try half and half or heavy whipping cream.
- Cream of mushroom soup: If you don’t have it, you can use cream of chicken soup. Campbell’s also makes a Golden Mushroom soup that’s DIVINE in this beef tips and gravy recipe!
Tips for Success
Keep these in mind so this turns out right every time.
- Go easy on heavy cream: If you swap whole milk for heavy whipping cream, use it sparingly.
- Cream of chicken soup caution: It’s saltier and tastes more like chicken. Still good, slightly different flavor.
- Browning the meat is a must: And be sure to brown it correctly. Let the steak sit in the hot Dutch oven, without moving it too much. You want to sear it to bring out the flavor.
- Don’t overcook the noodles: I always cook them a minute or two less than the packages says. That’s because they keep cooking a little bit after you pull them from the water. They’ll also get softer when you toss them in the hot gravy.
- Red wine: Here’s another idea. Try some red wine in place of the red wine vinegar Or half red wine, half red wine vinegar. One thing to remember though, the vinegar helps tenderize the meat.
Storage and Reheating
Keep leftovers in an airtight container in the fridge for no more than four days. It sounds crazy, but these beef tips with mushrooms and onions get even better after being in the fridge for a couple of days.
Absolutely you can freeze it. Freeze enough to feed a few people in a larger freezer container. Or freeze single servings in freezer bags.
To reheat your beef tips, thaw them overnight in the fridge first. If you use the microwave to thaw them, just watch them carefully. If you go too long, the meat will get tough. You can also warm them up on the stovetop in a saucepan.
Serving Suggestions
I love having homemade rolls with this comfort dinner because it’s so yummy to sop up all that delicious gravy. Texas toast works just as well. Cornbread is a nice alternative.
For side dishes, I like to keep it light because this is a pretty heavy meal. Some roasted veggies are ideal. Or a simple salad works, too.
FAQs
Can I make beef tips with egg noodles in a slow cooker?
Yes, and it’s delicious. Slow cooker beef is super tender. Brown the meat on the stovetop first, with the onion. Then move it all to your slow cooker with the rest of the ingredients. It’s done in three or four hours.
Can I use fresh mushrooms instead of cream of mushroom soup?
You can, but you’ll need to make the gravy just slightly differently. Sauté sliced mushrooms with butter and flour to make a roux. Then add milk and beef broth.
Notes
I seem to come back to this beef tips and gravy recipe over and over again. Especially on busy weeknights when I need something to fill everyone up but am too exhausted to stand over the stove. 10 minutes of prep, then chillaxing until we gather at the table.
Beef & Mushroom Gravy Noodles | Slow Cooker Beef Tips
Ingredients
- 1 Box Rice-A-Roni Chicken flavor
- 4 cups Cooked shredded chicken Rotisserie chicken works perfectly
- 1 Can 10.5 oz Cream of onion soup
- 8 oz. Sour cream room temperature
- 2 cups Sharp cheddar cheese shredded
- 1 cup French fried onions
Instructions
- Preheat your oven to 350°F and grease a 9×13-inch baking dish.
- Cook the boxed chicken-flavored rice according to the package instructions, but stop the initial skillet browning step 30 seconds early before adding the water. Pro Tip: Flash-toasting the starch shell of the grain surface creates a structural barrier. This guarantees that your rice grains stay completely whole and firm under the weight of the heavy dairy liquids, rather than melting into a mushy, uniform porridge.
- Once the rice is fully cooked and tender, remove the saucepan entirely from the hot stove burner. Let it cool for 2 minutes.
- Pour the cream of onion soup and the room-temperature sour cream directly into the warm rice, using a rubber spatula to fold them together until a uniform, silky sauce coats the grains. Crucial: Folding sour cream into slightly cooled ingredients off direct heat stabilizes its fat emulsion, preventing the dairy from splitting into an oily, watery layer while it bakes in the oven.
- Add the 4 cups of shredded chicken to the mixing bowl, tossing gently until the meat is fully suspended inside the creamy rice matrix.
- Spread the mixture evenly into the bottom of your prepared baking dish, pressing down gently with your spatula to remove any internal air pockets.
- Blanket the top evenly with the shredded cheddar cheese. Bake uncovered for 35 minutes until the cheese is entirely liquefied and bubbling at the perimeter. For the final 5 minutes of baking, scatter the crispy French fried onions uniformly over the hot cheese so they toast to a deep golden, shatter-crisp crown. Let the casserole rest for 5 minutes before slicing.
