Tender Slow Cooker Beef Tips are cooked to perfection with just minutes of prep time. Serve these beef tips over mashed potatoes, creamy polenta, egg noodles. So easy to make, super hearty and oh so satisfying.
Slow Cooker Beef Tips
Just a few minutes of prep and these Slow Cooker Beef Tips are ready for your slow cooker! Fork tender beef tips in a brown gravy with a splash of red wine. Spoon these beef tips over mashed potatoes, egg noodles, rice or creamy polenta for an easy dinner that’s worthy of a Sunday meal.
How To Make Slow Cooker Beef Tips
A lot of recipes that we have seen call for adding the beef right to your slow cooker without searing first. We’re going to ask you to take the extra step and not only brown the beef first, but to dredge it in flour and then sear the beef.
The flavor that these steps add to these beef tips is really what takes this recipe over the top. Yes, you’ll have to sear the beef in batches but this process only takes about 15 minutes, even quicker if you use two skillets!
- Dredge the Beef: Season the beef tips with salt, pepper and garlic powder and then dredge the in flour, tapping off the excess.
- Sear the Beef: Add olive oil to a large skillet (or two large skillets if you want a faster prep time) and sear the beef for a couple of minutes until browned on both sides. The beef won’t be cooked through at this step, just nicely seared.
- Add Ingredients to Slow Cooker: Add the seared beef with juices, beef broth whisked with a brown gravy packet and a pack of dry onion soup mix to the slow cooker along with a bay leaf. Cook on low for 7-8 hours or on high for 3-4.
What To Serve With Beef Tips and Gravy
I’m telling you guys, you’ll be eating this tender beef right out of the crock pot. So comforting and satisfying, this is a dinner recipe that you’ll be making on the regular.
- Creamy Mashed Potatoes
- Red Skin Mashed Potatoes
- Spicy Mushroom Rice
- Parmesan Bacon Orzo
- Potatoes Romanoff
- Crispy Baked Steak Fries
What Else Can I Add To These Beef Tips?
We love that fact that this recipe is just beef. Just the meat. That way you can add whatever vegetable sides you like, or just leave it as is for your meat and potatoes lovers.
But if you’d like to add a little more to these beef tips, we’ve got some ideas for you. Quartered mushrooms would be great, not cut too thin so that they fall apart. Carrots would also be delicious in here, but you’re getting more into Beef Stew territory.
Which is not a bad thing at all, we do love our beef stew.
What Type Of Beef Works Best For This Recipe?
Beef tips are preferred, but stew meat also works too. Beef tips are typically cut from a tenderloin or sirloin and are a more tender cut of meat. Stew meat is often cut from the shoulder, requiring more time to become tender.
So either cut of beef will work, stew meat might just need a little more time in your slow cooker to become fork tender.
Do You Have To Brown Beef Tips Before Slow Cooking?
As we mentioned above, our answer is yes. You can simply season the beef and add it to your crock pot, but you’re going to get a much bigger depth of flavor if you take the time to brown them first.
Dredging the beef in flour before searing is what helps to thicken the gravy while it’s cooking in your slow cooker. This step eliminates having to make a cornstarch slurry to thicken the gravy after the beef is done cooking.
Do I Have To Use Wine In This Recipe?
While we love the flavor that red wine adds to these Slow Cooker Beef Tips, you don’t have to use it if you don’t want to. The red wine is also used to deglaze the skillet to get all those lovely bits off the bottom, but you can use beef broth to do that, or just skip that step.
Looking For More Slow Cooker Dinners?
- Crock Pot Ham
- Slow Cooker Ribs
- Slow Cooker Pulled Pork
- Crock Pot Smothered Pork Chops
- Crock Pot Sausage and Peppers
Slow Cooker Beef Tips
- Prep Time: 15 minutes
- Cook Time: 4 hours
- Total Time: 4 hours 15 minutes
- Yield: 8 servings 1x
Slow Cooker Beef Tips turn out super tender and satisfying, with just minutes of prep! Serve over mashed potatoes for an easy dinner recipe that everyone is sure to love!
Ingredients
- 4 pounds beef tips or stew meat
- 2 teaspoons garlic powder
- 2 teaspoons kosher salt
- Fresh black pepper
- 1 1/2 cups of flour for dredging the beef
- Olive oil
- 1/2 cup dry red wine
- 3 1/2 cups beef broth
- .87 ounce packet powdered beef gravy
- 1 packet (1 ounce) of dried onion soup mix
- 1 bay leaf
Instructions
- Season the beef tips with the garlic powder, salt and pepper. Add the flour to a shallow plate and dredge the beef tips, tapping off the excess.
- Spray a 6-8 quart slow cooker with non-stick cooking spray.
- Add enough oil to coat the bottom of a large skillet and set over medium-high heat. Sear the beef tips on both sides until browned and then place in the slow cooker. Don’t add too many to the skillet at the same time or the beef won’t sear properly, you can also use two large skillets to make this step go faster. Repeat with the remaining beef tips, adding more oil when needed and place into the slow cooker.
- Pour off all but 1-2 tablespoons of the drippings from the skillet. Deglaze the skillet with the red wine, scraping up the brown bits from the bottom. Let the wine reduce for 1 minute and then pour into the slow cooker with the beef.
- Pour the beef broth into a bowl. Add the powdered gravy and whisk until smooth. Pour into the slow cooker along with the onion soup mix and the bay leaf. Toss the beef gently, cover and set on low for 7-8 hours and on high for 3-4 hours. If available, stir the beef once or twice in between the cooking time so that the gravy doesn’t stick to the side of your slow cooker.
- Check a piece of beef to see if it’s fork tender. If you like a thicker gravy, take the lid off the slow cooker at this point and let the gravy thicken as it cools for 30 minutes. Alternately, you can mix together a tablespoon of cornstarch with a tablespoon of water and stir it into the slow cooker. Cover and let sit for 30 minutes to thicken.
- Serve over mashed potatoes, egg noodles or creamy polenta.
- Category: Dinner
- Method: Slow Cooker
- Cuisine: American
Keywords: mantitlement, beef tips and gravy, slow cooker beef tips, comfort food recipes