This luscious Slow Cooker Beef Tips with Gravy recipe is a delicious way to prepare steak in the cold fall and winter months. Spoon these tender beef tips over a mound of creamy mashed potatoes for a satisfying, family-friendly meal.
With a little help from your slow cooker you can have this delicious meal on your menu any night of the week.
I thought my relationship with my slow cooker was pretty solid but as time goes by I’ve found myself falling even more deeply in love with this helpful appliance. I try to include one slow cooker meal in my menu planning each week and it always ends up to be such a lifesaver. I encourage you to try it, you won’t be sorry.
It’s been my aim to create a collection of slow cooker recipes that work through all the seasons of the year and include the cuts of meat I use the most. This recipe is my latest addition to this growing list of busy day meal ideas.
There’s nothing quite as comforting to me as tender, slow cooked beef tips with gravy. This dish practically demands that it be served over mashed potatoes but white or brown rice or pasta of any kind would also work very well.
Cook up a quick vegetable side dish and dinner is served.
Table of contents
Ingredient Notes
- Beef: When I hit up Costco, a great big package of top sirloin frequently ends up in my shopping cart. This cut is particularly lean, has great beefy flavor, and works beautifully in this slow cooker recipe. For a fast stove to oven method check out my post on How to Cook Sirloin Steak.
- Oil: A little vegetable oil for searing the cubes of beef.
- Seasoning: Lawry’s Seasoned Salt, freshly ground black pepper, Italian seasoning, dried thyme, and a bay leaf. I prefer dried seasonings in this recipe. I always have them stocked plus they are intensely flavorful and hold up better than fresh herbs when slow cooked.
- Broth: Low-sodium beef broth.
- Worcestershire sauce
- Diced onion and minced garlic
- Cornstarch slurry: A mixture of cornstarch and water is used to thicken the gravy.
How to Make Slow Cooker Beef Tips with Gravy
- Start by searing the beef, in batches, in a heavy pan. Cast iron is always my first choice for this task. Season the steak with seasoned salt and pepper while it’s browning. Transfer the seared beef to your slow cooker.
- Pour in the broth, Worcestershire sauce, and the sprinkle the beef with the Italian seasoning and thyme.
- Sprinkle the onion and garlic over the top and tuck a bay leaf down into the mixture. Cover the slow cooker and cook on LOW for 6 hours or on HIGH for 4 hours, or until the beef is fork tender.
Remember, slow cooker times are always approximate and vary with each model. If you cook it too long, the beef will begin to fall apart. Now, there are worse things in life than beef so tender it is falling apart, however the hope is to end with nicely formed beef cubes that are melt-in-your-mouth tender.
- Combine a couple of tablespoons of cornstarch with an equal amount of water and add the slurry to the slow cooker, stirring it into the sauce.
- Let the mixture cook for an additional 5 or 10 minutes to thicken into a beautiful, luxurious gravy. Remove the bay leaf and you are ready to serve.
Serving Suggestions
Potatoes, Rice, or Noodles: Spoon these Slow Cooker Beef Tips with Gravy over a mound of Sour Cream Mashed Potatoes or Buttermilk Mashed Potatoes. They’re also delicious served over simply cooked white or brown rice or buttered noodles.
Bread: Where there is gravy, there shall be bread! A pan of warm Cheddar Dinner Rolls or my easy-peasy Cheater Garlic Bread would be delicious with this meal.
Veggies: Round out your meal with Sheet Pan Roasted Vegetables, Pesto Green Beans, or a Butter Lettuce Salad with Grapes and Gorgonzola.
Check out my entire collection of side dish recipes and salad recipes for more menu inspiration!
More Sirloin Steak Recipes You’ll Love
- Beef Stroganoff
- Philly Cheesesteak with Peppers and Onions
- How to Cook Sirloin Steak (Stove to Oven Method)
- Instant Pot Beef Burgundy
- Grilled Teriyaki Steak
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Slow Cooker Beef Tips with Gravy
Video
Ingredients
- 3 pounds top sirloin steak, cubed
- 3 tablespoons vegetable oil, divided
- 1 teaspoon Lawry's Seasoned Salt, divided
- freshly ground black pepper, to taste
- 2 cups low-sodium beef broth
- 1 tablespoon Worcestershire
- 1 teaspoon Italian seasoning
- 1 teaspoon dried thyme
- 1 cup diced onion
- 1 tablespoon minced garlic
- 1 bay leaf
- 3 tablespoons water
- 2 tablespoons cornstarch
Instructions
- Heat 2 tablespoons oil in a 12-inch cast iron or other heavy skillet over MEDIUM-HIGH heat. When nice and hot, add half the beef cubes and season them with ½ teaspoon seasoned salt and black pepper, to taste. Allow to sit, undisturbed for a couple of minutes then stir and cook just long enough to sear the beef without cooking it through. Use a slotted spoon to transfer beef to the slow cooker. Add remaining oil to pan and repeat with remaining beef cubes, seasoned salt and pepper.
- Add the beef broth and Worcestershire sauce to the slow cooker and sprinkle the beef with the Italian seasoning and thyme. Sprinkle the diced onions and garlic over the top and tuck a bay leaf into the mixture.
- Cover and cook on LOW for 6 to 7 hours or on HIGH for 3 to 4 hours, or until the beef is fork tender.
- Combine water and cornstarch in a small bowl and add to slow cooker. Stir until sauce has thickened and cook on LOW for an additional 10 minutes. Remove the bay leaf and serve.
- Delicious serve over mashed potatoes, rice, or noodles.
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated using generic ingredients, and is an estimate not a guarantee. For more accurate results, please refer to the labels on your ingredients at home.
Slow Cooker Beef Recipes
Does this freeze well? Thx
This recipe is a KEEPER! Thanks Valerie!
I’m so glad to hear that, Sherrie! Thanks for your comment 🙂
If you do half of the recip, what about time, still stay that same?
Could the meat be pre-cooked, like the night before? Trying to save some steps for my busy morning 🙂
Also, how long would you put it for stew meat? (That’s all I have handy right now and would really like to try this recipe) 8 Hours?
Hi Julie. Stew meat will definitely need more time than sirloin. I’d count on about 7 or 8 hours on LOW. I’d try to sear the meat just before adding it to the slow cooker for the best result.
If it’s with stew meat can I put it on high for 5 to 6 hours
Hi Lucy. Stew meat will take quite a bit longer to get tender than sirloin. I’d guess that 6 to 7 hours on High would do it.
Just had this for dinner and my husband said it was “phenomenal” and he is right. Absolutely delicious. Thank You for sharing.
Yum! I have it slow cooking in my Dutch oven right now for tonight’s dinner. Thank you for sharing!
This is in my crockpot as we speak! Smells great, can’t wait to taste.
This looks yummy. Could you make it without searing the beef tips before hand and just adding them raw in the crockpot with the broth and other ingredients.
Hi Liz. Yes, it would work but for some recipes I like to sear meat before adding it to the slow cooker to help it develop a more complex flavor and a more appetizing color.
Can I sear the sirloin pieces the night before?
I don’t recommend that you partially cook meat and then refrigerate it overnight for food safety reasons. It should be cooked right away.
Omg!!! When i make stuff like this it never turns out…this time perfect!!!
That’s exactly what I’m going for here, Shelly! I am SO happy this recipe worked out so well for you. Thanks so much for letting me know 🙂
I want to know about those mashed potatoes lol. They look amazing!! ?
I cook potatoes in half water half chicken broth in slow cooker 6to8 hrs on low about 4 on high after done I add butter milk sour cream and mayo every time my family gets together this is the dish they want and peach cobbler. I also do the potatoes in my power cooker in 20 minuets. No changes in receipe Love both pots
This recipe sounds good especially for company. When I tried to print the recipe, it only printed one sheet of paper and only through the second paragraph of the instructions . I could not get it to print page 2, the rest of the instructions. I ended up writing out the remainder of the recipe.
My tech support is taking a look at the printing issue. Sorry for the inconvenience!
Recipe sounds wonderful. I’m cooking for a crowd of 65. How many does the original recipe serve. Thank you
This recipe should serve 8 comfortably. It would take a whole lot of sirloin and a large number of slow cookers to do this for 65! My recipe card gives you the option to adjust the servings but I don’t think this recipe would be suitable for cooking for that size crowd.
I would look into using the big roasting pans instead of the slow cookers for that amount of people.