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.
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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.
Like this? Please rate & comment below!
We do it in a different way in our country, tried your way and it’s so delicious. My wife loves it, had it with butter.
Made it today. Delicious with mashed taters and green beans and biscuits.
OMG! This is amazing. I pretty much follow the recipe is close as I could but replace the beef broth with 2 cups of water and mixed 1 tablespoon of organic beef bullion paste. I also added 4 small/med celery sticks chopped and 4 small/medium carrots chopped. This still themed out soooooooooo good. I also made a side of mashed potatoes
Yummy, I am drooling reading it… wondering If I can wait it I finish cooking the full recipe 😛 Thankyou so much for sharing !!
Looks yummy, Ill try
So, so good! My family loved it and said it was a must make again. I also added some red wine which turned out nicely. Thanks for the recipe!
Hi if i wanted to use a packet of brown gravy mix instead of cornstarch, would that be okay?
Hi Blaire. I can’t say as I haven’t tested it but there are a lot of other seasonings, etc. in a packet of brown gravy mix that will definitely result in a different outcome.
Looks yum….all ready to give it a go.
Can you just put the meat in the Crock-Pot with Browning it first?
Turned out really good!! Had it with garlic mashed potatoes the first time and served it over brown rice the second time. Absolutely delicious both times. Thanks for sharing!
Fantastic! Thanks, Crystal 🙂
Made it!
Yes it is excellent! Oh Yea! Simple yet beefy.
I do not post a comment without making the recipe. How do you know that it’s any good or bad? Reading just the ingredients can be deceiving.
This is excellent! Beefy without the fake gravy taste.
Normally I have to make an entire pot roast just to make noodles and gray. After all gravy is the fourth food group. With this you get tender beef with awesome beefy gravy.
Another plus is that it does not rely on prepackaged gravy mix or canned mushroom soup. Yuck.
I did add a touch of dry red wine for flavor and lightly coated the beef cubes with flour before browning . Did it need it, maybe, but it did add another layer of flavor like a pot roast. Carrots, celery, maybe, but for another time and now it’s getting complicated. This is simple yet flavorful.
Over all an excellent way to make beef and gravy. Great over wide egg noodles or rice.
Thanks for posting.
Chef Charles
Dallas, Texas
Great recipe and I cant wait to try it, I was wondering could I use packaged gravy you know like McCormick Gravy mix in the crockpot?