Slow Cooker Beef Tips with Mushroom Gravy (and Instant Pot!)
Homemade beef tips with mushroom gravy — as always with NO canned soups! My beef tips are ridiculously tender and easy to make in your slow cooker or instant pot. Serve beef tips over cauliflower mash, mashed potatoes, egg noodles, or rice!
Today I’m bringing on another round of homemade comfort food, loaded into a bowl over a fluffy cloud of creamy mashed potatoes.
My homemade beef tips are a family favorite.
When things are going a hundred miles per hour over here on weeknights, I need to get dinner on the table without having to babysit it. So I make a round of beef tips with mushroom gravy and serve it over a bed of fluffy, garlicky mashed potatoes and somehow, with every bite the troubles of the day slowly dissipate.
Hubby is happy because it’s man-food and I’m elated because fewer dishes! Although to be fair, hubby does dinner dishes. So my happiness stems more from the fact that this recipe requires minimum prep but produces maximum flavor?
Yes; let’s go with that. That’s it.
Video for the Best Beef Tips
It always makes me laugh when I share an instant pot recipe. Immediately I’ll get messages asking how to make that recipe in the slow cooker or on the stove. And the reverse proves to be true when I make recipes in the slow cooker/stove top. So this one goes out to all of my slow cooker AND instant pot fanatics.
Let’s let our kitchen gadgets make us dinner.
The inspiration for today’s beef tips with mushroom gravy comes from a Mississippi pot roast. I love what happens to brown gravy after it’s been mingling with pepperoncini pepper — one problem. I like to avoid using store-bought gravy mixes as much as possible. So I’m making a from-scratch gravy mix using simple ingredients that you can find in your own pantry. All except one are a pantry staple in most households. So you can quickly put this meal together on the fly.
Ingredients for instant pot beef tips
- Butter: we’ll season the beef with flour, kosher salt, and black pepper before we sear the meat in the butter to help create a layer of fond in the bottom of the fish. This will help flavor the rest of the beef tips ingredients.
- Beef: For beef stews and beef tips, I prefer to use a well-trimmed chuck roast or round roast that’s cut into 1-inch cubes. Sometimes, I’ll purchase ‘beef stew meat’ from the grocery store, which saves the time of having to trim and cut the meat into cubes. It all depends on what the grocery store has to offer; either would work for this recipe. Essentially, and tougher cuts of meat that require a longer cooking time will work for this recipe.
- Flour: will help thicken the stew and create a crust on the beef when we sear it.
- Chopped onions: adds flavor to the dish.
- Mushrooms: gives the recipe a bit more bite. The umami present in mushrooms works beautifully with beef. We aren’t using a can of cream of mushroom soup. So this and the mushroom powder essentially make up for that.
- Seasonings: we’ll use garlic powder, sugar, onion powder, dried thyme, and mushroom powder. A lot of these ingredients are actually what is present in a store-bought dry onionsoup mix.
- Worcestershire sauce: bumps the umami in the dish.
- Pepperoncini peppers: adds a peppery acidity to the dish which helps cut through the richness of the beef and butter and gives you a satisfying flavor. Trust me, leftovers taste even better! The meat is melt-in-your-mouth delicious on day two!
- Beef broth or stock: is the liquid portion of the dish. The meat and veggies will cook in this.
- cornstarch: we’ll mix a few tablespoons of cornstarch with water to create a cornstarch slurry that will help thicken the gravy at the end. A thickening agent is usually present in brown gravy mix, but since we aren’t using a packet for this recipe, this does that for us!
Making easy crock pot beef tips (or instant pot)
- Start by getting in that free flavor. Season the meat with flour, salt, and black pepper. Heat the butter in the instant pot directly if you’re pressure cooking. If you’re using the slow cooker or crock pot, you’ll want to do this in a large skillet over medium high heat. Sear the beef in batches and then remove to a plate. Add the onions and use a wooden spoon to scratch and pick up the fond layer that the beef left behind.
- Let it cook. Transfer the meat to a slow cooker at this point, and add all the ingredients except the cornstarch, and let the pressure cooker or slow cooker run.
- Make a slurry. Grab some of the liquid from the instant pot or slow cooker when it’s nearly done and whisk it together with the cornstarch (or you can also use water.) pour and stir this into the gravy and let the slow cooker or instant pot simmer the beef tips a little longer until the gravy thickens.
- Serve this up – any way you like it! You can serve these beef tips over mashed potatoes (try my cheddar cheese variety) or you can use rice, mashed cauliflower or even egg noodles!
FAQs about this recipe
Basically, beef tips are any cut of meat cut into cubes. However, it is important to understand that when you’re pressure cooking or slow cooking meat, there are certain cuts of meat that work better than others. The tougher the meat, the longer it’ll take to cook; the more perfect it is for slow cooking/pressure cooking.
You can skip this step if you’d like, but know that searing the meat in batches in a pan creates a layer of fond in the bottom of the dish which is essentially ‘free flavor.’ By skipping this step, you do lose some of the flavor development.
Absolutely! My suggestion would be to swap the flour for a 1-1 gluten-free baking mix. The package will be marked, and it means that you can swap 1 part flour for 1 part of the baking mix. So for this recipe, you’ll need a total of 2 tablespoons of 1-1 GF baking mix.
Leftover beef tips can be kept in an airtight container in the fridge for 4-5 days. I do find that this is one of those recipes that taste better on day two, so trust me, you’re gonna love the leftovers!
Slow Cooker Beef Tips with Mushroom Gravy (and Instant Pot!)
Homemade beef tips with mushroom gravy — as always with NO canned soups! My beef tips are ridiculously tender and easy to make in your slow cooker or instant pot. Serve beef tips over cauliflower mash, mashed potatoes, egg noodles, or rice!
Ingredients
- 3 tablespoons butter
- 2 pounds chuck roast, trimmed+ cubed (or stew meat works too)
- 2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
- 1 onion, diced
- 8 ounces baby Bella mushrooms, cut into thick slices
- 1 ½ teaspoon EACH: garlic powder AND sugar
- 1 teaspoon EACH: onion powder, dried thyme, AND mushroom powder
- 1 tablespoon Worcestershire sauce
- 1 large bay leaf
- ½ cup pepperoncini peppers, thinly sliced
- 1 ½ - 2 cups low sodium beef stock (see directions)
- 2 tablespoons cornstarch (mixed with a few tablespoons of water)
Instructions
- SEAR: Season the beef with the flour, a big pinch of salt and pepper; mix well. Heat the butter in the instant pot on the sauté setting or a cast iron skillet over medium-high heat. When it melts sear the beef in batches to form a brown crust, remove to a plate, and continue searing the remaining beef. Add the onions and switch to a wooden spoon. Sauté them for 1 minute, scraping the bottom of the pot to make sure no brown bits are left stuck on.
- SLOW COOKER: Place 2 cups of beef stock along with the remaining ingredients in the slow cooker (except the corn starch) and cook on high for 3-4 hours or low for 5-7 hours. 35 minutes before the cooking time is up, combine ½ cup of the liquid from the slow cooker and the cornstarch in a small bowl, whisk until smooth. Add to the slow cooker and allow for the food to cook for the remaining 30 minutes. If the gravy is too thick, add a few tablespoons of water to thin it to your desired consistency. If you still find your gravy is thin, add more cornstarch mixed with a tablespoon of water. Adjust salt and pepper to preference and serve over rice/mashed potatoes/cauliflower mash, etc.
- OR INSTANT POT: Place 1 ½ cups of beef stock along with the remaining ingredients in the instant pot (except the cornstarch) and select the meat/stew setting. Cook on manual high pressure for 35 minutes. Once the stew is cooked allow natural pressure release for 10-15 minutes. This gives the meat a chance to really soak up all those flavors. Click the ‘sauté’ setting. Dissolve the cornstarch with 2-3 tablespoons of water and add that to the instant pot once the liquid starts bubbling. Allow the sauce to thicken, about 1-2 minutes, stir to combine. If the gravy becomes too thick, you can add a couple more tablespoons of water to thin it to your desired consistency. Adjust salt and pepper to preference and serve over mashed cauliflower, mashed potatoes, rice, or egg noodles.
Made this for dinner tonight in the Instant Pot and it was delicious, used jarred jalapeños without the juice, but found it was just a bit to hot for our tastes, will cut back to 1/4 cup next time, there will be many more “Next Times “, couldn’t find the mushroom powder, I’ve never heard of it, but will keep checking…thanks for this one, its a keeper..
Just made this tonight. I can’t eat beef but made some with bison and baby bella mushrooms…also, didn’t have mushroom powder but umami powder and that reduced the need for salt. So delicious! Definitely worth the wait!
What are the nutritional values for this. Carbs,protein, etc
I made the Beef Tips with Rice tonight in my InstaPot and I followed the recipe to a “T”.
OMG what flavor the pepperocini made. As I finished up, I was thinking next time I’m going to go a little further and add some Cream like some stroganoff and serve over some noodles
I have not yet made this recipe, but, I’m already falling in love with you! I love your use of real ingredients, no processed foods, the extra boost in flavor ideas, and you’re being able to convert two different cooking methods and gluten free and regular and please
We really enjoyed this dish tonight! I made it in my Instant Pot and it turned out so flavorful and tender. I used only 1/4 cup pepperocinis and had no mushroom powder. Served over orzo…so good! Thank you!
Very tasty recipe!!! Will definitely add to our dinner rotation. Loved the pepperoncinis…they added a very slight kick. We did not have mushrooms or mushroom powder. Very tender beef, we used the instapot version. We definitely recommend trying this recipe.
I have a very picky husband and he loves this!!! I follow exact steps except I cannot ever find mushroom powder but we love it without it. I do this recipe in the instant pot with mashed potatoes.
This recipe is one I always use when I am hungry for a great beef and mushroom taste! I prepare it in my Instant Pot and it comes out delicious every time.
If you are going to try this recipe, follow the recipe as closely as possible. I used the baby Bella mushrooms and also used Trader Joe’s Mushroom Umami seasoning.
I am not a cook that likes to thicken recipes like this, so I left the flour/cornstarch out. Same with beef stews. They actually tend to thicken in the refrigerator if you have any leftovers!
This is one of my favorite recipes!
Thank you, Little Spice Jar from a fellow Texan in Plano!
Loved the flavor and tenderness of the beef. Comfort food at its best.
Excellent!! Great flavor. Good over mashed anything.
Thank you for this delicious recipe. I did have the mushroom mix from Traders and did buy it in Wisconsin. If you can’t find it most stores have mushroom broth paste where you find the jarred chicken broth paste.
I made it in the instant pot using sliced beef I had leftover and only cooked it for abut 15 minutes since the beef was already cooked. I can see how amazing this would be with a lesser grade of beef, like chuck roast which has a lot of flavor. The flavor was great and I’ll use this recipe often.
You won’t regret trying it. I served it over german noodles.
How much mushroom powder do you add and when ?
The recipe states ONE tsp…. it’s in the list of ingredients.
My favourite instapot recipe!
Several decades ago there was a little place called “Spuds” on South Pearl Street in Denver. The main attraction was a baked potato smothered with various things and Beef Tips with Mushroom Gravy was one of them and my favorite. It was only in business for 2-3 years. This recipe brings it back, good work. I’ll be making it again. No mushroom powder where I live but dried Porcinis and a spice grinder did the job until I can order some Umami Bomb from Chefshop in Seattle.
I am a fellowTexan and I love beef tips. I also enjoy any recipe that helps me use my instant pot! I hate buying gadgets and not using them so thank you so much for you IP recipe. This looks amazing and I will be making it as soon as I get home from TJ with my mushroom powder. I have never heard of that btw and am so excited to learn something new in the flavor world. Thank you for sharing this and teaching us all something new ❤️
I altered the recipie a smidge (I deglased the pot I was using to brown the meat with cognac) and it’s bubbling away now… and it already smells delicious and the sauce is spectacular. I have no doubht this is going to be awesome.
Ridiculously tender beef tips sound delicious will this have the same results if I do it on top of the stove.
Thank you
I love this recipe. It was excellent . The flavors was just awesome. To make the beef cubes more flavorful marinate the meat the night before. I started my dinner around 7am this morning (since I am retired). When the gravy was ready, I had buttered egg noodles and spinach.
This really was a 5 star recipe. I made a few “tweaks” based on my personal preferences and made it on top of the stove and it was excellent. I used london broil, which goes on sale frequently in our local supermarket, and which I usually cut up and freeze for future meals, making it very economical. I dredged in gluten free flour, since one of my family members cannot have gluten or soy, and I used regular white mushrooms and fresh garlic instead of garlic powder. This was my first time using mushroom powder and it was a winner. I left out the peppers because I had littles eating the meal and I didn’t think they would tolerate the heat. When I make it again, for myself, I will put them in. Thank you for a great recipe!
Question…do you put the seared beef & onions in the crock pot with the other ingredients and continue cooking? Or do you set aside while other items cook and just arrange on individual plates before serving?
The seared beef and onions go into the crockpot as well! Hope you enjoy it to the fullest 🙂
I put my freeze-dried white and porcini mushrooms thru the food processor for a moderately fine powder (I invested $$$$ in a ‘home freeze dryer’ that has been worth EVERY $$$$!), keeping it in a mason jar with an oxygen absorber; the aroma is absolutely incredible upon opening the lid even 2 years later…I make mushroom beef tips almost identically to your recipe but can’t wait to try pepperonicini, in fact I’m making it tonight! I just discovered your site and am looking forward to using many of your recipes. Thank you
Not using peppers; can I add red wine for flavor?
Can I make this a day ahead? Sounds delish and I want to serve to my sister and her husband but I want to have everything all set to just warm up
Delicious I made this dish tonight and my husband loved it! This recipe will definitely be in the rotation!
Hi. I just made this and am glad I did. I had never heard of mushroom powder before, so that had me even more excited. And, because I live in Portland, Oregon I had no trouble finding mushroom powder. But, I did discover that you can make your own powder by getting dried mushrooms and then grinding them. Anyways, thanks for the great recipe and a new ingredient for my future recipes.
I cannot wait to try this! Sounds Delicious. And, I have mushroom powder bought on the specialty food isle at my local TJ Maxx, been sitting on shelf a little bit not knowing how to use it. Will send an update after I try it this next week.
Made my own mushroom powder by thinly slicing mushrooms sun dried them then ground to a powder
Could you freeze this recipe
I have made this 2 times now! It is delicious! My husband loves it with noodles and I with mash potatoes! Please note, you can get the mushroom powder on Amazon! I do believe Amazon delivers to all 50 states! Thank you for this lovely recipe!!