Cook Once, Eat Twice: Smothered Steaks and Slow Cooker Beef Tips in Gravy

When prepared as follows, the classic comfort dishes of Smothered Steaks and Slow Cooker Beef Tips are delicious and very easy to make.

Ingredients

For the smothered steaks:

• 4 steaks (hamburger steaks, cube steaks, eye of round steaks, etc.)
• 2 tablespoons butter
• 1 package (16 oz.) mushrooms, sliced
• 1 large onion, chopped
• 2 cloves garlic, minced
• ¼ cup flour
• 1 qt. beef broth
• Several dashes of salt, pepper, and paprika
• Hot cooked rice or noodles

For the beef tips:

• 1 – 1 ½ lbs. beef tips (stew meat, chopped eye of round, etc.)
• Prepared gravy
• ¼ cup beef broth
• Hot cooked rice or noodles

Instructions

For the smothered steaks:

Cook the steaks in a large skillet over medium-high heat. Once the steaks are no longer pink in the center, remove from the skillet and set aside.

Reduce the heat to medium and add the butter to the steak drippings. Once the butter is melted, stir in the mushrooms, onion, and garlic. Simmer for about 10 minutes or until the mushrooms and onion are tender. Add the flour, cooking and stirring constantly for about 5 minutes. Add in 1 cup of the beef broth, stirring briskly until well incorporated. Then pour in the remaining broth and mix thoroughly. Season with the salt, pepper, and paprika. Reduce the heat to low and simmer until thickened, about 15 minutes, stirring often.

Remove 2 ½ cups of the gravy and place in a freezer safe dish. Freeze once cooled. Return the steaks to the skillet and allow to warm in the remaining gravy. Serve the steaks and gravy over hot cooked rice or noodles. Yield: 4 servings.

For the beef tips:

Thaw the gravy in the refrigerator overnight. Once thawed, place in a saucepan over medium-low heat. (Note: The gravy will be lumpy because gravy tends to separate when frozen.) Add the beef broth to the gravy and whisk briskly until the gravy is thoroughly heated and uniform in consistency.

Place the beef tips in the bottom of a lightly greased slow cooker. Top with the gravy. Cook on low for 4-5 hours or high for 3-4 hours. Serve over hot cooked rice or noodles. Yield: 4 servings.

Notes

My family enjoys the comforting flavors of these dishes. I like these flavors, too, but I’m even more appreciative of the ease with which the dishes are prepared! Many people shy away from freezing gravy, but if you use the approach I’ve described above, it works just fine on the beef tips. If you’d like, you can even add in a little milk while heating the gravy to make it extra creamy.

The ingredients for these dishes (including the rice) cost approximately $19.38, which is just $2.42 per serving. When served with a vegetable on the side, the cost of each serving increases to about $2.60.

What comfort dishes does your family enjoy?

Shared at the following:

Monday’s Musings, Weekend Potluck, What’s for Dinner?, and The Art of Homemaking.

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