Learn how to make this Chipped Beef Gravy Recipe from scratch in just 10 minutes! A dish that combines crispy dried beef folded into a silky, peppery white sauce and spooned over toast. Just like this beef and barley soup, this is old-school comfort food done right, and one secret step makes all the difference.
Recipe Summary: Chipped Beef Gravy Recipe
- ✅ Recipe Name: Chipped Beef Gravy Recipe
- 🕒 Ready In: 10 minutes
- 👪 Serves: 2 (easy to scale)
- 🍽 Calories: 305 per serving
- 🥣 Main Ingredients: Chipped beef, butter, flour, milk
- 📖 Dietary Info: Hearty, kid-friendly
- ⭐ Why You'll Love It: This 10-minute skillet dinner is perfect for an easy meal, and its creamy flavor is always appreciated.
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I grew up eating this every Saturday morning — my mom called it "Shit on a Shingle," S.O.S. for short — and it's still one of my favorite things to make when I want something fast, hearty, and deeply satisfying.
The secret is one step most recipes skip: crisping the dried beef in butter before building the gravy. That golden, salty beef infuses the butter with flavor, and when you build the béchamel right in that same pan, it carries through the entire sauce.
Serve it over toast, homemade drop biscuits, or English muffins for breakfast, or over mashed potatoes for a quick weeknight dinner. If you need another fast dinner idea, this easy taco skillet is on the table in 25 minutes.
Jump to:
- Recipe Summary: Chipped Beef Gravy Recipe
- Why This Recipe Works
- What is Chipped Beef and Gravy?
- Key Ingredients
- Substitutions and Additions
- How to Make Chipped Beef Gravy
- Technique + Troubleshooting Tips
- Chopped Beef Gravy Recipe FAQs
- Serving Options
- Storing and Reheating
- More Great Breakfast Recipes
- Creamed Chipped Beef Gravy Recipe
Why This Recipe Works
- The beef gets crisped first. Most recipes add the dried beef at the end. Here, it goes into the butter right at the start. Curling up, browning, and infusing the fat with deep, savory flavor before a drop of flour or milk touches the pan. That's the difference you taste in every bite.
- The béchamel builds in the same pan. Nothing gets wasted. The butter is already loaded with flavor from the beef, so when you build the roux and add the milk, the whole sauce absorbs it.
- No added salt. Dried beef is already heavily cured, so it brings all the salt this dish needs. Using unsalted butter keeps things balanced so the gravy is savory and rich without tipping into oversalted.
- Ten minutes, one pan, five ingredients. There's no simpler meal (other than my cheesesteak pizza), and it's the technique that makes it special, not the ingredient list.
What is Chipped Beef and Gravy?
Chipped beef (also called dried beef) is a lean cut of beef, typically beef round, that's been brined, cured, and air-dried into thin, flexible slices. It has a deep, salty, almost funky flavor that mellows beautifully when it hits a hot pan.
Creamed chipped beef is simply that dried beef cooked in a béchamel sauce and served over toast. It's been an American staple since at least World War I, when it earned the nickname S.O.S. in military mess halls. For another variation, try my creamed scrapple recipe too!
Key Ingredients
- Butter. I prefer to use unsalted butter for this recipe to keep better control over the final flavor, as the dried beef is very salty on its own.
- All-purpose flour. This will act as the thickening agent for the gravy. be sure it's fully incorporated into the butter and chipped beef to avoid a lumpy gravy. This chorizo sausage gravy also uses a flour-based roux!
- Milk. You can use whole milk or 2% milk for this recipe! Either makes a perfectly creamy sauce. Whole milk will make a richer gravy, while 2% milk yields a lighter (but equally delicious) gravy.
- Dried beef. I always buy dried packaged beef from the refrigerated section of the store where the breakfast meats are sold. I find this type of dried beef has a firmer texture and crisps up better. I always grab either Knauss brand or Buddig beef for this recipe. Avoid canned or jarred dried beef for the best flavor and texture, since canned beef can be a little wetter and will not crisp well. Also, be sure to get "dried beef", not "creamed chipped beef", as you'll be making your own gravy.
See the recipe card further down the page for the full ingredient list with quantities.
Substitutions and Additions
This easy creamed chipped beef is easily adapted to work with what's available in your local grocery store and your pantry and refrigerator. Here are some great substitutions and additions you can use to make this recipe your own.
| Can't find dried beef | Canned or deli corned beef works in a pinch; the flavor will be slightly brinier but still delicious. Avoid anything thick-cut because it won't crisp and won't incorporate into the sauce the same way. I also use corned beef in these Reuben egg rolls. |
| More heat | Add a pinch of cayenne pepper for a little heat! |
| More savory | Add a pinch of garlic powder or onion powder for a little added flavor boost, or stir in a dash of Worcestershire sauce to enhance the flavor. |
How to Make Chipped Beef Gravy
This easy Creamed Chipped Beef on toast recipe comes together start to finish in about 10 minutes, making it a super easy breakfast or brunch indulgence for any day of the week!
- Step 1: Melt the butter in a medium saucepan, and slice dried beef into bite-sized pieces.
- Step 2: Add the sliced beef to the pan with the melted butter, and cook until the edges begin to curl and the color deepens.
- Step 3: Add the flour to the skillet with the meat gradually to make the roux, stirring until it's fully incorporated. The roux should look paste-like before you add milk.
- Step 4: Add the milk gradually to the roux, stirring frequently, until the gravy thickens.
- Step 5: Serve the chipped beef gravy over toast and garnish with chives and more pepper, and dig in! For brunch, these pistachio muffins or easy zucchini bread make a great add-on!
Technique + Troubleshooting Tips
| Preventing Lumps | To make sure your chipped beef gravy is totally lump-free, add your flour gradually, and stir it well to fully incorporate the flour into the butter and dried beef. Loose flour = lumps. |
| Adjusting the Thickness | For a thicker gravy, you can cook a minute or 2 longer on low heat. If you feel your gravy is too thick, adding in a splash of milk will help loosen it back up and thin it out. |
| Heat Control | Keep your heat low, as this gravy cooks quickly, and giving it too much heat can cause the milk to curdle, or your gravy to become very thick, very fast. |
| Saltiness | I do not add ANY salt to this recipe! Dried beef is quite salty, so the flavor should be well balanced with just that. The only additional seasoning I add is a touch of freshly ground black pepper. |
Chopped Beef Gravy Recipe FAQs
Look for it in the refrigerated section of your grocery store, near the breakfast meats and packaged deli items. I prefer Knauss or Buddig, both of which are widely available and reliable. You may also see dried beef sold in jars or cans in the canned meats aisle; it exists, but I don't recommend it for this recipe. Canned beef tends to be wetter and won't crisp up in the butter the way refrigerated dried beef does, and that crisping step is what makes this gravy.
A lot of recipes recommend rinsing dried beef under cold water before cooking to reduce the saltiness, and if you're sensitive to salt, that's a reasonable thing to do. In this recipe, crisping the beef in butter first does a similar job: it draws out some of the moisture and mellows the intensity before the sauce comes together. I skip the rinse and haven't found it necessary, but if you've made chipped beef gravy before and found it too salty, a quick rinse and pat dry before adding it to the pan is an easy fix.
I don't recommend it. Dairy-based gravies tend to separate when frozen and reheated. Often you'll end up with a grainy, broken sauce that no amount of stirring will fully fix. Store leftovers in an airtight container in the refrigerator instead, where it keeps well for up to 4 days.
Yes, with a small caveat. The gravy thickens considerably as it sits, so if you're making it ahead, reheat it low and slow on the stovetop with a splash of milk to loosen it back up. It reheats beautifully; just don't rush it with high heat or the sauce can break. I'd avoid making it more than a day or two in advance for the best texture.
Serving Options
Traditionally, you serve creamed chipped beef on toast, but it also works over homemade biscuits, canned biscuits, English muffins, or even croissants! For breakfast or brunch, I also love a side of bacon and a fried egg alongside the dish, too!
Top the bechamel beef gravy with thinly sliced green onions or chopped chives for a little extra flavor and color.
For the ultimate breakfast-for-dinner dish, spoon it over browned butter mashed potatoes or egg noodles and add a side of air-fried squash for an easy, comforting weeknight dinner that comes together in the same ten minutes.
Storing and Reheating
- Storing: Leftovers (if you have any!) can be stored in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to 4 days. Avoid freezing because dairy-based gravies tend to separate when thawed.
- Reheating: To reheat the Creamed Chipped Beef, heat it over low heat in a medium saucepan until warmed through, adding a bit of milk as necessary to thin it out (it will become thicker when stored). I always like to add a little milk to start, then add more as needed so it doesn't come out too thin when reheated. To reheat in the microwave, add a small splash of milk, loosely cover the dish, and heat in 30-second intervals, stirring between each, until warmed through.
More Great Breakfast Recipes
If you love this classic Creamed Chipped Beef on Toast recipe, you'll love these great breakfast recipes, too!
If you tried this Creamed Chipped Beef Gravy or any other recipe on my website, please leave a 🌟 star rating and let me know how it went in the comments below. Thanks for visiting today!
Creamed Chipped Beef Gravy Recipe
Equipment
- medium saucepan
Ingredients
- 2 tablespoon butter (preferably unsalted)
- 2 tablespoon all-purpose flour
- 1 ½ cups milk (whole milk or 2%)
- 1 3 oz package of Dried beef (I prefer Knauss)
- ½ teaspoon freshly ground pepper (black or multi colored)
- Optional: fresh or dried chives, for garnish
Instructions
- Melt butter over medium heat in a medium saucepan.
- While butter melts, cut dried beef in half lengthwise, and then crosswise into ¼” to ½” strips.
- Once butter is melted, add beef to the pan and cook, stirring occasionally, until crisp, 3-5 minutes.
- Reduce heat to low, and add flour gradually and stir to combine, making sure all flour is fully incorporated. Cook 30 seconds, stirring occasionally.
- Add milk a little at a time, stirring constantly until all milk is added. (Adding it gradually at first will help prevent a lumpy gravy).
- Add in black pepper and stir.
- Cook gravy, stirring occasionally until thickened, 2-3 minutes.
- While Creamed Chipped Beef thickens, prepare your toast.
- Spoon cream chipped beef over toast, and top with additional black pepper and fresh or dried chives, if desired.
- Serve hot!
Notes
- Don't skip the crisp. Give the dried beef a full 3–5 minutes in the butter before adding the flour — you want the edges to curl and the beef to get a little golden. This is where the flavor builds.
- Add the flour gradually. Sprinkle it in a little at a time and stir well to fully incorporate before adding the milk. Loose flour is the main cause of a lumpy gravy.
- Keep the heat low. Once the milk goes in, resist the urge to crank it up. High heat causes the milk to scorch or the gravy to seize up fast — low and slow gives you a smooth, silky sauce.
- Add the milk slowly. Pour it in a little at a time, stirring constantly, especially for the first few additions. Once the sauce is smooth and loose, you can add the rest more freely.
- Don't add salt. Dried beef is heavily cured and brings all the salt this dish needs. Taste before adding anything.
- Too thick? A small splash of milk stirred in over low heat will bring it right back.
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