This easy creamed chipped beef recipe is sure to become a family favorite. Whip up a batch in less than 15 minutes and enjoy a savory start to your day. It is the ultimate comfort meal, and I remember my mother making this for me as a child.
I fondly remember beef in a lightly seasoned smooth cream sauce served over toasted sourdough or European whole grain. If you like this kind of comfort food, try hamburger gravy, smothered chicken, and meatballs and gravy.
This is one of my all-time favorite recipes. Did you enjoy this as a child? I remember this was one of those comfort meals my mother made for me often, and she eventually taught me how to make it.
It was not until I was an adult that I learned that this treat is most commonly called SOS gravy. I know what you are wondering. What does that acronym stand for? SOS stands for “shit on a shingle.” The shingle is the toast. Now, my catholic Mother never told me that. I am sure she did not want me running around using that word.
What is Creamed Chipped Beef?
Creamed Chipped Beef is a dish of chopped dried beef in a creamy, luscious, lightly seasoned white sauce. The cream sauce is usually a béchamel sauce made from flour, butter, and milk. It is served over toast, but it is equally delicious over eggs and potatoes.
Simple Ingredients
- Dried beef: I like to use Buddig, but Hormel and Armour also make dried beef.
- Butter: unsalted or salted, but keep there is a lot of salt in dried beef
- All-purpose flour: for making the roux
- Seasonings: freshly ground black pepper, a couple of ground cayenne pepper, and maybe a tad of salt
- Milk: whole or 2%
How to make Creamed Chipped Beef
It doesn’t get much easier than this. First, chop your beef into bite-size pieces and set aside. Next, melt your butter in a skillet over medium-low heat. Whisk in the flour. Continue cooking for about two to three minutes, whisking constantly. Sprinkle in the black pepper and cayenne pepper. Slowly whisk in the milk until smooth and creamy.
Add the chopped beef, simmer for three to five minutes, salting and peppering to taste. Serve over toasted bread, eggs, hash browns, or biscuits.
Preparation Tips
- Cook the butter-flour mixture (roux) for 2-3 minutes, which helps to cook off the raw flour taste.
- Slowly add your milk and whisk continuously until you have a smooth sauce.
- If the sauce gets too thick, add less than a quarter of a cup of milk at a time until you reach your desired consistency.
- Season to taste with salt, seasoned salt, fresh ground black pepper, cayenne pepper, and even a splash of Worcestershire Sauce.
- Creamed Chipped Beef is best served promptly. Nonetheless, it reheats pretty well.
Frequently Asked Questions
It is typically beef round, dried, cured with salt, and thinly sliced. You can use any dried beef; however, Buddig beef works perfectly for this recipe. It is available in most grocery stores and is not quite as salty or dry as some of the other brands of dried beef. You will find it with the other prepackaged luncheon meats. Hormel and Armour also make dried beef.
You can make this same gravy with ground beef, pork, turkey, and sausage. Cook the meat separately and add it to the cream sauce.
You can store it in an airtight container in the fridge for up to 3 days. Reheat it on the stovetop over low heat or microwave at reduced power until warm.
Hopefully, my creamed-chipped beef will bring back wonderful memories or make new ones. The weekend is coming. You will have a little more time to make something fabulous for breakfast or lunch!
More Breakfast Recipes
Creamed Chipped Beef
Ingredients
- 8 ounces Buddig original beef see notes
- 1/4 cup butter
- 1/4 cup all-purpose flour
- 1/2 teaspoon fresh ground black pepper
- 2 pinches ground cayenne pepper
- 2 cups milk see notes
- salt and pepper to taste
Instructions
- Slice the beef into bite-size pieces.
- Melt butter in a skillet over medium-low heat. Whisk in the flour. Cook for 2 to 3 minutes; whisking constantly. Sprinkle in black pepper and cayenne pepper. Slowly whisk in the milk until smooth and creamy.
- Add the chopped beef and simmer for 3-5 minutes. Salt and pepper to taste. Serve over toasted bread, eggs, hash browns, or biscuits.
Notes
- Cook the butter-flour mixture (roux) for 2-3 minutes, which helps to cook off the raw flour taste.
- Slowly add your milk and whisk continuously until you have a smooth sauce.
- If the sauce gets too thick, add less than a quarter of a cup of milk at a time until you reach your desired consistency.
- Season to taste with salt, seasoned salt, fresh ground black pepper, cayenne pepper, and even a splash of Worcestershire Sauce.
- Creamed Chipped Beef is best served promptly. Nonetheless, it reheats pretty well.
Nutrition
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Mitchell Chaitin
I should not be looking at this post at dinnertime, I want to make this right now! It looks delicious, thanks for sharing this easy to use recipe!
Beth Pierce
Thanks Mitchell! I hope you enjoy it as much as we do!
Stacie
Chipped beef and gravy is one of my favorite dishes. I make it at least a couple of times a month. The family loves it. I’ll have to give this a try.
jaye shields
I’m keto right now so I can’t do the flour elements, but I could tweak this a bit and do it over eggs and I’m sure it would still be super delicious!
Lyn Dittmar
I am also keto and was wondering if using heavy cream instead of a roux would work?
Mr. Chubby
To make it keto use heavy cream and cream cheese instead of milk, flour, and butter.
Sara
Thay creamy sauce looks amazing! I sadly can’t have dairy or gluten but I bet that I could sub in a few things and create a version I could enjoy. Thank you tons for sharing!
Beth Pierce
Thanks so much Sara! I hope you are able to make it work for you!
Subhashish
This seems many like this dish.To me too it looks nice.If only I was consuming beef, I too would probably love it.
Lyn
Substitute small cubed white potatoes and frozen peas for beef. Cook potatoes till fork tender, add peas just to heat thru, drain and then prepare roux, adding veggies in place of beef. We had a family member who could not digest meat protein so this substitution allowed them to enjoy the meal and saving my mother from having to make a separate meal.
Cherlyn Marks
I usually add cheddar cheese and a little dry mustard to the sauce. I serve over toasted English muffins and top with a hard boiled egg cut in quarters. A fruit salad and some steamed buttered asparagus makes a very nice brunch.
Liz
This is the standard recipe for this wonderful dish. I grew up eating it and so did my children. Sometimes I change it up a bit for dinner by sauteeing chopped onion before adding the chipped beef and making the roux.
Beth Pierce
Thanks for the tip Liz. I would love it with onions!
Pat Nugent
PS: If you find the original recipes, the first line in the instructions are to put 35 lbs of ground beef in a pot. Most of us would probably scale that back a little!
Beth Pierce
What recipe is that Pat? I will correct it.
Pat Nugent
You have more courage than I do to correct a Mess Sgt. about his recipe. lol
Janice Somers
Love your recipes.
Beth Pierce
Thanks so much!
Pat Nugent
I have never cared for chipped beef on toast. Like Beth said my Catholic upbringing would never have been spelled out for us. Truth is Chipped Beef is not really SOS. SOS comes in 2 versions, the Army version and the Navy version. It originated in WWII and is still served in the military today. We prefer the Army version because it has the hamburger and creamed gravy served over biscuits or toast. The Navy serves it’s version with hamburger but no biscuits or toast and it has tomatoes included. It is just served in a bowl. Both are good and those original recipes are floating around out there somewhere for all to enjoy. The original use of the letters SOS was a distress signal that meant; ‘Save O Save Our Ship’ (SOSOS) That ends the history lesson for today, class. hahaha
Beth Pierce
Thanks so much for the history lesson. I really enjoyed reading your post. Thanks for sharing all of that information!
Larry Morris
On board ship in early 70’s it was made with chipped beef. No tomatoes and always a tray of toast sitting close by.
Frank Batey
Me too Larry. I served on 3 ships from 65 til 69. Always looked forward to SOS, being hamburger, pork sausage of chipped beef (or horse?]. Never did we have tomatoes mixed in. Consistent, unlike powdered eggs, bug juice and warm powdered milk.
Carrie
This was my favorite breakfast growing up as a kid. I can’t wait to try out this recipe.
Suzy
Seriously so delicious!
Kathy
If you rinse the beef in boiling water, excess salt is gone.
Beth Pierce
Thanks for the heads up Kathy!
Becky Turner
Oh this is so funny…I have been thinking about the SOS for a week or so now. Mom made it with the jars of armor dried chipped beef and I make it with the packs of the budding corn beef (lot less expensive now.) For Dad (Navy ) SOS was actually made with ground beef and a cream sauce….
Beth Pierce
Good times and great memories!
Donna
My dad was Air Force and Mom made it with hamburger and we called it sos. Going to try this
Beth Pierce
Thanks Donna! Enjoy! You made need to thin it out with more milk. A lot readers have been saying it is a little on the thick side.
Larry Morris
On board ship in early 70’s it was made with chipped beef. I loved it, but being from the south I liked most anything made with/for gravy.
Debra T.
We had this all the time growing up, but my mom would hard boils some eggs & then chop them finely and add to it. We also used Buddig corned beef which I can’t find in stores around here.
Beth Pierce
Sounds delicious! Thanks for sharing!
Joslin Ceci
I love the creamed eggs on toast!! My husband likes the chipped beef on toast.
Beth Pierce
Both equally delicious!
DeAnne
My favorite meal of all time! I love it over rice or Jonnycakes. I make it about 2x a year. I also use buding corned beef.
Beth Pierce
So delicious! We will have to try the corned beef! Thanks for the heads up!
Mary jane
This is a delicious meal, and make it often,u could. Either make from scratch or buy Stouffers in a box, which is really good!
I also made this when my kids were little, they
Loved it!
Laura Greathouse
I have always used Buddig corned.
Phyllis Cleaver
I’ve never seen Buddig but I do use Armour which is salty. I usually just rinse it a little after I slice it to remove some of the saltiness.
Gail
Budding is in with the refrigerated section with cold cuts and comes in a bag..about 69c
Christine Philbrick
It’s so funny, my mom made this at least once a week for us as kids! She also called it SOS. Laster I found out also what that stood for lol. I enjoyed reading your story. I never made this for my family but you encouraged me to do so starting this weekend! Thanks again
Blessings to you.
Beth Pierce
Thanks so much! I sure hope you enjoy it as much as we do! My Catholic Mother would have never told me what that stands for. LOL!
Melanie
I Love This.My only gripe being that the corned beef is quite salty.
Phyllis A Cleaver
I rinse mine due to the saltiness…much better. The first time I made it I couldn’t eat it due to the salt. That’s why I started rinsing mine.
Suann P Thrall
My family likes a dish similar to this using hamburger and seasoning with pinch of beef by McCormick and instead of toast we bake biscuits. Just a different take on some comfort food.
Beth Pierce
Thanks for the tip Suann! That sounds delicious!
Chad
Same only over white rice with beets on the side… Delicious
Noctivagant
I also make a modified version of this using diced up pork roll. You can toss it in just the way it is or pan fry to get a slightly different flavor profile. I won’t lie, I’ve used numerous meats for this recipe and my kids lick the plate clean every time.
Beth Pierce
I love it! Thanks for the tips!!
Janice
This uses CHIPPED beef. Isn’t CORNED beef different?
Carla
It absolutely IS different. You might also try using Armour Dried Beef. It comes in a 2.5 oz jar. It’s shelf stable so you can always keep some on hand.
Do rinse it per instructions on the label. The jar has a pop off lid and makes a nice little juice glass once you soak off the label.
Krystal
We use a mixture of chopped beef and roast beef in my family. To die for!!
Beth Pierce
Thanks so much Krystal! So glad that you liked it. I love it too! So yummy!!
Sandra
Crystal, I love the idea of using leftover roast beef. Thank you for the tip.
Rach
My Mom always just did a quick rinse, then the beef wasn’t so salty. It was per effect every time.
Theresa Craven
The army use to serve it made with ground beef and that is where the SOS came from I believe. My mom also made for us as kids and I made for my kids. We love it with dried beef or ground beef. Loved you story . God bless…
Donna
The SOS was given to this by the WWII Vets as it was fed to them very often. Anyone who had an uncle or brother in the service knows about this dish.
Bryan
When I was in the Navy (1986-92) there was a difference from Chipped Beef (this recipe with cream gravy) and SOS which was a ground beef with diced tomato / peppers. The SOS was probably healthier but the Chipped beef would be more filling. Liked them both.
Gary
I have to be honest and jest and mean no offense. My father WW11 vet, myself a Vietnam vet, had that TOO many times in our 4 yrs each in the service. We both love to cook but we never made it and frankly never will as we joked about it several times when we did home cooking over the years. It was common for us to yell out to each other when our families were together for dinner “What’s for dinner”? “Shit on a Shingle”! My mother and my wife would say to us “Just Shut Up”! One time they actually made it for dinner when my father and I were golfing. When we got back asked “What’s for dinner”? Together they said “Shit on a Shingle”! They actually made a little to show us the proof. Of course we declined to eat it. They laughed and said that they actually made a roast. Phew! What a relief! That’s my story and I’m stickin’ to it. LOL. So I do apologize though honestly but still won’t eat it. But I do thank you for listening.
Beth Pierce
That is a great story Gary! I love it and you made me chuckle.
Angela
@Gary – thank you for your service to our country! 🙂
Mary Larson
This is an absolute comfort food my Mom made us five girls and my Dad regularly. When I make it is so special because od her.
Beth Pierce
That is so sweet! Good times and great memories!