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Creamed Chipped Beef in about 15 minutes, a classic béchamel sauce with tender chipped beef spooned over crisp toast or mashed potatoes. Ready in just 15 minutes.
I’ve been making this chipped beef gravy for years, and readers love its balanced, not-too-salty flavor.
Great recipe I make this every Christmas for our family Christmas brunch. Always a big hit. My grandmother made this, brings back lots of wonderful memories.
– nancy
Fast and easy meals are my mantra right now. Even though the winter seems long, I feel like the days are even more jam packed and hurried.
I’ve been making our favorite comfort foods to get us back into a rhythm of busy days and this Creamed Chipped Beef on toast is on the menu for the rest of the year.
Ingredients for Chipped Beef
Saltiness & Rinsing Tips
Dried or jarred chipped beef is naturally salty. If you’re sensitive to salt, rinse or briefly soak the beef in cool water, then pat very dry before cooking. Add no extra salt until after the beef is in the sauce, taste, then season.
- Butter – Salted butter is used to create the roux. Mixed with flour, it helps thicken the cream sauce.
- Flour – A pantry staple, all-purpose flour helps tighten up the sauce.
- Milk – Whole milk, low-fat milk or half and half create a creamy sauce. Make it rich by substituting the milk with heavy cream and adding 4 ounces of cream cheese cut into cubes.
- Seasonings – Garlic Powder, salt, black pepper and a pinch of nutmeg make this recipe the best ever. You can add a pinch of cayenne pepper for a little spice, too.
- Chipped Beef – Also know as, dried beef, it can be sold in a package or a jar at your grocery store. If you can’t find chipped beef, you can make this with ground beef. Just be sure to brown the beef before making the sauce and drain the beef well on a plate lined with a paper towel. It’s not exactly the same but it’s still super tasty.
For the full ingredient list and instructions, see the recipe card below.
Choose Your Creaminess
• Milk (2% or low-fat) – classic, lighter sauce
• Half-and-Half – creamier, still pourable
• Heavy Cream – ultra-rich, thick
• Optional: stir in 4 oz cream cheese at the end for extra body and tanginess
What is Creamed Chipped Beef?
Creamed Chipped Beef is a classic recipe made of a creamy white sauce that’s very much like a creamy Bechamel Sauce. It’s lightly seasoned and blankets pieces of dried beef, also known as chipped beef, that’s made of thin slices of pressed, salted meat.
Most often served over toast, it’s equally amazing served over eggs or a pile of mashed potatoes.
Now, we just like to enjoy it on a Sunday morning or for an easy weeknight dinner.
How To Make Creamed Chipped Beef
Creamed Chipped Beef on toast is really simple to make and only takes just a few minutes to whip up making it a great weeknight dinner option.
- Melt butter in a large skillet over medium heat.
- Whisk the flour into the melted butter and cook until the flour turned golden brown.
- Stir in the milk, garlic powder, nutmeg, salt and pepper, whisking constantly over medium-low heat, until the mixture becomes thick and creamy.
- Add the chopped beef and stir to combine.
- Toast the bread.
- Spoon the chipped beef gravy over the toast and serve.
Extra Flavor Boost – Add the chopped beef to a skillet with 1 teaspoon butter and cook 2–3 minutes until the edges lightly crisp. Transfer to a plate. Make the roux as directed, then return the beef to the sauce.
For a perfect toast recipe, add white bread to a toaster and toast for 3-4 minutes.
Storage, Freezing & Reheating
Fridge: Store leftover chipped beef in an airtight container 3–4 days.
Freeze: Cool completely, portion into containers, and freeze up to 3 months.
Thaw and Reheat: Thaw overnight in the fridge. Reheat low and slow, adding 1–2 Tablespoons milk to loosen the sauce until silky again.
Kellie’s Tips for Perfect Gravy
I’ve been making SOS gravy for a REALLY long time and have a few tips to share so you can achieve the BEST Creamed Chipped Beef ever.
- To reheat leftovers, add a bit of milk to the gravy before heating on the stovetop over low heat.
- Fresh chipped beef from your deli is best but you can find jars of chipped beef with your canned meats.
- If using shelf stable beef, you can soak your chipped beef for ten minutes in water to remove some of the saltiness. It’s not necessary but it will help keep your gravy from being overly sodium packed. Just be sure to pat the beef dry with a paper towel so it doesn’t water down the creamy sauce.
- To make your gravy extra creamy, we use Half and Half in place of the milk. It just gives it a richer flavor without going full tilt with heavy cream.
You can round out the meal with a crisp green wedge salad or a pile of green beans to make it a little less heavy….I mean, it’s a lot of cream. It’s definitely not a healthy dinner but everything in moderation, right?
It’s a lot like this easy Sausage Gravy we make almost every week!
How to Serve Chipped Beef
While we do love it over toast, here are a few other things you can serve it on top of.
- The Best Mashed Potatoes
- How to Cook Jasmine Rice
- Buttermilk Biscuits
- Homemade Garlic Bread
- The Best Hash Browns
- Buttered garlic toast or cheesy Texas toast (cheese acts as a barrier, no soggy bread!)
- Over baked potatoes
- With scrambled eggs for a diner-style breakfast
More Easy Beef Recipes
If you love this recipe, be sure to try this amazing and quick Beef Picadillo. It’s packed with Cuban flavor and the kids just love it.
We also love this easy Mulligan Stew which is a great way to use up leftovers or try this easy Beef Stroganoff, which is lighter than most stroganoff recipes!
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Creamed Chipped Beef Recipe
Equipment
- skillet
- whisk
- measuring cup
Ingredients
- 1/4 cup butter
- 1/4 cup all-purpose flour
- 2 1/2 cups milk, or half and half
- 1/2 teaspoon garlic powder
- 1/4 teaspoon black pepper
- 1/8 teaspoon nutmeg
- 1/2 lb sliced dried beef, 8 ounce jar
- salt, to taste
Instructions
- Melt the butter in a skillet over medium heat.
- Whisk in flour to create a roux and continue to whisk until it begins to turn golden brown, approximately 1-2 minutes.
- Gradually whisk in the milk, garlic powder, pepper and nutmeg. Continue cooking until it begins to thicken.
- Break up the beef or chop into small pieces.
- Stir the beef into the gravy and cook for an additional 2-3 minutes over low heat.
- Season with salt, if desired.
- Serve over toast or mashed potatoes.
Video
Notes
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
Creamed Chipped Beef is also known as SOS gravy or “shit on a shingle” because of it’s appearance and was popular in the mess halls of our military of World War II. It’s very much like sausage gravy but without the sausage, of course.
Yes. Brown and drain 8 ounces ground beef, then proceed with the roux and milk. Flavor will be different but still tasty.
Add a splash of milk to dilute, skip extra salt, and next time rinse or soak the beef and pat dry before cooking.
Yes, up to 3 months. Thaw overnight and reheat gently with a little milk.
Simmer 1–2 minutes longer. If needed, whisk 1 tsp flour with 1 Tbsp milk (slurry) and whisk in over low heat.
This was a favorite dish on our dinner table for two generations! I am so glad to have a real recipe for it. I served it over toast or those baked puff pastry patty shells (Pepperidge Farm).
The beef was very salty – can you rinse it without losing the flavor? I didn’t add any salt when cooking as some in my family do not care for salt but this was way too much for them. Ending up giving it to a neighbor.
You can definitely rinse it. Depending on the brand you use, some is much saltier than others. I’m sorry you didn’t have luck with it.
Very good. Refrigerated left overs but when I went to use them gravy was very lumpy, is there anything I can do about that?
Hi! When you reheat it, you can add a little milk whisked in to help smooth out the gravy.
Love the SOS recipe
I’m so happy you liked it!
Mom made this as a family favorite. I grew up with S.O.S. Often we ate it over rice! You don’t want to know what we kids called it over rice. HA HA!!!
Ha ha ha ha ha!!!
I meant where did you buy chipped beef!
Thanks
I bought it at the grocery store in the canned foods aisle….it should be near your canned chili, tuna, canned chicken, etc.
Where do you buy the corned beef?
Thanks,
Carol
Nice job! My parents had this all the time when I was growing up. You’re right though, garlic powder and nutmeg are not traditional.
Not at all but add so much flavor!
Thanks for bringing this to my attention I grew up on this I am five out of nine kids & it was a cheap & easy meal for mom. Can’t wait to make this again Thanks
We ate this all the time!
The military breakfast staple. S.O.S. Loved it. 🙂