Beef Tips with Rice Cooked in a Slow Cooker or Stove Top
During the month of January the Dishing it Up crew posted slow cooker recipes. If you’re not familiar with using a slow cooker, you should really learn to use one. It can save you TONS of time and it’s easy to adapt almost any recipe. The main thing to remember is that meat should be cooked before adding it the slow cooker if it is an ingredient in the recipe. If the meat is the main item being cooked, then of course, raw meat should be placed in the slow cooker. I’ve found a really great site that may answer questions related to all things slow cooker. It’s called Crock-Pot Ladies FAQ.
Beef Tips with Rice is one of the absolutely fastest meals that I can prepare in my home. I almost always keep the cube steak in my freezer and always have the rest of the ingredients that I need. We’re a meat, rice, and gravy household. Since I can put this on the table within about 30 – 45 minutes, I can stop the “What’s for dinner?” challenge sometimes before I can even decide what to cook on other nights.
I didn’t specify an amount of water or rice needed for this recipe. This leaves it open so that you can cook as much or as little as you’d like. The amount of water you use equals the amount of cooked rice you will end up with and you add half that amount of uncooked rice (1 c. water + 1/2 c. rice = 1 c. cooked rice). To cut down on cooking time, I allow the rice to soak in the water all day or sometimes overnight, if I’m planning ahead, to reduce cooking time down to between five and ten minutes.
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- Tenderized (Cube) Steak for Stove Top
- Stew Meat or Similar Cut for Crock Pot
- Rice
- Water
- Flour (mine is Gluten Free)
- Cooking Oil (if cooking on stove top)
- Garlic Powder or Salt
- Seasoned Salt
- Mrs. Dash
- Beef Boullion (I prefer Better Than Boullion brand)
- Add desired amount of water and half as much rice to a large microwave safe dish. Cook on high power 22 - 30 minutes until water is absorbed and the rice is fluffy.
- While rice is cooking, proceed with the following steps.
- I use tenderized (cube) steak for my beef tips. It tends to be a cheaper cut of beef, but because it has been tenderized, it isn't tough when cooked. My mom prefers stew meat for her beef tips.
- I like to freeze my cube steak, at least partially before attempting to cut it. If it's already frozen, I cut it when it's still a little "crunchy," before it's completely thawed. If the meat is "soggy" or thawed out, it may be easier to simply tear the meat apart with your hands.
- After ALL meat has been cut or torn, season generously, to taste using: Mrs. Dash, Garlic Salt or Powder, Seasoned Salt, and Black Pepper
- Turn the meat to thoroughly distribute the seasonings throughout the meat.
- Coat all of the meat with the flour.
- Heat enough oil to cover the bottom of a large pot. When the oil is hot, drop one piece of floured beef into the pot. The meat will pop and sizzle. Notice the "design" in the oil? This indicates that the oil is hot enough to brown the beef.
- Add the remaining beef to the hot oil. Do this a little at a time. You may want to use your hand or a slotted spoon to get the meat only and reserve the unused flour (see pic below).
- Do not dump the extra flour into the pot. The flour will just clump and keep the meat from browning. Save the flour for use later.
- If you end up with extra oil that was not absorbed into the meat, pull the meat to one side of the pot,and allow the oil to drain to the bottom of the pot. Use paper toweling to soak up the excess oil from the pot. This will keep your beef tips from being greasy later on.
- Whether you've browned your beef on the stove top or put it directly in the slow cooker, it doesn't matter. Cover it with approximately twice the amount of water to the depth of the meat. If the meat is about inch deep in the pot, cover with about two inches of water.
- Add the remaining flour to the pot if you browned the meat on the stove top. If you are cooking the raw meat directly in the slow cooker, there is no need to save the flour for a later step. It can be added when the meat is added to the slow cooker.
- Add about two large tablespoons of "Better Than Boullion" base to the pot. This will add LOTS of flavor and richness to the gravy.
- Allow the gravy to thicken to desired consistency if you cook on the stove top and you're ready to eat!
- Metal slow cookers can be set on the stove top to thicken the gravy. Stone inserts or all-in-one inserts can not use this method for gravy thickening.
- A minimum of four hours will probably be needed. This is the trial and error portion of the recipe! Removing the lid from the slow cooker will help the gravy to thicken as it allows the steam to escape.
We often “box up” our leftovers as soon as we’re finished eating our original meal. I have a drawer full of containers that are solely for the purpose of leftovers for the freezer. This works great for quick meals when we can’t decide what we want for lunch or when I’m at home during the day without my daughter. No need to buy frozen meals for $2 – $4 each when I can make a meal have many individual portions for less than $5.
Here are a couple of other recipes that I’ve posted in the past that freeze well:
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