Creamed Chipped Beef
Creamed Chipped Beef is a comforting, classic, hearty meal with creamy sauce and dried beef. An affordable meal ready in only 15 minutes and perfect for breakfast, lunch or dinner!
A NOSTALGIC, COMFORT FOOD RECIPE
Creamed Chipped Beef is one of my absolute favorite comfort foods, along with my version of S.O.S. (more on that later) because it’s such a simple meal. It’s so filling, tastes so good, and just fills your belly right up. I can whip this up so fast, pop some toast in the toaster, and then lunch or dinner is done in no time!
Delicious! I had never made this homemade before and it was SO good! Will definitely make again.
– Helen
FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS:
Some people call it S.O.S. (Sh*t on a Shingle) – it’s a military thing. But, to me, it’s Creamed Chipped Beef. In my family, we do have an S.O.S. recipe that has been passed down for several generations, but it’s a slightly different recipe than this chipped beef recipe. My Grandpa was an Army cook in World War II and always made it for his guys with ground beef and my retired Navy Veteran Dad also made S.O.S. with ground beef.
So, it doesn’t matter if you call this S.O.S or Creamed Chipped Beef, it’s gonna make you smile and keep your belly full! And if you’ve never made this, you are in for a treat!
Dried beef is cured and preserved with salt so it can be pretty salty. If you want to cut back on the saltiness, I recommend soaking the dried beef in water for about 10 minutes then rinse it well then pat it dry with paper towels. In addition, please make sure you are using unsalted butter so you aren’t adding additional salt.
If you can’t find the dried beef (or just want something different) you can use country ham. I am able to find country ham easily where I live and it can often be much cheaper here than the jars of dried beef. And, just like with the dried beef, because it is cured in salt, you have to soak it for a bit before adding it so it doesn’t end up being too salty. Additionally, you can also use Buddig brand beef in place of dried beef. I also think this is delicious with leftover corned beef. Note: You will use the same amounts, just look at the ounces on the packaging to equal (as close to) the ounces used here (10 ounces.)
Serve over toast, biscuits, southern fried potatoes, hash browns, rice, noodles, mashed potatoes, baked potatoes, English muffins – the possibilities are endless. If you think it will go good with the cream sauce then go for it!
Keep leftovers in the fridge for up to 3 days. You can freeze it for up to 3 months too.
To reheat, add another splash of milk to loosen it up, as it cools it will thicken more and more.
INGREDIENTS NEEDED: (SEE RECIPE CARD BELOW FOR THE FULL RECIPE)
- unsalted butter – it’s crucial that you use unsalted butter and not salted butter. The dried beef is already salty enough and using salted butter can overwhelm this dish.
- all-purpose flour – this is going to be used to thicken up your cream sauce.
- whole milk – we prefer whole milk as it adds a lot of creaminess but you could use 2%. Just don’t use skim milk.
- dried beef – it can be found in jars in the canned meat aisle of your grocery store. Hormel and Armour both make dried beef. You can also used Buddig beef (found near the other luncheon meat.)
- fresh black pepper – to me, this is crucial. The pepper may seem basic but it really adds more to this recipe than you think. Using fresh cracked pepper is even better!
- salt – to taste. I can’t stress enough how important it is to taste this recipe before you add salt. The dried beef can be quite salty so test it out before adding any extra salt. See my FAQ above for more details on this.
- toast – toast is usually my go-to for this type of recipe but there are so many options. See my FAQ above for more ideas!
HOW TO MAKE CREAMED CHIPPED BEEF:
In a large skillet over medium heat, add the butter and let it melt. Once melted, whisk in the flour and cook for 1 minute. Slowly stream in the milk while whisking constantly. Simmer for 5 minutes, stirring occasionally until thickened.
Add the chopped beef and pepper, stir to combine, and cook for an additional 2 minutes until warmed through. Taste and add salt if desired.
Serve immediately over toast.
CRAVING MORE RECIPES?
Creamed Chipped Beef
Ingredients
- 4 Tablespoons unsalted butter
- 4 Tablespoons all-purpose flour
- 3 cups whole milk
- 4 (2.5 ounce) jars dried beef, chopped (see notes below)
- 1 teaspoon fresh black pepper
- salt, to taste (see note below)
- toast, for serving
Instructions
- In a large skillet over medium heat, add the butter and let it melt.
- Once melted, whisk in the flour and cook for 1 minute.
- Slowly stream in the milk while whisking constantly. Simmer for 5 minutes, stirring occasionally until thickened.
- Add the chopped beef and pepper, stir to combine, and cook for an additional 2 minutes until warmed through.
- Taste and add salt if desired (see my notes below.)
- Serve immediately over toast.
Notes
- Please refer to my FAQ’s (Frequently Asked Questions) and ingredient list above for other substitutions or for the answers to the most common questions.
- Note: dried beef is cured and preserved with salt. So please taste this dish before adding any more salt as you may find it well seasoned enough already. To make it less salty, youcan soak the dried beef in some water for 10 minutes then rinse it off to remove any excess salt. Be sure to pat it dry with a paper towel then continue with the recipe as written.
- For a cheaper alternative to the dried beef, try Buddig beef luncheon meat. You will use about the same amount (10 ounces.) Just look at the ounces on the packaging to get as close to that amount. It doesn’t need to be exact. You can use as little or as much as you like with this recipe.
Nutrition
Nutritional Disclaimer
“The Country Cook” is not a dietician or nutritionist, and any nutritional information shared is an estimate. If calorie count and other nutritional values are important to you, we recommend running the ingredients through whichever online nutritional calculator you prefer. Calories and other nutritional values can vary quite a bit depending on which brands were used.
I’ve made this twice and it’s just like being in my childhood again. Even though it’s not the best thing for my heart, it’s the best thing for my memories!
I remember my granny used to make this for us growing up. I am going to buy what I need to make. never seen the beef in a jar can you post pic of it plz.
Can you use corned beef?
I suppose you could 🙂
Mom had a recipe where she would layer the bottom of a pyrex casserole dish with chipped beef, place chicken breasts wrapped with bacon on top of it, pour cream of mushroom all around it and bake. Fantastic!
We make this but serve it over baked potatoes. With a salad on he side. It makes a great dinner.
Delicious! I had never made this homemade before and it was SO good! Will definitely make again.
I am an all-time fan of creamed chipped beef! I add three (3) hard boiled eggs (sliced) to this size recipe. It is kind of on the rich side…but damn delicious!!
My mother always put hard boiled eggs in hers and also added a few slices of green olives with pimento inside. I asked her about the olives and she said it was to add color. This was back in the fifty’s.
Just like my mom used to make – thank you!
I love it ty
I use to make this a lot for my family but kids are all move out and husband passed, so it has been years since I made it and now I don’t remember how. my husband was in the Korea war and he loved it
Forget the white cream sauce base entirely, and adapt the above to use Cheez Whiz or melted Velveeta, or a good cheddar queso sauce. Want it cheesier? Melt in some sharp cheddar to your taste. Serve over mashed potatoes. Try it once, and likely you’ll never want to eat classic SOS ever again.
So, in otherwords, you’ve made an entirely different dish that is nothing like the recipe.
I grew up eating this. It was one of those meals my mom would only cook when dad was out of town! As a Korean War veteran, he didn’t even want to see or smell it, much less eat it! I make it fairly often but when one of my sisters asked for the recipe I couldn’t provide as I don’t measure anything. So I looked it up and found yours! I’m thinking it’s about exactly how I make it. And I do soak it to reduce salt, mostly because I use salted butter! I love it over toast but agree with all of your other serving suggestions. Thanks for keeping this recipe alive! Think I’ll have it tonight. Might even call my 95 year old dad and see if he wants any…haha!
I loved that you mentioned for a less expensive alternative using Budig beef.
Your recipe is easy peasy. Thank you .
Thanks so much Tami! I definitely always try to give substitutions where I can 🙂
can I use buttermilk in stead of whole milk
If you like the tanginess of buttermilk with this. Personally I wouldn’t like the taste.
I took your suggestion to use Buddig Beef because I couldn’t find the dried beef. It was spot on and tasted delicious. Thank you!!
Yay! So glad you found that suggestion helpful. I make it with budding beef all the time because it is a cheaper alternative and it goes on sale all the time. Thank you!!
It was an excellent story and recipe, and the warnings about the salt content were right on. SOS, as it was and is called in the military, was a concoction of any meat that could be had, plus water and flour. It could be good or very bad, hence the name. It was also a survival food that provided downed airmen with protein and calories. On base, the officers club always offered it at Sunday brunch, which was delicious.
Best recipe I’ve tried thus far. Thank you for breaking down the steps, with pictures.
It turned out delicious and was loved by the kids and bigs. For myself I layered it with some caramelised onions and generous sprinkling of parsley but everyone else loved it just the way it is.
I love chipped beef! When I was a kid, my mother would make the gravy and we would put it on homemade pancakes. Delicious!
I made this last night – it was SO good!! It brings back a lot of memories for me. Thank you 🙂
Love hearing that Abby! I always love hearing about food memories – it’s the one thing absolutely everybody has in common. 🙂
I also will sometimes serve it over a baked potato or mashed potatoes. My family loves creamed chipped beef.
One of our favorite comfort foods!!
thank you for this recipe!! I absolutely love creamed chipped beef, will be making this soon!!
This stuff is totally awesome over tater tots or hash brown patties.
This is one of my husband’s favorites. It’s wonderful on top of a toasted English Muffin.
My mom used to fix this for breakfast frequently. She ran water over the beef to get rid of some of the salt before adding it to the gravy. She also would sometimes stir in slices of hardboiled eggs. YUM!