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chip beef gravy on potato
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5 from 13 votes

Comforting Chip Beef Gravy

This recipe is super simple and satisfying. Served over baked potatoes or thick, crusty toast, I offer other options for using different cuts of meat and even a delicious vegetarian option.
Prep Time10 minutes
Cook Time17 minutes
Baking the potatoes1 hour
Total Time1 hour 27 minutes
Course: Main Dish
Cuisine: American
Keyword: comfort, easy recipe, gravy
Servings: 4
Calories: 320kcal
Author: Sally Humeniuk

Ingredients

  • 4 Russet potatoes, medium size, scrubbed clean
  • 4 Tbsp butter, ½ stick
  • 4 Tbsp flour
  • 3 cups whole milk, more to thin sauce if needed
  • ½ tsp salt
  • ½ tsp fresh ground black pepper
  • ¼ tsp onion salt
  • 1 4.5 oz jar Armor brand sliced dried beef
  • 1 Tbsp fresh chopped parsley, optional
  • tsp cayenne pepper, optional

Instructions

Bake the potatoes:

  • Preheat oven to 400F degrees. Place oven racks at middle position. After potatoes have been washed and scrubbed clean, rub the outsides with olive oil or other neutral oil just enough to coat them. Sprinkle liberally with salt. Place potatoes directly on rack and bake until a fork inserted in the center of the potatoes goes in easily. Approximately 45-60 minutes. Once potatoes are ready, turn off heat, leaving potatoes in the oven until ready to plate. *See notes for preparing ahead of time.

Make a basic white sauce:

  • Melt 4 Tablespoons butter in a skillet over medium heat and cooked until it starts to become bubbly. Sprinkle 4 Tablespoons flour on the butter and whisk it in, stirring constantly for two or three minutes, cooking the flour to remove that raw flour taste.
  • This next part can be tricky- While still stirring the butter/flour mixture, slowly pour in 3 cups milk. The mixture can become clumpy so I find that warming the milk a bit before adding it helps to prevent this. If the mixture does start to be lumpy, keep stirring and it will eventually smooth out. Worst case, you can pour the sauce through a strainer, pushing any leftover flour lumps through. Reduce heat to medium low and continue to cook until the white sauce has thickened, adding more milk as needed until the sauce is smooth and just bubbly.
  • Reduce heat to low. Add ½ teaspoon salt, ½ teaspoon black pepper, and ¼ teaspoon onion salt. Don't over salt it because the beef will add more salt and if you still need more salt, you can add it after that.

Add the beef, season, and finish:

  • Open a 4.5 ounce can of dried beef and place it under cold running water, letting the water overflow, removing some of the saltiness of the beef. About 15 seconds.
  • Remove the beef from the jar and place on a cutting board. Using a paper towel, lightly pat the beef to remove some of the water. Chop the beef into bite-size pieces, or cut the beef into quarters for larger bites.
  • Add the beef to the sauce, give it all a good stir to cover all the beef with sauce. Taste and add more salt, pepper or onion powder as desired.

Serving over potatoes:

  • Remove the potatoes from the oven and place on serving plates. Slice the top of the potato and then kind of squeeze the two ends of the potato, allowing the potato to open up more and the inside to easily break up, ready for the topping. If desired, add a pat of butter to the potato but it's not needed.
  • Check your sauce for desired thickness, adding a little milk if it's become too thick again. Top the potatoes with the sauce, top with fresh, chopped 1 Tablespoon parsley or chives, ⅛ teaspoon of cayenne pepper. Serve.

Notes

  • This recipe is easily made vegetarian. Saute about a pound of sliced cremini or white mushrooms in a tiny bit of olive oil. The mushrooms will absorb the oil. This is fine as you don't need oil to perfectly saute mushrooms. As the mushrooms begin to release a bit of liquid, add a generous amount of salt (this helps the mushrooms release even more liquid). Cook until the liquid is absorbed and the mushrooms have become golden. After you make the white sauce, add the mushrooms just before serving. Don't add the cooked mushrooms too soon or they'll lose their crisp edge and become tough in the sauce.

Nutrition

Calories: 320kcal | Carbohydrates: 46g | Protein: 9g | Fat: 12g | Saturated Fat: 7g | Cholesterol: 33mg | Sodium: 424mg | Potassium: 1049mg | Fiber: 3g | Sugar: 7g | Vitamin A: 434IU | Vitamin C: 12mg | Calcium: 168mg | Iron: 2mg