Description
Hearty double french onion beef tips and gravy elevates comfort food with rich, savory depths of caramelized onions and tender meat. Slow-cooked perfection delivers a soul-warming meal that brings rustic charm to your dinner table.
Ingredients
Scale
Protein:
- 2.5 lbs (1.13 kg) beef tips (sirloin or chuck roast), cut into chunks
- 1/2 cup (118 ml) Gruyere or Swiss cheese, shredded
- 3 cloves garlic, minced
Fresh Produce and Seasonings:
- 3 large yellow or sweet onions, thinly sliced
- 1 teaspoon (5 ml) fresh thyme (or 1/2 teaspoon (2.5 ml) dried thyme)
- Salt & pepper, to taste
Cooking Liquids and Thickeners:
- 2 tablespoons (30 ml) butter
- 1 tablespoon (15 ml) olive oil
- 1/2 cup (118 ml) red wine (optional, for deglazing)
- 2 cups (473 ml) beef broth (low-sodium recommended)
- 1 tablespoon (15 ml) flour or cornstarch (for thickening)
- 1 packet French onion soup mix (or 2 teaspoons (10 ml) onion powder + 1/2 teaspoon (2.5 ml) salt)
- 1 tablespoon (15 ml) Worcestershire sauce
Instructions
- Prepare the onion foundation by gently melting butter and olive oil in a spacious skillet, creating a low-temperature environment for slow transformation.
- Introduce sliced onions into the pan, allowing them to gradually caramelize over 30-40 minutes, developing a rich, amber-brown complexion through occasional stirring.
- Incorporate minced garlic during the final minute of caramelization, infusing aromatic depth before removing the onion mixture and reserving for later.
- Elevate the skillet’s temperature to medium-high, creating an ideal searing environment for beef tips.
- Generously season beef with salt and pepper, ensuring comprehensive flavor coverage.
- Execute precise batch searing, rotating meat to achieve a robust, golden-brown exterior on all surfaces, approximately 3-4 minutes per batch.
- Deglaze the pan using red wine, meticulously scraping accumulated flavor-rich browned fragments from the cooking surface.
- Reintroduce caramelized onions into the pan, establishing a flavor-intensive foundation.
- Integrate beef broth, Worcestershire sauce, fresh thyme, and French onion soup mix, creating a complex, layered gravy profile.
- Return seared beef tips to the liquid environment, ensuring complete submersion.
- Reduce heat and allow a prolonged, gentle simmer, covering the pan to concentrate flavors and tenderize meat.
- Continue cooking until beef reaches an exquisitely tender consistency and gravy achieves a luxurious, thickened texture, approximately 1.5-2 hours.
Notes
- Slow-cooking magic works wonders for tough beef cuts, transforming them into melt-in-your-mouth tender meat with deep, rich flavors.
- Caramelize onions patiently over low heat to develop sweet, complex notes that elevate the entire dish’s depth and complexity.
- Choose chuck roast or stew meat with good marbling for maximum tenderness and rich beef flavor during long, slow cooking.
- Enhance gravy thickness by optional flour dusting on beef tips before searing or adding a cornstarch slurry near the end of cooking for extra silkiness.
- Prep Time: 15 minutes
- Cook Time: 2 hours
- Category: Dinner
- Method: Simmering
- Cuisine: French
Nutrition
- Serving Size: 6
- Calories: 400
- Sugar: 2 g
- Sodium: 900 mg
- Fat: 20 g
- Saturated Fat: 10 g
- Unsaturated Fat: 8 g
- Trans Fat: 0 g
- Carbohydrates: 16 g
- Fiber: 1 g
- Protein: 38 g
- Cholesterol: 120 mg