I love recipes you can quickly set and forget in the slow cooker. It is a joy to sit down to a lovely dinner without having to cook the whole hour before. You can experience this bliss with my Crockpot beef tips and rice recipe!
Ingredients
- 1 lb of beef stew meat
- diced onion
- 1 cup of mushrooms
- 3-4 beef bouillon cubes
- butter
- garlic powder
- onion powder
- salt and pepper
- 2 cups of long-grain rice
Prep
As usual, the first step in our prep is chopping the veggies. Dice the onion to your preferred size. Since this dish is being cooked in the Crockpot, I try not to go with too small of a dice, or the onions will disintegrate.
Cut the mushrooms into slices, again not going too thin or they might fall apart. Check your grocery store for pre-sliced mushrooms, as this can save you some time.
Last to the cutting board is the beef stew meat. Depending on your grocery store’s butcher, they might need to be cut smaller. I like my stew meat to be in roughly half-inch chunks. This is a good size that will cook quickly even in the slow cooker.
Go ahead and season the stew meat with salt, pepper, garlic powder, and onion powder.
That’s it for prep. Now grab a frying pan and head to the stove, we have to make a pit stop before going to the slow cooker!
How To Cook Beef Tips And Rice In A Crockpot
If you are in a hurry, you can just dump all of the ingredients into the Crockpot and call it a day. I like to take a little extra time to add some additional flavor. We do this by searing the stew meat in a skillet before adding it to the slow cooker.
Searing Stew Meat In a Skillet
Get your pan heating on medium-high heat. Once hot, add some butter to grease the bottom. Next, we are going to quickly saute the onions, followed by the mushrooms. Don’t forget to season them with salt and pepper.
When the onions have been properly softened, add the stew meat. It doesn’t need to cook all the way, you just want to add some color. Stew meat tends to have a lot of water in it, so it may take a little longer than normal to brown. Make sure your onions and mushrooms do not overcook during this time, you can remove them and set them aside if necessary.
As soon as the meat is brown, remove everything from the pan and transfer it to the Crockpot. Lower the heat on the pan to medium-low, and add a cup of water to it. Gently stir the bottom of the pan and remove the fond. Cook for 1 to 2 minutes and then pour the liquid into the Crockpot with the other ingredients.
Finishing Beef Tips In A Crockpot
The meat needs to be mostly covered in liquid. If the pan sauce didn’t get the job done, add extra water or beef stock if you have it. Water will be fine, as the next ingredient we are adding is the 3 to 4 beef bouillon cubes. Bouillon can be very salty, so go with 3 if you don’t like your dishes salty.
That’s pretty much it! Close the lid and set the Crockpot to high. Depending on the size of your stew meat cuts, it should take between 5 and 6 hours to be done. The beef tips may be edible at 4 hours, but this is a tough cut of meat that you want to be super tender, so give it the extra time to get done.
Now all you have to do at dinner time is cook some rice. You can cook your rice just as easily as the beef tips with a rice cooker. Check out this model from Aroma Housewares on Amazon for just $18.
What Should I Serve With Beef Tips And Rice?
I love to serve greens with my beef tips. The fibrous greens are a nice counter to the starchy rice. My Southern turnip greens recipe goes great with this dish. If you are looking for something quick to go with this easy dinner, try Southern fried cabbage with bacon.
Black-eyed peas and lima beans are other good choices. The earthiness of the black-eyed peas pairs well with the beef dish.
Sweet potatoes or rutabagas offer a nice sweet counter to the deep umami flavor you will get from the beef tips. Sweet corn on cobb can accomplish this as well.
If you are looking for a cold side to counter the hot dish, coleslaw is another option with a sweet kick.
There are tons of choices out there. In general, I would avoid starchy sides since the dish is served over rice. Other than that the sky is the limit.
Looking for more slow cooker meals you can cook in your Crockpot? Check out my Slow Cooker Smothered Pork Chops!
