SOS Creamed Beef Recipe (2024)

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By: Author nutmegnanny

Posted on Published: March 22, 2020- Last updated: February 23, 2024

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This SOS creamed beef recipe is one of the easiest dishes. My dad always made it when I was growing up, and I still crave it today!

SOS stands for “sh*t on a shingle,” and growing up, I loved it when my dad made this for dinner.

I mostly loved it because I could say “sh*t” and not get in too much trouble.

This is one of those classic old-fashioned military meals nostalgic for many people. My family included!

Although SOS is traditionally made with chipped dried beef – a dried, smoked, and salted meat product – my family has always used ground beef. When you use chipped beef, you typically call it “creamed chipped beef.”

Either way, it’s tasty, but I find the ground beef to be a bit more filling and a lot less salty.

Texturally creamed hamburger gravy is similar to sausage white gravy. It’s great spooned over toast, soft white bread, or homemade biscuits.

Table of Contents

SOS recipe ingredients

Ground beef
Yellow onion
Kosher salt
Black pepper
Unsalted butter
All-purpose flour
Whole milk
Toasted bread

**What is sh*t on a shingle?**

Visually, it’s not the most colorful or beautiful dish but filling and comforting.

Sometimes, that cancels the old rule: “You eat with your eyes first.”

Plus, it’s like the dinner version of sausage gravy and biscuits, which you know means it’s going to be amazingly delicious! I like to make mine and serve it over toast, but I hear serving it over potatoes is also a great way to scarf down this deliciousness.

If you’re unfamiliar with this dish, you should know it’s comfort food. It’s super cheap to make and works perfectly when you have a big family to feed.

SOS can be made with either ground beef or chipped beef but for this recipe I used ground beef because that is what my family uses. Popular chipped beef brands Buddig beef or Hormel.

To keep things simple, season this SOS creamed beef recipe with salt and pepper, but sometimes, adding other spices like garlic, crushed red pepper flakes, or even fresh herbs is fun.

I like mine with a little sprinkling of crushed red pepper or a pinch of cayenne pepper because I always crave heat!

How to make creamed hamburger

The great thing about this easy recipe is that it doesn’t require a lot of extra energy in the kitchen. And it can be made relatively cheap!

Add ground beef and onion in a large skillet and cook until the meat is browned.
Drain the beef, remove it from the pan, and set aside.
Melt butter in the same pan and add flour to create a roux to help thicken our gravy/cream sauce.
Slowly stream in 2 cups milk and gently simmer until thickened.
Add the ground beef and onions to the pan, stir, and simmer until warm.
Serve over sliced toasted bread (Texas toast is fun!) or biscuits.

More ground beef recipes

Are you looking to feed a crowd of people? Try my Ground beef tacos
Do you love a one-pot recipe? Try my One pot ground beef stroganoff
Craving a little heat? Try my Chipotle ground beef enchiladas
Want to bust out the Instant Pot? Try my Instant Pot lasagna soup

SOS Creamed Beef Recipe

Author: Brandy O’Neill

This SOS creamed beef recipe is one of the easiest dishes to throw together. My dad used to make this all the time and I still crave it to this day!

4.53 from 40 votes

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Prep Time 10 minutes minutes

Cook Time 20 minutes minutes

Total Time 30 minutes minutes

Servings 4 servings

Equipment

12-inch Skillet

Ingredients

1 pound ground beef
1 small yellow onion diced
1 teaspoon Kosher salt to taste
1 teaspoon ground black pepper to taste
5 tablespoons unsalted butter
6 tablespoons flour
2 cups whole milk
Bread toasted

Instructions

Set a large 12-inch skillet over medium-high heat.
Add ground beef and onion to the skillet and season lightly with kosher salt and black pepper.
Break up the meat as it cooks and cook until it’s brown in color and no pink remains. Drain the meat and set aside.
In the same pan as you used to brown the meat, set it over medium heat and add the butter.
Melt the butter and sprinkle in the flour and whisk together until it forms a paste.
Let it bubble slightly and cook for about a minute.
Slowly stream in milk and whisk until thick. This might take a few minutes to get the gravy as thick as you like.
Add cooked beef and onion to the white gravy mixture.
Season with salt and pepper to taste. Feel free to add more flavor by sprinkling in crushed red pepper, garlic powder or fresh herbs.
Serve over toast.

Notes

If the gravy gets too thick you can thin it out with more milk.
Do not skimp on adding the kosher salt and black pepper after cooking. If you don’t add enough seasoning the gravy will taste very bland.

Nutrition

Course Main Course

Cuisine American

Keyword chipped beef, creamed beef, easy recipes, ground beef recipes, sos

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