Real Food, Gluten-Free, Dairy-Free
This recipe for Gluten Free Steak Tips in Gravy is cross posted from Spring Forest Farm.
Back when we lived in Michigan, my favorite date-night dish at the local brew pub was steak tips. They were soft, tender, full of flavor, and swimming in gravy. They paired nicely with a stout or deep red wine. When, out of necessity, I switched my diet to that of gluten and dairy free, those beloved steak tips were no longer an option for me.
Well, I set out to recreate them, and I honestly think I’ve done better than the inspiration! I’m still amazed at the depth of flavor, and the tender fall-apart texture of these steak tips. My taste testers all agree. This is a winning recipe, worthy of a place in the permanent dinner rotation. Perhaps you’ll agree.
THE IDEA
So when I set out to come up with this recipe, I found that steak tips are generally marinated and grilled OR dredged in flour and used to make gravy. I decided to do both. That choice paid off with a deeply complex and subtly sweet sauce.
You can see that these sirloin tip steaks were mechanically tenderized before being cut into cubes.
For this recipe, I used sirloin tip steaks. As delivered from Spring Forest Farm, the steaks were already mechanically tenderized. I took the tenderized steaks and cut them into roughly one inch cubes. Steak tips are also sometimes made from the more expensive tenderloin, but I found that the sirloin tip steaks were a great option that cooked up tender.
THE MARINADE
The concoction I settled on for a marinade trends on the sweet side. I found that it was a nice layered addition to the otherwise savory ingredients. This marinade requires time to cook and reduce on the stove top. Then it must cool completely before mixing with the steak tips. As a time saver, knowing that we’ll use this recipe again and again, I plan to triple the marinade ingredients next time I make it. Once it’s cooled, I will portion it out and freeze it. That way, this can be a much quicker meal in the future.
You can make this marinade in bulk, cool, and freeze in batches to speed the process along for future meals.
Because the marinade is sweet and packed with flavor, the steak really doesn’t need to marinate long. I left our steak tips in the marinade for thirty-forty minutes. This produced a very rich gravy when done cooking. You could likely marinate for as little as ten minutes and have a pleasant balance of sweet and savory in the finished product.
This is a powerful marinade. The longer you leave your meat in, the richer your final product will be.
THE PREPARATION
While the meat was marinating, I chopped an onion, 6-8 garlic cloves, and 8 oz. of baby Bella mushrooms. I sautéed these in olive oil. I recommend a Dutch oven for the cooking process so you don’t dirty up multiple pots and pans. After the onions become translucent, remove the mix from the pot and set it aside so the pot is ready for searing the meat. (Note: We like a notable amount of garlic in our food. If you’re not as excited about the medicinal powerhouse as we are, cut back to your personal preference.)
When I was ready to get the steak tips cooking, I took them directly from the marinade and dredged them through a flour mix. Because we are gluten free, I used a mix of arrowroot, chickpea flour, salt, and pepper. You would likely have similar success with the flour of your choice. The purpose of dredging is just to thicken the broth into gravy as the meat braises in the oven.
I ended up only dredging half the sirloin tips (or about one pound) in flour. That was enough to create the desired gravy texture I was seeking.
THE METHOD
Once dredged, the meat is ready to be seared. I seared the marinated and floured meat in a bit of olive oil, along with the remaining juices from the onion, garlic, and mushroom mix. To be honest, this made a sticky mess, as can be seen from the photo below. Perfectionists, stay the course! It will all work out in the end. Another side note: Because I was cooking so much meat (2.5 lbs.), I only dredged half the meat. That stickiness was getting to be a bit much. I just seared the other half of marinated meat without coating it in flour.
This was a mess, y’all! Just look at that spoon! The perfectionist in me was cringing, but it worked out just right once the stock was added.
After every steak tip has been seared on all sides, add in the beef stock and stir continuously. This will turn your sticky mess into a smooth, thickening liquid. Be sure to scrape the bottom of the pot for any loose bits that might be stuck there. Once everything has been smoothly integrated, add in the ketchup and soy sauce or substitute (I use this).
The sticky mess smoothes out once the stock is added.
Bring your dish to a simmer, cover, and then place in a 300 degree oven for 90-120 minutes. I would check between the 90 and 120 minute mark to see about the consistency of the gravy. Mine reduced drastically as it thickened. You don’t want to leave it in so long that your pot gets sticky and dry, but the slow cooking is what makes the meat so tender.
OPTIONAL TIP TO MAXIMIZE FLAVOR
One more tip to really ramp up the flavor: If you have time, reduce and concentrate your beef stock before adding it to the seared steak tips. To do this, start with 64 oz of stock, and reduce it to roughly half while simmering. This will make your stock pack a distinctive punch. If I were making this for a weeknight meal, I probably wouldn’t worry about this step. It takes extra time. But when not on a schedule, I’d opt for this added step every time.
THE RESULTS
This is a hearty, warm meal for the winter months. As pictured below, I served it over mashed, white sweet potatoes and found that everyone at the table went back for more. Enjoy!
If you like this recipe, try Gluten Free Mongolian Beef!
Gluten Free Steak Tips in Gravy
Notes
Optional step: If you have time, reduce and concentrate your beef stock before adding it to the seared steak tips. To do this, start with 64 oz of stock, and reduce it to roughly half while simmering. This will make your stock pack a distinctive punch. If I were making this for a weeknight meal, I probably wouldn’t worry about this step. It takes extra time. But when not on a schedule, I’d opt for this added step every time.
Ingredients
FOR THE MARINADE:
- sauce pan
- 2 tsp olive oil
- 4 cloves garlic, minced
- 1 small onion, diced
- 1 tsp sea salt
- 1/2 tsp white pepper
- 1/4 c molasses
- 1/4 c honey
- 1/2 c apple cider vinegar
- 1/2 c brewed coffee
- 1 c tomato sauce, reserved
- 2-3 lb sirloin tip steaks
FOR THE FLOUR COATING:
- 1/2 c chickpea flour
- 1/4 c arrowroot flour
- 1 tsp sea salt
- 1/2 tsp white pepper
FOR THE MAIN EVENT:
- large Dutch oven, or large pan and separate oven safe dish
- 2 tbsp olive oil
- 1 large onion, diced
- 8 oz baby bella mushrooms, chopped
- 6-8 garlic cloves, minced (or less by preference)
- 32 oz beef stock (or 64 oz reduced to 32 oz concentrate…see notes)
- 1 tbsp ketchup
- 1 tbsp soy sauce or soy sauce alternative
Instructions
FOR THE MARINADE:
- Using a sauce pan, sauté the garlic and onion in olive oil until fragrant.
- Add all other ingredients but the tomato sauce. Bring to a simmer and reduce by half.
- Add the tomato sauce and stir to combine. Simmer another 20 minutes.
- All the marinade to cool completely before adding the steak.
- While cooling, cut the sirloin tip steaks into one inch cubes.
- Once the marinade is room temperature, add the steak tips and let rest for 10-30 minutes. The longer you marinate, the richer the flavor.
FOR THE FLOUR COATING:
- Mix all of the flour ingredients into a bowl.
- Remove the steak from the marinade and coat half of it in flour. The other half will be seared without.
- Set the coated and non-coated steak tips aside in preparation for searing.
FOR THE MAIN EVENT:
- Preheat the oven to 300 F.
- In a Dutch oven or other large pan, sauté the garlic, onion, and mushrooms in olive oil until the onions are translucent. Remove them from the pan when done and set aside.
- Add 2 tbsp olive oil to the pan. Begin to sear the steak. Sear each side of each piece. Complete this step in batches if necessary.
- When done searing, add the beef back to the pan and cover with the beef stock. Stir to deglaze the pan.
- Once the liquid is smooth, add the garlic/onion/mushroom mixture back to the pan.
- Add the ketchup and soy sauce (or substitute). Bring to a simmer.
- If using a Dutch oven, cover with a lid and move the Dutch oven to the oven. If not, transfer everything to an oven safe dish and cover with tin foil. Move the dish to the oven.
- Cook for 90-120 minutes at 300 F. Check the progress at 90 minutes. The liquid will reduce and thicken as it cooks. You don’t want the contents to become dry or sticky. The steak tips should be fall-apart tender when done.
- When done cooking, remove the dish from the oven and serve the steak tips over mashed potatoes.
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