Follow our easy, step-by-step, recipe to learn how to make SOS, our Creamed Chipped Beef recipe.
We’re saluting our Veterans with a flash back to the past with SOS – Creamed Chipped Beef.
This was one of the early dishes that I prepared as a youngster. I’d already mastered macaroni and cheese in the blue box so it was time to up my game as they say. Smile.
Having heard my brother talk about something like this from his days in the US Army, I decided I needed to see what all the fuss was about.
The military folks call it S.O.S. which some folks say stands for Same Old Stuff. Most know it by another name that I’m not going to mention here, but It’s something like S–t on a Shingle. I think it’s because they got served the dish pretty often.
Supposedly it was quick and easy to make for a large group of military folks either in the Mess Hall or while out in the field. It was also made sometimes with ground beef or sausage.
In my early attempts I made a version using a canned gravy and one of those packages of Buddig Beef that you could buy for hardly anything in the grocery store. You know those little packages of processed meats that sell for about a dollar a packet and hang in the processed meat counter?
I couldn’t order any of that online, so I’m using the much more preferred dried beef from a jar to make this version.
Normally this would be served for breakfast over toast or biscuits, but it will make a quick and easy meal for any time of the day.
I’ve been wanting to do this for a couple of years just to bring back some memories for our Veterans of the military, but it took awhile to finally get it completed.
So, with thanks to all the great men and women that have served and still serve our country, let’s scoop up some Creamed Chipped Beef on toast.
Ready to give it a try? Alright then, let’s head on out to the kitchen, and… Let’s Get Cooking!
Creamed Chipped Beef Recipe – You’ll need these ingredients.
Rise and shine and lets begin. Place several of the slices of dried beef on top of each other, then slice those into thin strips.
Place the strips in a small mixing bowl and cover them with warm water.
Dried Beef is very salty. Even the lid on this jar suggests that you rinse the beef in warm water first to remove some of the saltiness.
I allowed these pieces to soak for about 30 minutes, then drained the water off. Discard the water, it’s too salty to use for anything else. Set the beef strips aside for now.
Place your skillet on your stove top and set the heat to about one notch below Medium.
Add the butter, and let it melt.
When the butter is melted, sprinkle the flour over the top and start stirring.
Quickly stir the flour and the butter together.
I like to use this flat ended wooden spatula to stir my gravies with. I can scrape the bottom of my pan and not worry about scratching it. You’ll need to stir this quickly to avoid lumps. If you see any, just continue to quickly stir the mixture and most of them will dissolve away.
Let this cook for about a minute, maybe two, to slightly brown the flour and cook away that flour taste.
Gradually start adding the milk, stirring quickly until you’ve added the full three cups of milk to the pan. Don’t add cold milk, it should be at about room temperature for best results.
Continue to stir quickly, scraping the bottom of the pan so it doesn’t stick or burn. Do this until the milk begins to simmer.
Add the black pepper.
And if so desired, add the Worcestershire Sauce. It’s optional, but it adds a bit more flavor to the finished sauce.
Constantly stir the sauce until it begins to thicken. The hotter it gets, the quicker it will thicken and you don’t want it to start clumping up on you. If you see any lumps, try to break them up with your spatula and quickly stir them into the mixture.
Add the strips of dried beef to the sauce.
Some of the military recipes used ground beef instead of the dried beef. I’m sure it would taste a bit different, so experiment with the recipe to see which you like the best.
Now’s the time to taste it to see if it needs anything else. I actually added just a bit of salt to mine to enhance the flavor more. I was surprised it needed it, but guess I rinsed it all off in the beginning. Smile.
Continue to stir the mixture and let it simmer for about two minutes. That’s all the time it needs, just enough for the meat to get hot.
Enjoy!
Serve the beef over toast or biscuits. It’s generally served at breakfast, so some eggs would go pretty good with it.
I toasted my bread in the oven, and even slipped a few pats of butter on one of the slices. Toast doesn’t get any better than when you butter it and toast it in the oven. My favorite way of enjoying it.
Now you can get an idea of where the “on a shingle” part came in with serving it over toast.
It’s a quick and easy dish for breakfast or anytime of day. I’d love to hear your comments on it below.
