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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 “shit on a shingle,” and growing up, I loved it when my dad made this for dinner.
I mostly loved it because I could say “shit” 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.
SOS recipe ingredients
- Ground beef
- Yellow onion
- Kosher salt
- Black pepper
- Unsalted butter
- All-purpose flour
- Whole milk
- Toasted bread
What is shit 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
Equipment
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
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
Sounds great, but at my age (81), and bad eye sight, I cheat a little by using Safeways’ Alfrado sauce. Pretty much the same result, but not as time consuming to make.
@Jackie, Stouffers and Bob Evan’s sells the Chipped Beef version of this in the frozen section. I love it. I buy it all the time. Delicious. You might want to try it.
Judy
I haven’t made SOS in a long time. My dad would always call it by its full name though! LOL (Sh*t on a Shingle) Thanks for bring back a good memory. I’m getting out the hamburger now to make some, but I will put ours on biscuits instead of toast.
Hi Debbie! Thank you for sharing your memory. My dad always called it by the full name too 🙂
@nutmegnanny,
Hi! My dad was in the Navy and he always called it SOS! He would make it on Saturday mornings and we would have that for a “fancy” breakfast! I’m making this for dinner tonight, and I’m serving it with biscuits and a veg.
My dad was in the Marines, and made this all the time. One of my favorite meals, he would add some soy sauce for flavor and color. Even better when served with a side dish of fried diced potatoes and a fried egg. 🙂 🙂
Was a messhall cook in the Army in the early 80s.
I cooked for 300 soldiers everyday.
SOS was always the first thing we ran out of [ for breakfast].
— We always added a little nutmeg to spice it up a bit.
My mom was a single mom and couldn’t afford to buy us fancy food. We had this a lot when I was a kid…probably at least once a week! When she got married, she married a man that made good money and we never ate it again! Lol…. Ahhh….the memories!
No need to make a roux…just sift the flour over the ground meat and give it a stir to coat the meat well then add the milk and stir it till it thickens…comes out smooth every time!
sounds great…using ground pork sausage instead of ground beef would make it pretty much the gravy for biscuits and gravy!
This is a very old dish. It was handed down on my mother’s side for well over 70 years as it was a way to use the ground meat they had left when a steer was dressed out. In my family we served it over boiled potatoes, baked potatoes that have been scooped out, or boiled rice, plus a vegetable. I often make enough of the meat and gravy that I can have it the next day. I love the way it makes me feel on a cold winter day, nice and warm inside and definitely satisfied. Thanks for sharing this with others.
I use Cream of Mushroom Soup or Brown Gravy Mix, and eat it over fries.
Yummy
Oh wow, my Mom made this all the time when we were kids growing up, and on a budget after my Dad was killed at such a young age. 🙁 Oh how I loved this. My only problem now is getting my guys to eat it. Hubby was Military, now retired and not a fan when they served this to him. But I am making it anyway and hoping for the best. Wish me luck!! 🙂
Best dish ever!! Thanks so much, brings back so many wonderful memories.