This post may include affiliate links. As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases.
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.
I am 83 years young and grew up eating this I also had this while serving in the Navy and eat it every Saturday morning for breakfast.
This is not the real SOS which is what the Navy served (WWII). The real recipe calls for chipped beef which is fried in butter then flour is added. Then one can evaporated milk and one can water. Salt and pepper to taste.
This was the best meal they served to my team of young german police officers at midnight-chow in Patton Barracks, Heidelberg, FRG. Lived in Patton Barracks 1970/71 after USAREUR HQ was bombed twice by Red Army Faction terrorist group and had to protect civilian housing Patrick Henry Village, Mark Twain Village, 130th Station Hospital and several barracks… The best food, topped with 2 sunny-side up eggs for a long shift covering all these areas in summer and winter. The main cook, MSG Jack Hendricks treated us youngsters to plenty of good GI-foods. Miss those days…
Hi Bernd! Thank you for sharing your memories. I know that SOS has always been a huge hit in my house growing up 🙂
This is the real SOS I had in Air Force basic training in 1978. Yum.
SOS (and French Toast) were the only 2 things my Dad could ever ‘cook’ when I was growing up, he would make this for us all the time, I loved it then and got a hunger for it now (some 50+ yrs later LOL I am making it for my supper as we speak <3 .. Ground beef style, the only way we ever had it…
We call it hamburger gravy and I make it just like sausage gravy but with ground beef. It’s awesome on toast, biscuits or over fried potatoes!
I also grew up on SOS, with ground beef. My Mom made it in a huge cast iron skillet that she could barely pick up. We always had it for late breakfast. Really great eating!
I’m 36 and never heard of it before
My family has eaten this for over 70 years but we serve it with mashed potato’s and peas and use cream of mushroom soup and milk for the sauce
“poop on a roof” was a favorite of mine as a child. My father was an army man and he liked it. Now when I make my own version I add beef boulion to intensify the flavors. With toast and mashed potatoes