Creamed Chipped Beef (Shit on a Shingle Recipe)

Creamed Chipped Beef is the easy recipe for comfort food we all know and love! Nostalgic for army cooks, this is how my mom made it for us growing up! Nothing fancy, just a white sauce with Buddig beef on toast.

​I know you think every recipe starts with a long-winded story before you get the recipe.

​This is one of those posts. So, either tap the “jump to recipe” button above or stick around and hear a story from my childhood!

Also, I wanted to clarify that now, in the year of our Lord 2024, most recipe posts do NOT include a heart-warming story. All the words you scroll past are helpful tips and our first-hand accounts of testing the recipes we create for you here on the World Wide Web!

​So, while you may tap the Jump to Recipe button, you’re probably missing some helpful information you won’t find with AI-generated content. Just saying!

((Soap Box over.))

​Growing up, my mom didn’t cook much. I remember her making dinner every night, but she didn’t love cooking. She still doesn’t love it! Can she follow a recipe?! Yep! Sure can.

We had many casseroles, including another childhood favorite: Tuna Noodle Casserole. So good! 

But one of the meals I can remember her making and getting SUPER excited about was what we called “Chipped Beef on Toast.”

How to Make Creamed Chipped Beef

​My dad would get equally excited and then start on his verbiage about how his dad called this “Shi& on a Shingle when he was in the army!” Every single time, without fail, we would hear this story.

Yes, in the early 1900s and during World War II, SOS gravy was a meal served to the U.S. military. It’s a nostalgic dish for most and perfect for a quick weeknight meal at home.

First, let’s gather the ingredients needed for this family favorite.

You’ll need butter, flour, and milk to make a béchamel sauce. A little salt and pepper, too!

Then, you’ll need your chopped beef. We always used the Buddig brand beef, but other recipes include ground beef, country ham, chopped dried beef (the one in the small glass jars), or sausage. 

I can only find this specific brand in Walmart, not in my usual grocery store. 

You’ll need some toast, and I prefer an Oat-Wheat bread, but white bread is the original go-to toast recipe. 

This whole meal comes together in less than 10 minutes, so it was a family favorite (for my mother especially!).

The one true technique is making the cream sauce.

How to Make a Creamy White Sauce

​It’s a simple ratio of one cup of milk for every one tablespoon of butter and flour. I prefer to use whole milk for my cream sauces, but whatever percent of milk you have, great!

Melt the butter in a large skillet, and let it get foamy before whisking in the flour. Use low to medium-low heat so the butter and flour don’t burn. 

​While we are making a roux (butter + flour = roux), we aren’t adding any color to this roux. It’s a white gravy, not brown gravy.

Once your butter is foamy, sprinkle in your flour and whisk until it’s incorporated and there are no lumps. Stir it around the pan for a minute or so, cooking off the raw flour flavor. 

Now, slowly stream in your milk while you are whisking your roux. It’s okay if you pour the milk in and you have some lumps, just keep whisking.

People are always intimidated when making a creamy sauce. I promise you, if you just keep whisking, the roux will emulsify with the milk, and you won’t have any lumps.

Once you have a creamy white sauce, you can do anything from here!

Add in browned breakfast sausage for traditional Biscuits and Sausage Gravy. If you stir in grated cheese, you now have a cheese sauce. This creamy bechamel sauce can be used for lasagna, pastisio, etc!

From here, all you do is add in your chopped-up beef, (for me) lots of ground black pepper, and a little bit of salt.

The beef is pretty salty, so stir it into the white sauce, separating the beef pieces and suspending them by the creamy white gravy.

The Best Creamed Chipped Beef

We need some hearty toast for our chipped beef gravy.

I love this Oatnut Bread, but Texas toast would be incredible, too! You could always use the little thin slices of Pepperidge Farm bread and serve these as an appetizer. Yum! ((That’s making me want to turn this into a dip recipe?!))

Toast your bread in the toaster, oven, or even a skillet. But toast it a little browner than what you would usually have with your favorite breakfasts. The creamy gravy will nestle into the toasted bread, and if you want your bread to stay crisp on the bottom, make it “well done.”

When your toast is ready, slather your crisp toast with the delicious gravy and serve immediately!

This American Classic is one the whole family will love, and it’s a great way to get a quick meal on the table. It’s a real stick-to-your-ribs meal that uses common kitchen ingredients.

​Leave it to nostalgia to make this meal the star of the show!

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