Amish Beef Tips with Lemon-Lime Soda – Slow Cooker

Amish Beef Tips with Lemon-Lime Soda – Slow Cooker: This easy slow cooker beef tips recipe uses just 4 simple ingredients, including lemon-lime soda! The soda helps make the beef super soft and adds a little sweetness to the rich, tasty gravy. It’s a simple, filling dinner that tastes like you worked hard on it, but really, the slow cooker does everything.

This slow cooker recipe for Amish-style beef tips is simple, easy comfort food that’s perfect for a busy week. The way you make it is almost too easy to believe: you just pour lemon-lime soda over raw beef stew meat, add two more pantry items, and let your slow cooker do all the work. This kind of cooking trick is often found in Amish and country church cookbooks, where soda is used to make meat soft and add a light sweetness that goes well with savory flavors. What you get is soft, fork-tender beef tips sitting in a rich, sweet-and-savory gravy that tastes like you spent hours cooking — but really, you just pressed a button.

Spoon these beef tips over creamy mashed potatoes, egg noodles, or steamed white rice so the tasty gravy soaks in nicely. You can also add a simple side like green beans, glazed carrots, or a fresh green salad to keep the meal balanced. Warm dinner rolls or crusty bread are great for wiping up extra sauce, and if you want a drink to go with it, try a dry red wine or unsweetened iced tea to balance the richness.

Servings: 6

Ingredients

• 2½ pounds beef stew meat, cut into 1- to 1½-inch cubes
• 1 (20-ounce) bottle or 2½ cups lemon-lime soda (regular, not diet)
• 1 (1-ounce) packet dry onion soup mix
• 1 (10.5-ounce) can condensed cream of mushroom soup

Amish Beef Tips with Lemon-Lime Soda: Directions

1. Put the raw beef stew meat into the bottom of a 5- to 7-quart slow cooker. Spread the pieces out evenly so every piece cooks and gets tender at the same rate.
2. Sprinkle the dry onion soup mix evenly over the top of the beef. Try to let it fall between the meat pieces instead of piling up in one spot.
3. Pour the cream of mushroom soup on top of the beef. Then sprinkle the onion soup mix over it. You don’t need to add water yet — the soup will loosen up naturally as it cooks.
4. Slowly pour the lemon-lime soda over everything in the slow cooker, making sure it covers the meat. You might see a little fizzing when the soda touches the ingredients — that’s totally normal, and it helps make the beef tender and build a tasty gravy.
5. Use a spoon to gently push the beef around so the soda can soak down between the pieces. You don’t need to stir it all the way — the slow cooker will blend the flavors together as it cooks.
6. Place the lid on the slow cooker and cook on LOW for 7 to 8 hours, or on HIGH for 3½ to 4 hours, until the beef feels very soft and falls apart easily when you poke it with a fork.
7. Once the beef is done cooking, stir everything together well so the gravy turns smooth and coats each piece of meat evenly. Taste the sauce, and if you’d like, add a small pinch of salt or black pepper to balance out the sweetness from the soda.
8. Serve the beef tips hot over mashed potatoes, egg noodles, or rice, spooning plenty of the rich, savory gravy on top of each serving.