This recipe combines two of my favorite food items: barbecue sauce and grits. Unfortunately it’s one of those recipes I just wasn’t able to photograph as well as I’d like, but it is delicious! I made an outstanding slow cooker Mongolian beef a few weeks ago. It was extremely flavorful, and the beef was fall apart tender. There will be lots of slow cooker beef recipes in the future that use a similar method to the Mongolian beef, and this is one of those recipes. It’s super easy, very hands-off, and versatile enough to handle a variety of sauce and gravy options.

So yes, this recipe is a slow cooker recipe, and therefore the beef tips are not barbecued (as in, the cooking method), but they are cooked in a barbecue sauce. I used a Kansas City style sauce for these, but because I’m originally from South Carolina, I added some mustard powder. Yeah, I’m partial to the South Carolina mustard sauce. The amount I added was enough to give it a different flavor dimension, but the mustard was definitely not front and center.

I was originally going to make these for sandwiches, but then I realized that my cornstarch is at my boyfriend’s house and I didn’t have any sandwich rolls. The cornstarch would have been necessary to thicken the sauce a bit. I looked in my pantry to see what I had available to serve this over. I had a few choices: rice, various pastas, spaetzle, and grits. I love grits, and I thought this would be a good way to incorporate them into a dinner entree.

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5 from 1 vote

BBQ Beef Tips With Cheddar Grits

This hands-off recipe makes tender, almost fall-apart beef in the slow cooker. The beef tips are served over cheddar grits, making this a perfect comfort food.

Prep Time10 mins

Cook Time15 mins

Slow Cooker Cook Time4 hrs

Total Time4 hrs 25 mins

Course: Main Course

Cuisine: American, Southern

Keyword: cheddar grits, cheese grits, sirloin recipe, sirloin slow cooker, slow cooker BBQ beef, slow cooker beef tips

Servings: 2 servings

Equipment

• Slow cooker

Ingredients

Beef Tips

• 1 lb sirloin sliced thin
• ½ cup barbecue sauce
• ¼ cup chicken stock
• 1 tsp mustard powder

Grits

• 1 cup chicken stock
• ⅓ cup heavy cream
• ½ tsp kosher salt
• ¼ tsp white pepper
• ⅓ cup quick grits (not instant)
• 2 tbsp butter cut into cubes
• ⅔ cup cheddar cheese

Instructions

• Stir together barbecue sauce, chicken stock, and mustard powder in the slow cooker.
• Add beef and stir until well-coated.
• Cook on low for 4 hours (recommended) or high for 2 hours.
• During the last 20 minutes of cooking, or when ready to serve, begin to prepare the grits.
• Whisk together chicken stock, heavy cream, salt, and white pepper in a saucepan. Bring to a boil.
• Whisk in grits.
• Reduce heat to low and cook for 10 minutes, whisking frequently. (Be careful because grits occasionally pop from the pot, and they will be hot.)
• Stir in butter and cheddar cheese.
• Turn off heat, cover with lid, and let the grits rest for 5 minutes.
• Serve beef tips over grits.