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This 5-ingredient Slow Cooker sirloin tip roast is tender, savory, and finished with a rich golden gravy. Just add everything to the Slow Cooker, let it cook low and slow, and serve it over mashed Potatoes, noodles, or rice. You’re going to love how easy this comforting dinner is.
Why You’ll Love It
- Just 5 ingredients — the roast, soup, ranch mix, au jus mix, and butter do all the work.
- No searing required — add everything to the Slow Cooker and let it cook.
- Rich, savory gravy — buttery ranch and au jus gravy coats every slice or shred of beef.
- Tender slow-cooked roast — the beef pulls apart easily with a fork after a long, gentle cook.
- Great for leftovers — the recipe makes six servings and reheats beautifully for lunch.
Ingredient Notes
A sirloin tip roast is leaner than some chuck roasts, but it becomes wonderfully tender with the long, gentle slow-cooker time. Buy a roast between 3 and 3 1/2 pounds, fully thawed. Please don’t put a frozen roast in the slow cooker—I know it’s tempting when you forgot to move it from the freezer, but it doesn’t cook safely that way. I have forgotten many things in my life; that one is not worth gambling on.
The condensed cream of chicken soup gives the gravy its pale golden color and creamy body. I usually use Campbell’s because it’s what our grocery store always seems to have, but any standard 10.5-ounce can is fine. Cream of mushroom or cream of celery can be used if that’s what’s in your pantry, though the gravy will be darker and taste a little different. Still good. Just less sunshine-yellow.
For the ranch dressing mix and au jus gravy mix, use the dry packets—not prepared dressing, not jarred gravy, not some mysterious envelope you find in the back of the spice cabinet with no readable label. I have done that once with onion soup mix. It was probably fine. Probably.
Unsalted butter is best because both seasoning packets are salty already. Taste at the end before adding a single grain of salt. You likely won’t need it.
Ingredients
- 1 raw sirloin tip roast, 3 to 3 1/2 pounds, fully thawed
- 1 (10.5-ounce) can condensed cream of chicken soup
- 1 (1-ounce) packet dry ranch dressing mix
- 1 (1-ounce) packet dry au jus gravy mix
- 1/2 cup unsalted butter (1 stick), sliced into pieces
Instructions
Place the fully thawed sirloin tip roast in the center of a large slow cooker. If it has a fat cap, set it fat side up. Mine doesn’t always sit perfectly flat, and I have decided that is not an emergency; just make sure there’s room around the sides for the gravy mixture.
In a medium bowl, whisk together the condensed cream of chicken soup, dry ranch dressing mix, and dry au jus gravy mix until mostly smooth. It will be thick—almost alarmingly thick, if we’re being honest—and a bright yellow-gold color. A few small lumps are no big deal; they’ll melt into the sauce while it cooks.
Pour the soup and seasoning mixture over and around the roast, letting it slide down the sides and settle in the bottom of the slow cooker. I use a rubber spatula to get every bit because wasting that mixture feels like leaving money in the grocery cart.
Lay the sliced butter over the top of the roast and scatter a few pieces over the sauce around it. It may look excessive. It is excessive. That is partly why it tastes so darn good.
Cover the slow cooker with the lid and cook on LOW for 8 to 9 hours or on HIGH for 4 to 5 hours, until the roast is very tender and pulls apart easily with a fork. Try not to lift the lid every hour to “check on it.” I know. The smell gets to you. But every peek lets out heat and stretches the cooking time, which is just rude when you’re already hungry.
When the roast is tender, taste the gravy and decide whether it needs anything. Most times it does not need salt at all because the ranch and au jus mixes bring plenty. If there is more fat on the surface than you like, skim some off with a spoon. I don’t always bother.
Transfer the roast to a cutting board and slice it across the grain, or shred it into large pieces with two forks. I lean toward shredding because it stretches more easily and nobody has to negotiate over “the good slices.”
Return the sliced or shredded beef to the slow cooker and stir it gently into the warm gravy until every piece is coated. Serve hot with plenty of that golden sauce spooned over the top—mashed potatoes, buttered noodles, white rice, whatever gets supper on the table.
Variations
If you like a little tang with rich beef, add 1/4 to 1/2 cup sliced pepperoncini peppers and a splash of their brine before cooking. They don’t make the roast hot, exactly; they just give the gravy a pleasant little zip.
You can swap the cream of chicken soup for cream of mushroom or cream of celery if you prefer. Mushroom gives it a deeper, earthier flavor, though you lose that bright golden gravy. Cream of broccoli is not recommended. Let’s leave that chapter closed.
To make this more of a one-pot supper, tuck about a pound of scrubbed baby potatoes or thick carrot chunks around the roast before adding the soup mixture. Try to keep them mostly submerged so they cook through. They’ll soak up all that gravy, and you may find yourself standing at the counter eating one directly from the cooker. Not that I would.
If the sauce seems too rich after cooking—and some days it does, although I just praised it for being rich, so there you go—stir in a splash of low-sodium beef broth or a little milk until it loosens to your liking. For thicker gravy, whisk 1 tablespoon cornstarch with 2 tablespoons cold water, stir it into the hot liquid, cover, and cook on HIGH for about 15 minutes.
Storage & Reheating
Cool leftovers and refrigerate them in a covered container within two hours. They’ll keep well for 3 to 4 days, and I honestly think the flavor gets even better by the next day. The gravy settles in, the beef absorbs more of it… it’s one of those rare leftovers that doesn’t feel like punishment.
Reheat portions gently in the microwave, covered loosely, or warm everything in a saucepan on the stovetop over low heat. Add a splash of water or broth if the gravy has thickened up too much in the fridge. It usually does. Don’t blast it over high heat unless you enjoy scrubbing dried gravy off a pan, and who among us has that kind of free time?
I’ve also tucked leftover shredded roast into sandwiches with a little extra gravy, or spooned it over toast for a quick lunch. That sounds a bit old-fashioned, I suppose, but it’s delicious.
Final Notes
There is something comforting about a dinner that doesn’t demand much from you. The roast goes in plain and unremarkable, the kitchen slowly starts smelling warm and savory, and then all at once it’s evening.
And there you are, with a tender roast and gravy already done.
I used to think good cooking had to look like effort. Now I’m happy to make something simple that tastes like people were cared for. That’s enough most days.
More than enough, really… especially with mashed potatoes.
5-Ingredient Slow Cooker Sirloin Tip Roast Dinner
Ingredients
- 1 raw sirloin tip roast 3 to 3 1/2 pounds, fully thawed
- 1 10.5-ounce can condensed cream of chicken soup
- 1 1-ounce packet dry ranch dressing mix
- 1 1-ounce packet dry au jus gravy mix
- 1/2 cup unsalted butter 1 stick, sliced into pieces
Instructions
- Place the fully thawed sirloin tip roast in the center of a large slow cooker, setting it fat side up if it has a fat cap.
- In a medium bowl, whisk together the condensed cream of chicken soup, dry ranch dressing mix, and dry au jus gravy mix until mostly smooth.
- Pour the soup and seasoning mixture over and around the roast, letting it settle in the bottom of the slow cooker.
- Lay the sliced butter over the top of the roast and scatter a few pieces over the sauce around it.
- Cover the slow cooker and cook on LOW for 8 to 9 hours or on HIGH for 4 to 5 hours, until the roast is very tender and pulls apart easily with a fork.
- Taste the gravy and add salt only if needed; skim off some surface fat if desired.
- Transfer the roast to a cutting board and slice it across the grain or shred it into large pieces with two forks.
- Return the sliced or shredded beef to the slow cooker and stir it gently into the warm gravy until coated, then serve hot over mashed potatoes, buttered noodles, or white rice.