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Home » Recipes » Dinner

Easy Mexican Beef Tips

Published: Apr 3, 2023 · Modified: Feb 6, 2024 by Christina Koncker · This post may contain affiliate links · Leave a Comment

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The perfect rice companion, Easy Mexican Beef Tips features tender chunks of garlicky beef swimming in an earthy tomato sauce. The perfect hearty meal that comes together quickly and easily.

Who doesn’t love a hearty - yet flavorful! - a one-pot easy beef recipe that you can just spoon over rice (like this Instant Pot Basmati Rice)? Easy Mexican Beef Tips is very much that recipe. We’re talking tender chunks of beef simmered in an earthy and acidic tomato sauce, laid to rest atop a lovely bed of rice that’s perfect for soaking up every juicy drop. 

Mexican beef tips served up over rice on a plate.
Jump to:
  • Why You Will Love This Mexican Beef Tips Recipe
  • What are beef tips?
  • Ingredients
  • Substitutions
  • Variations
  • How to Make Mexican Beef Tips
  • Serving Suggestions
  • Top Tips for the BEST Mexican Beef Tips
  • Alternate Preparation - Slow Cooker Beef Tips Recipe
  • Recipe FAQs
  • More Easy Dinner Recipes
  • Easy Mexican Beef Tips

If you are unfamiliar with beef tips, check out “What are beef tips?” below before you venture out to the grocery store. Otherwise, you’ll waste a lot of time in the meat section looking for a package of meat that doesn’t exist under the label of “beef tips.” 

Craving more easy beef recipes for dinner? Try this Instant Pot Arm Roast or my Beef Taco Soup.

Why You Will Love This Mexican Beef Tips Recipe

  • Cooks in Less Than 30 Minutes. While the meat does need to marinate for an hour, the active time for making this beef tips recipe is just 25 minutes.
  • Easy Ingredients. Pantry staples, beef, and a few seasonings are all that's needed here!
  • Perfect for Weeknight Dinners. It's so easy to make, this dish is ideal for busy weeknights but also tasty enough to serve company or for a special occasion. Speaking of cozy weeknight dinners that are easy to prepare, you might also want to check out Chicken Picadillo or this Rotel Fettucine Pasta.
Mexican beef tips on a plate served over rice with a fork upside down on the plate piercing a piece of meat.

What are beef tips?

Beef tips or steak tips are “cubes” of beef most often cut from sirloin. Technically beef tips can be made from any part of the cow, BUT you definitely want to use a tender cut for this recipe. I usually opt for sirloin and then cut them into cubes myself, but you can also use ribeye, flank steak, and tenderloin. How much you’re willing to pay might also be a factor as prices for various cuts vary.

My advice? Splurge a few extra bucks on a nicer cut of beef so you get tender results if you can swing it. But if you're on a budget, I included directions for a slow cooker recipe variation that allows for the use of less tender cuts of beef. Cooking tougher cuts in the slow cooker gives the best of both worlds - tender results with cost savings and minimal effort. For more grocery budget tips, check out Easy Ways to Save Money on Groceries.

Ingredients

I recommend giving the beef tips at least 1-2 hours to marinade before cooking. Okay to prepare the night before if you’re really on top of your dinner game (up to 24 hours in advance).

For this easy Mexican Beef Tips recipe you will need the following ingredients.

Ingredients for the Marinade

  • beef tips - Some grocery stores carry pre-cut beef tips, or you can cut a sirloin or similar tender cut into approximately 1-inch cubes.
  • olive or vegetable oil - Either one works just fine. So does canola oil.
  • garlic cloves - I love how garlicky the beef gets! Two to three cloves of garlic is perfect.

Ingredients for the Beef Tips & Sauce

Ingredients needed for Mexican beef tips including beef tips, canned crushed tomatoes, onions, peppers, garlic and seasonings on a counter before preparing.
  • can of chili-ready tomatoes - specifically the chili-ready ones because they are more saucelike in consistency than diced tomatoes and I like it for this dish for that reason. You could also blend diced tomatoes if that's what you have on hand.
  • garlic cloves - Oh yeah! Garlic two ways! In the meat marinade and in the sauce.
  • yellow onion - I add peppers and onion to everything. Just ask my husband, LOL
  • green bell pepper (or jalapeno if you want it spicier) - see above, but peppers and onions in this sauce contributes to the earthiness and heartiness of the resulting dish.
  • seasonings, including cumin and paprika - Keeping the seasonings simple here keeps this dish nice and cozy, letting the garlic, vegetables, and tomatoes stand out.
  • cooked rice - Basmati rice is a favorite of mine, and you can easily make the perfect rice in the instant pot.

Substitutions

  • Chili-ready tomatoes - Chili-ready tomatoes are a thick tomato sauce with a little crushed tomato texture. You can use a canned smooth tomato sauce or diced tomatoes if you prefer. When subbing in crushed tomatoes, I prefer to hit them with a stick blender before adding to get a smoother consistency. 
  • Yellow onion - white onion is perfectly fine to use as well. 
  • Green bell pepper - you can use other colors if you’d prefer, red, yellow, orange, all are welcome! Or if you want it spicy, skip the bell pepper and use a jalapeno or other spicy pepper.

Variations

Give this Zesty Beef recipe some heat with the following suggested additions:

  • Add in a diced jalapeno, serrano, or other hot pepper
  • Add in a few dashes of your favorite hot sauce, like Tabasco
  • Add in a few dashes of cayenne pepper 
  • Replace the paprika with hot Hungarian paprika
  • Stir in a spoonful of jarred Calabrian chili or Harissa

How to Make Mexican Beef Tips

For the Marinade

Beef tips marinading in oil and minced garlic inside a plastic bag.
  1. Add the olive or vegetable oil, minced garlic cloves, and salt and pepper to a quart-sized Ziploc bag. Add in the beef tips next and seal the bag, removing as much air as possible. Massage the beef tips through the bag to ensure the marinade evenly coats each chunk of beef. Refrigerate for at least 1-2 hours, up to 24 hours.

For Cooking

Garlic marinaded beef tips in pan.
  1. Heat a deep-sided pan, like a brasier, over medium heat. Once hot, add the marinaded beef tips.
Cooked garlic marinaded beef tips in pan.
  1. Cook over medium heat for around 8 minutes, turning the beef tips every few minutes to cook all of the sides. You don’t necessarily need to cook them through at this point as they will finish cooking in the sauce.
Diced peppers and onions cooking in pan.
  1. Once all the sides of the beef tips have been browned, remove from pan. Leave the beef juice in the pan. Add the diced yellow onion and green bell pepper, cooking over medium heat for 3-4 minutes stirring occasionally.
Garlic, diced onion and peppers cooking in a pan.
  1. Next, add the minced garlic and cook for an additional 45 seconds.
Chili ready canned tomatoes, cumin, and paprika added to a pan with cooked peppers, onions, and garlic.
  1. Add the chili ready tomatoes, cumin, and paprika and stir to combine. Bring to a gentle simmer over medium heat, then add the beef tips back in.
Easy Mexican beef tips in a pan on the counter.
  1. Stir to coat the beef tips in the tomato sauce, then put a lid on it. Simmer for 8-10 minutes, stirring occasionally.

Note: I like to start the rice while the beef tips are searing. Use whatever rice you like. I really like basmati rice. If you do too, check out this Instant Pot Basmati Rice recipe.

easy Mexican beef tips with rice
  1. Serve over a bed of rice!

Serving Suggestions

I love these savory beef tips with basmati rice, but use what you like! Jasmine, arborio, and any short grain or brown rice would work well here. Try adding a drizzle of this Creamy Salsa Dressing to add another layer of flavor. If you prefer a rice with more flavor, try this Instant Pot Spanish Rice.

If rice isn't your thing, you could also use pasta - orzo would be great here since it looks similar to rice. You could also just pair it with a carb of choice, using bread to sop up the tomato sauce. Or experiment with different grains like quinoa or farro, or try it atop lentils.

Enjoy it with other sides like these Chipotle Mashed Sweet Potatoes, this Jalapeno Creamed Corn, or this Creamed Kale.

Top Tips for the BEST Mexican Beef Tips

Tip 1. Let the meat marinade for at least an hour, longer if you can, to really let that garlic flavor sink into the beef. You can marinade up to 24 hours if you would like.

Tip 2. Let the meat marinade for at least an hour, longer if you can, because this will also help tenderize the meat further.

Tip 3. Sometimes it's hard to gauge the tenderness of meat by sight. We've all been there right? To ensure tender results, tenderize the meat with a meat tenderizer and marinade for at least 8 hours to hedge your bets. You could also add a little pickle juice to help tenderize.

Wondering what to do with leftover pickle juice? You can also add a little dill pickle juice to the marinade in this recipe to add a little something special :); plus it reduces or eliminates the need to add salt since pickle brine is typically salty.

Alternate Preparation - Slow Cooker Beef Tips Recipe

If you want to make this recipe even easier, you can prepare it in a slow cooker instead! I recommend marinating the meat at least 1-2 hours in advance, then searing the beef tips coated in cumin and paprika for 2-3 minutes each side for 8 to 12 minutes total. I like to add the minced garlic right at the end as I shut off the heat, stirring vigorously for 30-35 seconds, then removing the pan from the heat. The rest of the ingredients - onion, bell pepper, and tomato sauce - can be added to the slow cooker with the seared meat. Cook on low for around 8 hours - this is a surefire way to get tender, fall-apart meat.

Recipe FAQs

Can I use stew meat in this recipe?

Nope, sorry! It’s tempting to buy stew meat because it comes packaged already cut up into neat little cubes, but it’s just too tough for this recipe. If you really want to use stew meat for this recipe because dang they are reasonably priced, I feel you. If you want to use them, I would recommend slow cooking until tender (see above).

I cooked according to the recipe directions, but the meat is still a little tough. What should I do?

If your cut of meat wasn’t as tender as you expected (don’t worry, it happens), I recommend cooking it longer over a gentle simmer (medium-low heat). This could mean simply cooking for an additional 5-10 minutes, or you may wind up cooking an additional 30. If you need to cook it for much longer, you can add a little chicken stock or water to keep the sauce from thickening too much. Or check out the Top Tips section for more tenderizing suggestions.

How long do leftover beef tips last?

Store leftover beef tips in a lidded container in the refrigerator for up to 5 days, or freeze in an airtight container for up to 3 months.

Easy Mexican Beef Tips with rice.

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If you tried this Mexican Beef Tips recipe (or any other recipe on Midwexican), please leave a 🌟 star rating and let me know how it turned out in the 📝 comments below!

easy Mexican beef tips with rice

Easy Mexican Beef Tips

Christina Koncker
The perfect rice companion, Easy Mexican Beef Tips feature tender chunks of garlicky beef swimming in an earthy tomato sauce. The perfect hearty meal that comes together quickly and easily.
4.89 from 9 votes
Print Recipe Pin Recipe
Prep Time 15 minutes mins
Cook Time 25 minutes mins
Marinade time 1 hour hr
Total Time 1 hour hr 40 minutes mins
Course Main Course
Cuisine Mexican
Servings 3 people
Calories 696 kcal

Equipment

  • 1 brasier

Ingredients
  

Beef Tip Marinade

  • 1 pound beef tips (cut into cubes from sirloin or similar tender cut)
  • 2 tablespoons olive or vegetable oil
  • 2 large garlic cloves (finely minced)
  • ¼ teaspoon salt
  • ¼ teaspoon pepper

Beef Tips and Sauce

  • 1 15 ounce can chili ready tomatoes
  • 2 large garlic cloves (finely minced)
  • ½ cup diced yellow onion
  • ½ cup diced green bell pepper (or jalapeno if you want it spicier)
  • ½ teaspoon cumin
  • ⅓ teaspoon paprika
  • salt and pepper, to taste
  • 3-4 cups cooked rice  (for serving)

Instructions
 

For the Marinade

  • Add olive or vegetable oil, minced garlic cloves, and salt and pepper to a quart-sized Ziploc bag. Add in the beef tips next and seal the bag, removing as much air as possible. Massage the beef tips through the bag to ensure the marinade evenly coats each chunk of beef. Refrigerate for at least 1-2 hours, up to 24 hours.

For Cooking

  • Remove beef tips from refrigerator 15 minutes before cooking.
  • Heat a deep sided pan, like a brasier, over medium heat. Once hot, add the marinaded beef tips.
  • Cook over medium heat for around 8-10 minutes, turning the beef tips every few minutes to cook all of the sides. You don’t necessarily need to cook them through at this point as they will finish cooking in the sauce.
  • Once all the sides of the beef tips have been browned, remove from pan. Leave the beef juice in the pan.
  • Add the diced yellow onion and green bell pepper, cooking over medium heat for 3-4 minutes stirring occasionally.
  • Add the minced garlic and cook for an additional 45 seconds.
  • Add the chili ready tomatoes, cumin, and paprika and stir to combine.
  • Bring to a gentle simmer over medium heat, then add the beef tips back in. Stir to coat the beef tips in the tomato sauce, then put a lid on it.
  • Simmer for 8-10 minutes, stirring occasionally.
  • Remove from heat and serve hot over a bed of rice.

Notes

Let the meat marinade for at least an hour, longer if you can, to really let that garlic flavor sink into the beef. You can marinade up to 24 hours if you would like.
Start the rice while the beef tips are searing so they are both done about the same time. Use whatever rice you like. I really like basmati rice. If you do too, check out this Instant Pot Basmati Rice recipe.
Store leftover beef tips in a lidded container in the refrigerator for up to 5 days, or freeze in an airtight container for up to 3 months.

Nutrition

Calories: 696kcalCarbohydrates: 50gProtein: 31gFat: 40gSaturated Fat: 13gPolyunsaturated Fat: 2gMonounsaturated Fat: 20gTrans Fat: 2gCholesterol: 107mgSodium: 300mgPotassium: 576mgFiber: 2gSugar: 2gVitamin A: 208IUVitamin C: 23mgCalcium: 64mgIron: 4mg
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Christina from Midwexican

About Christina

I'm a Minnesota native who can't get enough of south-of-the-border flavors. My recipes combine comforting Midwestern eats with bold Mexican and Tex-Mex flavors. If you love comforting food, bold flavors, and - most importantly - tacos! then you'll love what I'm cooking!

Learn more about me

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