S.O.S. (Creamy Hamburger Gravy)
S.O.S. also known as Creamy Hamburger Gravy is an old-school meal. This is a classic, simple and tasty meal that is reminiscent of military cooking!
WHAT IS S.O.S.?
If you have a military background or a military family member, then you are probably very familiar with this meal. It was my Navy Dad’s specialty and his Army Dad before him. Of course, I know military families from all the branches who know exactly what you are talking about when you say “S.O.S.”. We always knew when my Mom was working late because Dad would be cooking this dish. And luckily, my brother and I enjoyed it. It’s a very simple, completely unpretentious dish. And although most of us can make this while blindfolded with one arm tied behind our backs, I figured it needed to be shared here for posterity. 😉
HOW DO YOU MAKE HAMBURGER GRAVY?
So all we’re doing here is making a creamy hamburger gravy. This is very similar to the way I make my Homemade Sausage Gravy. The only difference between this and sausage gravy is we would substitute the ground beef with a spicy pork sausage. It’s also somewhat similar to Ground Beef Stroganoff.
WHAT DOES S.O.S. STAND FOR?
I grew up only ever eating this over toast. The acronym “S.O.S.” means “Sh** on a Shingle”. Yup. Really. So the “shingle” part is the toast. Some folks like it over biscuits but plain ole simple toast is how I like it best. In addition, some people also call Creamed Chipped Beef “S.O.S.” but this is how we make it and have for the last 80 plus years.
INGREDIENTS NEEDED: (FULL RECIPE AT THE BOTTOM OF THE POST)
- ground beef
- milk
- salted butter
- all-purpose flour
- salt and pepper
- bread
HOW TO MAKE S.O.S.:
In a medium sauce pan over medium high heat, brown the ground beef. Season with a little salt and pepper. Drain excess grease and set aside. Melt butter in the same sauce pan. Add flour and stir until butter/flour mixture is bubbly. Add milk, salt, and pepper. Stir constantly until thick and bubbly. Add meat and stir.
Taste and adjust seasoning as needed (I usually like a bit more pepper). Serve over toast or biscuits.
Cook’s Note: this is the exact same recipe I use for sausage gravy. Instead of ground beef, I substitute with hot, ground breakfast sausage.
CRAVING MORE RECIPES?
- Creamed Chipped Beef
- Chicken a la King
- Ground Beef Stroganoff
- Crock Pot Meatloaf Meatballs
- Ground Beef and Gravy
- Hamburger Steaks with Tomato Gravy
- Slow Cooker Hamburger Potato Soup
- Slow Cooker Salisbury Steak
- Crock Pot Meatloaf
- Air Fryer Meatloaf
- Hamburger Hash
S.O.S. (Creamy Hamburger Gravy)
Ingredients
- 1 pound ground beef
- 2 cups milk, 2% or higher
- 4 Tablespoons salted butter
- 4 Tablespoons all-purpose flour
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 1 teaspoon freshly ground pepper
- 12 slices bread, toasted
Instructions
- In a medium sauce pan over medium high heat, brown the ground beef. Season with a little salt and pepper. Drain excess grease and set aside.
- Melt butter in the same sauce pan. Add flour and whisk until butter/flour mixture is bubbly.
- Add milk, salt, and pepper. Whisk continuously until thick and bubbly.
- Add cooked ground beef back in and stir.
- Taste and adjust seasoning as needed (I usually like a bit more pepper). If necessary, add a little more milk until it reaches your desired consistency.
- Serve over toast.
Video
Notes
- Note: this is the exact same recipe I use for sausage gravy. Instead of ground beef, I substitute with hot, ground breakfast sausage.
Nutrition
Nutritional Disclaimer
“The Country Cook” is not a dietician or nutritionist, and any nutritional information shared is an estimate. If calorie count and other nutritional values are important to you, we recommend running the ingredients through whichever online nutritional calculator you prefer. Calories and other nutritional values can vary quite a bit depending on which brands were used.
JUST AS MY MOM MADE IT, THE TASTE IS EXACTLY AS I REMEBER. WHY DO PEOPLE FEEL THE NEED TO TRY TO IMPROVE THE RECIEPE? REMEBER THIS WAS MADE BACK WHEN FOOD WAS SCARCE AND PEOPLE HAD NOTHING OR VERRY LITTLE. JUST MAKE IT THIS WAY AND APPRECIATE YOUR LIFE
Great recipe, very simple. I add worcestershire and tabasco sauce, cooked with ground beef for a bit added flavor.
Hilarious! I’m 60 and grew up on SOS from my Army dad. Except we used cream of mushroom and ground beef and ground sausage and it was layered in a tall pot with corn tortillas (never used bread), that softened. It reminded me of a “poor man’s “lasagna or Mexican pie (my mom is Mexican). I remember it just being very satisfying and filling and very yummy! As an adult, I realize it was also very economical! Now I gotta make some!
Mmmmmmmm
Thanks
I butter the toast for a V.I.P treatment.
Ha – yes! You deserve the VIP treatment!
Brandie,
Thank you for posting this recipe! As soon as I seen the name of the recipe…I began smiling and giggling…Beautiful memories! My mom made this while I was in elementary school right on up Thank God my mom is still living and now I can make it for her ❤️…laugh..good food..good memories! Thanks to you
My dad also made this (he was an ex-Marine)… but it was always served over mashed potatoes, sometimes over mashed potatoes which was over sourdough toast. It’s a go-to dinner and never fails.
love this recipe god what memories it brings up
Thank you for sharing this recipe, My Mom use to make this when I was growing up and she didn’t have the recipe written down and now I have one. We had this over smashed boiled potatoes.
My grandpa used to make this all the time and I had forgotten about it until I saw your recipe. Made it tonight and served over toast – it tasted just how he made it. Thank you SO much for a wonderful memory and for sharing this recipe!
So delicious and easy instructions. My new favorite recipe.
I love this recipe. When I served in the military many, many years ago (Purple Heart Vietnam vet here), I did not have a taste for SOS. We always had it made with ground beef. The people who make it with the dried beef stuff are making creamed chipped beef, not S.O.S. (I will die on that hill Ha!) I have always liked sausage gravy and biscuits being from NC; however, years later I was craving the taste of the dish. Thank you for sharing this recipe and allowing it to live on and teaching others about this military tradition!
Thanks so much for your service Greg! We are a grateful nation for all that you and other veterans did for our country!
Thank you for your service, my dad loved this meal, he too, served in the Army for many years and had time in Vietnam. God bless.
My husband and kids loved this!! It was just like Nanny used to make!!❤️
Finally! My college boyfriend’s mom always had these in the freezer but she called them “Mis-steaks” and used the little cocktail size rye bread. I got a lot of recipes from her but never remembered to write this one down. I am so glad I found this site!
We in PA Dutch country make this same recipe with dried beef gravy over toast & call it SOS, YUM. My hubby & family ate your burger version when they were in the military. I’d probably like it if I ever ate it. However, not a fan of sausage gravy over biscuits either…had several versions of it sometimes with side of grits. Neither taste please the pallet.
Thanks kid! Just like momma used to make, and SGT Cook!
I was in a joint service unit for a while and you are absolutely right….SOS is universal to the branches. Mom and dad met in the Army in the 60s (mom was WAC!) So she gave it to us kids and then my wife made it for our kids.
I’m not a cooker, so even with both arms NOT tied behind my back, I had no clue how to do this. Thanks for bringing me up to speed.
Take this recipe (beef or sausage) and add the remaining items needed for a Scottish All-Day Breakfast (including fried bread instead of toast). It’ll be loaded with calories and cholesterol, but it’s a great treat and will be okay, healthwise, if only served once or twice a year.
This is very close to the SOS my Dad made. His had chopped onion in the ground beef when it’s browned. I can’t imagine what it would taste like without it, it makes it so good!
I use half Hamburger and half hot breakfast sausage ! Delish !
This recipe is my all time favorite it was served also in our cafeteria 0ver cream potatoes but in my household I serve it over toast
The best thing about this recipe post is all the memories I get to read. Food memories are one thing we all have in common and I am so honored to read so many wonderful and sweet memories here. 🙂
Hey everyone!
I love this recipe, as I am a military brat! We ate this often, and such fond memories are flooding back!
Does anyone have a good Old fashion goulash recipe, like mom use to make???
It was so good and filling for us (mom, dad and us 3 kids)!
Thank!
Larry
Back in the late 50’s , we would get it for lunch in the school cafeteria. Instead of with toast, it would be served over mashed potatoes……a favorite memory!
Grew up on this same recipe for SOS. Dad was military. My brothers loved it.
Made this for the first time ever. It was great!
Was in the AF back in the 70s. Finally discovered their missing ingrediensts, a pinch or two of nutmeg and brown sugar! Loved that subtle sweetness! Give it a try.
This brings back so many memories. My dad served in the Army for 10 years. This was a meal we ate at least once a week. There were six kids in our family and this was a recipe that could feed many. My mom would sometimes fry up potatoes as a side dish. Always loved it. Very hearty.
The best thing about this whole post is reading everyone’s memories of this dish and their parents. It makes my heart so happy!!
I’m an old Navy Viet Nam Destroyer Vet and I can remember having this for breakfast
OFTEN !! Thank’s for the recipe.
My Dad was in WW11 & was a cook on a destroyer in the Navy.
He made this once a week & he taught me how to make it. It is one of my “favorite” meals.
It is so easy to make & it is filling & does not cost a lot to make.
Thank you Brandie for this recipe, it is the exact one that was used in the Navy!
Whenever I make it I think of my Dad who was such a good cook & is no longer with us.
Thanks for sharing this recipe. I’m an AF brat and always enjoyed SOS when I was a kid. Still enjoy it now as well. This is exactly how my mom prepared it!
What fun that you put this recipe out there for posterity!! I love it! My mother cooked it when we were kids, but it was my Marine Corps dad that taught her to make it. When we were a young one income household in the late 60’s and 70’s, this was a super economical and easy to feed our family. My mom has since passed 11 years ago, but I will share this recipe with my dad. I’m sure he still knows how to make it at 79, but it might change it up for him a bit in his normal dinners. Thank you so much for sharing!!
This is easy to fix and easy to personalize each time it’s made. also, it tastes great and reminds me of home.
Hooooooorraaaaa.
I add some A-1 steak sauce!!!
My dad was in the army and was a cook. Your recipe is the exact recipe that he used and that I use to this day. He called it SOS and that’s what I call it. Love making it because it always reminds me of my dad and what a great cook he was. I’m so glad I have a lot of his recipes since he is no longer with us. It tastes good over biscuits and an over easy egg to the side. If you don’t have biscuits then over toast is great too.
My daddy (WWII) and husband (Vietnam) said SOS was served everyday for breakfast. I serve it with butter biscuits, I like to put a couple slices tomato with mine. I’m southern from AL and like tomatoes with everything.
So glad I stumbled upon this, this recipe always reminds me of my dad. He would make it for breakfast when my mom worked in the mornings on the weekend. The only difference is he would put a lot of garlic in it. I knew he was making strictly by the smell.
Thank you for this recipe. Simple & good. Navy generally use dried beef because of availability on the ship.
I have been using Nutra Thik (Hormel product) for a thickening agent instead of flour or cornstarch. Very easy to use.
That should be, Vienna, Austria!
I also grew up eating Stuff on a Shingle, as my Dad would call it! He was in the army, stationed in Bienna at the Palace of Justice. He would always kid about the ‘Stuff’, sometimes calling it the real name to shock us kids! He would add a little bit of garlic powder or salt which gave it a little extra flavor, and it was so good. I sure miss you Dad….I love you…
Used to eat this as a kid made with dry canned dried beef slices. Think it was a Hormel brand. It came in a small (2-4 oz) glass jar with a metal lid on it. Once used, you kept the jar because it could be used as a glass. Perfect for little hands is why my parents kept them as there were 6 of us kids. And, yes, it would be my Dad who made this. My Mom hated it.
Ha! I loved reading your memories Phyllis!
Grew up on this as a breakfast staple since my Grandpa made it as a cook in the Army. My mom passed the recipe to my sister and I with these changes to the above: corn starch vs flour, add garlic salt, over SOURDOUGH bread.
Well done! Thank you for sharing this. It totally reminds me of my childhood Saturday mornings!
Breakfast in the military was an awesome thing. I’d get the s.o.s. right over my 2 egg, cheese and mushroom omelette. Fuel for a busy day!
Going to start whipping this up around here. I miss it, and it looks pretty easy to make.
Thanks for the recipe!
Glad to see finally someone knows what SOS really is, see a lot of recipes for SOS and it is really Creamed Chip Beef
Hi Linda – the creamed chip beef was always a separate dish – but not S.O.S. Made the same way but with dried beef. I am learning that it probably depends on which branch of the armed forces you were in and what type of meat your canteen could procure. My grandfather was an old army cook and it was always ground beef but I am sure all of these recipes are special in their own right. 🙂
Excellent. This is the exact recipe my USMC Dad made for breakfast. I would rarely eat this as a kid, now I love it.
He always called it S. O. S. or Sh** On A Shingle
Thanks Jim! I love hearing everyone’s memories of this dish!
The best hamburger gravy I’ve made in a long time I’ve been trying different recipes but this is been my favorite by far unless my mother makes her hamburger milk gravy some things you just can’t duplicate and that’s one that I haven’t been able to
I love hearing that!! No one can ever create the way Momma made things. Ever. But I am so thrilled you still enjoyed this recipe. Thank you!
My mother’s milk or “cream” gravy was made by putting a stick of butter or margarine in a pan with a 12 ounce can of evaporated milk and a can of water and heating until a gentle simmer. Then she would mix together a few tablespoons of cornstarch and water and slowly, stirring constantly, stir it into the milk and butter. It thickens up very quickly. This was also my grandmothers’ recipe.
It is also good over hashed browns and scrambled eggs.
Yes!! So true, James!
Thank for this recipe. My stepdad cooked this for us in the Philippines and enjoyed it very much. When I asked him what it’s called, I remember almost choking when I heard his answer.
Excellent recipe and a big hit at my house! I made one small change, which was adding one tablespoon of worcestershire sauce (or soy sauce would work, too) for added umami flavor. We like to put this gravy on mashed potatoes, but next time well do toast to change it up a bit!
I’ll definitely be making this again!
This was just called Hamburger Gravy where I grew up in NC and we’d put it over mashed taters. SOS was made with Chipped Beef which we put on toasted white bread.
S.O.S. is hamburger gravy. Had that for breakfast every morning over a ham, cheese & mushroom omelet on toast, when I was in the Army. My mom used to make chipped beef gravy on toast also but never called SOS. I am also from NC.
Hi Bob! Yes, I am used to calling the other kind Chipped Beef Gravy on Toast too. To me, that is a totally separate recipe. 🙂
I grew up in the midwest and my dad and uncle served in World War II in Germany and the Philippines respectively and they both referred to SOS as chipped beef on toast because the chipped beef was dried rations and always available. Later, My late husband, and father-in-law, were in the Korean war where again SOS was chipped beef on toast. In the early 70’s, my current husband went to a prestigious private military school where again SOS was chipped beef on toast! The Gulf war years was still in the chipped beef on toast mode when my twin boys served their country. So actually Tina is correct, SOS is chipped beef over white toast.
However, growing up on a farm, we ate a lot of ground beef and had what we called hamburger gravy over mashed potatoes or biscuits. SOS was strictly chipped beef over toast.
Perhaps Bob and yourself are of the younger generation where the military did not have to use rationed food like chipped beef.
Perhaps in the last 20 years, fresh ground beef was used at military installations…so that is why you believe the ground beef version rather than the chipped beef version. I am sure during the war, our guys were not eating ham and mushroom and egg omelets for breakfast as Bob (below) was so fortunate to have By the way, I am 76 years old.
Nope – definitely NOT the younger generation – ha! My Grandfather was a cook in WWII and later the Korean War (God rest his soul) – both times – always with ground beef. He was a Midwest boy and they worked hard to get protein into their guys. He even has a story once of having to use goat meat in the Philippines during a troop transition period. Ick! My Grandfather actually taught my father how to make it (who served in Vietnam and the Gulf War.) We are a very strong military family (all the way back to the Revolutionary War.) My aunts, Grandmother and sister-in-laws have all served and I speak with personal experience as well. I suppose there are different versions of it and they can all be called S.O.S. – just because someone’s memories and recipes are different doesn’t mean they are wrong. We can enjoy it all no matter what it is called. 🙂
That is the same memory that I have, made with hamburg my mother called it hamburger gravy and served it over mashed potatoes. But when made with chipped beef my Dad called it Sh** on a shingle and it was served on toast. My Mom also made “Cream Tuna”. It was made the same way, but used canned tuna and she added a small can of peas and served it over what ever bread product in the bread box, usually on a Friday night.
Just made this dish this morning. My wife, the picky eater of the family, loved it! I was brought back to fond memories of my service in the Army. Mostly fond anyway ????. I would recommend this to anyone that buys the boil in a bag sos. I plan on trying it with some chipped beef next. Thanks for sharing!!
This is my favorite childhood recipe. We always called it creamed beef on French toast, AKA SOS. Many people think SOS is chipped beef but it’s not. The way my Mom made it, and the way I make it now, is like the recipe above. The only difference is that I make it with French toast. Mix up eggs and milk and dip some bread in and fry in butter. Serve the beef mixture over the warm and soft French toast. I”m drooling just thinking about it!!!