Now I’m going to be completely honest with you about this dish. It is NOT the most visually appealing dishes ever. It has a certain name that most know it by “S**t on a Shingle” is most common – heck that’s what my Dad called it. Mom called it “Chipped Beef on Toast” even though it was never ever beef. It was always shaved baked ham. I, called it, PERFECT! See this was the ALL TIME FAVORITE recipe EVER my Mom made. Even though we had virtually no money growing up each of us kids got to pick out anything we wanted to eat for our birthday – dinner and dessert. For 18 years (well maybe not when I was 1 or 2 years old), I asked for Chipped Beef on Toast and her to-die-for Chocolate Cake with Chocolate Pudding frosting. This is true ‘peasant’ food – it’s ridiculously cheap, fed a ton and well was ‘fugly’ looking. This would be the child in the family that wasn’t the athlete, wasn’t the brainiac, wasn’t the one that stood out but rather was the wall flower of the family.
BUT… yes but… when given the chance they proved you wrong. They stood out because they were unpretentious, ordinary and simplistic. In their own way they were truly amazing. That’s how this dish is to me. With just a few simple ingredients, you can take that wallflower plain jane dish and make it taste absolutely phenomenal. So yes, this will never be one of those gorgeous dishes that you just want to lick your monitor over but if given that chance to shine, it will become one of your all time favorites.
Now this I had on toast, not bread but toast. The contrast of the crunchy bread with the creaminess of the bechamel sauce with the hint of pepper and ham was just…perfect. The peas, for me, must only ever be canned peas. I absolutely LOATHE frozen peas and while fresh pea rock, they just don’t quite work in this dish.
Now even though my dearest mother has been gone since 26 years I still make this in the month of May (my birthday month) just for me. Mr. Fantabulous honestly I don’t think has ever tried this in all the years we’ve been together. I don’t think it’s on purpose, it’s more just that I make just enough for me. It’s like a personal dish that I have with her – at least in my heart when I eat it. It’s one of those foods that always trigger happy memories for me.
Do you guys do that? Do you have a food or dish that triggers a certain memory or slew of memories? Tell me about it.
Now what makes this even more ‘fugly’ if you will is that if you notice in the pictures, there are 2 regular slices of toast and the lowly end/crust piece. This, again, is a must for me. The crust was the anchor of the ‘boat’ that didn’t get this stuff on it. Since I was the youngest of the kids, even though it was my birthday I always seemed to get stuck with the crust. You know, that slice of bread that no one EVER wanted. It was hard and well more crust than real bread. However Mom always made it out to be so much more awesome than the regular bread slices. See, this dish, the bread must be toasted. And for me the toast HAD to be crispy. Again it’s that texture thing. You don’t want this to get all mushy right away. The crispier the toast, the longer it held up against the weight of the sauce and fillings. So if you used the end slice, it got super crispy and while my brothers would get stuck with the mushier pieces cause they had the “real bread” toasted my lowly crust was still nice and crispy up towards the end. Thus we called it the anchor of the boat. It was sturdy, kept stuff in place and didn’t let the fillings sink down in.
Pretty ingenious, eh?
So if I had to say one thing about this dish to you to try it I’d have to say “Don’t judge a book by it’s cover. Open it up and give it a try. You may just find yourself totally in love and beyond thrilled you gave it a shot!” Delicious doesn’t have to be fancy schmancy or drop-dead gorgeous.
Creamed Chipped Ham (Beef) on Toast – SOS
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Ingredients
- 4 Tbl butter, unsalted
- 1/3 cup flour
- 1 1/2 cups milk
- 1 1/2 cups half and half (or can use all milk)
- 1 pound shaved chipped baked ham (or can use chopped dried beef)
- 3 1/2 cups peas (canned or frozen – thawed)
- 1 tsp black pepper
- 1/2 tsp salt
- 8 slices of bread, toasted – don’t forget about the ‘anchor’ crusts!
Instructions
- In a medium saucepan over medium heat, melt the butter.
- Add in the flour and whisk for a minute to cook the flour.
- SLOWLY add in the milk whisking constantly to break up the clumps.
- Reduce heat to medium low and cook, whisking often until the mixture thickens. ~3-6 minutes. Watch so it doesn’t burn!
- Once the mixture thickens add in the ham and using a rubber tipped spatula, mix to combine, gently scraping on the base on the pan.
- Cook for 1 minute.
- Add in the peas, stir gently and turn off the heat.
- Toast the bread and place 2 slices of toast on a plate.
- Ladle a generous portion over the toast.
I haven’t tried this recipe yet, but I’m definitely going to. You may be too young to remember, but I’m sure your mom is not. Once upon a time grocery stores sold a glass jar full of dried beef called chipped beef. My mom and probably both your grandmas used that jarred beef to make something very similar to your ham dish. My mom’s recipe did not have peas, but I think they will make a nice addition.
OMG, I know of that stuff! They still sell it actually! I make a beef “cheeseball” with it for the holidays!
Best Kitchen Wishes!
Thank you so much for this recipe. This is an old family go to dish mom made. I’ve asked my sister’s if they have and sadly they don’t. I’ve developed and mastered other “mom” recipe’s. Potato pattiesand salmon pattiesand my favorite southern baked chicken.
Thank you Lori!
Sincerely, Kevin
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Hi Kevin!
You are most welcome! Enjoy!
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Haven’t had this in years! Same story as yours, my mother used to make it. She’s been gone 15 years and I’ve forgotten about it. Made a ham for Christmas, plenty of leftovers and my oldest son, 32, said I should make grandma’s creamed ham on toast. Making it this weekend! Thanks for reminding me how to make it! Cheers!
HOW MANY SERVINGS IS THIS?
Hi Lori! You may never see this comment, due to how long the recipe has been posted on your site, but I wanted to tell you I made this tonight for myself and just finished scraping the pan with a spoon to get every last drop! I remember my mom made it with the thin dried beef that used to come in a glass jar. Tonight I wanted to use up some lunchmeat-style black forest ham and I remembered my mom’s creamed chipped beef, so I Googled ‘creamed chipped ham’ and voila! Your recipe was the first one I clicked on. Enjoyed the stories from your childhood. My mom would bake whatever type cake we wanted for our birthdays too. (One of my favorites was a Grape Cake, she made by adding a little grape Kool-Aid powder to the batter & frosting.) Anyway, I used an 8″ cast iron skillet and scaled the volume of ingredients down for two servings. Like other reviewers, I started with a roux but used skim milk, which is all I drink, and it turned out just fine. I cut the ham up, added (frozen) petite baby peas; lots of pepper and I was in heaven. My first serving was over very dark toast, but after I devoured that, I took the skillet to the table and finished eating the rest of it out of the skillet with a spoon! I wouldn’t be afraid of serving this to company, perhaps in those philo tart cups, like you would chicken ala king, along with a couple nice side dishes. Now that I’ve made it, (and printed it out), it will go into my rotation of go-to meals in a hurry. Thanks so much for sharing this recipe!
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Hi Ron!
I see all comments as they are important to me (the good and the bad ;-)), OMG my Mom made Grape Cake too!!! She though would use various Kool-Aid flavors for the kids. Mine was grape while my sister was cherry. Love the idea of phyllo tart cups! That will most definitely class it up. Or they make Puff Pastry tart cups that have a ‘hole’ in the middle where you could put filling in there. Sounds delicious! And thank you so much for such kind words! I really appreciate it!
Best Kitchen Wishes!
Make this quite often as others have mentioned it brings back memories … I also from time to time use tuna and peas … Bon appetit
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Hi Pete!
Yes I’ve had it with tub and peas as well. This is such a “home” type dish for me.
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I didn’t know that there were actual recipes for milk gravy. My mom and dad could both make this. They actually made plain milk gravy more times than with the dried beef. I never had it on toast, We were blessed that my .mom made the best buttermilk biscuits in the world. She made biscuits or hoecake (a whole cake of bread that she just didn’t shape into separate biscuits in her hands), she made buttermilk biscuits or hoecake for my dad, me and my sister every morning and at our evening meal, which everyone now calls dinner, but back then it was supper and always will be to me, that was a southern evening meal. I’ve made milk gravy most of my life, my mom and dad just did the dump and stir by sight so that’s how I always have made it. I couldn’t ever make biscuits that good, I go to Bojangle’s and buy plain biscuits their not as light and fluffy, but they taste exactly like her buttermilk biscuits. I don’t make milk gravy without good biscuits, you either open it or pinch them up and pour the gravy over them. I read that someone likes to brown their flour before adding the milk, I brown mine too it taste so much better. This and Thanksgiving and Christmas dinner makes me miss my family, I lost my husband two years after both of my parents. I miss them dearly, but we will meet again and be reunited. My husband never knew about milk gravy until he had it at my parents. He wouldn’t touch milk, but he was crazy for milk gravy and biscuits. We will have it again together.
My husband asked me to make this for him with the Easter leftovers and I had never heard of it. He said it was one of his favorite things his mother used to make and he loved it. I never met her but apparently she was an amazing cook. Ufortunately took her culinary secrets to the great beyond with her. I’m always nervous when he asks me to try to replicate one of her dishes. It’s never just the taste he’s looking for but the great memories associated with it. I was so surprised to read your recipe and realised it was SOS with ham and peas. I was so happy when I served it and he said it was just like hers. I don’t think I’ve ever gotten a better compliment. Thank you for helping me bring her into our kitchen.
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This makes me happy! My grandfather was the only person I have ever known to make this. I had completely forgotten about this dish and he had been on my mind recently. I will defiantly be making this tonight! It always was one of my favorite dishes when visiting him
Hi Megan!
That warms my heart to hear this brought back fond memories! I love how food can trigger stuff like that!
Best Kitchen Wishes!
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I found your recipe on pinterest and agree this is my favorite childhood comfort food, and I still make it about once a year, just for me, because no one else in the family will even try it. Their loss. It was one of my dad’s favorite foods from his time in the army and he called it the same thing your Dad did.
The way I was taught to make it, we shredded the chipped beef from the Amish market and sauteed it in the butter to crisp it up, then added the flour and stirred until slightly browned, then added the milk and stirred until thick. Also, always canned peas, and if we could afford them, LeSueur baby peas in the silver can. And the bread crust is my favorite because it held the most sauce. 🙂
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Mel,
Oh I love the way you were taught to make yours! Sounds awesome! And yes your family is so missing out but it’s all good.. more for you!
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My mom always made this with just ground beef and gravy over toast. As a kid – and an adult – I loved it. Little did I know that this was a cheap meal to make grocery money last to the end of the month. May have to try some peas in it now.
My Mom made that as well but hers was with ground beef, peas, and a dark brown gravy. Yep this was that meal she would make (outside of it being my birthday meal) that we had when we didn’t have much in the fridge or freezer. It make a lot and fed a big family.
Best Kitchen Wishes!
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One of my all-time favorites is Chipped Beef in Gravy. But, my gravy has to be a bit browner than yours, and I have never used peas in my chipped beef.
When my husband, who doesn’t seem to know good food when he sees it, is not home for dinner, this is my dinner. I just might have to try the lighter with peas version next time.
Joan,
If you use true chipped beef I believe you gravy would be darker due to the coloring from the beef. This is one of my all time favorite dishes ever! I can remember when I bought my first house and my parents had long since passed I made this once a week because I was a young kid, first house and went with “what I knew”. LOL
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Yeah, it might be darker from the beef, but I treat the gravy like it was a roux and brown the starter to a nice caramel color and then add the liquids.
I am the opposite of you and cannot stand the taste of canned peas…..toooooo mushy…yuck..lol but then I have also never had peas in this dish ad always with beef so who knows. Such wonderful memories to have though.
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Yeah I can’t do frozen peas at all. They just have a funky taste to me. Have you ever tried the canned “early spring” baby peas? They are actually crisp and not mushy.
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I do this with leftover lamb and LeSueur canned young peas yummy. Also a memory of my Mom!
Oh YUM Karen! That sounds divine! I love “Mom” memories!
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