🍂🌻 Chili Champions & Backyard Cooks 🌻🍂🤠 Chuckwagon Fall Recipe of the Day — Wednesday, September 30, 2026

🥩🍁 Brown Sugar Bourbon-Style Cowboy Beef Tips with Creamy Garlic Mashed Potatoes & Buttered Corn 🌽🥔

Good morning, folks! 🤠🍂

Happy Wednesday, friends!

Can you believe we're already saying goodbye to September? Tomorrow begins October, and that means more beautiful fall colors, cooler evenings, family gatherings, and plenty of delicious comfort food!

Today, we're closing out September with a hearty, old-fashioned country supper with a sweet and smoky twist!

We're making tender beef tips simmered in a rich brown sugar bourbon-style gravy, served over fluffy garlic mashed potatoes with buttery skillet corn on the side.

And don't worry, friends! Our bourbon-style gravy contains no alcohol. We're using Worcestershire sauce, brown sugar, apple cider, and smoky seasonings to create that wonderful flavor.

Grab your cast-iron skillet or Dutch oven, and let's get cooking! ❤️

🥩 Brown Sugar Bourbon-Style Cowboy Beef Tips

Serves 6

Prep: 20 minutes

Cook: 1½–2 hours

🥩 Ingredients

• 2½ lbs beef chuck roast, cut into 1½-inch cubes

• 3 tablespoons olive oil

• 1 large sweet onion, sliced

• 8 oz baby bella mushrooms, sliced

• 4 cloves garlic, minced

• 2 tablespoons butter

• 2 tablespoons all-purpose flour

• 2½ cups beef broth

• ½ cup unsweetened apple cider

• 3 tablespoons Worcestershire sauce

• 3 tablespoons brown sugar

• 2 tablespoons Dijon mustard

• 1 tablespoon tomato paste

• 1 teaspoon smoked paprika

• 1 teaspoon garlic powder

• ½ teaspoon onion powder

• ½ teaspoon dried thyme

• Salt and black pepper to taste

• Fresh parsley for garnish

🔥 Let's Get Cooking!

1️⃣ Season that beef!

Pat the beef cubes dry with paper towels. Season with salt, black pepper, smoked paprika, garlic powder, and onion powder.

2️⃣ Get that skillet sizzling!

Heat olive oil in a large Dutch oven over medium-high heat.

Brown the beef in batches for approximately 2–3 minutes per side.

Remove the beef and set aside.

Don't overcrowd your pot! We want a beautiful brown crust.

3️⃣ Bring on those onions and mushrooms!

Reduce the heat to medium.

Add butter, sliced onions, and mushrooms to the same pot.

Cook approximately 7–8 minutes, stirring occasionally, until softened and beginning to brown.

Add the garlic and cook another 30 seconds.

4️⃣ Make that country gravy!

Sprinkle the flour over the vegetables and stir for about 1 minute.

Add the tomato paste.

Slowly pour in the beef broth and apple cider, scraping the browned bits from the bottom of the pot.

Stir in Worcestershire sauce, brown sugar, Dijon mustard, and thyme.

5️⃣ Low and slow, friends!

Return the beef and any accumulated juices to the pot.

Bring to a gentle simmer, cover, and reduce the heat to low.

Cook approximately 1½–2 hours, stirring occasionally, until the beef becomes fork-tender.

If the gravy becomes too thick, add a little more beef broth.

6️⃣ Finish that gravy!

Taste and adjust the salt and pepper.

For a sweeter glaze, add another teaspoon of brown sugar. For a tangier flavor, add a small splash of apple cider vinegar.

Sprinkle with fresh parsley before serving.

Now that's some good old-fashioned cowboy cooking! 🤠❤️

🥔 Creamy Garlic Mashed Potatoes

Ingredients

• 3 lbs Yukon Gold potatoes, peeled and cubed

• 5 tablespoons butter

• ½–¾ cup warm milk or half-and-half

• 4 cloves roasted garlic, mashed

• ½ cup sour cream

• ½ cup freshly grated Parmesan cheese

• Salt and black pepper to taste

• Chopped chives for garnish

🧈 Make Those Potatoes!

1. Place potatoes in a large pot of salted water and bring to a boil.

2. Cook approximately 15–20 minutes until fork-tender.

3. Drain thoroughly.

4. Add butter, roasted garlic, sour cream, and warm milk.

5. Mash until creamy, adding more milk if needed.

6. Fold in Parmesan and season with salt and pepper.

Finish with chopped chives and an extra little pat of butter.

Spoon those creamy potatoes onto your plate and pile the tender beef tips and rich gravy right over the top! 😋

🌽 Southern Buttered Skillet Corn

Ingredients

• 4 cups sweet corn, fresh or frozen

• 3 tablespoons butter

• ¼ cup heavy cream

• 1 teaspoon honey

• ½ teaspoon smoked paprika

• Salt and black pepper to taste

• 2 tablespoons chopped parsley

🔥 Make It!

Melt butter in a cast-iron skillet over medium heat.

Add the corn and cook approximately 5–7 minutes, stirring occasionally.

Stir in the heavy cream, honey, smoked paprika, salt, and pepper.

Cook another 2–3 minutes until heated through and lightly creamy.

Finish with parsley.

Sweet, buttery, and delicious! 🌽❤️

⭐ MawMaw's Chuckwagon Secret

🥩 Want tender beef tips every time?

Choose chuck roast rather than a very lean cut of beef.

Chuck contains connective tissue that softens during slow cooking, giving you tender, flavorful beef.

And here's another little secret: don't rush the gravy!

Let those onions and mushrooms brown before adding the broth. Those browned bits in the skillet add wonderful depth to the finished dish.

Sometimes the best things really do take a little extra time!

🍽️ Serve It Up With

🥔 Creamy garlic mashed potatoes

🌽 Southern buttered skillet corn

🫘 Bacon-seasoned green beans

🥕 Maple-glazed carrots

🥖 Warm homemade yeast rolls

🍎 Sweet tea or cold apple cider

🍂 And for dessert?

🍎 Old-Fashioned Caramel Apple Cobbler

Warm cinnamon apples baked beneath a buttery golden cobbler topping, finished with caramel sauce and a scoop of vanilla ice cream.

Oh my goodness! That's how you finish a September supper! ☕🍎

💜 Wednesday Chuckwagon Encouragement

As we come to the end of September, I've been thinking about how quickly time passes.

It seems like we were just welcoming summer, and here we are preparing for October.

Sometimes we get so caught up in everything we need to accomplish that we forget to look back and see how far God has already brought us.

Maybe September brought wonderful blessings.

Maybe it brought unexpected challenges.

Maybe you received an answer to prayer, or maybe you're still waiting.

Whatever this month has held, I want to remind you of something.

God has been faithful through every single day.

There may have been moments when you didn't understand what He was doing. There may have been doors that closed or plans that changed.

But you're still here, and God is still working.

As we prepare to turn the calendar to a new month, don't carry yesterday's worries into tomorrow if you can lay them at the feet of Jesus today.

Thank Him for what He's brought you through.

Trust Him with what lies ahead.

And remember, friends, God is right on time, even when we don't understand His timing. ❤️

📖 Scripture for Today

Lamentations 3:22–23 (KJV)

"It is of the LORD's mercies that we are not consumed, because his compassions fail not. They are new every morning: great is thy faithfulness."

🍁 Wednesday Table Question!

What's YOUR favorite old-fashioned country supper?

🥩 Beef tips and gravy

🍗 Chicken and dumplings

🥔 Meatloaf and mashed potatoes

🍲 Beef stew and cornbread

🍖 Pot roast with vegetables

🫘 Pinto beans and fried potatoes

🤠 Something else Grandma used to make!

👇 Tell us in the comments!

And don't forget, friends, we'd love to see what's cooking at your house! Share those treasured family recipes, cooking pictures, fall favorites, chili recipes, BBQ creations, and upcoming cook-offs with our Chili Champions & Backyard Cooks family.

Let's keep those wonderful cooking traditions alive, one recipe at a time! ❤️

🍂🤠 Happy Wednesday, Friends!

As we say goodbye to September and prepare to welcome October, may your home be filled with love, your table have room for one more, and your heart be grateful for every blessing God has given you.

Faith ⭐ Family ⭐ Friends ⭐ Food ⭐ Memories ❤️🍁🌻