A late brace of goals from Kevin Kelly helped the Cats to a 2-17 to 0-18 victory in the counties' Allianz National League Division 1A clash at Nowlan Park.
Tipperary started strongly and had built an 0-8 to 0-4 lead by the 20th minute.
Michael Ryan's side also had two really good goal chances in that early phase of the game but Kilkenny 'keeper Eoin Murphy denied both Conor Kenny and 'Bubbles' O'Dwyer, who came into the starting team for the ill Jason Forde.
Tipp seemed to lose their way a little during the remainder of the opening period, only managing one more point before the break.
Kilkenny, by contrast, upped their game to such an extent that they trailed at the break by the narrowest of margins – 0-9 to 0-8.
The Blue and Gold began the second half with points from O'Dwyer and John McGrath and top scorer but the Cats matched them stride with TJ Reid – who scored 0-10 – a notable influence on the direction of the match.
Despite this the Premier County still held a one point lead with time fast running out.
Kilkenny, however, didn't accept defeat and two goals from Kevin Kelly – the first after some good work by Jonjo Farrell and the second deep into injury time – earned the All-Ireland champions their first victory of the league season.
Tipp's next match is against defending league champions Waterford at Semple Stadium on Sunday March 6th.
