Imagine your family sitting around the holiday table, plates piled high with all the traditional favorites. Happy chatter quiets as the serving dishes are passed and eyes close in utter bliss as they take that first bite of fluffy mashed potatoes covered in the silkiest, creamiest, homemade gravy known to man. Grab some coffee and let's talk about making gravy from scratch - and becoming the holiday dinner MVP.
It seems like some people are just born knowing how to make gravy from scratch while others struggle for years before finally succumbing to the heartbreak of gravy failure. If you think I am kidding around just bring a can of store bought gravy to the next southern dinner you get invited to.
No, please don't. I can't be responsible. Just read through and learn to make it right.
So, just about everybody knows that people in the south consider gravy to be a vital part of the food pyramid, right? Country gravy, also known as cream gravy, goes on chicken fried steaks, chicken fried chicken, biscuits and such. Brown gravy goes on pot roast, roast chicken, turkey and stuff like that. Any kind of gravy goes on mashed potatoes.
Once you have that down you're good to go.
Jump to:
? Ingredients
The ingredients for any gravy recipe are pretty basic. It's the technique that makes the difference. Whether you're making it to top buttermilk biscuits or to pour over a roast here's what you'll need:
- Liquid can be meat or poultry stick, vegetable stock, milk or milk alternative.
- Fat can be bacon grease, butter, turkey drippings, poultry drippings, meat drippings...
- Flour is the thickener of choice. I use all-purpose flour for this.
- Salt and Pepper are necessary for flavor. I like plenty of black pepper in my gravy.
- Other Seasonings can be added like sage, poultry seasoning, herbes de Provence, rosemary, or whatever.
? Instructions
Real Southern gravy is rich, creamy, and an important part of the Southern food pyramid. It should be smooth as silk and rich as a Houston oil tycoon.
The technique is the same whether you are making cream gravy or brown gravy so this recipe will show you how to make gravy of any sort you like.
- Heat bacon grease, butter, or oil in a skillet.
- Add the flour.
- Stir to blend - it will be bumpy.
- Cook and whisk for 2 minutes.
- Whisk in the milk.
- Stir until smooth.
- Add salt and pepper to taste.
? Turkey gravy with giblets
You'll find the giblets and heart and liver in that paper bag inside the turkey. Some people add the liver to the simmering water but I don't like the flavor. Do what you want about that. Learning how to make gravy is largely a matter of experimenting to see what you like best.
- Cover the neck and giblets and heart with water.
- Add 1 onion, peeled and cut in half as well as 1 peeled carrot, 1 stem of fresh rosemary, and 2 stalks of celery.
- Simmer covered until the meat is cooked through and the vegetables are soft.
- Remove the vegetables and strain the stock to remove meat and vegetable matter - some people like to just blend the vegetables up with the broth for a heartier gravy. Others chop the cooked giblets, heart, and neck meat up and add it to the gravy. You've got options.
- Use for the liquid as directed in the recipe.
? Related recipes
I think a great homemade gravy recipe should definitely be considered a side dish, don't you? Here are more of my favorites -
- Easy Au Gratin Potatoes are creamy, and delicious AND made right on top of the stove!
- Slow Cooker Cornbread Dressing is so light and fluffy! Once you've made it in a slow cooker you’ll never make it any other way.
- Southern Corn Pudding is made with fresh corn that's fire roasted then cut from the cob to create this deliciously creamy side dish.
❤️ Tips
- Don't use margarine for your homemade gravy! Use real butter (not whipped), bacon fat, or drippings from the meat. Use oil if you must but don't use margarine! Please!
- Go easy on the salt. You can always add more once it's done.
- Add plenty of freshly ground black pepper. Yes, even in the cream gravy. It's supposed to be "freckled".
- Be sure to cook the flour in the fat for at least 2 minutes while stirring constantly. This will get rid of any raw flavor.
- When you add the liquid to the fat and flour mixture do it slowly while whisking with your other hand. Whisk quickly and all of the lumps should whisk right out. Do not let it scorch - there's no coming back from that.
- If you're worried about lumps in the gravy just strain the gravy as you pour it into the serving bowl. With practice there won't be any lumps to strain out.
- Use evaporated milk or whole milk for your cream gravy. Do not use non-fat or low fat. Please, this is GRAVY.
- DO NOT dilute your gravy with water. Dear God.
- Strain any pieces of meat or vegetable out of your stock before making brown gravy.
- Always taste and adjust
❓FAQs
Here are some of the most frequently asked questions about making gravy from scratch. If you can't find your answer here go ahead and ask in the comments and I'll get back to you.
How do you make gravy from meat juices?
Pretty much just like you make it with cream or milk.
- Collect the juices and the fat from the meat you are roasting or use prepared stock.
- Let the fat separate and skim it off.
- Add the fat to a heavy saucepan
- Stir in flour and cook for 1 minute.
- Stir in the meat juices and/or stock until you get a smooth gravy.
How can I make it quickly?
If you don't have meat juices and fat from roasting you can still make a great gravy with butter and store bought stock -
- Melt butter in pan over medium heat. Bacon grease works well, too.
- Add flour, stirring constantly for 2 minutes until the mixture is a light tan but don't let it brown.
- Add broth, salt and pepper .
- Continue to stir for 3 minutes or until it thickens.
Can you make it with flour and water?
Not really - you need at least a little milk, meat, chicken, or vegetable stock to give it flavor. Bullion is an inexpensive way to flavor your gravy.
Can you use cornstarch?
You sure can. Usually people make it with flour but you can use cornstarch as well. Here's how -
- Mix 2 tablespoons cornstarch with ¼ cup cold water until smooth.
- Stir into the pan of stock and bring to a boil, stirring constantly.
- It should thicken in about 1 minute.
- Substitute 1 tablespoon cornstarch for every 2 tablespoons flour to thicken gravy.
- There's no need to make a roux.
Can you use baking powder to thicken gravy?
No.
How do you make homemade gravy with turkey drippings?
You'll use the turkey drippings as the fat and use the broth as the liquid. Just follow the instructions in the recipe.
??? Variations
Once you understand that all gravy is basically fat + flour +liquid + seasoning it's easy to create all the tasty variations
- Turkey drippings and turkey stock.
- Chicken drippings and chicken stock.
- Butter and vegetable stock.
- For a vegetarian brown gravy use butter, dried mushrooms, and the soaking water.
- Beef drippings and beef stock.
- Gluten free gravy - use 2 tablespoons cornstarch instead of ¼ cup flour
- Vegan cream gravy - use almond milk, oil, and flour.
- Vegan brown gravy - simmer dried mushrooms in vegetable stock for liquid and use oil and flour as directed in recipe.
- Homemade sausage gravy - add 1 cup cooked bulk sausage to cream gravy.
- Red eye gravy - brown ham in a skillet. Remove. Pour ½ cup black coffee and ½ cup chicken broth in hot skillet, scraping the bottom with a spatula to make sure to get stuck on bits. Add 1 teaspoon brown sugar - thicken with 1 tablespoon cornstarch if desired.
- Here's a healthy version from UMass.
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A balloon whisk is great for most things but once you use this weighted ball whisk for gravy you'll be hooked. It takes much less effort!
☕️ Kaffeeklatsch
It seems like people are less and less able to cook from scratch. I had an interesting conversation in the grocery store right around Thanksgiving with a woman that was likely in her late 30s or early 40s. She was looking at the boxed pudding mixes and couldn't find the one she wanted. She asked if I happened to see it because she needed to make banana pudding.
Y'all would have been proud of me. I maintained my composure and took a deep breath. "You know you can make pudding, right?"
She rolled her eyes at me. "Well yeah! But I can't find the right kind! The flavor will be wrong if I use butterscotch!"
I smiled what I hoped was a tolerant smile. "Actually, you can make your own pudding with milk, flour, eggs, butter, and vanilla."
I'm telling you she was gobsmacked. She looked at me like I had sprouted horns and begun to levitate right there in the baking aisle. Pinky swear.
"I'm sorry, what?"
I sighed. Keep in mind, I have eight children. I was not a patient person at 20 but all of my pregnancies lasted 43 weeks, my kids were all stubborn like their mom, and by the time I was 50 I had learned that sometimes you just have to breathe through it.
"You. Can. Make. Your. Own."
I'll just cut off the dialogue there. It ended up with her taking home my instructions for banana pudding, hand written on a brown paper towel from the bathroom.
Of course none of that helps you know how to make southern gravy. My point is that we just tend to buy convenience foods without thinking.
Homemade from scratch often doesn't take much more time, is cheaper, and definitely yummier. Society seems to be losing the ability to be independent of the local supercenter and I fear that one day a hostile government will come in and take over merely by confiscating boxed pudding and jarred gravy.
Let's not let that happen.
📖 Recipe
Classic Southern Gravy
Print Pin Recipe SaveEquipment Needed
Ingredients
- ¼ cup fat, bacon fat is preferred -- no it's essential -- if you are making cream gravy
- ¼ cup all purpose flour
- 2 cups whole milk, chicken stock, turkey stock, vegetable stock, or beef stock
- Salt and cracked black pepper to taste
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Instructions
- Add the fat to a heavy skillet, melting it if it's solid.
- Whisk in the flour until no lumps remain.
- Cook, stirring constantly, for 2 minutes, or until it starts to brown and smell a little like roasting pecans.
- Whisk in the milk or stock, a little at a time, stirring until smooth and no lumps remain.
- Bring to a simmer and cook, stirring constantly, for a few minutes or until it thickens.
- Taste and add salt and pepper plus any other herbs and seasonings you'll be using.
- Serve immediately.
Notes
- Don't use margarine! Use real butter (not whipped), bacon fat, or drippings from the meat. Use oil if you must but don't use margarine! Please!
- Go easy on the salt. You can always add more once it's done.
- Add plenty of freshly ground black pepper. Yes, even in the cream gravy. It's supposed to be "freckled".
- Be sure to cook the flour in the fat for at least 2 minutes while stirring constantly. This will get rid of any raw flavor.
- When you add the liquid to the fat and flour mixture do it slowly while whisking with your other hand. Whisk quickly and all of the lumps should whisk right out. Do not let it scorch - there's no coming back from that.
- If you're worried about lumps in the gravy just strain the gravy as you pour it into the serving bowl. With practice there won't be any lumps to strain out.
- Use evaporated milk or whole milk for your cream gravy. Do not use non-fat or low fat. Please, this is GRAVY.
- Strain any pieces of meat or vegetable out of your stock before making brown gravy.
- Always taste and adjust seasoning.
- Use turkey drippings and turkey stock.
- Use chicken drippings and chicken stock.
- Using butter and vegetable stock.
- For a vegetarian brown gravy use butter, dried mushrooms, and the soaking water.
- Beef drippings and beef stock.
- Gluten free gravy - use 2 tablespoons cornstarch instead of ¼ cup flour
- Vegan cream gravy - use almond milk, oil, and flour.
- Vegan brown gravy - simmer dried mushrooms in vegetable stock for liquid and use oil and flour as directed in recipe.
- Sausage gravy - add 1 cup cooked bulk sausage to cream gravy.
- Red eye gravy - brown ham in a skillet. Remove. Pour ½ cup black coffee and ½ cup chicken broth in hot skillet, scraping the bottom with a spatula to make sure to get stuck on bits. Add 1 teaspoon brown sugar - thicken with 1 tablespoon cornstarch if desired.
Nutrition Facts
Nutrition information is estimated as a courtesy. If using for medical purposes, please verify information using your own nutritional calculator. Percent Daily Values are based on a 2000 calorie diet.
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Heidi
Thank you for the recipe! Just a tip on flour, my mom always uses Wondra for gravy and it mixes a little easier than AP flour to avoid lumps.
ccs
my Mother made gravy out of anything even lunch meat if it was not eaten within time so it would not go bad we didn't waste !! most everything we ate we raised. gravy was on our table every supper time.
Ron
Thanks. I've tried making gravy before and always ended up with a tasty, though sticky, paste instead, at best. I would use your recipe the next time I make Loco Moco, one of my personal favorite dishes. I'm typically afraid I'll make too much gravy, the result is never enough. My Friends seem to make unlimited quantities of gravy magically, from almost nothing. Then they serve entire platefulls of food, covered edge-to-edge in that thick, greasy gravy.
jen
I don't allow 10 year olds in the pool without me.
I told one little girl I had to cook today.
She volunteered to help to get us out there quicker.
After an hour in the kitchen she went home.
She thought I meant open some boxes and cans.LOL
Marye
oh wow!
Glen Spencer
Thank you Mary for putting that recipe out there part of my life I grew up in Louisiana in Oklahoma and I miss the southern cooking and I'm going to mix sausage in it in a half a cup of homemade roasted salsa so thank you very much I'll be back to your web pages again
Marye
🙂 You are very welcome!
Rose
I enjoyed your commentary so much. I remember when I was learning to make gravy! lol my outside dogs ate alot of failEd attempts over dry dog food. At least they didn't complain or laugh at mistakes.
Marye
Thanks, Rose!
Jan
Is this for milk gravy?
I want a brown gravy
Marye Audet
The all you need to do is substitute beef stock for the milk. Or use half beef stock and half milk depending on how you like it.
Danyelle
My Dad, mother and older brother are the cooks in my family which 95% of the time, they made from scratch. Growing up she did try and tell me as she was cooking things but I never paid to much attention so I never remembered. Only thing I was interested in at that time was desserts - both from scratch & Betty crocker lol. My mom always did the cooking since I lived with her up until she past away in 2008, my daughter just turned 2 years old 15 days prior to that.
I turned 35 today ( Nov 16th ) so since her passing & I was a mother also I had no choice but to try and learn or starve both of us haha. I deeply REGRET not paying attention all those years or at least had her write some of them down because now I will never know how she made/ what was used in all of her recipes. She cooked from memory like everyone else It was large amount even when it was just Her & me. I now have my own home, family of 4, and sadly say I can barely cook homemade meals!! I cannot pass down info or anything to my kids except my cookbooks LOL. I have experimented over the years now but I need a written recipe & instructions to cook from. That's not guaranteed it will turn out either, I can burn water haha! family joke. As of today I still CANNOT make gravy or a dippy egg ( over easy.)to save my soul, and It's not a lack of trying either. Just tried gravy tonight that ended up in garbage ( tasted
like flour. I feel confident that this recipe will be my my first one!!
I do have a few dumb questions though, I know I probably can look online for answers but sometimes the best ways are not easily found. My questions are about the Bacon grease or any meat drippings : How long can you it keep it, even if it's approx estimate & where do you store it? .
I also hate jar or canned gravy.....I use in some recipes is the McCormick brown gravy or onion mix packet.
Marye Audet
It's usually best to store bacon grease in the fridge... Mine never lasts very long so I'm not sure but I know it's good for at least several weeks.
Melissa
This is an excellent recipe! The hint to have your gravy NOT taste like flour is the step of browning your roux. The author tells you to cook the blended flour and oil until it is light tan but not brown. I personally like to cook it to a deeper tan. Browning your roux (pronounced roo) gives it a nice toasty flavor.
Marye
Thanks Melissa! I agree.
Ang
Can this recipe be doubled or tripled? I have a rather large family
Marye Audet
Yes, if you hover over the serving number you'll be able to increase the servings and the measurement of the ingredients.
Ang
Can this recipe be easily doubled or tripled? I have a rather large family
Marye Audet
yes.
SUZANNE W.
Is there a good way to get bacon fat without having to cook bacon? :\
Marye Audet
not that I know of.
Larry Farrar
The best flour to use has been toasted. To do this, get a cast iron skillet hot and add in a couple of table spoons of flour and stir until a light brown. repeat until you have a cup or so for future use. Then just follow the recipes above.
Terry B.
This post came just in time. My granddaughter asked to learn to make gravey. Can't believe I had now done that yet! I don't even remember when I learned it's like I have always been able to make it. My Moms family is from Kentucky, the way she taught me was to use what ever meat fat you have left from the meat you cooked for dinner if that is not enough for our family of 9, add bacon grease( which we always saved to add to many dishes) lard or crisco if we must. The problem is she measured by sight keep adding flour till it looked like the correct consistency add salt, pepper lightly brown then add milk like half the skillet stir till well mixed and no lumps then just continue adding milk till it seemed like the right amount that it would thicken just right continue adding seasoning to taste. My 16 year old Grandaughter wants measurements. I will try your recipe for sure while our training session. Thanks so much. P.S. By the way When using fresh cows milk from the tank is very rich I will use the water drained from the mashed potatoes mixed in works great, no lie.
Marye Audet
It's hard taking those old word of mouth recipes that have been passed down and giving them real measurements! What a wonderful memory to make with your granddaughter!
Dennis Coburn
The first time I had anything to do with gravy besides eating it was soon after I got out of the USAF in 1964. My buddy, Tom, my brother, Jim and I had rented an apartment a little before Thanksgiving and decided to make a real Thanksgiving dinner for the three of us and my girlfriend, Beth. The first mistake we made was buying a 25 lb. turkey. Beyond that everything was great until it came time to make the gravy. None of had ever tried making gravy, but Jim had seen Mom do it many times. He started by adding one full cup of flour to the pan juices! The result, of course, was brown wallpaper paste so thick that we threw the pan out!
Since then I've become the gravy king of the family. That causes me to make two suggestions regarding this recipe. First, ignore the thing about lots of black pepper. That's a Southern thing, I know, but really good gravy does not, and should not have to burn your tongue with pepper. (Popeye's Chicken, I'm talking to you, too!). A little black pepper adds to the taste, but should not be directly detectable unless you're making "Pepper" gravy, instead of turkey, chicken, beef or pork gravy. Second, nearly every recipe for gravy calls for equal parts of fat and flour. I've found that a better texture, appearance and taste can result from a ratio of 1/4 cup of fat to 1/3 cup of flour. At least try it. I think you'll agree.
Marye Audet
It IS a southern thing... and this is a southern blog... and the title of this is "How to make gravy like a southerner" so... 😀 I'll stick with my original! Thanks for the comment!
Susanna
Well said!!
Marye Audet
🙂
Pearl
A little late to the party, but want to put my two cents in anyway.
Love the pudding story! I’ve had similar exchanges over the years, and they leave me shaking my head how poorly educated folks seem to be now. Not the formal education - they have that - but rather the lack of knowledge about practical every-day skills people used up to the very recent past.
To Dennis: she makes it abundantly clear that this is more about technique than actual ingredients - several times in the blog she tells readers to use what they have and/or like. THAT’s as southern as it can get! We haven’t always had choices, so we had to make the best we could with what was available.
For the record, I’m a 73-year-old grandmother who hails from the rural south, not too far north of Birmingham, AL. I make gravy (and almost everything else) like I learned from my Grannie. Her iterations of gravies (yes, there are as many kinds as what they’re served with) echo those of Dennis. But it depends on where you’re from. There is no ONE way to cook southern, any more than there’s only one way to cook northern. Or east coast. Or western.
Marye Audet
Thanks for coming to the party, Pearl! I hope you'll hang around. 🙂
Patricia Thomas
The recipe's ingredients list says, "2 cups whole milk chicken stock..." Does this mean add: 1) 2 cups whole milk? 2) 2 cups chicken stock? OR 3) A mix of the two?
Thanks!
Marye Audet
Ah! I left out a comma... whole milk or chicken stock OR any of the other stocks listed. Hope that clears it up.
Betty White
Making gravy was the first thing my Mama taught me at nine years old then to the big task of making biscuits. I'm from Pasadena, Texas. The hardest lesson I learned was not to stir too vigorously. First hot drop of gravy landed on top of my bare foot and a blister I will never forget. I love making and eating gravy but personally I prefer brown gravy. I love your article and hope everyone will try making it. Surely if a nine year old can master it anyone can. By the way I am now 70 years old and still love homemade gravy. Patience.
Marye Audet
🙂 what a wonderful memory! Thanks for sharing. I've blistered my feet once or twice.. LOL
Deb Green
When the kids were little I'd make a quick breakfast of biscuits and gravy. Kids left home, I went to work, life got crazy and picking up fast food became the normal. Moved from CA to the great white north (showing as I write this) where we go to town MAYBE 3x a month. Cooking is once again the norm, but for the love of me...I can't make gravy to save my life!!! That old saying " use it or lose it" is true. I really needed this posting. Thanks!!!
Deb Green
Stupid spell check...It's SNOWING, LOL!
Marye Audet
🙂 message me on the facebook page if you run into trouble... I totally know what you mean, though. 🙂
Tammy
You know, gravy is actually pretty tricky to master. I'm sad to admit that I've messed up quite a few gravy recipes xD I like that you used bacon fat for this one, I bet the flavor is incredible with it! <3
Marye Audet
🙂 bacon fat is the way to go!
Cynthia | What A Girl Eats
I love that you actually had a conversation with her. You may have changed her outlook forever! Yes, it's very sad that the basic skills that you and I learned when we were young are no longer being passed on.
Marye Audet
🙂 Yeah.. it was weird though!