• Skip to primary navigation
  • Skip to main content
  • Skip to primary sidebar

Restless Chipotle

  • Home
  • Recipe Index
  • Start Here
    • Ingredients Substitutions
    • Tips for Measuring Ingredients Accurately
  • About
  • Shop
  • Your Recipe Box
  • Meal Plans
menu icon
go to homepage
  • About
  • Recipes
  • My Recipes
  • Meal Plans
  • Start Here!
  • Videos
  • Blog
  • Shop
  • Recipe Box
subscribe
search icon
Homepage link
  • About
  • Recipes
  • My Recipes
  • Meal Plans
  • Start Here!
  • Videos
  • Blog
  • Shop
  • Recipe Box
×

Home » Recipes » Cooking Basics

How to Make Homemade Gravy (Any Variation)

Published: Oct 23, 2019 Last Updated: Mar 6, 2020 by Marye 2270 words. | About 12 minutes to read this article.

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. Serve it hot over biscuits, potatoes, meat, or bread. See notes for variations. Easy beginner recipe.
Total time 20 minutes
Jump to Recipe Pin Recipe

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.

Mashed potatoes with a pool of gravy on top

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
  • ? Instructions
  • ? Turkey gravy with giblets
  • ? Related recipes
  • ❤️ Tips
  • ❓FAQs
  • ??‍? Variations
  • ? Supplies
  •  ☕️ Kaffeeklatsch
  • Classic Southern Gravy
  • 💬 Comments

? 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.

a collage of step by step images for making southern gravy
  1. Heat bacon grease, butter, or oil in a skillet.
  2. Add the flour.
  3. Stir to blend - it will be bumpy.
  4. Cook and whisk for 2 minutes.
  5. Whisk in the milk.
  6. Stir until smooth.
  7. 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.

  1. Cover the neck and giblets and heart with water.
  2. Add 1 onion, peeled and cut in half as well as 1 peeled carrot, 1 stem of fresh rosemary, and 2 stalks of celery.
  3. Simmer covered until the meat is cooked through and the vegetables are soft.
  4. 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.
  5. 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

  1. 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!
  2. Go easy on the salt. You can always add more once it's done.
  3. Add plenty of freshly ground black pepper. Yes, even in the cream gravy. It's supposed to be "freckled".
  4. 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.
  5. 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.
  6. 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.
  7. Use evaporated milk or whole milk for your cream gravy. Do not use non-fat or low fat. Please, this is GRAVY.
  8. DO NOT dilute your gravy with water. Dear God.
  9. Strain any pieces of meat or vegetable out of your stock before making brown gravy.
  10. 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.

  1. Collect the juices and the fat from the meat you are roasting or use prepared stock.
  2. Let the fat separate and skim it off.
  3. Add the fat to a heavy saucepan
  4. Stir in flour and cook for 1 minute.
  5. 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 -

  1. Melt butter in pan over medium heat. Bacon grease works well, too.
  1. Add flour, stirring constantly for 2 minutes until the mixture is a light tan but don't let it brown.
  1. Add broth, salt and pepper .
  2. 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 -

  1. Mix 2 tablespoons cornstarch with ¼ cup cold water until smooth.
  2. Stir into the pan of stock and bring to a boil, stirring constantly.
  3. It should thicken in about 1 minute.
  4. Substitute 1 tablespoon cornstarch for every 2 tablespoons flour to thicken gravy.
  5. 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.

Learnhowtomakegravy  easyandcreamyrichgoodness,Southernstyle.fromRestlessChipotle.com!

??‍? 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.

? Supplies

The following are affiliate links. We are a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for us to earn fees by linking to Amazon.com and affiliated sites.

What’s new? Check out my Restless Chipotle & Co. Store on Amazon where you'll find all kinds of nostalgic goodness!  Thanks so much for being a part of Restless Chipotle!

Thanks so much for being a part of Restless Chipotle!

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.

Mashed potatoes with a pool of gravy on top
4.59 from 165 votes

Classic Southern Gravy

Print Pin Recipe Save Go to Collections
Prevent your screen from going dark
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. Serve it hot over biscuits, potatoes, meat, or bread. See notes for variations. Easy beginner recipe.
Course Condiment
Cuisine American - Southern
Prep Time: 5 minutes
Cook Time: 15 minutes
Total Time: 20 minutes
Servings:16
Calories:83
Author:Marye Audet-White
As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases.

Equipment Needed

  • Weighted Ball Whisk
  • Iron Skillet

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

I earn a commission from Instacart from qualifying purchases.

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

  1. 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!
  2. Go easy on the salt. You can always add more once it's done.
  3. Add plenty of freshly ground black pepper. Yes, even in the cream gravy. It's supposed to be "freckled".
  4. 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.
  5. 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.
  6. 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.
  7. Use evaporated milk or whole milk for your cream gravy. Do not use non-fat or low fat. Please, this is GRAVY.
  8. Strain any pieces of meat or vegetable out of your stock before making brown gravy.
  9. Always taste and adjust seasoning.
Variations:
  • 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

Calories: 83kcal | Carbohydrates: 3g | Protein: 1.2g | Fat: 7.3g | Cholesterol: 9.1mg | Sodium: 22.7mg | Fiber: 0.1g | Sugar: 1.5g | Vitamin A: 100IU | Calcium: 30mg

Sign up for the emails and never miss another recipe!!

    We'll never share your email or send you spam. Pinkie swear.

    First Published: January 6, 2016... last update March 1, 2020 for faster load speed and better user experience.

    More Basic Kitchen Skills and Recipes

    • Are Heavy Cream & Whipping Cream the Same
    • Easy Garlic Butter Spread
    • How to Make Buttermilk
    • How to Measure Ingredients: Wet and Dry
    • Facebook
    • Twitter

    About Marye

    With a 40 year focus on the importance of family and a passion for southern comfort food, Marye Audet-White is an expert in melding the two together effortlessly. Marye's a NY Times Bestselling author with 10 cookbooks under her belt and her recipes have been featured in Good Housekeeping, Country Living, Today, House Beautiful, Texas Living, Food & Wine, and many more.

    Reader Interactions

    Comments

    1. Heidi

      November 11, 2022 at 7:34 pm

      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.

      Reply
    2. ccs

      September 28, 2021 at 8:50 am

      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.

      Reply
    3. Ron

      September 14, 2021 at 10:21 pm

      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.

      Reply
    4. jen

      June 16, 2019 at 11:35 am

      5 stars
      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

      Reply
      • Marye

        June 22, 2019 at 1:45 pm

        oh wow!

    5. Glen Spencer

      May 30, 2019 at 9:35 pm

      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

      Reply
      • Marye

        May 31, 2019 at 5:59 pm

        🙂 You are very welcome!

    6. Rose

      May 06, 2019 at 8:25 pm

      5 stars
      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.

      Reply
      • Marye

        May 08, 2019 at 6:04 pm

        Thanks, Rose!

    7. Jan

      January 17, 2019 at 4:13 pm

      Is this for milk gravy?
      I want a brown gravy

      Reply
      • Marye Audet

        January 22, 2019 at 8:26 am

        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.

    8. Danyelle

      November 15, 2018 at 11:06 pm

      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.

      Reply
      • Marye Audet

        November 16, 2018 at 8:20 am

        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

        August 24, 2020 at 9:56 am

        5 stars
        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

        August 24, 2020 at 10:09 am

        Thanks Melissa! I agree.

    9. Ang

      October 22, 2018 at 4:30 pm

      Can this recipe be doubled or tripled? I have a rather large family

      Reply
      • Marye Audet

        November 16, 2018 at 8:41 am

        Yes, if you hover over the serving number you'll be able to increase the servings and the measurement of the ingredients.

    « Older Comments

    Leave a Reply Cancel reply

    Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

    Love it? Give it 5 stars!




    Primary Sidebar

    Marye Audet-White, founder of Restless Chipotle Media

    Hey Y'all, I'm Marye.

    NY Times bestselling author. 10 cookbooks. Mom of 8 kids. Homeschooling mom for 22 years. Addicted to Hallmark Christmas Movies.

    More about me →

    🐰 Easter

    • Easy Easter Rolls
    • Nutter Butter Easter Chicks
    • Southern Pineapple Casserole Recipe
    • Banana Pudding Recipe from Scratch

    👑 Reader Favorites

    • Strawberry Pound Cake Recipe
    • Crispy Fried Potatoes
    • English Muffin Bread Recipe
    • No Fail Amish White Bread

    Footer

    ^ back to top

    About

    • About Marye Audet-White
    • Privacy Policy
    • Terms & Conditions
    • Accessibility Policy
    MaryeAudet Whiteandherchildren Dec

    Featured in:

    Companies that Marye Audet-White and Restless Chipotle have been affiliated with.

    Contact Marye

    • Contact

    My new blog for bread bakers:

    Love baking bread? Click here to check out my new blog!

    Logo for breadcrumbs in the butter blog.
    Check out my new blog!

    Copyright ©2006 - 2023 Restless Chipotle Media, LLC