We eat a lot of gravy at our house whether it’s over mashed potatoes, rice, meat, or biscuits.
For years, I bought gravy packets and added water. Sometimes I even bought jars of gravy.
But in my era of saving our family money by cutting back at the grocery store, I learned how to make gravy from scratch no matter what we are eating.
There are a few secrets to making the perfect gravy.
You don’t want it to get lumpy. And you also don’t want it to be too thin.
Every gravy you make has to have 3 ingredients:
- fat
- flour
- liquid
Depending on what gravy you’re making, the fat and liquid will change.
You can see how I make a white sausage gravy for biscuits and gravy in another post.
However for today’s post, I’m sharing how to make any meat gravy from scratch: chicken, turkey, or beef.
1. Start with a fat.
Heat your skillet to medium low heat. I set my burner dial right below medium.
I like to use butter, so that is what I will use in this recipe.
Add 2 tablespoons of butter to a heated skillet. Throughly melt the butter in the skillet.
2. Add flour.
Slowly add a little bit of flour to the butter by sprinkling the flour over the butter. I start with 1/4 cup of flour, but only add about a tablespoon at a time.
Quickly whisk the butter and flour to incorporate them. You want the mixture to resemble a paste.
Add as much of the flour a little at a time while continually whisking.
Only add enough flour that will incorporate into the butter.
There shouldn’t be any flour left out of the butter and there also shouldn’t be any butter not incorporated.
3. Add broth.
Now it’s time to add broth. On this particular day I added turkey broth that came from a turkey breast I had cooked.
You’ll need 2-3 cups of broth.
You can use any broth that you have, either store bought or from the meat you are cooking.
Add a little bit of the broth at a time and quickly whisk the broth into the butter and flour mixture.
The key is to only add a little bit at a time while consistently whisking.
Don’t allow the gravy to over cook. Once you see it is being quickly mixed, add more broth.
Once the broth has been fully incorporated, you should add seasoning. Personally, I like to only add salt and pepper.
4. Allow gravy to simmer.
At this point you, you want the gravy to thicken by simmering. Turn your stove down to low and bring your gravy to a slow simmer.
Whisk the gravy so that it doesn’t become lumpy.
You can add more broth if your gravy gets too thick.
Your gravy is done!
To wrap it up remember these key things.
Whisk continually. Don’t allow your gravy mixture to over cook. Bring it to a simmer.
Those are the 3 things that will make the difference and assure successful gravy.
Gravy From Scratch
Ingredients
- 2 Tablespoons butter
- 1/4 cup flour
- 2-3 cups broth
Instructions
1. Heat skillet on medium low and throughly melt the butter.
2. Slowly about a tablespoon of flour at a time to the butter and whisk continually.
3. Continue to add as much of the flour as you can without burning it. All the flour should be incorporated.
4. Slowly add broth to the butter and flour mixture whisking continually until all the broth is incorporated.
5. Add salt and pepper to taste.
6. Turn burner down to low and allow gravy to simmer for a few minutes which will thicken the gravy.
7. Whisk the gravy as it simmers so that it doesn't burn.
8. Add more broth if the gravy becomes too thick.