Homemade Brown Gravy: Rich Roux-Based Sauce Without Pan Drippings
By Emma Collins
Prep
5 min
Cook
10 min
Total
15 min
Servings
4
Level
Easy
Use this brown gravy as a side dish with other foods at mealtimes if you want to serve gravy with mashed potatoes, roasted meat, or other vegetables. This brown gravy recipe does not use meat drippings. It uses a roux made from browned butter and flour. Other liquids and ingredients are added and cooked for 15 minutes to make a dark brown gravy.
Salted butter and flour are combined to make a roux for the gravy. Beef broth is the richest-tasting liquid ingredient, but other broths, such as chicken, turkey, and vegetable, may be used. Seasonings include salt, garlic powder, onion powder, pepper, and dried thyme. Broth should be added to the roux gradually to avoid clumping.
Monitor the butter and flour mixture as it cooks on medium-low heat until dark brown but not burned. The gravy should thicken during the final two to three minutes of cooking when added to the seasoned broth. Overpouring broth into gravy is a common problem. Strain the gravy through a fine-mesh sieve before serving if it's lumpy.
Spoon hot gravy onto mashed potatoes and other vegetables or roasted meats. Use drippings from the roasting pan, with excess fat drained off, or combine drippings and browned food bits with butter and flour to add flavor to the gravy.
Why this recipe works
- Families can serve gravy with potatoes and other meat and vegetable dishes. A small serving of gravy can help tie together a practical dinner plate.
- It doesn't use pan drippings. There will be a sauce you can use on weekdays even without roast meat or other pan drippings.
- Beef and poultry broths and stocks can be substituted for vegetable broth to offer variety to consumers who prefer lighter-colored or meat-free broths and stocks.
- The few ingredients needed are butter, flour, broth, and other typical seasonings. This recipe can be helpful for keeping dinner ingredients ready in case you want to serve a hot sauce with dinner.
- Leftover foods can be refrigerated in covered containers and reheated on the stovetop or in the microwave. This helps avoid waste of leftover gravy.
- Slow whisking helps prevent lumps in batter for inexperienced cooks. Other methods for avoiding or correcting lumps include using a fine strainer.
Ingredients
- •¼ cup salted butter
- •¼ cup flour
- •2 cups beef broth (or chicken, turkey, or vegetable broth)
- •½ teaspoon salt
- •¼ teaspoon garlic powder
- •¼ teaspoon onion powder
- •¼ teaspoon pepper
- •⅛ teaspoon dried thyme (or a pinch)
- •2 tablespoons water (for thickening only if needed)
Instructions
- 1
Place the butter and flour together in a saute pan.
- 2
Melt the butter and continue cooking over medium-low heat until the butter-and-flour mixture becomes very brown.
- 3
Slowly add a little broth while whisking, then continue adding broth until all of it is incorporated.
- 4
Add the salt, garlic powder, onion powder, pepper, and dried thyme, then bring the gravy to a simmer.
- 5
Once simmering, cook for 2 to 3 minutes, until the gravy has thickened to your liking.
- 6
Taste and add additional salt and pepper if needed.
- 7
If the gravy is too thick, whisk in a little more broth. If it is too thin, simmer longer; if still needed, mix 1 tablespoon flour with 2 tablespoons water until smooth, whisk it into the gravy, and simmer until thickened.
- 8
Serve hot.
FAQ
Nutrition (per serving)
Calories
70
Protein
1g
Fat
6g
Carbs
3g
Reviews
Pin this recipe
Tap an image to save it to Pinterest.
