The Best Homemade Beef Gravy Recipe (How to Make Brown Gravy) (2024)

FAQs

How do I make my gravy more brown? ›

To make dark brown beef gravy, cook the roux even longer (but at a lower temperature) until it's a dark color with a nutty aroma. Then use beef broth or beef juices to make your gravy.

One easy way to improve your gravy is to add a good balance of flavors — mustard, wine, or vinegar for acidity and some herbs for freshness, for example.

Brown gravy is a sauce traditionally made from drippings from roasted meat. It's served alongside meat as well as roasted vegetables. It can also be made from beef stock and thickened with a roux made of flour and butter.

Add a roux, ideally a dark roux, to your gravy. This is a standard French and Cajun (which is French-rooted) technique for giving color and body to sauces. Roux's are essentially butter or oil and flour, heated gently and stirred occasionally to cook the flour so that it darkens in color, but doesn't burn.

the traditional method for darkening broth, stock, gravy, and bouillon was to use burnt sugar. Just a little bit will do, depending on how large of a batch you are making. Heat sugar and 1 Tablespoon water over medium heat, stirring constantly until the sugar is dissolved.

Browning adds more flavor to the gravy and gets rid of the raw flour taste. You're basically making a roux. We find that a flour-based gravy holds up better and reheats better later, which is why we tend to prefer using flour over cornstarch to make gravy unless we have a guest who is eating gluten-free.

A traditional roux uses roughly an equal amount of flour and fat, but gravies often call for a bit more flour than that, to ensure the gravy is thick enough. (The classic ratio for gravy is three:two:one, so 3 tablespoons flour, 2 tablespoons fat, and 1 cup of hot stock.)

The difference between brown and beef gravy is that brown gravy can be made with any type of meat drippings or stock, while beef gravy is specifically made with beef drippings or stock.

It turns out, the biggest difference between the two is brown gravy is broth-based, while white gravy typically has a milk or cream base. Garcia said both types usually have flour or cornstarch for thickening and they both contain some sort of “fat or meat drippings.”

What is the gravy at KFC made of? The restaurant uses a simple combination of gravy powder, water, and – their secret ingredient – chicken crackling. This is a collection of the browned bits and pieces leftover from frying their world famous chicken.

What thickens brown gravy? ›

If your gravy is on the skimpy side, you can thicken it quickly with flour or cornstarch. But don't add your thickener directly to the gravy, which will create lumps. Instead, try stirring in three or four tablespoons of flour or cornstarch into a small amount of cold water until you have a smooth paste.

Homemade brown gravy is made from flour, fat, and beef broth, seasoned to taste. You usually use drippings from the meat you cooked, but you can use an equivalent amount of vegetable oil. Heat the oil in the skillet, then add the flour.

1–2 tsp corn starch with 1/2 cup water, mix together and add to drippings from the meat. Bring to boil on med/ low heat while stirring as it thickens, add more liquid as needed to get to the consistency you like your gravy. If possible, use bouillon as the additional liquid unless you have a lot of drippings.

I didn't want this tip to get lost and didn't see it mentioned in Cindyloowhos question about her gravy. My tidbit for the day on how to make gravy dark: Put about 1 cup of flour into a dry cast iron skillet, on medium heat. Stirring constantly until it turns a nice nutty brown, being careful not to burn it.

Gravy Master: Enhance the flavor and color of your gravies, sauces, and stews with Gravy Master. It's a browning and seasoning sauce, and it is our top pick for a close substitute. Dark Soy Sauce or Tamari: Add color and umami flavor to your dishes by using Soy sauce or tamari.