Easy Homemade Gravy Recipe

This extremely flavorful homemade gravy recipe is very easy to make and is the perfect complement to all your holiday roasts.

Gravy is a sauce made from meat juices, often combined with a liquid such as chicken stock or beef stock, wine or milk thickened with flour, cornstarch, or arrowroot. A gravy may also be the simple juices left in the pan after meat, poultry, or fish has been cooked.

There is no doubt, gravy has the ability to enhance the flavor of whatever it is being poured on as well as helping to tenderize and make juicier. In addition to serving, it with protein, it is commonly poured over mashed potatoes.

Ingredients for this recipe:

• ¼ cup rendered fat, butter, oil, or lard
• 1 peeled and small diced shallot
• 1 small diced celery stalk
• 1 peeled and small diced carrot
• 2 finely minced garlic
• 3-4 parsley stems with leaves
• 3-4 fresh thyme sprigs
• 1 rosemary sprig
• 1/3 cup all-purpose flour
• 4 cups stock or rendered meat juices
• salt and pepper to taste

Makes 3 ½ cups

prep time: 5 minutes

cook time: 20 minutes

Procedures:

1. Add the fat to a roasting pan or pot over medium heat.
2. Place in the shallots, celery, carrots, garlic, parsley, thyme, and rosemary and lightly brown while stirring every 20 to 30 seconds, which takes about 5 minutes.
3. Next, stir in the flour until it is completely combined to make a roux.
4. Pour in the stock or meat juices and turn the heat to high while stirring to mix in the roux while occasionally stirring.
5. Once the mixture is to a boil and is thick, turn the heat to low and simmer for 5 minutes.
6. Season with salt and pepper, and then strain the mixture through a chinois or fine-mesh strainer and serve it.
7. Optionally sprinkle on some fresh chopped parsley, thyme, and rosemary.

Chef Notes:

Make-Ahead: You can make this recipe up to 3 days ahead of time. Keep cool until ready to use.

How to Store: Cover and keep in the refrigerator for up to 4 days. You can freeze this, but the sauce may break, and you will need to rethicken it.

How to Reheat: Add the desired amount of velouté to a small size saucepot and heat over low heat until hot. You may need to rethicken it using a small amount of roux.

If rendered meat drippings are not an option, substitute for butter or lard.

When making gravy specifically for your holiday turkey, add 3-4 leaves of fresh sage when adding in the other herbs.

You can substitute the shallot for a yellow, white, sweet, or red onion.

If you are making this for a holiday meal, I highly recommend prepping the mirepoix 1 to 2 days ahead of time to alleviate any cooking pressures.

While your protein is resting once it finishes roasting in the oven or smoker, this is the perfect time to make this.