Gravy
Cooking Skills: Sauces 1
Chapter 4 · Gravy
Skill goal
Make a smooth, savoury gravy for a roast dinner, from a packet or from scratch.
Shopping list for this chapter
The basics
Gravy is the sauce for a roast dinner: the browned juices left in the roasting tin, a little flour to thicken them and some stock. The brown crusty bits stuck to the tin are pure flavour, and the stock dissolves them (this is called deglazing). Without a roast, onions cooked slowly until brown, or well-browned mushrooms, build the same deep flavour.
Good gravy is not too thick, tastes of the meat or vegetables, and has no lumps or grease. Skim extra fat off the top with a spoon. For a roast beef dinner, see Cooking Skills: Beef and Steak 1, chapter 4, and for roast potatoes, see Cooking Skills: Potatoes 1. For making a white or brown roux, see Cooking Skills: Sauces 1, chapters 2 and 3.
The method
- Rest the meat on a plate and use the tin straight away while the crusty bits are still soft.
- Pour off all but about 2 tablespoons of fat, and keep every drop of juice.
- Stir in the flour over a medium heat for a minute until it looks sandy and smells toasty.
- Add hot stock a little at a time, scraping up the crusty bits with a wooden spoon.
- Simmer for about 5 minutes, taste for salt, and strain into a warm jug.
| Gravy | Flavour from | Thickened with | Time (approximate) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Upgraded granules | Granules and extras | Granules | 10 minutes |
| Tin gravy | Roast juices | Flour | 15 minutes |
| Onion gravy | Browned onions | Flour | 35 minutes |
| Mushroom gravy | Browned mushrooms and soy | Flour | 25 minutes |
Hot roasting tin, hot fat and allergens
Hot roasting tin: a roasting tin and its fat are very hot and heavy. Use oven gloves, move the tin onto a heatproof surface and keep children away before you pour or stir.Hot sauce: a thickening sauce bubbles and spits, and hot sauce sticks to skin and burns worse than water. Stir with a long spoon, keep your face back and turn the handle of the pan inwards.
Stock and salt: shop stock cubes and granules are very salty. Use low-salt stock, make it up weaker than the pack says, and taste before adding any salt, especially if you plan to reduce the sauce.
Allergens: gravy contains gluten (flour, granules) and often celery. Soy sauce contains soy. Use cornflour (half the weight of flour) for a gluten-free version, and check granules and stock.
Try it
Level 1 · Start here
Gravy from granules, upgraded
Gravy granules are quick and reliable, and a few extra ingredients make them taste much closer to home-made. Follow the pack for the amount of granules and water, as brands differ.
Ingredients (4 portions)
- 4 tbsp beef gravy granules (check the pack)
- 400 ml boiling water
- 1 tsp soy sauce
- 1 tsp redcurrant jelly or jam
- 1 tsp Dijon mustard
- 1 sprig of thyme
- Put the granules in a jug or pan and whisk in the boiling water, following the pack.
- Add the soy sauce, jelly, mustard and thyme, and simmer for 5 minutes, stirring.
- Taste: add a splash more soy if it is flat, or a little more jelly if it is sharp. Remove the thyme and serve.
Hot liquid and allergens
Hot sauce: a thickening sauce bubbles and spits, and hot sauce sticks to skin and burns worse than water. Stir with a long spoon, keep your face back and turn the handle of the pan inwards.Allergens: granules contain gluten, and often celery and soy. Check the pack.
Level 2 · From the tin
Gravy from the roasting tin
The classic. Make it while the meat rests, using the juices and crusty bits from a roast beef, chicken or pork. Any good stock will do, and the water from boiling vegetables adds flavour too.
Ingredients (4 portions)
- 2 tbsp fat and juices from the roasting tin
- 2 tbsp plain flour
- 500 ml hot low-salt stock or vegetable water
- 1 tsp Dijon mustard or soy sauce
- 1 pinch flaked sea salt
- 1 pinch black pepper
- Move the roast to a plate to rest. Pour most of the fat from the tin into a bowl, leaving about 2 tablespoons and all the dark juices. Put the tin on a medium heat on the hob.
- Stir in the flour and cook for 1 minute, scraping up the crusty bits. Add the stock a little at a time, stirring or whisking until smooth.
- Add the mustard or soy sauce and simmer for 5 minutes until it coats a spoon. Taste, season and strain into a warm jug.
Hot tin, hot fat and lumps
Hot pot and hot steam: a heavy casserole dish or pan of hot liquid is heavy and scalding. Use oven gloves, lift the lid away from your face so the steam doesn't burn you, keep the handles turned in and never carry a full pot across a busy kitchen.Lumps: lumps are flour that met liquid too fast. Add the liquid a little at a time while whisking, and if lumps still form, whisk hard off the heat or strain the sauce through a sieve.
Stock and salt: shop stock cubes and granules are very salty. Use low-salt stock, make it up weaker than the pack says, and taste before adding any salt, especially if you plan to reduce the sauce.
Level 2 · No roast
Onion gravy
No roasting tin needed: onions cooked slowly until dark and sweet give a deep, rich gravy that suits sausages, mash and pies. Patience is the whole skill; don't rush the onions.
Ingredients (4 portions)
- 3 onions, thinly sliced
- 1 tbsp sunflower or rapeseed oil
- 15 g butter
- 1 tsp brown sugar
- 2 tbsp plain flour
- 500 ml hot low-salt beef stock
- 1 tsp balsamic or malt vinegar
- 2 sprigs of thyme
- Cook the onions in the oil and butter over a medium-low heat for 25 minutes, stirring now and then, until deep golden brown. Add the sugar for the last 5 minutes.
- Stir in the flour and cook for 1 minute, then add the stock a little at a time, stirring. Add the thyme.
- Simmer for 8 to 10 minutes. Stir in the vinegar, taste, and remove the thyme.
Burning onions, hot sauce and allergens
Hot pan and hot oil: searing and stir-frying use very high heat and spitting oil. Dry the beef first, keep everything ready before you start, use a long spoon and keep children away from the hob.Hot sauce: a thickening sauce bubbles and spits, and hot sauce sticks to skin and burns worse than water. Stir with a long spoon, keep your face back and turn the handle of the pan inwards.
Allergens: contains gluten and milk (butter); stock may contain celery.
Level 3 · Vegetarian
A vegetarian mushroom gravy
Browned mushrooms, onion, tomato purée and soy sauce give the savoury depth that meat juices would. It is just as good over roast potatoes and nut roast as the meat versions are over a roast.
Ingredients (4 portions)
- 2 tbsp sunflower or rapeseed oil
- 1 onion, finely chopped
- 250 g mushrooms, finely chopped
- 2 garlic cloves, crushed
- 2 tbsp plain flour
- 1 tsp tomato purée
- 500 ml hot low-salt vegetable stock
- 1 tbsp soy sauce
- 1 sprig of thyme
- Cook the onion in the oil for 5 minutes. Add the mushrooms and cook over a high heat for 8 to 10 minutes, stirring, until deep brown and dry, adding the garlic at the end.
- Stir in the flour and purée for 1 minute, then add the stock a little at a time. Add the soy sauce and thyme.
- Simmer for 8 minutes. Blend for a smooth gravy, or leave as it is, then taste and season.
Hot pan, blending and allergens
Hot pan and hot oil: searing and stir-frying use very high heat and spitting oil. Dry the beef first, keep everything ready before you start, use a long spoon and keep children away from the hob.Blending hot liquids: hot liquid expands in a sealed blender and can blow the lid off and scald you. Let it cool for a few minutes, fill the jug no more than half, hold a folded cloth over the lid, and start on low. A stick blender in a deep pan avoids the problem.
Allergens: contains gluten and soy. Check the stock for celery.
Experiments
Experiment
Flour or cornflour
Cloudy and glossy.
- Make two small gravies from the same stock, thickening one with flour in the fat and one with a cornflour and cold water mix.
Look for: The flour gravy is opaque and savoury, with the roasted flavour; the cornflour one is clearer and glossier. Cornflour is gluten-free.
Experiment
Stock cube or good stock
Salt and flavour.
- Make two gravies, one with a stock cube made up as the pack says and one with good liquid stock.
Look for: The cube is often saltier and flatter. A half-strength cube plus a little soy usually tastes better.
Experiment
Browned onions
Pale and dark.
- Cook onion for 5 minutes in one pan and for 25 in another, then make each into gravy.
Look for: The longer-cooked onions give a darker, sweeter, more savoury gravy. Time turns onions into flavour.
Experiment
Straining
Smooth and rustic.
- Strain half of a tin gravy and leave half as it is.
Look for: The strained gravy is smooth and clear; the other has bits of crust and onion. Pick whichever you prefer.
Tasting notes
| What I tried | Method or amount | What I saw | What I thought | Will I do it again? |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Upgraded granule gravy | ||||
| Tin gravy | ||||
| Onion gravy | ||||
| Mushroom gravy | ||||
| Flour or cornflour | ||||
| Stock cube or good stock | ||||
| Browned onions | ||||
| Straining |
Troubleshooting
| Problem | Likely cause | What to do |
|---|---|---|
| Lumpy gravy | Stock added too fast or cold | Whisk hard, then strain; use hot stock next time |
| Greasy gravy | Too much fat left in the tin | Skim with a spoon or drag a piece of kitchen paper across the top |
| Pale and bland | No browning | Add soy sauce, a little tomato purée or browned onions |
| Too thin | Not enough flour or not simmered | Simmer longer, or add a little cornflour mixed with cold water |
| Too salty | Salty stock or granules | Add water, a pinch of sugar or a squeeze of lemon |
| Tastes of flour | Flour not cooked | Simmer for a few more minutes |
Hot tin, hot sauce and leftovers
Hot pot and hot steam: a heavy casserole dish or pan of hot liquid is heavy and scalding. Use oven gloves, lift the lid away from your face so the steam doesn't burn you, keep the handles turned in and never carry a full pot across a busy kitchen.Hot sauce: a thickening sauce bubbles and spits, and hot sauce sticks to skin and burns worse than water. Stir with a long spoon, keep your face back and turn the handle of the pan inwards.
Keeping sauces: cool a sauce quickly in a shallow container within 1 to 2 hours, press cling film onto the surface to stop a skin forming, chill and use within about 2 days. Reheat until steaming hot, stirring. Milk and cream sauces can split when frozen, so freeze other sauces instead.
Checkpoint: can you do this now?
- I can make gravy from granules taste better.
- I can use roasting tin juices and flour to make gravy.
- I can brown onions slowly for flavour.
- I can make a vegetarian gravy with real depth.
- I can fix a lumpy, greasy or pale gravy.
Next chapter
Cooking Skills: Sauces 1, chapter 5 is Tomato and Vegetable Sauces: simmering, roasting and blending for smooth sauces.