Quick and Easy Gravy

Learn how to make my super simple homemade gravy from scratch, which you can make with or without pan drippings. Use our easy recipe for chicken, turkey, beef, or vegetables!

Simple Homemade Gravy Recipe Video

This gravy recipe is the one I use for busy weeknights and holidays! It takes about 10 minutes and is super versatile. I especially love it with these mashed potatoes.

Use my recipe with homemade broth, store-bought broth, or pan drippings. It works well for meats, and you can easily adapt it to be vegetarian with veggie broth. This absolutely works for the holidays, but if you are roasting a turkey for Thanksgiving, I highly recommend looking at my favorite turkey gravy recipe.

Easy Gravy from Scratch

Key Ingredients

  • Butter and Flour: We’ll combine these to make a roux, which thickens the broth into a velvety gravy. For gravy without butter, you can substitute fats like chicken fat or lard or use the fat from pan drippings. For a vegan gravy, use vegan butter. For gluten-free gravy, use cornstarch (tips are included in the recipe below).
  • Stock or Pan Drippings: This is the foundation of our gravy. You can use poultry, beef, vegetable broth, or even the drippings from roasting meats like in this roasted chicken recipe. For homemade stock, see our chicken stock, vegetable broth, and this beef stock.
  • Herbs: For the best gravy, I use fresh herbs like sage, thyme, and rosemary, but dried herbs will work. My recipe below recommends amounts for both fresh and dried herbs.
  • Mushroom Powder (Optional): I’m a big fan of mushroom gravy, so I always add a bit of powder. It adds a delicious savory, umami flavor, making the gravy taste more flavorful. You can make your own or buy it (here’s my homemade mushroom powder seasoning). A few dashes of Worcestershire sauce or fish sauce are also great for adding that umami flavor the gravy.
  • Cream (Optional): A splash of cream or half and half makes the gravy extra creamy and silky, but it’s perfectly fine to leave it out.

How to Make Gravy from Scratch

If you’ve never made gravy before, don’t worry! It’s a simple process that takes less than 10 minutes. First, we’ll create a smooth paste, called a roux, by melting butter over medium heat in a skillet and whisking in flour. I like to cook this mixture for a minute or two until it turns a light blonde color. This roux is what thickens the gravy and gives it a silky texture.

How to Make Gravy: Adding warm stock/broth to a paste made from melted butter and flour makes creamy, thickened gravy.

Now, we’ll whisk in warm stock, broth, or any liquid left in your roasting pan. I prefer using warm liquid as it incorporates more smoothly into the roux. As the mixture heats and simmers, the gravy will start to thicken. Within a minute of simmering, you’ll have a delicious homemade gravy!

Before serving, taste the gravy and adjust the seasoning with salt, pepper, and any optional ingredients you like. You can add herbs or flavor enhancers like mushroom powder, fish sauce, or Worcestershire sauce. This is also the time to add your splash of cream if you’re adding it.

Gravy from Scratch: Pan drippings make for ultra flavorful gravy.

Remember, you can use this recipe with or without pan drippings. If you’ve roasted meat, like this roasted chicken or my roasted turkey, you can use the leftover drippings to make an even more flavorful gravy from scratch.

I like to separate the fat and broth in the drippings, using the fat in place of butter and the broth as the liquid in the recipe. You can use a spoon or a gravy fat separator (OXO has a good one).

How to make gravy with pan drippings.

If your roasting pan is stovetop safe, you can make the gravy right in it to capture all the delicious flavors stuck to the bottom. Otherwise, a skillet works perfectly well.

What to Serve with Gravy

Gravy From Scratch

Quick and Easy Gravy

  • PREP
  • COOK
  • TOTAL

My homemade gravy recipe is quick and easy. If you’ve roasted chicken, turkey, or beef, use the drippings left in the roasting pan. They make the gravy extra flavorful and seasoned. You can also make gravy without drippings and put stock or broth in its place. Store-bought stock is usually underseasoned. Take care when seasoning with salt and pepper towards the end of the recipe. Finally, for more flavor, whisk in mushroom powder. This is optional but adds a deep, savory flavor.

Makes 3 cups

Watch Us Make the Recipe

You Will Need

4 tablespoons (58g) unsalted butter

1/4 cup (32g) all-purpose flour

3 cups warm stock (poultry, beef, or vegetable) or use pan drippings, see tips below

1/2 teaspoon mushroom powder, optional

1/2 tablespoon chopped fresh herbs or 1/2 teaspoon dried herbs (try sage, thyme or rosemary)

2 to 3 tablespoons cream, optional

Sea salt and fresh ground black pepper to taste

Directions

    1In a wide skillet with sides, melt butter over medium heat. When melted and sizzling, whisk in the flour. Whisk until the flour and butter turn into a smooth paste and look medium blonde in color; about 1 minute. It smells toasty, like browned butter.

    2Pour in stock and whisk until smooth. Bring the gravy to a low simmer. As it simmers, it thickens and becomes glossy.

    3Whisk in the herbs and mushroom powder then cook at a low simmer for a minute or two. Remove from the heat then stir in half and half or cream (optional).

    4Taste for seasoning and adjust with salt and black pepper (we like a generous amount of pepper).

Adam and Joanne's Tips

  • Using pan drippings: Substitute some or all the butter with fat left in the pan from roasting. If juices are left in the pan, strain them, then swap all or some of the stock for the pan juices. Pan drippings and juices will be well-seasoned compared to the stock. When seasoning, taste the gravy first, then add more salt and pepper. If you used a stovetop safe pan such as a Dutch oven or stainless steel pan for roasting, there is no need for the skillet. Make the gravy directly in the roasting pan.
  • Add more flavor: Depending on the stock used, you may need to add more flavor. A dash of Worcestershire sauce, fish sauce, or even soy sauce can help deepen the flavor of sauces.
  • Make ahead: Cool the gravy and store it in an airtight container. Refrigerate for up to 5 days. When ready to serve, reheat the gravy over low heat. If you have pan drippings, pour some of them into the gravy before serving.
  • Make onion gravy: To add even more flavor and sweetness, chop half an onion and cook it in the butter until very soft and translucent (10 to 15 minutes). When the onion is ready, whisk in the flour and follow the recipe above.
  • Vegan gravy: Use vegan butter or follow our method for gluten-free gravy shared below.
  • Gluten-free gravy: Warm the broth in a skillet until a low simmer. Meanwhile, mix 2 tablespoons of cornstarch with 2 tablespoons of water. Then, while whisking the simmering broth, slowly add the cornstarch mixture. Whisk until the gravy thickens, lower the heat, and then season with salt, pepper, and optional flavor enhancers like mushroom powder and herbs.
  • The nutrition facts provided below are estimates.
Nutrition Per Serving Serving Size About 1/3 cup / Calories 76 / Protein 2 g / Carbohydrate 4 g / Dietary Fiber 0 g / Total Sugars 0 g / Total Fat 6 g / Saturated Fat 4 g / Cholesterol 15 mg / Sodium 285 mg
AUTHOR: Adam Gallagher
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30 comments… Leave a Review
  • Patricia September 24, 2024, 8:07 pm

    This is the best gravy and easy to make with ingredients on hand. I made the roux gluten free using a gf flour. I added some dried mushrooms I had on hand broken into small pieces. My herb of choice was rosemary. So good. I highly recommend this recipe.

    Reply
  • Annie November 24, 2023, 7:07 am

    Hi, this was delicious and fast. It was so quick that I just realized I forgot to add the fresh herbs! I was whipping this up as 9 people were sitting down to Thanksgiving dinner, LOL, so I was a little frazzeled. I did use the pan drippings and I skimmed off the fat. I can’t imagine how much better it would have been with the addition of the herbs, which I normally put in gravy. I am printing this now to put in my recipe file for next year. Thank you so much.

    Reply
  • Chloe Godfrey June 8, 2022, 7:07 pm

    This Gravy is so awesome!!!! Love love love it. So easy and my husband loves it as well.

    Reply
  • Lorraine April 19, 2022, 9:05 pm

    Excellent! I ad lobbed with a spoon of “ better than boullion” easy tasty recipe thanks!

    Reply
  • Katosha Drummer March 27, 2022, 5:57 pm

    Thanks for the gravy recipe my family loves it better than the package gravy

    Reply
  • Wendy March 22, 2022, 12:22 am

    Making it tonight, I don’t have mushroom powder but I’m sure I’ll be making it again and will add it then

    Reply
  • Cristy Bumba November 25, 2021, 12:18 am

    I’m going to do whatever it takes to serve a tasty turkey for Thanksgiving this year. The last few years have been a real disappointment. No one likes a dry and tough turkey on turkey day! I’ve got a good feeling about this one.

    Reply
  • Maggie November 24, 2021, 6:45 pm

    This gravy recipe is the best!! I was surprised of how delicious and explosion of flavors, must add the mushroom. I have dried mushroom seasoning from Trader Joe’s and worked great! Thank u!!

    Reply
  • Lora Baker December 23, 2020, 10:14 pm

    This is the best gravy I have ever made. I made the roasted chicken recipe on this site (with limes & fridge minced garlic rather than lemons and whole garlic) and used the pan drippings (unstrained – there was very little if no fat -or I am an idiot and just didn’t see it). I could eat it with a spoon. YUM.

    Reply
  • Dolores Grace December 20, 2020, 12:43 pm

    The gravy is just what I was looking for.

    Reply
    • Courtney December 28, 2020, 12:28 am

      Wow!!!!! This gravy was so incredible and so EASY to make. I’ve always had a hard time getting a really good flavor or getting the right consistency. The flavor from the fresh herbs was delish- I used thyme, rosemary, and sage. I also used a little Worchestshire sauce as I didn’t have the powdered mushrooms. Amazing!! My new go to gravy recipe.

      Reply
  • Sarah Hall November 24, 2020, 9:32 pm

    Can I get some guidance on mushroom powder? Is there a certain kind or brand?

    Reply
    • Joanne December 27, 2020, 1:02 pm

      Hi Sarah, We usually make our own (just blend some dried mushrooms like porcini in a blender until a fine powder). We also love World Spice Merchant’s Cascade Mushroom Mix.

      Reply
  • Tes November 22, 2020, 10:15 pm

    My goodness 😋😋😋 this was super easy to make and it was delicious. I added a little cornstarch toward the end. I served over meatballs and rice. This is by far the easiest gravy recipe I’ve come across. This has been bookmarked

    Reply

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