Never struggle to make homemade gravy again! Use our easy sauce recipe with photos and step-by-step instructions. Works for turkey, chicken, pork or beef.
In this recipe
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Cornstarch vs. Flour
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How much flour or cornstarch to use
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freeze sauce
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Cooling sauce
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Fix lumpy gravy
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Prepare sauce with flour
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Prepare sauce with cornstarch
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There are many ways to make gravy out of a roast. Some can get pretty complicated. What we do is simple. You can easily make a delicious, smacky gravy out of the drippings!
We use either cornstarch or flour to thicken the sauce, the process is similar for both.
Cornstarch versus flour for gravy
What’s the difference between using cornstarch or flour to make your sauce? Cornstarch has more thickening power than wheat flour (because it’s pure starch, while flour contains some protein). So for the same thickening power, you usually need a little less cornstarch than flour.
However, with this method we use equal amounts of flour or cornstarch as we vary the amount of liquid we add and reduce the sauce by simmering to reach the desired thickness.
Cornstarch also has the property that if you cook it too long in the sauce, it loses its cohesiveness and the sauce becomes thin again. It also loses some thickness when chilled and reheated. In this case, you’ll need to add more cornstarch and heat the sauce to thicken it again.
We find that a flour-based sauce holds up better and is easier to reheat later, so we tend to use flour in the sauce instead of cornstarch unless we have a gluten-free guest.
How much flour or cornstarch to use to make gravy
Follow this ratio. For each cup of gravy you want, start with 2 tablespoons of the pan juices and fat and 2 tablespoons of the flour or cornstarch. (This makes for a rich and thick sauce. If you want a thinner sauce, either start with a tablespoon each of the drippings and starch or add more liquid to thin the sauce.)
So if you want to make 2 cups of gravy, remove all but 4 tablespoons of the fat and drippings from the skillet (set aside for later use).
This guide makes about 2 cups of sauce, but you can easily divide or multiply to adjust how much sauce you want to make.
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Watch How to Make Gravy
Can you freeze sauce?
Freeze sauce in freezer-safe containers or zip-lock bags for up to 3 months. Thaw in the fridge. To reheat, place in a saucepan over medium-high heat and cook, stirring, until it reaches a full simmer.
Freeze unused drippings for future gravy when serving things like mashed potatoes or meatloaf.
How long can sauce be refrigerated?
Store sauce in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to 5 days. To warm, place in a saucepan over medium-high heat and cook, stirring occasionally, until it reaches a full simmer.
Lumpy sauce? Here’s a solution!
If you end up with lumps in the sauce, use an immersion blender to puree it right in the pan. Or put it in a blender or food processor. Alternatively, run it through a sieve and leave the clumps.
Prepare sauce in a pan or saucepan
This recipe calls for making the sauce directly in a skillet, but if your pan doesn’t fit on the stovetop or is too shallow for the sauce, you can make it in a skillet or saucepan.
Remove the roast from the pan. Pour the fat into a measuring cup and add 4 tablespoons of the fat to the pot or pan you will be using for the sauce (save the extra fat and juices).
Then, using a metal spatula, scrape any brown bits off the bottom of the skillet and add them to the pan or saucepan. Don’t skip this part. These brown pieces bring a lot of flavor to the sauce.
Finish the sauce by following the directions in step 3 and beyond for flour or cornstarch. Don’t forget to add the savory pan juices to your sauce for an extra flavor boost.
More recipes begging for sauce!
- Mama’s roast turkey
- Fried chicken with carrots
- Slow cooker mashed potatoes
- Hot turkey sandwich
- turkey meatloaf
From the editors of Simply Recipes
How to make sauce
When you cook a roast, whether it’s turkey, chicken, beef, or lamb, you should end up with plenty of browned residue and fat from the roast.
The “drops” are browned juices and fat. All of the flavor of any sauce you make from the drops comes from those browned bits. You need fat as a base for the sauce.
If you have gravy, but it hasn’t browned at the bottom of the pan after frying, you can return the empty pan to the oven. Set the temperature to 450°F or 500°F and cook until the juice has evaporated and is bubbling and browning at the bottom of the pan.
In this approach to gravy preparation, we’ll break up the gravy as best we can with a whisk, but we’re not concerned about browned bits in the gravy itself. If you like, you can puree the gravy in a blender to make it smoother, but we never care. The tanned bits are the best!
ingredients
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1/4 Cup Drops of fat (see recipe note)
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1/4 Cup all purpose flour or cornstarch
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3 to 4 cups share, Water, milk, cream or a combination
method
Prepare sauce with flour
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Remove all but 1/4 cup of fat from the pan:
Remove the roast from the pan. Remove excess fat and leave 4 tablespoons of fat in pan, plus juice and browned drippings.
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Scrape up the drippings and place the pan on the stove over medium-high heat:
Use a metal spatula to scrape off any drips stuck to the pan. Place the pan on the stove over medium-high heat.
If you’re using a skillet that doesn’t work well on the stovetop, scrape off any drips and grease and transfer to a large, shallow skillet.
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Sprinkle 4 tablespoons of flour on the drops:
Stir quickly with a whisk to incorporate the flour. Allow the flour to brown a little, to your liking, before adding liquid in the next step.
(You can also start with a flour and water slurry—equal amounts of flour and cold water whisked together—if you like.)
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Stir the sauce while slowly adding liquid:
Slowly add the broth, water, milk, cream, or combination, to the pan, beating vigorously to dissolve the flour into liquid.
Let the sauce simmer and thicken, slowly adding liquid until you have about 2 cups of sauce. (You’ll probably need to add 3 to 4 cups of liquid.)
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Flavor and Spice:
Taste first, then add salt and pepper as needed.
Prepare sauce with cornstarch
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Remove all but 1/4 cup of fat from the pan:
Remove the roast from the pan. Remove excess fat and leave 4 tablespoons of fat in pan, plus juice and browned drippings.
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Scrape up the drippings and set the pan to medium heat:
Use a metal spatula to scrape off any drips stuck to the pan. Place the pan on the stove over medium-high heat.
If you’re using a skillet that doesn’t work well on the stovetop, scrape off any drips and grease and transfer to a large, shallow skillet.
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Make the cornstarch slurry:
Dissolve 4 tablespoons of cornstarch in the minimum amount of water needed to make a thin paste – about 1/2 cup.
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Pour the cornstarch into the pan and beat while slowly adding liquid:
Stir with a whisk until the sauce starts to thicken. As the sauce thickens, slowly add broth, water, milk, or cream, or a combination, to the pan (I like to use broth, my mom usually uses water).
Alternately stir and add liquid, maintaining desired consistency for a few minutes (about 5 minutes).
You will likely add about 3 to 4 cups of liquid total. Allowing for the evaporation that occurs while the sauce is simmering, you end up with about 2 cups of sauce.
If the sauce isn’t thick enough, make more cornstarch and whip it into the pan.
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Flavor and Spice:
Taste first, then add salt and pepper as needed.
| nutritional information (per serving) | |
|---|---|
| 115 | calories |
| 8g | Fat |
| 7g | carbohydrates |
| 3g | protein |
