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This Easy 5-Minute Gravy Recipe is perfect for turkey, chicken, or beef! It’s so flavorful and it’s foolproof too and perfect for any meal. You’re going to be so happy when you see how easy it is to make gravy.
Easy Gravy Recipe in 5 minutes!
Gravy has always been sort of an enigma to me. I’ve never known the exact ratios of liquid and thickener or whether to use cornstarch or flour, stock or water…and end up just winging it and hoping for the best.
I’ve come to realize as I’ve gotten older that gravy is the star of the meal. My husband could drink gravy, he loves it so much, and he drowns everything in it, so it’s important that it not only tastes good but is the perfect consistency.
THIS is the perfect gravy for Thanksgiving, Christmas, Easter, and ANY time you want to make homemade gravy for turkey, chicken, beef, or even vegetarian gravy!
Why you’ll love this recipe
- This recipe has the magical combination of liquid and fat and thickener that tastes so good and is perfect poured on everything.
- You can use this recipe for turkey gravy, roasted chicken or make it brown gravy for beef. It’s even a good gravy recipe without drippings! Basically it’s the PERFECT gravy recipe and it takes only 5 minutes to make!
What you need to make homemade gravy
- Butter: I love butter in gravy – it makes it so thick and rich. It’s best to use unsalted butter and then add salt to taste because you never know how much salt is really in stock or bouillon and you don’t want your gravy recipe to be too salty.
- Flour: Use all-purpose flour for this. The butter and flour mixture cooks and makes a roux which thickens the gravy to the perfect thickness.
- Chicken Stock or broth: Use your favorite brand – but use a good one. I prefer using low sodium stock. You can also use drippings from your roast or turkey.
- Bouillon: I use this to add extra flavor when I’m just using stock or broth. If I’m using the drippings I don’t usually add this because turkey or beef drippings have tons of extra flavor.
- Spices: Use your favorites, but I love adding herbs and onion powder.
How To Make Gravy From Scratch
- Heat the stock and bouillon cubes (if using) in the microwave until hot and the bouillon has dissolved. Meanwhile, melt butter in a saucepan. Add the flour and spices.
- Cook the flour and whisk until a rue has formed about a minute.
- Slowly add the hot stock to the butter mixture, whisking to combine. Add spices.
- Cook until boiling and thick, stirring often.
Gravy Recipe Tips
- This gravy recipe calls for stock so make sure to use one that is high quality. The more flavor the better!
- If you are making a turkey or chicken with drippings, strain it, remove the fat, and measure it with the stock to add tons of extra flavor.
- If you’re using stock and not drippings don’t skip the bouillon. But if you’re using drippings you can reduce them or omit them.
- It’s best to use unsalted butter, just because stock, drippings, and bouillon often have lots of salt. Taste your end product to see if it needs extra salt or pepper.
- It really only takes 5 minutes. Don’t walk away from the stove; this gravy thickens fast!
FAQs
This gravy recipe is thickened with flour – the butter and flour make a rue that thickens the stock.
You’d have to use cornstarch to thicken the gravy. Bring the stock to a boil in a saucepan and use 2 tablespoons of cornstarch mixed with 1 tablespoon cold water. Stir the cornstarch slurry into the boiling stock until it thickens.
Store in an airtight container in the refrigerator. It will gel; heat to thin and add additional stock or water if you want it thinner.
Easy Gravy Recipe
Recipe Video
Ingredients
- 2 cups (474ml) chicken, beef, vegetable, or turkey stock
- 2 beef or chicken bouillon cubes
- 4 tablespoons (57g) unsalted butter
- ¼ cup (31g) all-purpose flour
- 1 teaspoon onion powder
- ¼ teaspoon dried thyme
- ½ teaspoon dried sage
- 1 teaspoon dried rosemary
- Salt and pepper to taste
Instructions
- Combine the stock and the bouillon cubes in a microwave safe bowl or measuring cup. Heat for 1 minutes and stir. Repeat until bouillon is dissolved.
- Melt the butter in a saucepan over medium-high heat. Add the flour, onion powder, thyme, sage, and rosemary and cook for 1 minute to cook the flour. Slowly whisk in the stock until smooth and bring to a boil. Reduce to a simmer and cook, whisking, until smooth and thick, about 1 minute. Add salt and pepper to taste. Remove from heat and serve immediately.
Recipe Notes
- If you have pan drippings, use those then add stock to make 2 cups.
Recipe Nutrition
Not only am I excited to share this recipe with you because it tastes so good, but also because it comes from a new cookbook I’m very excited about. The Simple Kitchen by Donna and Chad Elick is full of quick and easy recipes for every day. Donna and Chad are the founders of The Slow Roasted Italian and are friends of mine. Their recipes are always delicious! I’ve made several of the recipes in their book and love every single one.
This is now my go-to gravy recipe. It’s so flavorful and easy that I plan to make it all the time!
If you love gravy, you need to try it on Southwestern Crusted Roast Beef or this Oven Roasted Chicken with Lemon Rosemary Butter.
**Did you make this recipe? Don’t forget to give it a star rating below!**
We did this gravy for our NYE dinner and it was a hit! We all loved it, it tastes so much better than the ones you buy. We didn’t have any chicken bouillon cubes so we used chicken powder. It came out a little bit salty even though we added no extra salt, so next time we will try adding less chicken powder. Loved it, thank you!
Hi Dorothy,
I wanted to thank you for this wonderful recipe. I served with Yukon Gold mashed potatoes, green peas and roasted chicken: both my wife and I loved it, and it made our Christmas dinner extra special.
This simple recipe made gravy making super easy and delicious!
I forgot to make gravy for our mashed potatoes on Christmas (what!?) so I quickly Googled recipes and this one popped up. One word – AMAZING! I think the key is the buillons. I will keep making this gravy again for my mashed potatoes/meats. Thanks!
Turned out delicious. Followed the recipe as written except sautéed some celery with the butter and flour. Used it for hot turkey manhattan sandwiches with dressing. Very good! Will make again!
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