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Learn how to make the best beef gravy from scratch, with or without drippings. This easy recipe is perfect for mashed potatoes, roast beef, and Sunday dinners!
Mom’s Famous Beef Gravy
Growing up, the star of every Sunday dinner was our mom’s creamy, rich beef gravy. She is famous for her warm, comforting Sunday meals, especially her mashed potatoes and gravy. It was something all of us kids would gladly eat, which is saying something! Even extended family members are always clamoring to get an invite to her table. One of my uncles (who will remain anonymous) came over for dinner once, filled his whole plate with potatoes, made a well in the middle, and then filled the entire thing with gravy. It looked like a potatoes and gravy Crater Lake. He then proceeded to eat it with a spoon like soup. And who could blame him? It really is *that* good!
Beef Gravy Ingredients
Making beef gravy from scratch is easier than you might think! It comes together in just a few minutes and can easily be adjusted to your tastes. Here’s what you need:
- Butter – about three tablespoons or so, depending on how thick you’d like your roux. See below for more about making the perfect roux.
- Beef broth – four cups of your favorite canned broth. You can use pan drippings from your roast, or a combination of both.
- Onion powder
- Garlic powder – one teaspoon or more for extra flavor.
- Cornstarch – four tablespoons for a creamy roux.
- Water
- Beef bouillon – to taste. You can use a bouillon cube, granules, or Better than Bouillon, which you can find at most grocery stores.
- Ground black pepper – to taste
How to Make Beef Gravy with Drippings
Drippings from your roast meat is ideal for the best gravy. Use that glorious broth left over from cooking your meat for your gravy. Use as much as you can and try to scrape up those little beef bits from the bottom of your roasting pan, slow cooker, or Instant Pot before turning it into gravy.
Beef Gravy without Drippings
Drippings from your main course meat is ideal for the best gravy, but sometimes there’s not enough juices left in the pan to make enough gravy to feed the family. If this is the case (which it is the case MOST of the time for our gravy-loving family) here’s a simple trick: add beef broth (or stock) and a little butter. Gravy needs a good amount of fat for a better consistency. If you don’t have any drippings at all, no worries, just follow the recipe below for an easy beef broth gravy!
Brown Gravy from a Roux
Gravy made from a roux sounds fancy, but it’s actually really easy once you understand how it works. What I like about roux gravy is that it can vary in flavor and color depending on how long you cook the flour. If you like a deep, dark brown gravy, similar to gravies in Europe, you cook the flour for much longer than you would a light brown, country-style beef gravy (see image below). There is so much to know about roux, we actually dedicated an entire post to it. Read all about making the perfect roux right here.
Tips for the Best Gravy Every Time
Add some beef bouillon. I have found that using straight up beef broth sometimes doesn’t have quite enough flavor. I always have some bouillon on hand when I am making gravy so I can add adjust the flavor more to my liking. Add a little at a time and taste as you go.
Add a little cornstarch at a time and whisk constantly. This will help you avoid lumpy gravy. Trust me. No one likes lumpy gravy.
Kick It Up a Notch
Want to add some more flavor dimensions to your easy homemade brown gravy? Try adding some of these easy ingredients:
- Worcestershire sauce – adds a deep, tangy flavor to the gravy.
- Thyme or Rosemary – Bring a fresh, earthy flavor to your gravy with a teaspoon of thyme or rosemary. Let it simmer until all those fresh flavors are released. Add other fresh herbs too!
- Chopped onion – sauté some finely chopped onion in a little butter before adding any other ingredients for a brighter flavor.
- Mushrooms – Slice up some mushrooms and sauté in butter over medium heat before adding to the gravy.
Frequently Asked Questions about Beef Gravy
Most beef gravies are NOT gluten free. Beef broth or bouillon generally contain a fair amount of gluten. But, if you use a gluten free broth (check the labels!) and prepare this recipe with corn starch, you will have a delicious gluten free gravy.
Absolutely, you can make beef gravy with a roux using butter and flour or you can thicken the gravy by mixing flour and water together until it forms a paste, then whisk it into the gravy until thickened.
Beef gravy (or brown gravy) is beef broth based while country gravy (also known as white gravy) has a cream or milk base.
READ MORE: 35+ Quick and Easy to Follow Dinner Ideas
The Best Roast Beef Recipes
When making the best brown gravy recipe, it helps to start with a good recipe for roast beef. Lucky for you, we have lots of great roast beef recipes! From slow cooker roast beef (aka Crock Pot pot roast), to our popular Instant Pot pot roast, to a Sunday oven pot roast made in a roasting pan, we’ve got you covered. All of these methods will give you a good amount of liquid for a delicious roast beef gravy.
More Delicious Gravy Recipes
Once you have the method down, the possibilities of delicious gravies are endless. Give some of these a try:
- Mom’s Famous Turkey Gravy (a MUST for Thanksgiving!)
- Biscuits and Sausage Gravy
- Homemade Country Gravy
Beef Gravy
Video
Ingredients
- 3 tablespoons butter (optional, see notes above)
- 4 cups beef broth (or beef drippings, or combination of both)
- 3 teaspoons onion powder
- 1 teaspoon garlic powder
- 4 tablespoons cornstarch
- 1/3 cup water
- beef bouillon to taste
- ground black pepper to taste
Instructions
- In a medium-sized sauce pan, combine butter, beef broth, onion powder, and garlic powder. Bring to a boil, stirring occasionally. Reduce heat and bring to a simmer.
- In a small bowl or liquid measuring cup, combine cornstarch and water, stirring until well combined.
- While whisking the broth CONSTANTLY, slowly add cornstarch mixture to the saucepan. I like to pour in about a tablespoon at a time to gauge consistency. You may not need all of the cornstarch mixture, add only until desired consistency is reached.
- Add beef bouillon (or Kosher salt– I just like the depth of flavor the beef bouillon adds as compared to straight up salt) and pepper to taste.
- Allow to simmer 2-3 minutes. Serve over potatoes, rice, poutine, or your favorite beef dishes.
Notes
- Worcestershire sauce – adds a deep, tangy flavor to the gravy.
- Thyme or Rosemary – Bring a fresh, earthy flavor to your gravy with a teaspoon of thyme or rosemary. Let it simmer until all those fresh flavors are released. Add other fresh herbs too!
- Chopped onion – sauté some finely chopped onion in a little butter before adding any other ingredients for a brighter flavor.
- Mushrooms – Any mushroom lovers out there? Slice up some mushrooms and sauté in butter over medium heat before adding to the gravy.
Septuagenarian rookie had to take over the kitchen about twelve years ago. Not a cook but great at following instructions. Give me ingredients, instructions and an idea of what the results are supposed to be, and I can do anything.
Except make gravy out of nothing.
No longer true. No drippings and this worked great.
All I can say is “THANK YOU!” One more notch in my belt.
Wow, thank you so much for this nice review! Now that you can make gravy, the sky is the limit. Now you can truly make everything 😀 So glad you liked it!
Wonderful to put a company assist to a bag of Walmart Homestyle Meatballs….serve with a pot of mixed white rice and wild rice..Makes a very memorable dish at the family reunion ❣️
Great ideas
This is very close to the recipe I learned from my mama. I now often use beef bone broth with my drippings. Thanks for all your recipes!
Great recipe. I love being able to create gravy without drippings. I often use a recipe, like this one, as a guide and then tweak it. I used chicken stock and chicken bouillon as I was reheating turkey meatloaf. I tossed in a sprig of rosemary from my garden. Great flavoring!
Can this be made ahead and frozen?
Sure!
Off the hook awesome!! Just made it with drippings from a round roast in a cast iron skillet!
Love this gravy
Simple, quick & delicious!
Thank you!
I’ve been making roasts in various ways for over 45 years. They have mostly all come out very tasty. But never have I made a roast that was as tender as the one I made tonight using your low and slow method. It was wonderful!
Easy recipe to follow and very tasty will be making this again for sure !
Hi Echo,
Thanks for sharing this. I made it as-is using bouillon (but reduced quantity) to put into the Pillsbury Beef Pot Pie recipe as a substitute for icky jarred beef gravy. It was great in the pot pie recipe!
Blessings,
Giselle
So glad you liked the gravy– we agree it’s way better than the jarred!
I have made this recipe 3 or 4 times now without drippings and it comes out great every time. Quick, easy and delicious!
Just ok. That’s like beef broth and not gravy.
This is so good!! I love how easy it is! Thanks for the recipe!
Thank you so much for sharing this amazing recipe! Will surely have this again! It’s really easy to make and it tasted so delicious! Highly recommended!
Just delicious! I made this with mashed potatoes and it was a huge hit. Thank you!