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Your favorite meat and potatoes dinner isn’t complete without this easy and delicious Beef Gravy recipe. The deep color and rich flavor makes this gravy the perfect topping to so many meals!
Featured with this recipe
- Ingredients in this Beef Gravy Recipe
- Gravy with Juices from a Beef Roast
- Homemade Beef Gravy with Beef Broth
- Can I Use Beef Stock Instead of Beef Broth?
- Beef Gravy with Flour
- Brown Gravy from a Roux
- Frequently Asked Questions about Beef Gravy
- The Best Roast Beef Recipes
- Kick It Up a Notch
- Where’s The Beef?
- More Delicious Gravy Recipes
- Beef Gravy Recipe
- ingredients
Growing up, the star of every Sunday dinner was our mom’s creamy, rich beef gravy. She was famous for her warm, comforting Sunday meals, especially mashed potatoes and gravy. Extended family members were always clamoring to get an invite to her table. One of our uncles (who will remain anonymous) came over for dinner once, filled his whole plate with mashed potatoes and then covered the entire thing with Mom’s gravy. Hey, no judgement here, Uncle Anonymous. We’re just jealous we didn’t think of doing it first! This Beef Gravy recipe is super easy to make and is perfect for Christmas, Thanksgiving, or just a nice weekend meal.
Ingredients in this Beef Gravy Recipe
Homemade gravy is super easy to make! And it comes together in just a few minutes. 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 – three teaspoons
- 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, the granules, or Better than Bouillon, which you can find at most grocery stores.
- Ground black pepper – to taste
Gravy with Juices from a Beef Roast
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.
Homemade Beef Gravy with Beef Broth
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 and a little butter. Gravy needs a bit of that good, delicious 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!
Can I Use Beef Stock Instead of Beef Broth?
Yes! Stock that has been simmered down from bones, seasonings, and veggies (usually the trifecta of carrots, celery and onions) adds a much deeper flavor to gravy. But if making all that at home sounds daunting, there are several can or carton options at your regular grocery store.
Beef Gravy with Flour
We like the cornstarch method when making gravy because it is a little more forgiving and easier to do when you have beef drippings. If you don’t have cornstarch on hand or prefer a roux gravy, you can still use this easy recipe! Simply melt butter, add flour and stir until flour is cooked, then whisk in the beef broth and remaining ingredients. Which leads me to…
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.
Frequently Asked Questions about Beef Gravy
Make sure to remove excess fat, thicken with the perfect roux (see above notes about roux) and strain any lumps. Also make sure the gravy is hot but not boiling.
Add extra flavors with bouillon, bacon fat, fresh or dried herbs, onions, grainy mustard, Worcestershire sauce, or pan drippings.
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.
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 you you covered. All of these methods will give you a good amount of liquid for a delicious roast beef 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 – Any mushroom lovers out there? Slice up some mushrooms and sauté in butter over medium heat before adding to the gravy.
Where’s The Beef?
Want even more delicious, beefy recipes with beef gravies and sauces? Here are some of our favorites:
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.
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!
I made your instant pot pot roast recipe and it turned out beautiful and delicious. Thank you so much. I’ve also used your brown gravy recipe. I would love to have some more of your recipes if you have time to send them. I bought myslef my instant pot for my Christmas present. Have only used it a couple times but would love some different recipes that i can cook in it.
Sincerely,
Robyn Sloan
Here is a link to all of our Instant Pot Recipes: https://www.favfamilyrecipes.com/category/recipes/cooking-method/instant-pot/
Delicious!
Very easy and delicious
I have no idea how many bouillon cubes to use. Are two enough?
You can start with one and see how you like the taste, and then add more if you want!
You can’t have mashed potatoes without this gravy! It is so, so good!! I love it over meat, too!
Love this beef gravy as a side dish and so good with mashed potatoes!
Yum! My husband is going to love this recipe! Can’t wait to give this a try!
Have you tried making this ahead? Freezing to use later?
I don’t usually have any gravy leftover, so I don’t know. However, I have heard that people freeze their gravy in ziplock bags with good results!
We loved this gravy recipe. I made it as stated except I didnt have any bouillon cubes so I used a little bit of soy sauce , maybe about 2 tsps. The best thing about this gravy is my grandson has a dairy allergy, so we have to make a separate gravy for him, but I can use this recipe and just sub his margarine for the butter. Thank you so much!
This was an ealy recipe to follow and it turned out great! Thank you!
Have been looking for this gravy solution for years…..it’s delicious AND easy to make with pantry ingredients!
THANKS
I made three other recipes before this one that tasted HORRENDOUS!! I am so happy I found this one, it is AMAZING, especially considering I didn’t use the pan drippings. It tastes better than I hoped, this will definitely be my go to. ❤️❤️
This was so easy. It turned out absolutely perfect. Thank you. My gravy is normally a flop and I feel like this was foolproof.
When making gravy – I use the broth from the roast I have cooked in a slow cooker in a pan. I then add
1 Can broth OR a jar of gravy. To thicken (if too thin) I thicken it with corn starch. I do not like
using flour as it works so much better with CS. The gravy is really great!
a good simple recipe, Thank you.
My roast did not produce many drippings so I turned to this recipe and I’m glad I did! It’s a perfect brown gravy when you have little or no drippings. For those who said this gravy was thin and watery, I’m wondering if they didn’t whisk long enough. It produced a nice thick, hearty gravy that we all enjoyed.
Used all ingredients including all 4 Tbs of corn starch still gave me a super water gravy. Idk if all these people just like that consistency or what but this was not it for me or my family. It also says serves 10 it served more like 4. Wouldn’t use this recipe again.
How much flour would I use if I didn’t want to use cornstarch?
You should use twice as much flour as you would use cornstarch.
I am not a fan of gravy usually but needed some for a roast and my husband wanted some. This was delicious even for me! The thought of using a packet for cooking foods is mostly gross to me so I’m always looking for recipes that make food from scratch.
Really good. I drained the fat from the beef broth in which the brisket cooked (with carrots and onion). Followed the Recipe with the corn starch. Added a dab of red wine and a touch of gravy master. Did not use onion or garlic powder because husband put. dry rub on it. Did it in Traeger smoker on 225 degrees. Will make a Again. I think the butter added brings it to a real homemade level!
It is Patti again. I only had two cups of beef broth and used two tbs of cornstarch. Perfect!
Oh yay! Glad it worked out!
Oh yum! I bet it was SO GOOD smoked! That is such a good idea! Thank you for sharing!
Salted or unsalted butter?
Omg I am in love with this beef gravy recipe☺️. I used this gravy recipe for my Salisbury steak. It was so delicious. My boyfriend loved it. Thank you.
Hi Paulina- I am so glad you (and your boyfriend) liked this recipe! Great idea using it for Salisbury steak! YUM!
Maybe it’s really GMO’s?