White gravy can be swiftly made in a skillet and used as the perfect creamy, savory garnish for your favorite foods. The ingredients for this sauce, which you presumably already have, include butter, flour, milk, salt, and pepper. To add some heat, add a small amount of cayenne. You will easily commit a recipe to memory because it may be used regularly. I suggest combining the first batch with a homemade buttermilk biscuit. The warm, fluffy layers complement the hearty gravy perfectly.
How to Make White Gravy?
You’re in for a treat if all you’ve ever tasted is white or pepper gravy from a packet. You can control the amount of salt and the quality of the ingredients, and I know you’ll adore the hearty flavor because it’s so simple to create at home.
This recipe has been available on the website since January 2015, to be precise. It was initially included in a post with two recipes, but I felt it merited its entry because you all adore it.
After years of experimentation, I’ve made a few changes to the recipe, but don’t worry; the original recipe can be found directly below in the “Chef’s suggestions” section.
We prefer to serve a small bowl of this white gravy on the side with our fried chicken or chicken tenders, but it also goes well with a country-fried steak recipe that will be posted on this website shortly!
Put butter in. Melt the butter in the pan by heating it to medium heat. Seasonings and flour are added. Whisk the flour and spices into the melted butter when there are no longer flour streaks. Cook. If the flour or butter isn’t cooked for 1-2 minutes, your gravy may taste like raw flour.
While cooking, whisk occasionally. The milk. I prefer to whisk vigorously before and after each addition of milk, adding about 1/2 cup at a time. You will receive lump-free gravy as a result. Simmer for a while. Simmer for about five minutes or until the dressing is smooth and the consistency you choose.
Variations of this Recipe
Pan drippings – I created this recipe if you DO NOT have any on hand, but by all means, use them if you do! Garlic: I occasionally like adding garlic powder (between 1/4 and 1/2 tsp) to this dish.
Simple: Leave the thyme and cayenne pepper for a more straightforward, simplified version of this recipe.
If you don’t have whole milk, you can substitute an equal amount of evaporated milk in this recipe. You’ll need about 16 ounces—alternative bowls of milk such as almond, soy, oat, etc. I haven’t mainly tested this gravy with these bowls of milk, so I can’t predict how they’ll turn out.
However, I believe they would function flawlessly. If you’d like, you can prepare this gravy entirely in advance. The sauce becomes extremely thick when stored in the refrigerator. To re-loosen it, I advise warming it in a pot with an additional splash of milk.
White gravy can technically be frozen, but because it contains dairy, the freezing and thawing processes can alter the texture and consistency. If you intend to freeze this gravy, I advise using evaporated milk instead of regular milk because it seems to hold up a little better to freezing.
The gravy should be completely cooled before being transferred to freezer containers and frozen for up to three months. Reheat on the stovetop after defrosting in the fridge overnight, adding a little additional milk or water as necessary. Eat white gravy within 3 to 4 days after storing it in the refrigerator in an airtight container.
Ingredients
- One stick (four tablespoons) of unsalted butter
- All-purpose flour, 1/4 cup
- 2 cups of whole or 2% milk
- 12 teaspoon kosher salt plus additional amounts as necessary
- freshly ground black pepper, plus different parts as required.
Instructions
- Melt four tablespoons of unsalted butter over low heat in a medium saucepan. Add 1/4 cup all-purpose flour and continue whisking for 3 to 5 minutes until the mixture smells toasted and turns a deep golden color. (As it cooks, the roux will thin out a little.)
- Slowly add 2 cups milk, 1/2 cup at a time, while whisking continuously. The mixture will initially seize up and become smooth and creamy if you keep slowly adding the milk and whisking continuously. Whisk in 1/4 teaspoon of black pepper and 1/2 teaspoon of kosher salt.
- The gravy should thicken to the proper consistency after 3 to 5 minutes of whisking and cooking. When dropped from a spoon, it should drip heavily without clumping. If necessary, add more kosher salt and black pepper after tasting.
What is the White Gravy Called?
The biscuits, gravy, and chicken-fried steak recipes use cream or white dressing the most frequently. A roux consisting of flour, meat, or meat drippings is typically used for cooking it. A white sauce prepared in the South is substantially thicker, frequently made with lard or pan drippings rather than butter, seldom contains onions or nutmeg, and always freshly crushed black pepper. In some locations, it’s even referred to as pepper gravy. This recipe for the white dressing is a fundamental white sauce that is simple to prepare and has a wide range of applications. Serve with biscuits or make a cheese sauce by adding cheese.
White sauce, Béchamel sauce, country gravy, peppered gravy, and homestyle gravy are other names for the substance I have referred to in this recipe as white gravy. According to John Egerton’s book Southern Food, white gravy has humble origins. In Kentucky during the Civil War, sawmill workers frequently had coffee, biscuits, and gravy for breakfast that was cooked from meat drippings, thickened with cornmeal, and completed with milk.
Can you Make White Gravy with Water Instead of Milk?
While brown gravy is created by combining beef liquid and drippings with water or broth, white sauce is usually produced with some form of a dairy product. Water can make gravy, but it won’t be white and won’t have the same thickness, flavor, or body as gravy prepared with milk. When designing a large jar of country gravy mix, add four teaspoons of the compound to 1 cup of water. Use milk rather than water if you prefer creamier gravy. Many times have I done that. A roux consisting of flour, meat, or meat drippings is typically used for cooking it.
Typically, milk is added, and the roux thickens it; after it has been made, black pepper and little pieces of mild sausage or chicken liver may be added. Country gravy, sawmill gravy, milk gravy, and sausage gravy are other common names for this dish. Meat, Sauce, and Gravy The pan fluids that remain after cooking meat in its natural or floured state are called sauce. We acquire gravy when flour is added to thicken the liquids after the meat has been cooked.
Difference Between White Gravy & Brown Gravy
There are two types of gravy lovers: those who see a Thanksgiving turkey or Sunday roast drenched in an amber-hued elixir when they hear the word “gravy,” and those who envision a lighter-colored, very creamy sauce atop chicken-fried steak or buttermilk biscuits. Both are known as gravy and are served with dishes for special occasions, but a few significant distinctions give them different names, flavors, and appearances. Describe them.
According to John Egerton’s book Southern Food, white gravy has humble origins. In Kentucky during the Civil War, sawmill workers frequently had coffee, biscuits, and dressing for breakfast that was cooked from meat drippings, thickened with cornmeal, and completed with milk. Egerton asserts that the gravy’s gritty, “sawdusty” nature gave rise to its alternate moniker of sawmill gravy and contributed to its appeal among sawmill personnel. It was considered an affordable yet mouthwatering way to start the day because it was made from leftover beef and a small amount of dairy.
The process is still the same, except today, it’s more typical to thicken white gravy with flour rather than cornmeal. According to The Spruce Eats, cooks begin with a heated skillet of sausage, bacon, or chicken drippings, stir in flour to produce a roux, and then gradually whisk in whole milk to complete the sauce. Bonus points if you include crumbled morning sausage, a Southern custom.
What do you Use to Make the Gravy Thicker?
Reduce and simmer: Cooking your gravy for a more extended period is one of the simplest ways to make it thicker. Include cornstarch You can use cornstarch to thicken the sauce by making a slurry, a paste with a liquid basis. Implement a beurre manié: The term beurre manié, which means “kneaded butter” in French, refers to a roux-like technique for thickening gravy. With a fork, combine equal parts of all-purpose flour and softened butter to create a paste. Pieces of the paste should be slowly incorporated into your gravy as you bring it back to a boil and whisk it until it has the consistency you want.
When cooking a chicken, turkey, or roast, the pan drippings are thickened using a wheat flour slurry (a mixture of flour and water) or wheat flour and butter roux. However, you can use alternative starches instead of flour, such as arrowroot and cornstarch. The gluten-free alternatives to thickening with flour are cornstarch and arrowroot. Additionally, they’ll keep the sauce pure and free of clouds. In the recipe, one tablespoon is required for every cup of liquid. Cornstarch and water are combined to make a slurry, which is then added to the saucepan.
Is Cornstarch or Flour Better for Gravy?
Because it is made entirely of starch, whereas flour contains some protein, cornstarch has a more remarkable ability to thicken liquids than wheat flour. While only the starchy portion of maize is used to make cornstarch, whole corn kernels are used to make corn flour. As a result, cornstarch is composed chiefly of carbohydrates, and corn flour also includes protein, fiber, starch, vitamins, and minerals. Like cornstarch, the method for thickening gravy with flour works best if you mix it with a bit of water to make a paste or slurry that resembles liquid (you may also use a fine-mesh sieve to strain the dry flour into the hot beverage).Composition:
The method of production is the primary distinction between cornstarch and flour. Flavors: Cornstarch is an essentially flavorless powder primarily used to give food more texture rather than taste. Cornstarch is frequently used to thicken sauces with liquid bases due to its thickening qualities. All-purpose flour is ideal for thickening since it contains more starch than other wheat flour. Pure starch generated from corn is called cornstarch. Before it starts to degrade, it can endure a fair amount of heat and stir.
Conclusion
White gravy should be a staple in any rural cook’s repertoire. The good news is that you won’t ever want to use a mix again because preparing white gravy is so simple. You can make your gravy with items you already have in your kitchen whenever possible. White gravy easily and quickly adds flavor and moisture to foods like fried chicken, biscuits, and potatoes. Learn how to create white gravy and find some of our favorite white gravy recipes by reading on.
