Southern Brown Gravy

brown gravy on top of mashed potatoes on a plate served with meatballs and green beans

5 from 44 votes

Homemade Southern Brown Gravy is easier than you’d think! Made with beef broth, butter, and flour, this three-ingredient recipe is the perfect topping for so many recipes.

Cook Time10

Total Time10

Course: Dinner, Main Course, Main Dish, Main Dishes

Cuisine: American

Servings: servings

Ingredients

32 ounces beef broth (or beef stock) I use unsalted
2 tablespoons butter I use unsalted and add salt as needed
2 tablespoons all purpose flour
1 teaspoons coarse ground black pepper (or more to taste)
coarse kosher salt (to taste)

Instructions

Heat a large skillet over medium-high heat.
Add the butter and let it melt.
Once the butter is melted, add in the all-purpose flour and whisk until smooth. You want it to cook out the raw flour taste.
Allow the flour mixture to cook for about 3 minutes, whisking occasionally to keep it smooth.
Gradually add in the beef broth, whisking constantly. Pouring it in slowly will allow it to thicken. I like to add in about 1 cup at a time.
Once all of the beef broth has been added, season with black pepper. Taste test before adding salt. The amount of salt you’ll want to use will be determined by whether or not you use salted beef broth and/or salted butter.
Once your gravy is seasoned, serve in a gravy boat over your favorite dish!

Video

Notes

With this gravy, it's important to pour the beef broth in slowly as you whisk so that it stays thick. If you accidentally pour it in too quickly and cause the gravy to get too thin, you can add a cornstarch slurry to thicken it back up. Mix 1 tablespoon of cornstarch with 2 tablespoons of cold water until smooth and gently add it while whisking to the gravy to thicken it. Only use a cornstarch slurry if you poured the broth in too quickly and caused it to thin out.

Nutrition