No Drippings Brown Gravy Recipe

Made without drippings and with minimal ingredients, this brown gravy still tastes like the real deal your grandmother used to make. The morning before Thanksgiving, people all over North America turn their turkey pan juices to gravy. But what if you are craving gravy with your mashed potatoes or corned beef, but you don't have the pan drippings to make it? Enter, our easy no drippings brown gravy recipe.

According to food Blogger Ksenia Prints of At the Immigrant's Table, the secrets to good gravy are a flavorful beef broth and a good roux. Our recipe makes sense of the latter, while the former can be bought in any store. And within minutes, you are well on the way to attaining the perfect gravy, without the need to cook any meat itself (though, this gravy does pair well with a good slice of beef, chicken, or turkey).

Keep in mind that any gravy will thicken as it cools, so with any leftover gravy, ensure you are reheating it to the desired temperature before attempting to thin it out.

To make this easy gravy without any drippings, you will need flour (gluten-free flour works as well, but you may need a bit more liquid), butter, beef broth, and salt and pepper.

Bring a saucepan to medium heat. Add the flour and butter, and whisk continuously, until combined and a roux is formed; in other words, until the butter and flour form a paste of a cohesive consistency.

But what is a roux, you ask, and what do you need to know to master it? A roux is at the base of at least four of the five French mother sauces — so, the sauces at the base of all French cuisine, according to Prints. But at its essence, a roux is just a paste made by frying flour in a fat of some kind. Get the proportion of the fat-to-flour wrong, however, and your whole sauce is ruined. Luckily, we've taken the guesswork out of this roux for you, so just proceed as needed.

Continuing to whisk and stir, then pour in half of the beef broth. Ensure that the mixture is well mixed and no lumps are formed, and then add in the remaining liquid, stirring throughout.

Continue cooking brown gravy for an additional 3-5 minutes, until it is thick and smooth.

Taste and season with salt and pepper to your liking. If your beef broth is highly seasoned, you may not need much. But if your broth is salt-free, you may want to add more salt at this stage.

Serve the no drippings gravy immediately. It goes beautifully with mashed potatoes, turkey, or even tofu.

Leftover gravy can be stored in an airtight container in the fridge for up to 5 days. It will thicken as it cools, so make sure you warm it up before thinning it out.