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This Easy 5-Minute Gravy Recipe is perfect for turkey, chicken, or beef! It’s so flavorful and it’s foolproof too and perfect for any meal. You’re going to be so happy when you see how easy it is to make gravy.

Gravy in a white gravy boat on a blue and white napkin


Easy Gravy Recipe in 5 minutes!

Gravy has always been sort of an enigma to me. I’ve never known the exact ratios of liquid and thickener or whether to use cornstarch or flour, stock or water…and end up just winging it and hoping for the best.

I’ve come to realize as I’ve gotten older that gravy is the star of the meal. My husband could drink gravy, he loves it so much, and he drowns everything in it, so it’s important that it not only tastes good but is the perfect consistency.

THIS is the perfect gravy for Thanksgiving, Christmas, Easter, and ANY time you want to make homemade gravy for turkey, chicken, beef, or even vegetarian gravy!

Why you’ll love this recipe

  • This recipe has the magical combination of liquid and fat and thickener that tastes so good and is perfect poured on everything.
  • You can use this recipe for turkey gravy, roasted chicken or make it brown gravy for beef. It’s even a good gravy recipe without drippings! Basically it’s the PERFECT gravy recipe and it takes only 5 minutes to make!
Ingredients in gravy

What you need to make homemade gravy

  • Butter: I love butter in gravy – it makes it so thick and rich. It’s best to use unsalted butter and then add salt to taste because you never know how much salt is really in stock or bouillon and you don’t want your gravy recipe to be too salty.
  • Flour: Use all-purpose flour for this. The butter and flour mixture cooks and makes a roux which thickens the gravy to the perfect thickness.
  • Chicken Stock or broth: Use your favorite brand – but use a good one. I prefer using low sodium stock. You can also use drippings from your roast or turkey.
  • Bouillon: I use this to add extra flavor when I’m just using stock or broth. If I’m using the drippings I don’t usually add this because turkey or beef drippings have tons of extra flavor.
  • Spices: Use your favorites, but I love adding herbs and onion powder.

Be sure to see the recipe card below for full ingredients & instructions!

4 images showing a pot on a stove showing the steps for making gravy

How To Make Gravy From Scratch

  1. Heat the stock and bouillon cubes (if using) in the microwave until hot and the bouillon has dissolved. Meanwhile, melt butter in a saucepan. Add the flour and spices.
  2. Cook the flour and whisk until a rue has formed about a minute.
  3. Slowly add the hot stock to the butter mixture, whisking to combine. Add spices.
  4. Cook until boiling and thick, stirring often.
Turkey with gravy on a white platter

Gravy Recipe Tips

  • This gravy recipe calls for stock so make sure to use one that is high quality. The more flavor the better!
  • If you are making a turkey or chicken with drippings, strain it, remove the fat, and measure it with the stock to add tons of extra flavor.
  • If you’re using stock and not drippings don’t skip the bouillon. But if you’re using drippings you can reduce them or omit them.
  • It’s best to use unsalted butter, just because stock, drippings, and bouillon often have lots of salt. Taste your end product to see if it needs extra salt or pepper.
  • It really only takes 5 minutes. Don’t walk away from the stove; this gravy thickens fast!

FAQs

How do you thicken gravy?

This gravy recipe is thickened with flour – the butter and flour make a rue that thickens the stock.

Can you make gravy gluten free?

You’d have to use cornstarch to thicken the gravy. Bring the stock to a boil in a saucepan and use 2 tablespoons of cornstarch mixed with 1 tablespoon cold water. Stir the cornstarch slurry into the boiling stock until it thickens.

How to store leftover gravy?

Store in an airtight container in the refrigerator. It will gel; heat to thin and add additional stock or water if you want it thinner.

This Easy 5-Minute Gravy Recipe is perfect for turkey, chicken, or beef! It's so flavorful and it's foolproof too and perfect for a any meal.

Easy Gravy Recipe

4.35 from 406 votes
This Easy All Purpose 5-Minute Gravy recipe is perfect for turkey, chicken, or beef. Use this method to make the most flavorful gravy ever!
Cook Time 5 minutes
Total Time 5 minutes
Yield 2 cups
Serving Size 1 serving

Ingredients
 

  • 2 cups (474ml) chicken, beef, vegetable, or turkey stock
  • 2 beef or chicken bouillon cubes
  • 4 tablespoons (57g) unsalted butter
  • ¼ cup (31g) all-purpose flour
  • 1 teaspoon onion powder
  • ¼ teaspoon dried thyme
  • ½ teaspoon dried sage
  • 1 teaspoon dried rosemary
  • Salt and pepper to taste
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Instructions

  • Combine the stock and the bouillon cubes in a microwave safe bowl or measuring cup. Heat for 1 minutes and stir. Repeat until bouillon is dissolved.
  • Melt the butter in a saucepan over medium-high heat. Add the flour, onion powder, thyme, sage, and rosemary and cook for 1 minute to cook the flour. Slowly whisk in the stock until smooth and bring to a boil. Reduce to a simmer and cook, whisking, until smooth and thick, about 1 minute. Add salt and pepper to taste. Remove from heat and serve immediately.

Recipe Video

Recipe Notes

  • If you have pan drippings, use those then add stock to make 2 cups.

Recipe Nutrition

Serving: 1serving | Calories: 80kcal | Carbohydrates: 3g | Protein: 2g | Fat: 6g | Saturated Fat: 4g | Cholesterol: 18mg | Sodium: 238mg
Nutritional information not guaranteed to be accurate
Course Main Course
Cuisine American

Not only am I excited to share this recipe with you because it tastes so good, but also because it comes from a new cookbook I’m very excited about. The Simple Kitchen by Donna and Chad Elick is full of quick and easy recipes for every day. Donna and Chad are the founders of The Slow Roasted Italian and are friends of mine. Their recipes are always delicious! I’ve made several of the recipes in their book and love every single one.

This is now my go-to gravy recipe. It’s so flavorful and easy that I plan to make it all the time!

If you love gravy, you need to try it on Southwestern Crusted Roast Beef or this Oven Roasted Chicken with Lemon Rosemary Butter.

**Did you make this recipe? Don’t forget to give it a star rating below!**

Last Updated on April 23, 2023



Dorothy Kern

Welcome to Crazy for Crust, where I share recipes that are sometimes crazy, often with a crust, and always served with a slice of life.

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186 Comments

  1. Made it just now. Didn’t bother heating the stock – I never had in the past. It turned out perfectly. Added a bit of jam at the end, à la Jamie Oliver. Made a big mistake at the store by buying Thai chicken stock instead of the regular. I used it anyway. The gravy does have a bit of an Asian flavour, but I like it.

  2. I made this with vegetable stock with a vegetable bouillon cube-it was all i had in the cupboard, and it turned out great! Thank you for sharing this recipe.

    1. Not interchangeably – you’d have to do a different method (heat the stock to a boil with herbs, then make a slurry with cold water and some cornstarch, probably about 2-3 tablespoons, then stir it in and let thicken. Add butter at the end (just a tbsp or so) for richness.

  3. Made it for poutine today for my teenagers. I used a high quality chicken boullion. They loved it!! Thanks.

  4. This was awesome and so easy!!! I used what I had lying around- chicken broth and beef bouillon. Put it over mashed cauliflower and meatballs. It was rich and flavorful and, again, extremely easy. Will definitely be making this again.

    1. That for sure depends on the kind of chicken stock/bouillon – bouillon is salty and some stocks have salt, others don’t.

  5. Never made gravy before – wife did all the cooking – but she cannot now. Pulled a typical male faux pas – started making before fully reading directions (stock + butter + seasonings – first) then realized the flour should have been incorporated with the butter first. So, slowly whisked in the flour.
    Came out quite well – next to no lumps. So – it may be male proof. Thanks

  6. This gravy was delicious. Although I didn’t have any bouillon, I used chicken stock and mixed with vegetable better than bouillon and flour. Let it simmer for a few and it thickened up beautifully.

  7. We often cook for the Salvation Army to supply dinners to the homeless. I needed a recipe for gravy and was astonished bye the quality. Simple, ingredients readily available, and amazingly delicious. Can’t thank you enough for this awesome arrow in the quiver. Thank you

  8. Thank you so much for this awesome recipe, Dorothy! I’ve just made it for our Easter roast lamb dinner and both my husband and I are now hooked!
    I had stopped eating gravy because I was suspicious of what was in the granules that we used to buy (too much salt, preservatives, etc.) and which are now not available to us, but now I can go back to enjoying it with our infrequent roast meals, mashed potato, etc.
    I used less of the herbs and sieved them out after the cooking, as I have a very finickity husband but the taste (without salt and pepper) was perfect for us.
    I’m going to make and freeze a big batch of this so that we can enjoy it again and again! Thank you!