Not Healthy: White Gravy Recipe

White gravy is a staple of southern cooking where it is served with or on various other staples of southern cooking such as flaky biscuits, fried chicken, mashed potatoes and in some people's eyes, anything else. It is a simple recipe although surprisingly you can find bad representations that taste to milky, too floury, too salty or worst of all, burnt. I've been served bad gravy in Texas a few times too many.

White gravy is essentially the same thing as bechamel sauce although southern versions deemed white gravy or cream gravy differ from bechamel one way or another. Bechamel is always made with butter as a source of fat although white gravy is classically made with meat pan drippings instead of butter. You will notice that this recipe uses butter. If you have pan drippings available for your white gravy then I would encourage you to go that route but use 2/3 as much pan drippings as butter. It's easier to get that pasty white color with butter but a far better flavor for white gravy out of pan drippings. Another key difference in bechamel and white gravy is that bechamel is often seasoned with nutmeg while I would be surprised if you could find any southern white gravy recipes containing even a single fleck of nutmeg. Instead, white gravy judiciously uses black pepper for a clearly peppery flavor. The good news is that if you know how to make bechamel then you already know how to make white gravy. But let's say you don't know how to make bechamel or white gravy. It's really not that hard as long as you pay attention to a few details.

The beginning of white gravy is making a white roux. Roux is wheat flour and fat mixed together under low heat. Low heat is important and constantly stirring the roux will help avoid the dreaded scorch. Personally I prefer to use a small whisk even if the roux tends to form a ball within the whisk. (Burnt roux makes for a terrible anything.) For a white gravy you don't need to cook down the roux to a darker color although I like to get just a little toasting on the roux to the color of browned butter (butter that has melted and just started to brown). Don't let the butter (or pan drippings) brown before mixing in the flour. Just get it liquid and start mixing. This is the only tough part of making white gravy or a decent roux.

White gravy is all about consistency. You don't want a milky soup nor do you want a thick cream that hangs like a lump on your spoon. Instead you want to capture that perfect density without scorching the gravy. This is accomplished, just like the roux, by continuous stirring and low heat. It takes longer to develop the gravy at a lower temperature but it's worth not scorching the gravy. Burnt gravy is unpleasant. At the right consistency the floury taste from the roux goes away along with the raw milk taste. That's your goal.

One last caveat is to be careful about the salt. The roux will be a little salty from the butter or if you use pan drippings it may already be quite salty. As you cook down the gravy you will concentrate the saltiness. There is no way to take back salt from a gravy so you have to be really careful about adding too much. It's easier to add the right amount once you hit the right consistency. I like a very peppery gravy but like salt the pepper concentrates with everything else in the gravy so it is easy to add most of the pepper right before serving.

People disagree on the right milk or cream to use in a gravy. Personally I do not fear using skim milk or 1% milk but a true southern white gravy is more likely to use full fat milk if not a little cream. Go with what you like.

White Gravy Recipe

Servings: Varies
Prep time: 2 minutes
Cook time: 10-15 minutes

Equipment:

• Small saucepan
• Small whisk or fork
• Measuring cups and spoons
• Stovetop

Ingredients:

• 2 1/2 cups milk
• 4 tbsp white flour
• 4 tbsp of butter (or 2 2/3 tbsp pan drippings)
• Salt and pepper 

Directions:

1. Bring milk out of fridge and all it to start to warm to room temperature. 
2. Melt butter in saucepan over low heat. 
3. As soon as the butter is melted add all the flour at once and stir until it forms a paste. You may keep the roux heating until it reaches a golden brown color but you must continue stirring it.
4. Add 1 cup of milk and stir into the roux until the roux starts to dissolve into the milk. Continue adding the milk by 1/2 cups and mixing until the full volume of milk has been added.
5. Add a pinch of salt and pepper and increase temperature to medium-low until gravy starts to steam but do not let boil. If it starts to approach boil then turn the temperature down.
6. Stir continuously as the gravy simmers down to the right consistency. Reduce heat to warm. Once you are happy with the consistency then taste and add salt and pepper. Serve immediately.