Mom's Country White Gravy Recipe

This is the very first thing I learned to cook as a young girl in the south. Here's a couple of tips that seem to help me when I make it. This gravy most certainly taste better when you are using grease from bacon or sausage you have just fried. Also, I watch the browning process carefully, and don't usually brown it for very long before slowly adding the milk. I bring it to a boil to thicken it, but not too much because it tends to thicken on it's on once removed from the heat. if making for breakfast, toss in crumbled sausage or bacon! Also, my family and I really seem to like it with a pinch of garlic powder.

Measuring gravy ingredients never happens in my kitchen. I normally make sausage gravy, and use the rendered fat for the gravy. I sprinkle the fat with flour while whisking, until the fat is all absorbed, and makes a roux/mayonnaise consistency. If more is needed, I usually add olive oil or bacon grease. I cook until it changes color over medium-high heat. Salt to taste, a good sprinkle. Then I add a bunch of milk, and more if needed, over medium-high heat. Reduce heat to simmer, until desired consistency. Add fresh-ground pepper last, to taste, plus a shot or two of real Tabasco, or to taste. Proper consistency is when it pours fairy easily, not “gloppy”. Crumble a couple of sausage patties into the finished product for sausage gravy.

Recipe as written would only be 3 stars, but after I made a few changes, I made a 5 star gravy. First I replaced the oil with butter. Butter has so much more flavor than vegetable oil could ever hope for. I also reduced the flour to slightly less than 2/3 cups. I did cook the flour and butter roux for 4-5 minutes, but for me, I did not want my flour to turn brown. I like my country white gravy to be just that...white. I also used chicken, 'Better than Bouillon' base. I used about 2 teaspoons of the base. After stirring in, then I tasted to see if I needed to add any salt as the recipe calls for. I salted to my liking. My gravy had really great flavor, so smooth and velvety, that went deliciously with the Chicken Fried Steak that I made for dinner. My family really enjoyed it..

Love this gravy recipe - it's my go-to for a white country gravy! I add in a pkg of Johnsonville ground sausage meat to the gravy...it goes fabulous with biscuits like this!

Good recipe to go off of! Listen to everyone else. Make sure to simmer the flour, salt, and pepper in oil for atleast 10 minutes. I did it for 15 to make sure the flour was cooked and constantly whisked at low temp to prevent burning. This recipe makes a massive amount of gravy so I halved everything. 1/4c vegetable oil 3/8c all-purpose flour Salt and Pepper 2c milk Since we aren't fans of plain vegetable oil, I substituted it with 1/8c unsalted sweet cream butter and 1/8c coconut oil. I also used 1/4c whole wheat flour and 1/8c all-purpose flour. My subs made it still taste fantastic! Husband liked the substitutions I made. Although, I did use 2% milk. Im sure if I used a full fat milk that it would help enhance the flavor of the gravy.

I did replace half the oil with butter, which I think helped the flavor. Only had whole wheat pastry flour, and fortunately it worked fine. Also added one cube of veggie bullion for flavor. Cooked up great in a cast iron skillet. Thanks!

I used 2 cups of milk instead of four, for a thicker gravy

It doesn't have a lot of flavor, I added about 1 tbsp of garlic powder, 1/2 tbsp Lawry's, and I also added double the pepper. We mixed it with breakfast sausage that we seasoned with all the above plus smoked peppers and sage.

I've been making milk gravy all of my life. (1). It's always better if you use bacon fat. Of course, you have to cook off the flour or it's going to taste like flour...duh! Have patience, stick with it, keep stirring and don't go lollygaggin' somewhere else. (2). It's even better if cooked in an iron skillet! (3). You can add meat to it but then it isn't milk gravy, it's sausage/meat gravy. (4). There is nothing better than milk gravy poured over a homemade biscuit! (5). Enjoy it while you're young because once you get past 50 all the health people just harp and harp at you about calories, cholesterol, and high blood pressure! (6). Don't grow up.....it's a trap!

This recipe turned out so good! It reminds me of the southern gravy I could get in the Deep South or Texas. I followed the video instructions and used 1/4 cup bacon grease to make the roux then added some leftover ground sausage. My friends liked it so much they have asked me to plan on making it on an upcoming Alaskan fishing trip.

This is the legit gravy recipe you are looking for from your childhood. Don't over brown the flour, may have to reduce the heat a tad. 10 minutes is critical to getting rid of the flour taste. If just making for 2-3 people, half the recipe.

A wonderful basic recipe every young person should know before leaving the nest! When not using fat from sausage or other flavor-bomb meats, I will substitute some of the milk for chicken or beef stock to add more flavor. If doing so, be sure to cut back a little on the salt. Remember, you can always add more salt. It's impossible to remove it later.

This turned out perfectly on the first try.

So delicious, I could eat it every day.

Good recipe. I did add some garlic powder, onion powder and a few dashes of hot sauce which added just enough umph for the dish I was serving. Using bacon or sausage drippings would add great flavor as well.

Very bland and more of a flour taste. Williams package white gravy is much better.

Loved it! I cut the recipe in half since it's just me and my wife and she doesn't like any gravy. Very easy to make even for a novice. Like the recipe says, don't dump in the milk all at once!

I made a smaller portion and used butter since I didn't have enough bacon fat. But I think bacon fat makes it taste better. I loved this recipe! Now, I cooked sausage with the butter on low heat since I love a sausage flavor to my gravy. This was sooo delicious! Thank you for the recipe.

Absolutely disgusting, this tasted like milk with flour in it! Worst recipe ever.

This was pretty good. I didn't have enough pork grease so I had to substitute with a couple tablespoons of butter. We all felt it was missing something, but not sure what. It is a great starting recipe that can easily be tweaked for your specific tastes.