- Let me show you three easy ways to thicken a runny gravy.
The best thing about these three ways
is that you don't need any special ingredients or tools.
Everything can be found right in your kitchen.
First way is super easy, a cornstarch slurry.
That is just cornstarch and water.
If you don't want to dilute your flavor,
you can use a little bit of cold chicken broth or stock.
But, you don't want a warm liquid here,
this is where you want kind of a cooler liquid
to dissolve the cornstarch in.
You don't need much,
a few tablespoons of water,
a couple teaspoons of cornstarch.
The key is you want it to be super smooth
and dissolved before you whisk it into your gravy.
You want it to look like skim milk,
just like a watery milk.
You wanna get your flavorful liquid to a simmer
and then we're just going to whisk this in.
The good thing about cornstarch slurries
is it doesn't change the flavor.
You don't get that floury, starchy taste
that you do if you use flour
and you don't have to cook it out as long.
You'll see it tighten up almost immediately.
Now it's starting to coat better.
Cornstarch is the quickest way,
the easiest way in my opinion.
It works almost immediately.
The one thing about it is
that as it cools it really tightens up,
almost a little bit too much.
So, you have to be careful not to let it get too cold,
'cause it will thicken even more as it cools.
But, there you've got that good consistency
that coats the spoon.
Perfect consistency.
That was easiest way number one, cornstarch slurry.
The second way is probably the most classic way.
It is using equal parts fat and flour.
If you have a lot of drippings,
oily drippings, in your skillet already
then you can count that as some of your fat.
The roux can be incorporated into the liquid
or the liquid can be incorporated into the roux,
but first the roux has to be cooked.
You can cook it in stages to get more flavor.
It starts out as a white roux,
then a blonde roux, then a brown roux.
The darker it gets the less thickening power it has.
I'm going to start with a couple tablespoons of butter.
Just let that melt.
Our butter is melted.
Now I'm going to whisk in the flour,
again you don't want any lumps.
Even if you don't want a darker roux,
you still need to cook it at least a couple minutes,
to get out that starchy taste.
You'll have a little more control
over the roux's thickening power
if you whisk it into the liquid,
instead of whisking the liquid into the roux,
so we'll try that.
It's good if the liquid you're whisking in
or whisking into is already warm.
I like to just get some on my whisk and whisk it in.
Wait until it comes up to a simmer before you add more roux,
because you don't know its full thickening power,
until it has come to a boil.
To me the roux is the most powerful thickener,
so this is a great choice
if you have a lot of liquid to thicken
and if you like a thick gravy.
Lay it on thick.
You want that one to cook a little bit longer
than the cornstarch slurry,
so that the floury taste cooks out.
And a final, super flavorful way to thicken gravy,
is with the pureed vegetables from the roasting pan.
You're going to get all those flavorful juices
that are trapped here on the bottom.
I mean, look at all that goodness.
So, if you deglaze with a little bit of liquid in here,
that's going to give you that flavorful liquid.
Scrape up all the bits
and then put everything straight in the blender.
You don't have to put all the veggies in there at one time,
but you can add more,
until you get to the thickening power that you want.
When your pan is nice and hot,
go ahead and add in some flavorful stock.
It might not look that pretty,
but this has so much flavor in here.
This is also a good way,
without adding any starch or carbs or gluten,
just by simply pureeing the vegetables.
Gonna strain the liquid out.
You don't have to do that.
So, I've got about a cup of liquid in there.
Of course that is super thin,
but it's really flavorful,
so we have to thicken it, just a little bit.
Nobody like a runny gravy.
Carrots, leeks, how bad can it be?
Potatoes work great in here too,
because they don't change the flavor.
Might have thickened it too much.
This is great though, if you got your meat
going over noodles or rice or something,
but we'll thin it out a little more.
All you have to do is add more broth.
You can strain this if you want to.
It's not the prettiest of the choices,
because it's not that glossy gravy
that you get from the other two methods,
but it definitely has the richest flavor
from all the roasting of the vegetables.
It's really good.
Those are three super easy ways to thicken gravy.
No need to go out and buy any special ingredients or tools.
You've got everything right in your kitchen.
If you have any cool tricks
or ways to thicken gravy,
I wanna hear from you.
Please comment below and share your ideas with me.
In the meantime, don't forget to
like, comment, subscribe, and share this page.
As good as gravy.