Homemade Beef Gravy Recipe
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This homemade beef gravy is rich, flavorful, and simmered with vegetables, herbs, and red wine until it becomes the perfect sauce for any beef dish. I make it with a beurre manié thickener for a smooth velvety finish.
It doesn’t matter if it’s on a steak or a simple open-faced sandwich. We are a sauce family and love to complement what we eat with plenty of it. If you’re similar, then definitely try my chicken gravy recipe and my homemade turkey gravy.
Beef Gravy
Beef gravy is a sauce made from rendered beef juices, usually mixed with beef stock and wine, cooked with mirepoix and herbs, and then thickened. Gravy in general is based on centuries old cooking methods from France where roasted meat juices were thickened with roux. I personally believe this is a form of the French mother sauce Espagnole.
One of the first things I learned in culinary school was the importance of building a sauce from scratch. This beef gravy uses every technique I was taught, sautéing a proper mirepoix, deglazing with wine, reducing the stock to concentrate the flavor, and finishing with a beurre manié for a perfectly smooth consistency.
I saute the vegetables and herbs until they start to brown, deglaze with red wine, add beef stock, and reduce it all down before thickening. The whole process takes about 35 minutes and the result is a gravy that is leagues beyond anything from a jar or packet.
Ingredients and Substitutions
Building a great gravy starts with layering flavors from the bottom up, and each of these ingredients plays a role.
- Fat – You can use unsalted butter, rendered lard, olive oil, or avocado oil.
- Onion – I use shallots and garlic in this recipe. You can substitute the shallot for white, yellow, sweet, or red onion.
- Celery – A few ribs of celery help round out the flavors in the gravy.
- Carrot – Fresh carrots add sweetness and body to the base.
- Herbs – I use a combination of fresh parsley, thyme, and rosemary. Fresh sage is also a great option.
- Stock – Beef stock is best for the most flavor. Any remaining beef roast drippings will make it even better.
- Wine – This is optional, but I use cabernet sauvignon. Any dry red wine such as Merlot or Shiraz will also work. If you do not drink wine, swap it for water or more beef stock.
- Beurre Manié – This is my preferred thickener for this gravy. I have a beurre manié recipe that works perfectly here. You can also use a roux or my homemade slurry.
How to Make Beef Gravy from Scratch
Sauté the aromatics: I add butter to a large roasting pan or pot over medium heat and add in the celery, carrots, shallots, garlic cloves, herbs, and any meat trimmings or scraps. I sauté for 4 to 5 minutes until everything starts to lightly brown.
Deglaze with wine: I pour in the red wine while scraping the bottom of the pan to release any fond. I cook until the wine is au sec, or almost completely gone.
Add stock and reduce: I add the beef stock and turn the heat up to high. I cook for 10 to 15 minutes until the liquid has reduced by about 25 percent. This ensures the gravy is richer in flavor and color.
Prepare thickener: In the meantime, I make my homemade beurre manie.
Thicken: I whisk in the beurre manié a little bit at a time to ensure no clumps form. Then I turn the heat down to low medium and cook for 5 to 7 minutes to remove any starch flour flavors.
Season and finish: I season the gravy with salt and pepper and finish with 1 tablespoon of butter for richness.
Strain and serve: I strain the beef gravy through a fine mesh strainer or chinois and serve with an optional garnish of minced fresh herbs.
Chef Tip + Notes
The step that makes the biggest difference in this gravy is reducing the stock. I cook it down by about 25 % before thickening, and that concentrates the beef flavor so the gravy tastes rich and full bodied instead of watery. It is also worth scraping up every bit of fond from the bottom of the pan when you deglaze. Those brown bits are loaded with umami flavor and should always be incorporated into the sauce.
- Prep ahead for holidays: If you are making this for a holiday meal, I highly recommend prepping the mirepoix 1 to 2 days ahead. It takes a lot of pressure off the day of cooking.
- Use it while resting: This gravy is perfect to make while your roast or steak is resting. The timing works out well.
- Skim impurities: It is good to periodically skim and remove any impurities from the gravy as it cooks, no matter what stage it is at.
- Fond is flavor: Fond are the brown proteins that stick to the bottom of the pan as meat cooks. They are loaded with umami flavor and should always be released into the food.
Serving Suggestions
Thanksgiving and Christmas at our house would not be complete without a boat of this gravy on the table. I pour it over roasted garlic mashed potatoes and it takes them to another level. My wife uses it on open faced turkey sandwiches the day after Thanksgiving, and I have to say that might be even better than the original juicy turkey meal.
Beyond the holidays, I make this whenever I cook a homemade pot roast or standing ribeye roast. It is also incredible over pommes frites when you want something different from ketchup. A good homemade gravy elevates everything it touches.
Make-Ahead and Storage
Make-Ahead: You can make this recipe up to 3 days ahead. Keep cool until ready to use.
How to Store: Cover and keep in the refrigerator for up to 4 days. You can freeze this, but the sauce may break, and you will need to rethicken it.
How to Reheat: Add the desired amount of beef gravy to a small saucepot and heat over low heat until hot. You may need to rethicken it using a small amount of roux or beurre manie.
More Sauce Recipes
Homemade Beef Gravy Recipe
Ingredients
- 2 tablespoons unsalted butter
- 1 peeled small diced shallot
- 1 medium diced carrot
- 1 medium diced rib of celery
- 4 garlic cloves
- 4 sprigs fresh thyme
- 3 sprigs fresh parsley
- 1 sprig fresh rosemary
- 1 cup optional beef trimmings and scraps
- ½ cup dry red wine
- 6 cups beef stock
- ½ beurre manié recipe
- coarse salt and fresh cracked pepper to taste
Instructions
- Add the butter to a large roasting pan or pot over medium heat until it’s melted.
- Next add in the celery, carrots, shallots, garlic cloves, herbs, and any additional meat trimmings or scraps.
- Sauté for 4 to 5 minutes or until everything starts too lightly brown.
- Deglaze with the red wine while scraping the bottom of the pan to release and fond.
- Once the wine is au sec, or almost gone, add the beef stock and turn the heat up to high heat.
- Cook for 10 to 15 minutes or until the liquid has reduced by about 25%. It’s totally okay to eyeball it here. Doing this process will ensure the gravy is richer in flavor and color.
- In the meantime, make your beurre manie.
- Once the stock is reduced, whisk in the beurre manie a little bit at a time to ensure no clumps form.
- Turn the heat down to low medium and cook for 5 to 7 minutes to remove any starch flour flavors.
- Season the gravy with salt and pepper, and finish with 1 tablespoon of butter.
- Strain the beef gravy through a fine mesh strainer or chinois.
- Serve with optional garnish of minced fresh herbs or chives.
This was perfect exactly as written. I made it last minute for Christmas dinner. It had a wonderful depth of flavor.
Thanks for giving it a try!
This gravy was perfect for our holiday tenderloin filet roast – I followed the recipe exactly except for substituting dry herbs instead of fresh. Smelled so delicious that the typically non-gravy fans had to try a taste and then raved about it. Only recommendation is to start early as it takes all the recommended time plus some to pull the gravy together (cooking down wine & then beef stock) – don’t try to make this while your protein rests or it will get cold. Also made the accompanying sautéed mushrooms – crazy delicious! But same recommendation on timing. Thank you Chef Parisi – will definitely make these recipes again! 👍🏻
Awesome!
Phenomenal! I made it to accompany your slow roasted beef. We love it!
Excellent!