How to Make Gravy
Make smooth gravy from roast drippings or butter with a cooked roux, the fat, flour, and liquid ratio that sets its thickness, a fix for lumps, and how long it keeps.
You will end up with smooth gravy made from your roast's drippings, or from butter and broth when there are no drippings, thickened with a roux of equal parts fat and flour. Once you know the ratio, you can make it from any roast.
Gravy is a holiday staple. In a YouGov survey of 1,120 US adults in November 2025, 56 percent said they expected to eat gravy at Thanksgiving, just behind stuffing and mashed potatoes at 61 percent each. It does not need to wait for a holiday. A weeknight roast chicken produces enough drippings for a batch, and the six steps below add up to about 15 to 25 minutes, most of it settling and simmering.
Pan drippings or 4 tablespoons butter 4 tablespoons all-purpose flour 2 to 3 cups broth or stock Salt and pepper Whisk Saucepan Wooden spoon
Collect and separate the drippings
After roasting your meat, transfer it to a cutting board and let it rest. Pour the pan drippings into a fat separator or a glass measuring cup. Wait about 5 minutes so the fat rises to the top, then skim it off and set it aside. Keep the darker juices underneath too. You will use both. If you do not have drippings, melt 4 tablespoons of butter in a saucepan and skip ahead to step 3.
Good to know: Match the broth to the meat. Chicken drippings pair best with chicken broth, beef with beef broth, and so on. This keeps the flavor consistent from start to finish.
Deglaze the roasting pan
Set the roasting pan across one or two burners over medium heat. Pour in about half a cup of broth and scrape the bottom with a wooden spoon. Those brown bits stuck to the pan are called fond, and they carry much of the roasted flavor. Keep scraping until the liquid has picked up all the color and the pan looks clean. Pour this into your reserved juices.
Make the roux
In a saucepan over medium heat, warm the reserved fat. If you did not get enough from the drippings, add butter to reach about 4 tablespoons total. Sprinkle in 4 tablespoons of all-purpose flour and whisk constantly for 1 to 2 minutes. The mixture should turn smooth and bubbly, and the raw flour smell should fade. For poultry gravy, stop when it reaches a pale golden color. For beef gravy, keep cooking until it turns light brown, about 5 minutes total.
Heads up: Do not skip cooking the roux. Undercooked flour leaves a starchy, pasty taste that seasoning will not cover.
Add liquid gradually
Pull the pan off the heat for a moment. Pour in about half a cup of liquid, starting with your reserved juices, and whisk until smooth before adding more. Repeat with the rest of the juices, then with broth, until you have added 2 to 3 cups of liquid in total, counting the juices. Add it in small batches and whisk between each one. Going slowly is what keeps it smooth. Flour meeting a lot of cold liquid at once seizes into clumps before the whisk can break them up. Once all the liquid is in, return the pan to medium heat.
Simmer until thickened
Bring the gravy to a gentle boil, then lower the heat and let it simmer for 5 to 10 minutes. Stir often. The gravy will thicken as the flour absorbs the liquid and the mixture reduces. To test if it is ready, dip a clean spoon into the gravy and run your finger across the back. If the line holds and does not run back together, the gravy has reached the right consistency. This is called the nappe stage, and the gravy is ready to season.
Good to know: Gravy continues to thicken as it cools. Pull it off the heat when it looks just slightly thinner than you want the final version to be.
Season and strain
Taste the gravy and add salt and pepper until it tastes right. For extra depth, stir in a splash of Worcestershire sauce or a pinch of fresh thyme. If you want silky-smooth results, pour the gravy through a fine-mesh strainer into a clean pot or gravy boat. This catches any small lumps or bits of fond. Serve right away while it is hot.
The ratio to remember is 2 tablespoons fat + 2 tablespoons flour + 1 cup liquid. The flour figure is the one Illinois Extension gives, 2 tablespoons per cup of liquid, and the fat matches the flour, as it does in any roux. That is why the 4 tablespoons in step 3 pair with 2 cups of liquid. Take the same roux out to 3 cups and you get a deliberately thinner gravy, which is a choice rather than a mistake. Scale it up or down depending on how many people you are feeding. If the gravy is still too thin after simmering, simmer it a few minutes longer or whisk in the cornstarch slurry from FAQ 5 below. If it is too thick, whisk in broth a splash at a time. For the rest of the plate, our Kitchen Basics guides on how to cook rice and how to boil an egg use the same measure-and-check approach.
Questions we get asked about this
Answers from experience, not a textbook.
Pour it through a fine-mesh strainer into a clean pot. It catches the lumps and any stray bits of fond. If you do not have a strainer, use an immersion blender directly in the pot for a few seconds. To avoid lumps in the first place, always add your broth slowly and whisk constantly.
Yes. Melt 4 tablespoons of butter in a saucepan, whisk in 4 tablespoons of flour, and gradually add 2 to 3 cups of broth. The technique is the same. You lose the roasted meat flavor from the fond, but a good-quality broth and a pinch of poultry seasoning or onion powder will get you close.
Yes. Within 2 hours of cooking, press plastic wrap directly onto the surface to keep a skin from forming, and refrigerate it in an airtight container for up to 2 days, the fridge time the University of Illinois Extension gives for gravy. Reheat it on the stove, whisking in a splash of broth to thin it back out, and bring it to a rolling boil before serving, as the USDA advises for reheated gravy. If you are making Thanksgiving gravy early, whisk in the fresh pan drippings from the roast right before serving.
Flour-and-broth gravy keeps for 2 to 3 months in the freezer, by the same Illinois Extension figures. Avoid freezing gravy made with cream or milk because the dairy separates and the texture becomes grainy. Thaw overnight in the refrigerator, then reheat on the stove until it reaches a full boil.
Skip the roux entirely. Bring your broth and drippings to a simmer, then stir in a cornstarch slurry (1 tablespoon cornstarch mixed with 1 tablespoon cold water per cup of liquid). That is the ratio Illinois Extension gives for cornstarch, half the flour amount. Cook for 1 to 2 minutes until thickened.
Kitchen Basics
How to Cook Rice
How to Boil an Egg
How to Cook Bacon in the Oven
How to Meal Prep
How to Sharpen a Knife
How to Use Chopsticks
How to Make Simple Syrup
How to Make Gravy
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