Southern White Gravy

This 3 ingredient (plus some salt and pepper) southern white gravy is the perfect addition to your hot buttermilk biscuits, fried chicken, or anything else you want to add a big steaming ladle. A truly versatile and oh-so-easy gravy recipe!

Country Gravy vs. Southern Gravy vs. White Gravy

What's the difference? Psst.. they're all (mostly) the same! A gravy that starts with a roux, is extended with milk, and seasoned with salt and pepper can be referred to by any of the names in the heading above. While the type of fat that is used in the roux can vary, the resulting gravy is white or very light in color.

Darker gravy, like brown gravy, turkey gravy, chicken gravy, etc, usually uses broth instead of milk and contains extra seasonings other than salt and pepper.

What Is a Roux?

The simple answer: a roux is a mixture of equal parts fat and flour that is used to thicken gravy, sauces, or stews. The fat and flour are cooked together, forming a smooth paste, and then combined with a liquid such as milk or broth to create a thick and creamy substance.

What Kind of Fat Should I Use?

It's an old-fashioned tenet of southern cooking to preserve the grease from the bottom of the skillet when cooking up some crispy bacon. The cooled and solidified fat is a delicious addition to all kinds of dishes, from sautéing onions to a starter roux for southern white gravy.

While bacon grease is the classic fat to use in a southern roux, you can also use butter, lard, or a vegetable shortening like Crisco. Vegetable/canola oil will work as well. Olive oil can be used as well, but be wary of the lower smoke point of the oil and closely control the heat of your stove.

How To Store Bacon Grease

If you want to try saving your bacon grease, here's what to do:

• Let the grease cool in the pan so that it is warm but no longer hot.
• Strain grease into a heat-resistant container through a fine mesh strainer (or coffee filter) to remove any bits of bacon.
• Let grease cool a bit more and then cover and store in refrigerator. It will solidify and can be scooped out when you're ready to use.
• Make sure your container has a wide enough mouth to fit a spoon or scoop.

Ingredients For Southern White Gravy

You only need a few basic ingredients to pull together a delicious gravy. You likely already have most of this in your kitchen! Here's what you'll need to grab:

• Fat: Bacon grease, butter, lard, vegetable shortening (crisco) or vegetable/canola oil.
• Flour: Use regular all-purpose (plain) flour.
• Milk: Whole milk will yield the richest gravy, but low/non fat versions can be used as well.
• Seasonings: Basic salt and pepper is all you technically need, though you can sprinkle in other flavors as well such as onion powder, garlic powder, and a tiny bit of cayenne pepper.

Sausage Gravy Variation

Want to make the perfect sausage country gravy for your biscuits? Cook sausage in a skillet and then remove the cooked meat to a plate. Reserve the fat from the sausage (strain it if there are too many little burned bits) and proceed with recipe, using sausage grease for the roux. Stir some of the cooked sausage into the gravy, serve over biscuits, and voila!

How To Fix Lumpy Gravy

Is your gravy not coming out as creamy and luxurious as you wanted? Lower the heat and continue whisking constantly until all of the lumps are worked out. If this doesn't work or if your gravy has overall become too thick, drizzle in a little extra milk and keep whisk, whisk, whisking!

If you have stubborn lumps that just won't go away, strain the entire batch of gravy through a fine mesh strainer. Use the back of a spoon to push the liquid through the strainer. Any remaining hard lumps will be left in the strainer, leaving you with smooth, lump-free southern white gravy!

Serving Suggestions

So you've got a batch of delicious, thick, warm southern white gravy. How do you use it? Oh, so many ways! Here are some ideas:

• Biscuits - I mean, duh, right? Especially when made from bacon grease, this is the perfect gravy to use when making biscuits and gravy.
• Fried Chicken - Spoon a generous amount over crispy fried chicken to take the flavor profile to the next level.
• Country-Fried Steak - Man, there's nothing like a golden, crunchy fried steak covered in a perfect southern gravy.
• Toast and Eggs - Yup, try a drizzle of this gravy over a piece of toast topped with an over-medium egg for a filling and easy breakfast.
• Roasted Chicken or Turkey - while fried poultry gets all the attention when it comes to being drenched with gravy, roasted or baked chicken or turkey also can benefit from this tasty topping.
• Pork Chops - Don't forget about the other white meat, this gravy is delicious on all things pork, too!

Storage and Reheating Instructions

How to Store Leftovers: Use a nonstick spatula to scrape leftover gravy into an airtight storage container. Store in refrigerator up to 2-3 days.

Reheating Instructions: Transfer leftover gravy into a saucepan and heat over low or medium-low heat. If gravy is too thick and doesn't loosen to the desired consistency when heated, drizzle in a little extra milk.

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