If you’ve been living the gluten-free lifestyle for a while the answer may be obvious. Traditionally, gravy begins with a roux, a one to two mixture of fat to flour. The fat is often butter, however, other fats, such as oils or bacon fat can be substituted. To make the gravy, melt the fat and mix it with the flour overheat. Then, a liquid, usually pan drippings, but sometimes stock or broth, is added slowly and the mixture is brought to simmer. The mixture then thickens and voila, gravy.
Now, while all-purpose flour makes gravy very much not gluten free, there are plenty of store-made gluten-free gravy options available. Or, try your hand at homemade gluten-free gravy using the recipe for Sage Gravy below. The trick to this recipe is to slowly whisk in the gluten-free flour before the butter begins the brown. Be sure to sauté the mixture until a light paste forms. After that, you’ll want to continue to cook the starchiness out of the flour, which takes about 3 minutes. Making good gravy is just that simple.
Want to try for yourself? Check out this recipe.
Sage Gravy
INGREDIENTS
2 tablespoons butter
3 yellow onions, diced
3 cloves of garlic, minced
Sea salt (to taste)
2 tablespoons gluten-free flour
3 cups gluten-free turkey (or chicken) broth
1 cup turkey drippings
2 bay leaves
1 teaspoon fresh sage – minced
1 teaspoon white pepper
DIRECTIONS
Place a medium-sized saucepan over medium heat to melt the butter. Add onions, garlic and a pinch of salt, and sauté for about 3 minutes.
Before the butter begins to brown, slowly whisk in the gluten-free flour. Sauté until a light “paste” forms, then continue to cook the “starchiness” out of the flour, about 3 minutes.
Slowly drizzle a small amount of the turkey broth into the butter. Whisk to incorporate, then repeat until all stock is added. Add remaining ingredients and simmer until the gravy has reached the desired consistency. Remove from heat, cool for 5 minutes, and strain into serving boat, making sure bay leaves are left behind.
