Perfect Southern Cream Gravy

A reliable recipe for cream gravy is an absolute must-have in most southern kitchens. There are so many classic, comfort food dishes that simply require a serving of luscious Southern Cream Gravy to be served alongside them or slathered upon them.

But, of course, you can decide how a ladle will deliver this peppery gravy to your plate, right on top or on the side. We are most typically right on top people when it comes to any form of gravy, and we are not shy about it. We love this stuff.

So, bring it on.

How to make Perfect Southern Cream Gravy

This classic milk gravy is basically a simple béchamel sauce that’s jazzed up with a little Southern flair.

A basic béchamel sauce is made with measures of butter, flour, milk, and an optional sprinkle of ground nutmeg. It’s considered a classic mother sauce, and it’s the base for many other types of gravies and sauces including Alfredo sauce and southern cream gravy.

To create old-fashioned cream gravy from a basic béchamel sauce, butter is most commonly swapped out for flavorful bacon drippings and salt and a generous pinch of ground black pepper replaces ground nutmeg.

However, in practice, a perfect version this classic southern white sauce simply needs a measure of fat, and the cook’s choice of bacon drippings, butter or a neutral cooking oil, will do just fine in this recipe. I most typically use salted butter to make this gravy as we don’t cook very often with real bacon anymore, and I no longer store bacon drippings for other uses. Y’all, honestly no one has missed the bacon drippings just yet.

This gravy is most commonly made in a skillet using a whisk, and it is a very simple, but quick, hands-on process. First, the fat and flour are combined to make a basic light roux in a heated skillet. Then the milk is added in in small increments until all the ingredients for the gravy are well-incorporated and smooth. The seasonings are added last, and can be adjusted to suit your preference after a taste test.

The gravy mixture must then be heated to a gentle simmer and allowed to cook briefly before the pan is removed completely from the heat and allowed to cool. It will thicken up to a perfectly thick, yet pourable consistency as it cools.

Y’all this recipe is seriously so easy and inexpensive to make, it just requires a few minutes of hands-on time. From start to finish, this recipe takes less than 10 minutes to make!!

If you prefer to watch a video of this quick and simple process, you can refer to my full cooking tutorial for Perfect Southern Cream Gravy below, I make this recipe for you in real time, as I didn’t edit the video much at all.

If you’ve been relying on packaged gravy mixes for making creamy gravy at home, you can now confidently put those little packets back on the store shelf and save that money. In fact, I’m willing to bet you’ve got everything in your fridge and pantry to make a small batch of cream gravy right now!

It’s a very satisfying thing to make perfect gravy from scratch, I hope you’ll enjoy enjoy the simple process as much I do.

We love to use this gravy with Three-Ingredient Skillet Biscuit Bread that’s topped with crumbled Homemade Turkey Breakfast Sausage for a plate of biscuits and gravy that’s completely from scratch and hard to beat! But, it’s also excellent served with mashed potatoes, fried chicken, in any form, or breaded steak fingers. We also love to use this peppery gravy for dunking French fries… if you haven’t tried this combo, you really should give it a whirl!

How will you serve this southern classic?? Happy eating, my friends!! xo – M

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Southern Cream Gravy

Recipe by Marcelle at A Little Fish in the Kitchen Course: Breakfast, Lunch, DinnerCuisine: AmericanDifficulty: Easy

Yield

2.5

cups

Prep time

5

minutes

Cooking time

10

minutes

A reliable recipe for Cream Gravy is a kitchen staple for Southern cooks! This recipe makes a small, but perfect batch of old-fashioned country gravy every time. This comforting white gravy is amazing served with buttermilk biscuits, fried chicken (in any form), steak fingers, or for dipping fries.

Ingredients

• 3 tablespoons salted butter, bacon grease, or neutral cooking oil (canola or vegetable), your preference

• 3 tablespoons all-purpose flour

• 2-1/2 cups milk (I use 1% or 2% percent milk, most often)

• 1/2 teaspoon table salt, or to taste

• 1/2 teaspoon ground black pepper, or to taste

Directions

• Heat a 10″ skillet over medium heat. Once skillet is heated, add butter (or another oil) to the skillet and warm for 1 minute. If using butter, watch it carefully so as not to burn or brown it.
• Once butter or oil is melted and/or warm, add in the flour and stir with a whisk to combine butter and flour until a thick, creamy roux is done. Continue to cook the light roux, moving it from side to side, for at least 1 minute.
• Increase the burner heat to medium-high and whisk in the milk, one cup at a time. Use the whisk to break up any clumps of flour you may notice in the liquid and whisk milk mixture almost constantly throughout this process. the gravy will begin to thicken very quickly after each addition of milk.
• After the final 1/2 cup of milk is added increase the heat to high and bring the gravy to a gentle simmer and then reduce the heat immediately back to medium.
• Add the salt and pepper, and stir until well-incorporated. Remove the skillet from the heat and allow the cream gravy to cool for 10 minutes before serving. The gravy will continue to thicken as it cools.
• Enjoy!

Recipe Video

Notes

• Store any leftover gravy in an airtight container in the refrigerator, leftover gravy will be good for up to 5 days. If leftover gravy needs to be thinned for the next use, just add a tablespoon or two of milk to gravy and stir.
• Recipe as published on A Little Fish in the Kitchen at www.alittlefishinthekitchen.com. All content is owned by Marcelle G. Bolton. Please contact the author for permission to republish.