If you are planning to have a big meal for a reunion or a holiday, roasts and mashed potatoes with a delicious gravy sauce is the way to go. Gravy is so common in every kitchen and it’s a great ingredient for topping many foods to add flavors and garnish the dish.
There are many kinds of gravy but most of them contain a high percentage of calories as this sauce is a meat juice-based product. You can easily get one at a grocery or have your homemade gravy sauce.
The problem is a perfect gravy sauce needs to be thick enough but sometimes despite your efforts, it turns out to be too runny. If you have encountered this case, let’s learn some ways to fix a watery grave sauce in this article.
How to thicken gravy sauce with a starch thickener
Most recipes to thicken a watery sauce call for a starch thickener such as flour, cornstarch or arrowroot. Now you are going to learn how to use these materials to make your sauce thicker.
Material
- 2 tsp. of cornstarch or flour for every cup of gravy
- A cup of water
Tools
- A saucepan
- A bowl
- A spoon
Instruction
- Create a slurry from the above proportion of cornstarch and water (there is no exact ratio but you should use the water a bit more than the powder)
- Stir the slurry into the gravy sauce while it’s simmering
- Remove the pan of gravy from the heat when the thickness reaches the right consistency
Notes
- Make sure to pour the slurry into the sauce gradually, a little bit at once to avoid turning the sauce too thick
- You can replace every tbsp. of cornstarch or flour with 2 tsp. of arrowroot to thicken the sauce with the same way
- Instead of making a slurry from a starch thickener and water, you can make a roux from melted butter or olive oil with flour and the next steps are the same as above. This way might take a bit longer but will prevent getting lumps in the mixture
How to thicken gravy sauce without a starch thickener
In addition to the use of a starch thickener, you can substitute with a stuffing mix such as breadcrumbs to salvage your runny gravy sauce. You may find this method quite strange but in fact, it does work well. Now let’s figure out how it works.
Material
- 4 tbsp. of ground breadcrumbs
Tools
- A saucepan
- A spoon
Instruction
- Pour the sauce into a saucepan and put in the stovetop over the low heat
- Add 1 tbsp. of breadcrumbs at a time while stirring
- Continue the process until the sauce is thickened as you expect
Notes
- You might use the total prepared ground stuff or not depending on the amount of gravy sauce you have
- Most stuffing mixes contain herbs and seasoning, so that was a nice addition to the gravy that makes it more flavorful
