what is the ratio of flour to water when making gravy

Learn how to make a flour gravy that’s delicious and has the correct thickness every single time. The ratio of flour to fat to stock is given as well as the method for how to combine everything to make it taste amazing.

Making gravy used to be a mystery to me. I’d add flour to my roast’s drippings and maybe some broth or stock. Then season it up, stir it up, and simmer it up. Sometimes it would be delicious, thick but not too thick, meaty but not overpowering. Other times, it would taste a bit like flour, water, and salt. Too thin. Just plain not good.

I did some research and started making notes about what I was doing. I’m going to tell you the stuff that worked and what led to me being able to make perfect gravy every single time.

(The classic ratio for gravy is three:two:one, so 3 tablespoons flour, 2 tablespoons fat, and 1 cup of hot stock.) You can add other flavors to the mixture, swap out the stock for another liquid, or use cornstarch rather than flour to thicken your gravy.

Step #5: Make The Roux

Use a measuring spoon to scoop the right amount of fat from the top of the gravy separator.

Pour the fat into a medium saucepan. Using the fat from the roast instantly gives your gravy extra roast flavor. If you don’t have that much fat on the top of your gravy separator, or if you don’t really like this idea, go with unsalted butter for your gravy recipe.

Put the butter in the medium saucepan and melt it over low heat. Then remove it from the heat and proceed with the below.

Add the same amount of flour to the saucepan as you have fat (we’re going with 4.5 tablespoons of each for 6 people).

Note: The following is NOT happening over the heat. You do this part at the counter.

Whisk the fat and flour together into a paste.

Tip: I really like using a flat whisk like this because it gets right into the edges of the saucepan. It’s one of my favorite tools in the world for all kinds of things, but especially for making gravies and sauces.

(FYI, the paste you just made is called a roux. You can use a roux like this as a base for all kinds of sauces and soups).

Step #4: Ratio Of Fat, Flour, And Liquid For A Perfect Roux Gravy

I should say that there are several different methods to make gravy. My favorite gravy is a flour roux gravy because I feel like I really have control of the amount I make and the eventual thickness. So that’s what I’m explaining here.

Tip: The important thing to know when making a roux gravy is the ratio of flour to fat to liquid. The ratio I use is:

1.5 tablespoons fat to 1.5 tablespoons flour to 1 cup liquid, which yields 1 cup of gravy.

(Note: If you like your gravy thicker, go with 2 tablespoons of fat and 2 tablespoons of flour to 1 cup of liquid, which yields 1 cup of gravy).

What you do is decide how many servings of gravy you need and then work from that towards the above ratio to get your amounts.

You’ll want 1/3 – 1/2 of a cup of gravy per person. So if you need 6 servings then you want 2-3 cups. I tend to go with the higher amount because I like leftover gravy. (For ideas of what to do with leftover gravy, check this out!). But probably most people can go with the smaller amount.

For 6 people we need 3 cups of gravy so we’ll need:

• 4.5 tablespoons of fat (that’s 1.5 tablespoons fat X 3 cups of gravy = 4.5 tablespoons fat)
• 4.5 tablespoons of flour (that’s 1.5 tablespoons flour X 3 cups of gravy = 4.5 tablespoons flour)
• 3 cups liquid (6 people X 1/2 cup liquid = 3 cups liquid)

Now that we’ve used our gravy ratio to get our measurements, we can make our roux gravy.

Just the Tip! How to THICKEN your Gravy – Cornstarch vs. Flour

FAQ

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