Creamy, white country gravy loaded with pepper. Is there anything more comforting? Old-fashioned, country farmhouse-style gravy that went with almost every meal. No matter what was being served, you could eat this stuff with a slice of bread alone!
You can use part, or all, pan drippings (with the bottom bits for extra flavor) from fried chicken to pork chops! You can even use any combination of pan drippings, plus saved bacon fat and even butter!
Use sausage pan drippings, add cooked and crumbled sausage, and you’ve got incredible sausage gravy to serve over piping hot biscuits fresh from the oven.
Besides the obvious of ladling over mashed potatoes, this gravy goes well over vegetables, too, such as sweet baby peas, garden fresh green beans, black-eyed peas, hash browns, steamed spinach, oven-roasted potatoes, corn, broccoli, and you can even dip your fries into it! 😉
Serve it alongside fried chicken, chicken and waffles, pork chops, schnitzel, breakfast sandwiches, sausage patties and links, savory pancakes, corned beef hash, savory bread puddings, stratas, or use as a base in countless casseroles!
It’s a basic staple that everyone should know how to make! 🙂
For serving with mashed potatoes and fried chicken, I like to add sage and rosemary, but you can omit them, or use other herbs to compliment whatever dish you are serving this with or using it for. Just always remember to add a little at a time. Like they say, “…you can always add more, but once it’s in there, you can’t take it back out!” 😉
One thing’s for certain though, it wouldn’t be the same without lots and lots of pepper! I like to add either fresh cracked or coarse ground black pepper, and if you’d like a bit more heat, you can add a pinch crushed red pepper flakes, too! 😉
If your gravy is a bit too thick for your liking, add a small splash of milk. If it’s too thin, just keep cooking it over low heat, simmering and stirring, and it will thicken as the liquid evaporates. You really can’t mess this up!
One thing to always be sure to do though, is to cook that raw flour taste out so that the end result doesn’t taste like wallpaper paste. You don’t want to brown the flour, so keep the temp fairly low while simmering your flour in the pan drippings and butter. 😉
And whisk the liquids in slowly, stopping to incorporate the flour mixture smoothly, so that you don’t end up with lumpy gravy.
And that’s really all there is to it. There’s no secret to it, really, except for why mine always receives so many compliments….(pssst! 😉 the addition of a little sour cream at the end. 😉 ) This adds just that little bit of extra creaminess that most white country gravies are missing! 😉 And now I’m passing my secret on to you all! 😀
One last thing, just make sure that you make enough! 😉 Nothing worse than being at the end of the table watching that gravy boat get lower and lower as it’s passed around! 😉
I hope my recipe brings many years of smiles, and that this easy, but oh so comforting gravy, makes an appearance at your table soon! Take care all! 😀
*Links to the rest of the recipes in photo above: Mashed Potatoes, Green Beans, Biscuits, and Fried Chicken! 😀
Peppered White Country Gravy
Ingredients
Instructions