Gravy Recipe Tips

Find the best gravy recipe for your restaurant or other food business
By Kristina Seleshanko A great gravy recipe not only enhances its accompanying dish, it makes for satisfied customers. There's a myriad of gravy recipes to choose from, ranging from traditional cream and meat gravies to lighter vegetable gravies. And despite its reputation for being difficult to make, gravy is actually quick and easy as long as you follow the general rule of 1 cup of stock to 1 tablespoon of butter and flour.

When seeking gravy recipes and gravy recipe tips, it's a great idea to stick with some traditional recipes, but also explore more unusual ingredients to give your dishes added flair. When researching gravy recipes, try the following:

1. Seek an online gravy recipe that appeals to you or has been reviewed by online readers.

2. Buy a gravy recipe book written by an established cookbook author.

3. Test several gravy recipes and gravy recipe ingredients in your kitchen, choosing only the very best concoctions for your customers.

Select an online gravy recipe

Recipes found online have the advantage of being free, and often they are reviewed by fellow cooks (although most are amateur). Although it makes sense to look for a gravy recipe at a well-established recipe website, don't neglect smaller websites that may focus on gravies and sauces.
Try:  Allrecipes.com has a good selection of free recipes, including vegetarian, sausage, beef, chicken and other types of gravy. Cooks.com also has a nice collection of gravy recipes, such as giblet gravy, Southern style sausage gravy, cream gravy and more.

Find a gravy recipe card for healthier gravy

Gravy has a reputation for being unhealthy, but it needn't be. Some absolutely delicious gravies are also low in fat, sodium and calories. Be sure to offer a few to your health-conscious customers.
Try:  Diabetic Gourmet Magazine offers a free, healthier turkey gravy recipe, while MedicineNet.com has a great recipe for a health-conscious vegetable gravy. Everyday Health provides a free recipe for a healthy onion and mushroom gravy. The Cravings Coach has a terrific healthy cashew gravy recipe.

Make use of a gravy recipe book

A good gravy recipe book is a must if you have serious interest in serving gravy to your customers. Not only will a cookbook offer tested recipes, but it should offer excellent general cooking tips that can help make gravy easy to prepare and delicious to eat.
Try:  Alibris carries Ruth Berolzheimer's "250 Sauces, Gravies and Dressings." And "Better Gravy" by Shaun Hill is available from Super Book Deals.

• When working with gravy and gravy recipe ingredients, don't store the finished product for long. At most, a finished gravy, promptly refrigerated, shouldn't be stored for more than two days. A better storage solution is to freeze finished gravy and warm as needed.