By:Nagi
405 Comments
This is a really easy recipe for how to make gravy using just water. The secret is to use both chicken AND beef stock cubes for the best flavour and a nice deep brown colour. Takes 4 minutes flat, tastes like KFC gravy – but so much better. No pan drippings required.
Made a turkey and want a gravy? Use my Gravy for Turkey recipe!
Gravy
This gravy recipe tastes like what you get in those tubs of KFC Potato and Gravy. Those of you who abstain from all forms of fast food may not know what it tastes like. But all you need to know is that it’s everything that you’d expect from KFC – reliably tasty, well seasoned, can make anything delicious!
The secret ingredient that makes this gravy better is to use both chicken AND beef stock cubes (bouillon cubes).
What you need for gravy
Here’s all you need to make a really great gravy from scratch: chicken and beef stock cubes, butter and flour.
Chicken AND beef stock cubes (aka bouillon cubes) – for flavour and colour. Chicken is the base flavour, beef gives it oomph and gives it a nice deep brown colour rather than an unappetising pale brown. Using both also makes this gravy suitable to use for any protein – white meats (chicken, pork), red meats (beef, lamb, game), potato and vegetables. Can substitute with powder;
Hot water – to dissolve the cubes;
Flour – to thicken the gravy (gluten free cornflour/cornstarch sub in the recipe notes);
Onion or garlic powder –optional, for hint of extra flavour.
Why stock cubes instead of liquid stock/broth?
Great question! 🙂 Stock cubes and powder have a more intense flavour than liquid stock (broth), so they make a tastier gravy when you make gravy from scratch like in this recipe.
Liquid broth is more appropriate to use when you’re making gravy starting with pan drippings fromroasts– because the pan drippings add extra flavour into the gravy.
How to make gravy in 4 minutes flat
Dissolve stock cubes or powder in boiling water;
Melt butter in saucepan and mix in flour;
Pour in stock water while whisking and cook 1.5 minutes until thickened. DONE!
PS The reason this is faster than most gravy recipes is because the water is already HOT and the flavour is already concentrated so there’s no need to cook down for flavour.
Now, douse everything and anything with it.
Oh, and here’s the photo that started it all – Fried Chicken. Upon spying this, there were many (many) (MANY!) requests for the potato and gravy recipe.
All the possibilities….!!!
Here’s some suggestions for dishes to serve with gravy. Some obvious ones, some not so obvious ones, all good!
Potato and gravy – KFC style! Dunk in Fried Chicken, warm bread rolls or bread (try this No Yeast Irish Soda Bread!), hot chips, wedges, serve on the side of sausages, as part of a Southern Dinner with BBQ Pulled Pork, any roast;
Roasts– any and all!
Rotisserie chicken dinner – make a meal out of a store bought roast chicken. Steam some veg, make some mash, douse everything with this gravy!
Steamed vegetables – guaranteed way to make bland, boring steamed veg completely scoff worthy;
Pan seared chops, steaks or anything – chicken, lamb, pork, beef! Sprinkle with salt and pepper, pan fry in butter or oil, douse with gravy;
Meatballs – Make these Beef meatballs or these Chicken Meatballs, skip the sauce and serve with this gravy instead;
Poured over an omelette;
Chicken Rolls– shred chicken, toss with gravy, pile generously onto hot rolls;
As a Sauce for any of these:
Use gravy as a sauce for these dishes
I need to stop. There’s too many possibilities!
But enough about my ideas. Tell me what YOU douse with gravy!!– Nagi x
Watch how to make it
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Gravy recipe (tastes like KFC – but a million times better!)
Author: Nagi
Prep: 1 minute min
Cook: 3 minutes mins
Sauce
Western
4.95 from 186 votes
Servings6
Tap or hover to scale
Recipe video above. This recipe is how I make a seriously tasty gravy using water in 4 minutes flat. The secret is to use both chicken AND beef stock cubes. Beef adds colour and flavour oomph, whereas chicken is the base flavour. Use crumbled cubes if you can as some brands of beef powder won't give the same nice brown colour (ends up pale). Also pictured – KFC copycat mashed potato (extra light and creamy, just like KFC!) (GLUTEN FREE in notes)
Ingredients
- 1 chicken stock cube / bouillon cube (sub 2 tsp powder) (Note 1)
- 1 beef stock cube / bouillon cube (sub 2 tsp powder) (Note 1)
- 2 1/4 cups (565ml) boiling water
- 60g/ 4 tbsp butter , unsalted
- 4 tbsp flour , plain / all purpose
- 1/2 tsp onion powder (ok to omit or sub garlic powder)
- 1/4 tsp finely ground black pepper
- Salt , if needed
Instructions
Crumble cubes into boiling water, mix to dissolve.
Melt butter in a saucepan over medium heat.
Add flour, onion powder and pepper. Mix into butter with a wooden spoon or whisk.
While stirring, slowly pour in half the liquid. Once incorporated into the flour butter roux (it will thicken quickly), add remaining liquid and mix.
Stir for 1.5 – 2 minutes until it thickens to a gravy consistency (it's quick as water is already hot). Taste, add more salt and pepper if needed.
Serve over chops, steak, sausages, veggies, roast chicken, pork, beef, lamb. Pictured – KFC Potato and Gravy copycat!
Recipe Notes:
1. Stock cubes / bouillon cubes – as pictured in post. Chicken for base flavour, beef for flavour boost + makes gravy nice brown colour (if only chicken, gravy is pale).
Substitute with stock powder / granulated bouillon, but note that some brands of beef powder will not yield quite the same brown colour, will be slightly lighter.
If youonly use chicken cube or powder, the gravy flavour will lose a touch of seasoning and will be a pale brown colour. Can make up for this with 1 tsp Dark soy sauce – it will stain the gravy and add a touch of extra flavour (this is a secret cooking trick for gravy!)
2. Onion or garlic powder – not the end of the world if you don’t have this, it’s just a tiny hint of extra flavour.
3. Gravy consistency – don’t let it get too thick, it thickens more when sitting around to be served. If it gets too thick, just add a touch of water. Too thin, keep it on the stove, it should thicken quickly.
4. Storage – gravy gets thicker and gets a skin on the surface as it cools. Just use water to thin out, whisk the skin in and heat it up, it will be as good as new.
If serving soon, just place a lid on the saucepan then reheat when required.
Make ahead and leftovers – transfer to container and place lid on, let cool then refrigerate for up to 5 days. Can also freeze – once thawed, reheat and give it a good mix. You’ll need to loosen with water.
5. Gluten free –Skip flour, ensure stock cubes are gluten free. Mix 2.5 tbsp cornflour/cornstarch with 3 tbsp water, then add that into the hot stock liquid. Mix, then pour that into the saucepan with melted butter. Will thicken in 2 minutes or so.
6. Nutrition per serving, just under 1/2 cup per serving (yes that’s generous!). To reduce calories, can halve the butter to 30g/2tbsp – when flour is added, mixture will be crumbly rather than “wet” (as seen in video) but will dissolve in liquid (use whisk). 33 cal per serving reduction.
Nutrition Information:
Calories: 90cal (5%)Carbohydrates: 4g (1%)Protein: 1g (2%)Fat: 8g (12%)Saturated Fat: 5g (31%)Cholesterol: 20mg (7%)Sodium: 392mg (17%)Fiber: 1g (4%)Sugar: 1g (1%)Vitamin A: 237IU (5%)Calcium: 5mg (1%)Iron: 1mg (6%)
Keywords: gravy, gravy from scratch, gravy using water, how to make gravy
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Hi, I'm Nagi!
I believe you can make great food with everyday ingredients even if you’re short on time and cost conscious. You just need to cook clever and get creative!
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405 Comments
Dewey saysHi Nagi, just wondering if it’s possible to omit or substitute the butter in this gravy recipe to make it suitable for someone with dairy allergy? Thank you. Dewey
Reply
- Caz says
Yum, yum, gravy. So easy and tastes amazing.Reply
- Tiffany says
I made this brown gravy tonight and it’s was great just like KFCs thank you so much for this recipe.Reply
- Ruth says
Oh yeah!!! That IS incredible!! S9 fast and so delicious! The butter adds the perfect amount of fat needed to substitute for the drippings. Well done again Nagi!! ❤️Reply
- Stace says
I did this the gluten free way as described, and it’s really nice! I couldn’t tell you if it tastes like KFC, since I haven’t eaten there in years, but it is good gravy, and really quick and easy!Reply
- Ir says
5 stars
Came out exactly as the instructions described..my new go to gravyReply
- jb says
It’s okay, but you can make it taste more like KFC’s if you use a pork seasoning packet from ramen noodles instead of a beef boullion cube. I bet the Col. originally mixed chicken and pork gravy, just saying… Boullion and seasoning packets still taste like/are composed of many unpronouncble ingredients, but this recipe is quick and easy-peasy.Reply
- Rachelle says
OMG Nagi, you’re a genius! 😁So quick and easy using ingredients in the pantry. I used the large Massel brand stock cubes (in the box, not the plastic wrapper) and it was perfect. Tastes sooo good I could eat a bowl on its own! This is what KFC WISHES their gravy tasted like! ❤️Reply
- Lavinia Tatofi says
Thank you so much, Nagi! You don’t know how much this means to me. I’m currently in Tonga and haven’t found a pre-made or gravy powder around so when I found this, I had just got the XO bouillon the other day and couldn’t believe I had all the ingredients on hand! Made this twice already and have tripled the amount to cater to more family members. I appreciate this recipe so much! Malo!Reply
- Caryn says
Not quite like KFC…made to add to a chicken pot piethat was short on gravy… was worried abouy using beef boullion (used Better than Chicken and Beef)… added a splash of soy sauce. Used a little onion and grananulated garlic…will use recipe again…Reply
- Mandi says
You changed the recipe so unless you make as written, you wouldn’t know if it tastes like KFC or not.
Reply
- jb says
It doesn’t taste like KFC’s, but you can get closer with pork seasoning from a ramen noodles packet instead of beef boullion. Use the noodles with Nagi’s excellent Charlie sauce.
Reply
- Melanie Goode says
I’ve always used store bought gravy powders, NEVER AGAIN!!!’ This gravy recipe was so fast and quick and delicious. My go to recipe for gravy now!!!! Thank you!!!Reply
- Dennis says
Very easy and great taste. I used BOTH onion and garlic powder at 1/2 teaspoon each. I will never buy gravy powder or pre-made again.Reply
- Brandy says
OMG!! This is by far the best gravy I’ve ever made and best I’ve ever eaten!!! It’s so good!! I will never go back to making store bought gravy again!!! Thank you!!Reply
- Charley says
I would like to thank you for this recipe. This was my first attempt to make gravy and it was a hit! No more store bought gravy❤️
Reply
- Gayle Westbrook says
This gravy is super easy to make and is absolutely delicious! I’ll have Thanksgiving turkey with this gravy from now on! 😋Reply
- Liz says
Just made this with a few changes due to what I have on hand: instead of bouillon cubes, I used 1 teaspoon each of Better Than Bouillon roasted chicken and roasted beef flavors. I also added 1 teaspoon of Gravy Master.
So, I boiled the water in an electric kettle and didn’t add anything to that.
Because Better Than Bouillon and Gravy Master are both “wet,” I mixed those into the melted butter before adding the flour and spices.
Once all that was mixed together in the pot, I slowly whisked in the boiled water from my electric kettle and then stirred that for a couple minutes.
Very tasty and so much easier and faster than my usual gravy recipe.Reply
- Whitney says
What!? Gravy intimidates me – for some reason it never works and always turns into a lumpy mess – but THIS recipe was so easy and worked perfectly just as written! Plus it was so delicious my husband was eating it by itself. I can’t believe it but I think this gravy may have been my favorite part of Thanksgiving this year! Your recipe altered my self esteem for the better and may have changed my husband’s opinion of my cooking ability LOL
Reply
- JRamsey says
This was soooo quick and really awesome! I was so surprised!Reply
- MRS says
This gravy turned out very well. Many thanks for all your work.
Reply
- Paula says
I did this recipe and i have a few corrections for my taste. I use Knorr cubes and with half of each it’s more than enough to have a super intense flavor,The other thing is something this recipe don’t explain well: When putting the butter and the flour in the saucepan, you need to stir permanently for a very long time if you want your gravy with that rich dark brown colour. The “roux” has different stages and it takes a long time to brown. I stirred it for about 15 minutes to have a nice colour but according other recipes for the roux, it takes about 30 minutes to reach a nice dark brown without being way to dark.
So, half the bullion cubes, more patience and time with the roux and it’s perfect!
Reply
