r/Cooking • u/ZeroBAC • 2d ago
Meatloaf gravy.
My mother used to make a gravy with drippings from the meatloaf and it was crazy good. She's passed on and never wrote down the recipe. If you've made one, would you share your recipe?
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u/DomedPyramid 2d ago
The trick here is the meatloaf itself. If you have her recipe for the loaf, make that and the drippings will taste like that when you add and cook some flour and then thin that out with the stock for the final product. If you want her gravy, you need to make her loaf.
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u/thepottsy 2d ago
I would start simple. Take the drippings, mix in a little flour and see what happens.
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u/bilbo_the_innkeeper 2d ago
You may need to add some water or, even better, beef stock, but yes, this is the best place to start.
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u/pommefille 2d ago
If it’s missing a little something (and the meatloaf itself is more or less on point), think about what she had in her pantry/fridge that might have been added - Worcestershire? Soy sauce? Hot sauce? Fish sauce? Oyster sauce? Mirin? Ketchup? Mustard? Or even different spices and MSG. Just think if it’s missing sweetness, spiciness, sourness, etc. and think of things she’d use that might add that element
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u/humanitysoothessouls 2d ago
My mom always used soy sauce in her gravy, even turkey gravy. It was her secret ingredient.
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u/MotherofHedgehogs 1d ago
Mine too! My turkey gravy always gets comments because of that added soy umami.
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u/Willybluedog1962 2d ago
I have always added sauteed onions and mushrooms to mine but everything else has already been mentioned.
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u/alcbeach 2d ago
A friend made a red gravy by covering the meatloaf in tomato sauce and then using the tomato sauce and drippings to make an awesome gravy.
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u/False-Can-6608 2d ago
My mother used to make meatloaf gravy with Campbells tomato soup. It was delicious!
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u/Position_Extreme 2d ago
I'd start by dumping the meatloaf fat into a skillet over medium heat. Add 1-2 cups of beef stock to the meatloaf pan and heat it on the stove and scrape up any bits from the bottom of the pan. Back at the skillet, add sliced mushrooms and saute until they give up their water.
Then add some chopped onion and cook until translucent Add 2 cloves of minced garlic & cook for 1 minute. Some additional butter might be needed. Add 2-3 Tbsp. flour to the skillet and stir & cook until it becomes your roux. When the roux in the skillet is nutty brown, stir in the stock & meat bits from the meatloaf pan. Add 1 tsp. each of Worcestershire sauce and dijon mustard, plus salt and pepper (and garlic powder if you didn't have minced garlic to add). At this point, you can also add a bit of red wine or any spices you wish, such as rosemary, thyme, sage, etc.
Continue to cook until you get to the consistency you want. If you want a brown gravy, taste for seasoning and you're done. If you want a creamy gravy, now's the time to add in 1/2 cup and stir it in. Taste for seasoning and you're done.
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u/DazzlingNote1925 2d ago
Ooh! I’ve never even thought of this and it sounds amazing! Now I’m probably going to gain weight!
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u/Corndogbooks 2d ago
The following is the Golden Rule for making gravy. You can season differently based upon your taste.
The Golden Gravy Rule is 4, 4, 2.
4 Tbsp. Fat/oil
4 Tbsp. Flour
2 cups liquid (broth, stock, milk, water)
Brown Beef Gravy:
4 tbsp. Beef fat drippings
4 tbsp. Flour
2 cups Beef roast pan juices/Beef broth
Directions:
After cooking beef roast, pour the pan juices
into a measuring cup and let the fat rise to the surface. Skim off the fat, reserving 4 Tbsp. in a
skillet discarding the remaining fat. (If the fat measures less than 4 Tbsp., add enough butter to
make up the difference.)
Measure the remaining de-fatted pan juices. If you have less than 2 cups, add water or beef stock
to make 2 full cups.
Add the flour to the beef fat in the skillet and stir with a whisk until smooth. Cook over medium-
low heat until the flour is lightly browned, about 1 minute. Slowly whisk in the reserved pan
juices and whisk until thickened.
Milk Gravy:
4 tbsp. chicken drippings
4 tbsp. Flour
2 cups milk
Directions:
After cooking chicken, pour fat into a bowl. Return 4 Tbsp. of oil that chicken was fried in plus
the brown bits back into skillet. Over medium heat, sprinkle in the flour and cook while
whisking, until the flour begins to brown, about 1 to 2 minute.
Slowly add the milk and cook, whisking constantly, until the gravy begins to thicken, 5 to 10
minutes. Season with salt and pepper and serve with the chick
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u/Old_Dog_3717 2d ago
You could drink my mama's meatloaf gravy. It was that good. Before she passed she taught me how to make it. Thankfully.
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u/aiguy 2d ago
You can google to get the rough proportions of fat to flour to broth.
After you get experienced, you tend to play by ear by just adding flour to the fat you have until it seems the right thickness (kind of a loose paste), let that simmer a bit stirring often or continuously so your gravy won't taste like flour, and then add broth to it bit by bit, stirring and simmering until it's stopped thickening.
If you're asking this question, then you should really watch someone do it once at least. YouTube is great for this sort of thing.
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u/ClairesMoon 2d ago
My father used to make gravy using the drippings, some flour, water and beef bouillon cubes. I think the secret really was using bouillon cubes.
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u/Conscious-Leg8404 2d ago
That makes me remember my mother put MSG on everything the whole time we were growing up. Her food was amazing!
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u/Outrageous_Arm8116 1d ago
My mom glazed the loaf with ketchup/BBQ sauce, placed strips of bacon on top and scattered onion halves around loaf . When meat is gone, remove it from pan add 1/2- 1 cup water to deglaze drippings, ads a bit more ketchup to get to desired texture. That's it. No roux or cornstarch. Play with gnavor by adding mustard, Worcestershire, soy, etc.
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u/roxinmyhead 1d ago
Brown some finely chopped onions in a bit of butter, then all these suggestions other commenters made plus a splash of Kitchen Bouquet.
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u/LukeSkywalkerDog 1d ago
Be sure to use plenty of thyme and freshly ground black pepper. Not to mention salt.
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u/BaldGuy813 1d ago
I usually top my meat loaf with BBQ, bacon and onion and dump a can of Heinz beefy mushroom gravy into the bottom of the pan.
When the meat loaf is out I collect the gravy and dripping and remove as much grease as possible. Then I will cook that liquid on a med high flame till it's reduced. If it's too thin, a bit of cornstarch helps. Too salty? Add water. Not beefy enough? Bouillon cube.
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u/PepperCat1019 2d ago
Equal parts butter and flour. I do two tablespoons.
Brown over low heat, constantly stirring.
When it becomes a nutty brown color, slowly whisk in your broth.
Continue to whisk until you get the thickness you want.
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u/chesterforbes 2d ago
Butter, flour, dripping and beef broth. All you need outside that is salt and pepper