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Onion gravy

Sauce · British

Onion gravy

Slow-browned onions in a rich beef gravy. For sausages and mash, roasts and pies.

40 min 15 min hands-on Serves 4 British Kid friendly

Onion gravy is a classic British sauce whose flavour comes from slowly browned onions. The onions soften in butter until sweet, then flour and beef stock turn them into a rich gravy. It goes with sausages and mash just as well as with a Sunday roast.

Ingredients

  • 2 onion, thinly sliced
  • 25 g butter
  • 1 tbsp vegetable oil
  • 1 tsp sugar
  • 2 tbsp plain flour
  • 500 ml beef stock, hot
  • 1 tsp worcestershire sauce
  • 3 sprig thyme, or ½ tsp dried thyme
  • salt, to taste
  • black pepper, to taste

Method

  1. Heat the butter and oil in a wide saucepan over a medium-low heat until the butter melts. Add the onions with a pinch of salt and cook, stirring every few minutes, until very soft and starting to turn golden, about 15 minutes.
  2. Stir in the sugar and keep cooking over the same medium-low heat, stirring more often now, until the onions are a deep amber brown and sticky, 8 to 10 minutes. This slow browning gives the gravy its colour and sweetness.
  3. Sprinkle over the flour and stir for 1 minute, until it coats the onions and smells toasty. Cooking the flour first removes its raw taste, and it is what thickens the gravy as the stock goes in.
  4. Pour in the hot stock a little at a time, stirring so no lumps form. Add the Worcestershire sauce and the thyme, bring to a bubble, then simmer over a low heat until the gravy thickens and coats the back of a spoon, 8 to 10 minutes.
  5. Lift out the thyme stalks, if using sprigs. Taste and season with salt and pepper. Keep it chunky, or blend it smooth with a stick blender if you prefer.
  6. Goes best with sausages and mash, our Sunday roast chicken with roast potatoes, pork chops and leftover roast meat. It is also good poured over Shepherd's pie at the table. It keeps for 3 days in the fridge and freezes for 3 months.

Tips

  • Take your time with the onions. Rushed on a high heat, they burn before they turn sweet.
  • For a deeper colour, cook the flour a minute longer until it turns light brown.
  • Use vegetable stock and a vegetarian Worcestershire sauce for a vegetarian gravy.

Common questions

Can I make onion gravy ahead?

Yes. It keeps for 3 days in the fridge and freezes for 3 months. Reheat it gently and loosen with a splash of stock or water.

Can I make it vegetarian?

Use vegetable stock and a vegetarian Worcestershire sauce; the slow-browned onions give it plenty of depth on their own.