Instant Pot Gravy Recipe (2024)

FAQs

How do you thicken gravy in an Instant Pot? ›

Combine water and cornstarch in the pot and stir to create a slurry. Add pan juices, stirring constantly until thickened, about 3 minutes. Add garlic salt and stir to incorporate.

Enliven store-bought gravy with a splash of your favorite cooking wine or spirits like cognac, brandy, or sherry. As you reheat the gravy, add a few tablespoons of wine or liquor and simmer until the alcohol has fully evaporated.

Ingredients. Maltodextrin (From Maize), Modified Starch (1422), Salt, Natural Flavours, Sugar, Beverage Whitener (Contains Soy & Milk), Shortening Powder (Contains Soy & Milk), Mineral Salts (450, 508), Yeast Extract, Onion Powder, Garlic Powder, Anticaking Agent (341), Thickener (Xanthan Gum), Vegetable Oil, Spice.

Cooking for too little time: As the gravy cooks, it slowly thickens, so if you don't allow it to cook long enough, it will be too thin. Set the stove on medium heat and bring your gravy to a boil before letting it simmer. Once the gravy has reached your desired consistency, turn off the stove and let the sauce cool.

If you've added too much liquid, you can try cooking it longer. Reducing the volume may be enough to thicken it up. However, if your gravy is thin and the seasoning is where you want it, cooking it down may make it too salty. Here is where you'll have to make a slurry.

Don't add thickeners.

Pressure cookers work off the steam pulled from the liquid inside the pot, so it's important that you don't add thickeners like cornstarch or roux before the food starts cooking.

Add Cornstarch or Flour

Instead of making a slurry, you can also use a sifter or a fine-mesh sieve to sift flour or cornstarch. Add the flour or cornstarch directly, a little bit at a time, to the hot drippings and liquid. Thoroughly whisk until the thickener is fully incorporated.

It's bland.

The solution: The first thing you should try is adding a little more salt, as salt helps bring out the inherent flavors of the gravy that you didn't taste before. If that doesn't work, add umami (savory)-heavy condiments like soy sauce or Worcestershire sauce.

Milk, heavy cream, or half-and-half: Stir in 2 tsp of one of these dairy products to the gravy to reduce its saltiness. Yogurt: Add 1 tsp of plain yogurt to salty gravy. Sour cream: A dollop of sour cream can help balance the flavor of over-salted gravy.

Can you add butter to instant gravy? ›

Butter. Powdered gravy mixes are heavy on the salt and meat flavor. Their flavor is usually pretty aggressive and their mouth feel comes from starch, not fat or collagen. A big pat of butter will temper the harsh flavor and provide richness.

A traditional roux uses roughly an equal amount of flour and fat, but gravies often call for a bit more flour than that, to ensure the gravy is thick enough. (The classic ratio for gravy is three:two:one, so 3 tablespoons flour, 2 tablespoons fat, and 1 cup of hot stock.)

Browning adds more flavor to the gravy and gets rid of the raw flour taste. You're basically making a roux. We find that a flour-based gravy holds up better and reheats better later, which is why we tend to prefer using flour over cornstarch to make gravy unless we have a guest who is eating gluten-free.

Flour is a natural thickening agent and can be incorporated into your sauce with a few different methods (for a gluten-free option, you can also use arrowroot flour or a gluten-free flour blend like Bob's Red Mill's 1 to 1 or King Arthur's Measure for Measure).

Cornstarch and broth, instead of flour and fatty pan drippings, will make a thick and glossy gravy that reheats well. PUBLISHED: November 20, 2010 at 11:08 a.m. | UPDATED: May 5, 2016 at 11:25 a.m. Thanksgiving dinner typically isn't a particularly virtuous meal, but there are simple ways to lighten the load.

If your gravy is on the skimpy side, you can thicken it quickly with flour or cornstarch. But don't add your thickener directly to the gravy, which will create lumps. Instead, try stirring in three or four tablespoons of flour or cornstarch into a small amount of cold water until you have a smooth paste.

For each cup of gravy you want, start with 2 tablespoons of drippings and fat, and 2 tablespoons of flour or cornstarch. (This will produce a rich and thick gravy. If you would like a thinner gravy, either start with one tablespoon each of drippings and starch, or add more liquid to thin the gravy.)

Nothing too complicated about reducing liquids in your pressure cooker. First, open the pressure cooker in the quickest method possible – Normal Release for electrics. Then, put the pan back on medium to medium-low heat without the top to reduce the recipe to the desired thickness.

Similar to flour, cornstarch is another ingredient that can be used to make gravy thicker. With cornstarch, making a slurry is also an option, but with 1 tablespoon of cornstarch whisked into cold water. Again, you'll want to add the slurry in increments so you don't over-thicken the gravy.