Onion gravy

What it is¶

Onion gravy is defined by one ingredient treated properly. Onions, sliced thinly and cooked slowly in fat until they are deep brown and jammy, produce a gravy that is sweet, savoury and thick with texture rather than with flour. Everything else — stock, flour, a splash of something sharp — is supporting cast.

It is one of the few gravies where the vegetarian version is not a compromise. Made with a good vegetable stock and a little yeast extract it loses very little. That makes it the most-used gravy in the Gravy Finder and the natural default for anyone cooking for a mixed table.

History¶

Onions have thickened and flavoured English sauces since the medieval period, and the nineteenth century gave us the direct ancestors: sauce soubise in the French tradition and plain "onion sauce" in the English one, the latter usually milk-based and served with mutton.

The brown, beefy onion gravy familiar today is closely tied to the rise of the sausage as a cheap weekday dinner, and to the pub kitchens of the twentieth century that made bangers and mash a menu fixture. See history of the roast dinner for the wider picture.

Typical ingredients¶

Flavour profile¶

Sweet at the front from the caramelised onions, savoury and deep behind it, with a slight acidity if you have balanced it properly. The texture is its signature — soft strands of onion suspended in the gravy rather than a smooth sauce. Blitzing it smooth is allowed but changes the character entirely.

What to serve it with¶

Sausages and mash above all. Also toad in the hole, liver and bacon, a steak or beef pie, a burger, bubble and squeak, and — controversially but correctly — chips. It is the gravy most likely to improve a bought pie. See best gravy for sausages and mash.

The traditional recipe¶

Serves 4 · 40 minutes

You need

• 2 large onions, halved and thinly sliced
• 25 g butter and 1 tbsp oil
• 1 tsp thyme leaves
• Pinch of sugar
• 1 tbsp plain flour
• 500 ml hot beef stock
• 1 tsp Worcestershire sauce or balsamic vinegar
• Salt and black pepper

Method

1. Melt the butter with the oil in a wide, heavy pan over a medium-low heat.
2. Add the onions with a pinch of salt and the sugar. Cook for 25–30 minutes, stirring every few minutes, until deep golden brown and sticky. Turn the heat down if they threaten to burn — burnt onion is bitter and cannot be rescued.
3. Add the thyme and cook for another minute.
4. Stir in the flour and cook for 2 minutes, coating the onions.
5. Pour in the hot stock gradually, stirring to lift anything stuck to the base.
6. Simmer for 10 minutes until glossy. Finish with Worcestershire sauce or balsamic, then season.

The quick version¶

Serves 4 · 15 minutes

You need

• 1 large onion, sliced thinly
• 25 g butter
• 1 tbsp plain flour
• 400 ml hot beef stock
• 1 tsp Worcestershire sauce

Method

1. Fry the onion hard in the butter for 10 minutes, accepting slightly less sweetness in exchange for the time saved.
2. Stir in the flour, cook 1 minute, then whisk in the stock.
3. Simmer 4 minutes, season, and add the Worcestershire sauce.

Vegetarian and vegan versions¶

Use 2 tbsp olive oil or vegan spread instead of butter, vegetable stock instead of beef, and add ½ tsp yeast extract plus 1 tsp soy sauce with the stock to replace the savoury depth. The result is genuinely as good as the original — see vegan gravy.

Common mistakes¶

Rushing the onions — twelve minutes gives you fried onions, not caramelised ones. The sweetness that defines this gravy takes 25 minutes and cannot be faked.

Cooking them too hot — scorched onions turn the whole gravy bitter. Medium-low, and stir.

Too much flour — one tablespoon for 500 ml. The onions provide body of their own.

No acidity — a gravy this sweet needs a sharp note. Balsamic, Worcestershire or even a squeeze of lemon at the end.

See also¶

• beef gravy
• vegan gravy
• onions in gravy
• best gravy for sausages and mash
• beer in gravy
• pie gravy