Quick Answer: How To Make Gravy From Crock-Pot Roast Juice?

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Delicious, rich-tasting gravy can be made easily in a Crock-Pot by combining juices from a roast, along with butter and flour whisked together to make a roux. The mixture cooks in the slow cooker for 30 minutes to an hour which allows the gravy to thicken.

For many people, the best part of a roast beef dinner, or a roast chicken or turkey dinner is silky, delicious gravy poured over fluffy mashed potatoes. This definitely rates as comfort food!

Gravy, however, can be challenging to make. There is the issue with getting the thickness just right, making sure it is free of lumps, and finding the time to actually make the roux, and then stand and stir it when you really need to focus on lifting the dinner.

I have struggled with all of these things, and the result has been, more often than not, that I skip making the gravy altogether.

My mother made fabulous gravy – rich in flavor, always the perfect consistency, and what’s more, she would whip it up without any issues or stress.

For years, if Mom were at my house when I was having a beef roast, or roasting chicken or turkey, I would ask her to make the gravy for me.

Then, I decided enough was enough; I needed to face my fears and apprehensions, take this gravy-making on, and figure it out. It couldn’t be that difficult. I mean people have been making gravy for hundreds of years! Surely I could conquer it.

Admittedly, it took me more than a few tries before I landed on a fool-proof method. For a while I continued to try to make gravy using my mother’s recipe which, of course, she had never written down.

Mom would put some flour in a jar, then add some water. She would mix this up using a spoon and by shaking the jar, then she would add this gradually to the heated drippings from the roast, right in the roast pan.

She would place the roast pan back on the element on low and gradually bring the mixture to a boil. That was it.

While I stuck with this method for years, I couldn’t count on it to be good. It was always hit or miss. If I was lucky, it would turn out okay, but most of the time there was something wrong with it.

The issues I had were that it would be too runny, there would be lumps in it, and there wouldn’t be enough. I also never achieved the rich taste that my mom’s gravy always had.

The other challenge I always dealt with was trying to get the gravy made while doing everything else right at the end when I needed to get the vegetables into serving bowls, mash the potatoes, heat up the cranberry sauce, warm the buns in the microwave, get wine in glasses, light the candles, etc., etc. Ugh, there had to be a better way.

I experimented with making the gravy in a pot rather than in the roasting pan, and I tried adding a bouillon cube to give more flavor as well as increase the amount of gravy. This was better, but I still had problems with space on the stove, and timing.

My next effort involved the slow cooker, and it worked. Yay! It worked! So, I am excited to share this method of making gravy with you.

RELATED: 15 Beef Crock Pot Recipes That Are Easy To Make

Advantages To Making Gravy In A Crock-Pot

Advantage	Description
Time	One of the greatest advantages to making gravy in a slow cooker is that you can make it ahead. You will have saved the pan juices from your roast beef, chicken or turkey from whenever you cooked them, so you can simply put them in the Crock-Pot, mix up the butter and flour, combine the roux and the pan drippings, and then let it all slowly thicken while you work on other parts of the dinner preparations.
Freed-Up Stove Space	Another big advantage to making slow cooker gravy is that you are not trying to squeeze your roasting pan or pot onto an element on the stove where you already have a number of other things taking up space. Having a little more room to work with when you are making a meal that contains a number of dishes, can help with stress. A less cluttered work area, allows you to think more clearly. Knowing you have the gravy looked after can really help.
Yield	Due to the fact that you are using juices from a roast that has already been cooked, you are able to easily measure out the quantity you want – I would recommend a minimum of 2 cups. If you want more gravy than 2 cups of pan drippings will give you, you can increase the amount of yield by adding more of the drippings, or, if you do not have more, simply add store-bought broth. It tastes really good, so don’t worry about compromising on flavor.
Flavor	With the addition of bouillon cubes and other items such as wine, onions, mushrooms, and herbs, it is easy to flavor your gravy in the slow cooker. With a solid base, you can dress it up as much as you want, or opt to let the pure gravy flavor shine.
Consistency	Whether you like your gravy on the thick side or the thin side, it is easy to get it just the way you like it using a Crock-Pot. Flour or cornstarch and water are your friends when you want your gravy to be thicker. If the gravy is quite a bit runnier than you want, into a small dish put a tablespoon of flour or cornstarch. Stir in about a tablespoon of water, then gradually add this to the juices and stir to combine. Put the lid on and let it thicken. Likewise, if you want to make your gravy thinner, add more roast juices if you have more, or add broth – beef, chicken or turkey as suits your gravy. Add only a little at a time to avoid getting a thinner gravy than you want.

How To Make Beef Gravy From Crock-Pot Roast Juice

Be prepared for awesome gravy that you make ahead using the juice from the last roast of beef you cooked. It will have superb flavor because you are using the beef roast drippings.

It’s super simple in a slow cooker. Read the chart, below, to see just how simple it is!

The foundation of any good gravy is a roux. What is a roux exactly? It’s the butter and flour mixture. A good roux will provide the base for the thickening, and for some great added flavor.

While your gravy is sitting, nice and warm in the Crock-Pot, you are free to work on the other dishes on the menu. Don’t forget the mashed potatoes, the perfect companion for gravy.

RELATED: 24 Crockpot Side Dishes That Are Very Easy To Make

How To Make Chicken Or Turkey Gravy From Crock-Pot Roast Juice

As wonderful as beef gravy is with its deep brown color and rich beef flavor, you will want to take advantage of the stock you can make from a roast chicken to make a silky, beautiful caramel-colored gravy.

You will need the pan drippings from the chicken or turkey you roasted, some butter and flour to make a roux, and a little salt and pepper. The thickness can be adjusted by using more flour mixed with water for greater thickness, or more broth to make it thinner.

Here is an easy-to-follow guide to perfect slow cooker chicken or turkey gravy.

Pro Tip

When you’re making the roux – the butter and flour mixture – the color will tell you when it has cooked long enough.

Essentially, the roux will be the color you want the gravy to be in the end. So if you are making a chicken or turkey gravy, your roux will be a beautiful butterscotch color. If you are making beef gravy, it will be a rich brown color.

Frequently Asked Questions

How Much salt should You Put In The Gravy?

It’s best to taste the pan drippings to determine how salty they are first. This will tell you whether you need quite a bit of salt or just a little. It’s always best to put a little in, and then try it to see if it’s enough. Keep adding just a little and tasting after each addition until you get it seasoned the way you want.

What Do You Do If There Are Lumps In Your Gravy?

First of all, be sure to whisk for a while when you are adding the cup of liquid to the roux. Any lumps that are there should disappear with whisking.

Secondly, it’s super important to add the liquid to the roux very slowly and whisk constantly.

If, despite all your efforts, the gravy has lumps, you can blend it until it is smooth, or you can put it through a fine-mesh sieve.

How Can You Make Gravy More Flavorful?

There are a couple of options for giving your gravy more flavor:

If you want to intensify the flavor of the gravy, add a bouillon cube but don’t use as much water as the instructions call for. This will intensify the flavor. Just be sure that you use the bouillon cube that matches the flavor of your gravy – chicken for chicken gravy, turkey for turkey gravy, and beef for beef gravy.
You can also add flavor interest to your gravy by adding wine, finely chopped onion, sliced mushrooms, or fresh or dried herbs.

How To Make Beef Gravy From Crock-Pot Roast Juice

Active Time: 10 minutes

Prepartion Time: 40 minutes

Total Time: 50 minutes

Difficulty: Easy

Beef roast pan drippings are poured into a slow cooker set on high. A mixture of butter and flour is cooked on low heat for a few minutes, then is added to the Crock-Pot liquid. The mixture is allowed to cook for 30 minutes - 1 hour, or until it thickens. Some salt and pepper is added to season the gravy.

Materials

Juice from a roast of beef, strained if you want smooth gravy.
All-purpose flour
Butter
Salt and pepper

Tools

Slow Cooker
2 Cup measuring cup
Frying pan
Whisky

Instructions

Pour about 2 cups of beef roast juice into a slow cooker and set the temperature to high.
Melt some butter in a frying pan, about ¼ cup.
Whisk about ¼ cup of all-purpose flour into the butter. Whisk it until it is smooth, starts to bubble, and is a rich brown color. This will take about 3-5 minutes.
Remove the frying pan from the heat.
From the slow cooker, take about a cup of the juice, and gradually mix this into the roux, making sure to whisk constantly to get rid of any lumps.
Gradually add this to the liquid in the Crock-Pot, whisking constantly. Continue whisking until the mixture is smooth.
Place the lid on the Crock-Pot, and let cook on medium-low heat until the gravy has thickened.
Add salt and pepper to taste.
Keep warm on low heat until you are ready to serve the gravy.

How To Make Chicken Or Turkey Gravy From Crock-Pot Roast Juice

Active Time: 40 minutes

Prep Time: 10 minutes

Total Time: 50 minutes

Difficulty: Easy

Chicken or turkey roast pan drippings are poured into a slow cooker set on high. A mixture of butter and flour is cooked on low heat for a few minutes, then is added to the Crock-Pot liquid. This mixture is allowed to cook for 30 minutes - 1 hour, or until it thickens. Some salt and pepper is added to season the gravy.

Materials

Pan drippings from a roast chicken or turkey, strained if you want really smooth gravy.
All-purpose flour
Butter
Salt and pepper

Tools

Slow Cooker
2 Cup measuring cup
Frying pan
Whisk

Instructions

Pour about 2 cups of pan drippings from roast chicken or turkey into a slow cooker and set the temperature to high.
Melt some butter in a frying pan, about ¼ cup.
Whisk about ¼ cup of all-purpose flour into the butter. Whisk it until it is smooth, starts to bubble, and is a butterscotch color. This will take about 3-5 minutes.
Remove the frying pan from the heat.
From the slow cooker, take about a cup of the juice, and gradually mix this into the roux, making sure to whisk constantly to avoid getting any lumps.
Gradually add this to the liquid in the Crock-Pot, and whisk it until it is smooth.
Place the lid on the Crock-Pot, and let cook on high heat until it has thickened.
Add salt and pepper to taste.
Keep warm on low heat until you are ready to serve the gravy.

Author
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Jess Smith

Hi, my name is Jess Smith, and I love cooking in my spare time. Around three years ago, I decided to give up my day job as a teacher to pursue my passion for food. While I have enjoyed sharing tips and tricks on Social Media, I have decided to expand my horizons through this blog.

Through this blog I hope to help others learn the basics and more intricate details of cooking. I know from personal experience how frustrating it can be to cook a meal, only to realize you are missing one ingredient from your list. This is why I love to write articles chatting readers through some great substitutes that can be used in an emergency.

I hope you will find this blog useful, and that it will help you to develop your culinary skills, to help you cook up a storm!