Easy Beef Gravy Recipe

There are two ways to make beef gravy. With beef drippings or with beef bouillon. This recipe uses beef bouillon, which is the more accessible and easy to make version of beef gravy. It is also commonly called “brown gravy.”

Brown gravy on mashed potatoes and stuff

(For a more authentic homemade gravy check out this recipe for a “from scratch” beef gravy.)

Easy Beef Gravy Ingredients

For this recipe you will need:

  • beef bouillon
  • flour
  • butter
  • and water

There’s not much more to it. Optionally, you can include an onion, very finely chopped. You can also add some salt, but it’s not really all that necessary since bouillon cubes are so salty to begin with.

How to Cook a Simple Brown Gravy

Bring a cup and a half of water to a boil in a small saucepan. Add three or four teaspoons of beef bouillon, a quarter cup of flour, and a quarter cup of butter. If you choose to use an onion or any other optional ingredient, add it at this time as well.

Whisk thoroughly until there are no chunks of flour or butter and allow the mixture to return to a slow boil. Reduce to medium heat.

Let the mix simmer at low to medium heat for five to ten minutes, or until the mixture has thickened.

Tips for Making Easy Beef Gravy

  • If you like thicker gravy, let it simmer for longer. If you like thinner gravy, don’t let it simmer as long.
  • If you choose to add an onion or a garlic clove or anything “chunky,” it is usually best to chop it as finely as you’re able to.
  • For a more authentic gravy, check out this recipe for a homemade beef gravy made with beef drippings. You probably don’t need a more authentic gravy if you’re using it for something like french fries, though.

 

Making a Simple Teriyaki Marinade

Teriyaki marinades can be used for a variety of recipes. Teriyaki sauces and marinades were originally meant to be used for fish recipes, such as teriyaki salmon, but in the Western world it is very common to use them for other meat dishes such as chicken.

This recipe is not exactly “traditional” and is meant to be a simple version of a teriyaki marinade. There are more traditional, authentic recipes available. This particular recipe is meant to be easily made with ingredients most households should already have.

Teriyaki Marinade
Soy sauce is basically the only real ingredient, anyways

Teriyaki Marinade Ingredients

You will need:

  • Soy sauce
  • Brown sugar
  • Fresh garlic
  • Black pepper
  • Optional: Cinnamon or cayenne pepper

How to Make a Simple Teriyaki Marinade

In a large bowl, combine a third of a cup of soy sauce with a third of a cup of water. Add a tablespoon or two of finely chopped garlic. Add about half a teaspoon of black pepper.

A small pinch of either cayenne pepper or cinnamon should suffice, but you can add more if you want your marinade to have a bit of a “kick.”

Place whichever meat you choose into the mixture, cover it, and marinate in the fridge for as long as possible. Two hours would be considered a safe “minimum,” but a bit longer is usually better.

Tips for Making a Teriyaki Marinade

  • Try using orange juice instead of water for a citrus flavor. This option is best used for fish dishes.
  • While neither cayenne pepper or cinnamon is completely necessary, this recipe benefits from using one or the other specifically because it is such a basic recipe for teriyaki.
  • When using a marinade, longer is typically better. It is typically best to prepare your marinade the night before you plan on cooking your meat. This gives the marinade proper time to work its magic.

Easy Homemade Chicken Noodle Soup

This easy recipe for homemade chicken noodle soup can easily be prepared almost as quickly as the packaged stuff, and is actually made with real chicken.

Homemade chicken noodle soup

Ingredients for an Easy Chicken Noodle Soup

You will need:

  • Chicken broth (homemade or from a can)
  • Chicken breasts
  • Butter
  • Onion
  • Celery
  • Egg noodles
  • Sliced carrots
  • Basil, oregano, salt and pepper

How to Make Homemade Chicken Noodle Soup

Before you do anything, you need to fry up roughly half a pound of chicken breast. Your chicken should be thoroughly cooked before using it for this soup recipe.

Chop up your celery and onion. You will need about a half cup of each. Add more or use less depending on your opinion of sort-of-crunchy things.

Bring a large pot to medium heat and add a tablespoon or two of butter. Cook your celery and onion in the butter for between 5 and 10 minutes, or until they begin to soften.

Once the celery and onion begin to soften you can pour in your chicken broth. You should add about six to eight cups of broth. More broth would just give you more soup but unless you balance out the broth with more soup-stuff then it probably isn’t worth it.

Now you can add your (already cooked and cut) chicken, about a cup and a half of egg noodles, some chopped carrots, and your spices. You should use a teaspoon or less of both oregano and basil, and as with anything else, you can add salt and pepper to taste.

Once you have everything combined in the pot, bring the soup to a boil. Once it reaches a boil, reduce the heat and let your chicken noodle soup simmer for about twenty minutes.

Tips for Making Homemade Chicken Noodle Soup

  • Basil, oregano, salt and pepper are just recommendations. This is an area where you can easily experiment or just use something you like better.
  • Homemade chicken broth is an obviously better choice than the canned stuff but for the purposes of this simple recipe, the canned stuff is probably more reasonable.
  • As with most soups and stews, letting this chicken noodle soup simmer longer will result in an overall better soup. Beyond twenty minutes you will see diminishing returns, though.

How to Make Homemade Beef Gravy

You can’t just buy some powder or a can of gravy and call it gravy. That’s not gravy. Use this recipe for homemade beef gravy to make potatoes or most meats into a fantastic version of the same meal.

(For a quicker, simple gravy, check out this easy recipe for homemade brown gravy.)

Ingredients for Making Homemade Beef Gravy

  • Beef drippings. Beef drippings are just what’s left after making a roast. So you may have to make a roast.
  • Beef broth. I’d recommend homemade beef broth, but you can use the canned stuff if you’d like.
  • Corn starch

Beef Gravy

How to Make Homemade Beef Gravy

After you’ve made your roast beef, remove the meat from the pan and put it away safely. You should probably eat it at some point.

Pour all the juices in the pan into a large bowl. Let it sit for a bit. The fat will rise to the top as the juice settles. Remove as much of it as you can before proceeding.

Pour the beef drippings back into your roasting pan. Add two cups of beef broth and set the heat to medium. Use a wooden spoon to stir the drippings up and stir it around the pan. Mix the drippings and the stock as well as you can.

Add two tablespoons of corn starch to a small bowl. Add four tablespoons of beef broth to the corn starch and whisk it until you have a paste. Nothing crumbly, just paste.

If you add this to the drippings in the pan before getting it down to a clean paste you won’t be able to do it later.

Add the paste to the pan with the drippings and the additional broth. Whisk until everything becomes thick, smooth, and gravy-like.

Tips for Making Homemade Gravy

  • You can use wine in place of some of the stock. A lot of gravies for fancy meals incorporate wine. Use red wine for beef or white wine for poultry.
  • Ensure you remove as much fat as possible before proceeding. Even after you have finished making the gravy the fat will settle on top. It makes your gravy look terrible.
  • You can use bouillon in place of the drippings if you want a less authentic but more accessible gravy.

How to Make Homemade Beef Broth

Beef broth (also known as beef stock) is a simple additive that you can use in soups, stews, gravies, and sauces that will add a lot of great flavor for very little cost.

This recipe for homemade beef broth makes quite a bit, so make sure you’re prepared to store it before you get started.

(more…) “How to Make Homemade Beef Broth”

How to Make a Homemade Beef Stew With Beer

Beer fills out the flavor of a stew. Unless you want to risk overspicing, the easiest way to flavor a beef stew is adding a can of beer. Make sure you don’t skimp on the other ingredients, though. If you just want beer, just have a beer.

For a beef stew recipe without beer, check out this recipe for a traditional beef stew.

(more…) “How to Make a Homemade Beef Stew With Beer”