How do I make gravy granules taste like proper gravy?

Gravy granules are browned flour, salt, flavourings, colouring and fat. They give you thickening, colour and salt instantly and reliably. What they do not give you is any of the roasted, meaty depth of a real gravy, and every worthwhile improvement is about adding some of that back. None of it takes long, and the result is genuinely better than the packet.

What you'll need

• Gravy granules
• Stock or vegetable cooking water
• Roasting tin with residue (optional)
• Butter (optional)
• Redcurrant jelly, wine or soy sauce (optional)

Step by step

1. Use less powder than the packet says.Packet quantities are calibrated for water and for people who will add nothing else. Using about three-quarters gives you room to add liquid and flavour without the gravy becoming too salty or gluey.
2. Make them up with something other than plain water.The water the vegetables were boiled in, a light stock, or the liquid from steaming greens. This alone is the biggest improvement and it costs nothing. Do not use heavily salted pasta water.
3. Deglaze the roasting tin with the made-up gravy.Pour the fat off the tin, keep the dark residue, set it over a low heat and pour the gravy in. Scrape the base thoroughly. The gravy will darken and thicken as it picks up the fond, and this is the step that makes it taste homemade.
4. Reduce a splash of wine or add a savoury note.A glass of red wine boiled down to a couple of tablespoons in the tin before the gravy goes in, or a tablespoon of soy, or half a teaspoon of Marmite. One is enough; two starts to taste engineered.
5. Balance the salt with something sweet or acidic.Granules are salty. A teaspoon of redcurrant jelly, a small squeeze of lemon, or a splash of balsamic makes the whole thing read as balanced rather than salty. This is the difference most people can taste and cannot name.
6. Finish with butter off the heat.A knob of cold butter whisked in at the end gives gloss and body and rounds off the edges. It is what restaurant sauces are finished with and it works exactly as well here.
7. Simmer for two minutes and strain if you want.A short simmer lets everything come together and cooks off any raw wine. A quick pass through a sieve removes bits of fond and gives a clean, glossy jug.

Tips

• Add the resting juices from the meat at the end. They are pure concentrated flavour and they are usually thrown away with the board.
• A few sprigs of thyme or a bay leaf simmered in the gravy for five minutes makes a surprising difference to a packet product.
• Onion gravy from granules: fry a sliced onion until properly dark, then make the granules up in the same pan. Ten minutes of onion turns granules into something worth serving with sausages.
• Whisk the granules into cold or warm liquid rather than tipping them into boiling water. They lump less.
• Taste before adding any salt at all. Granules almost never need more.

Questions people ask