Red Wine Onion Gravy

This Red Wine Onion Gravy recipe is an absolute game changer. So gorgeously rich and packed full of flavour, prepare to never use a packet of store bought gravy again!

As one of my most loved and most popular recipes, I had to include this in my Debut Cookbook ‘Comfy’!

Red Wine Onion Gravy

I always knew deep down in my soul that red wine and beef gravy would marry together perfectly, and after a little experimenting all I can say is my soul was right. Red wine gravy is totally a thing and it’s about to change your life.

Red wine lends itself so neatly to beef in so many different contexts. It’s just a match made in heaven. When adding it to a homemade beef gravy, it adds an extra depth of flavour and provides a gorgeous richness. Sure, beef gravy is great, but red wine beef gravy is better. Let’s take a quick look at what you’ll need shall we?

Red Wine Onion Gravy Ingredients

• Red Wine – You won’t need a huge amount of this. I tend to buy the mini bottles from the supermarket as I’m not a huge drinker.
• Onion – I tend to use red onion but white will work just as well. I recommend slicing into thin strips to keep a bit of texture, as opposed to finely dicing.
• Butter – To fry the onions and create a roux to thicken the gravy.
• Flour – Helps thicken the gravy by creating a roux
• Beef Stock – This makes up the bulk of the gravy so try and get a good quality stock.
• Worcestershire Sauce – Deepens the flavour.
• Red Currant Jelly – Adds a touch of sweetness to compliment the caramelized onions.

What kind of red wine to use?

I’m no wine connoisseur, so usually just go for something like a Merlot, nothing fancy. Don’t splash out on something expensive! Just make sure it’s DRY not sweet.

Making Red Wine Onion Gravy

The great thing about this gravy is you don’t need meat drippings. Many traditional gravy recipes use meat drippings in gravy, but I wanted to create a ‘go-to’ gravy recipe which you can whip up whether you’ve got meat drippings or not.

Can I make this gravy WITH meat drippings?

You sure can! If it’s steak or sausages, just use the fat to start the gravy. If you’re roasting a larger piece of meat, just skim the fat and use some of the dripping to replace the stock.

Can I make this ahead of time?

Yep! Just tightly store in the fridge then reheat on the stove or in short blasts in the microwave. If you want to incorporate drippings on the day just stir some of the juices through the gravy just before serving.

Process shots: fry onions (photo 1), melt butter (photo 2), stir in flour (photo 3), add wine photo 4), stir into paste (photo 5), whisk in stock, Worcestershire sauce, jelly and seasoning (photo 6).

Serving Red Wine Onion Gravy

The gravy will thicken, just keep gently simmering until you get your desired texture (it will thicken more as it rests).

What can I serve this with?

• Sausages and Mash
• Roast Dinner
• Extra gravy for a Cottage Pie (or Shepherd’s Pie)
• Roast Beef
• Lamb
• Steak

Looking for another homemade gravy without drippings? Check out my All Purpose Homemade Gravy!

Alrighty, let’s tuck into the full recipe for this red wine onion gravy shall we?

How to make Red Wine Onion Gravy (Full Recipe & Video)

4.73 from 11 votes

Red Wine Onion Gravy

By: Chris Collins

This Red Wine Onion Gravy recipe is an absolute game changer. So gorgeously rich and packed full of flavour, prepare to never use a packet of store bought gravy again!

Prep: 5 minutes mins

Cook: 40 minutes mins

Total: 45 minutes mins

Servings: 4

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Equipment

• Medium Sized Pot or Pan with Wooden Spoon
• Whisk
• Jug (for stock)
• Sharp Knife & Chopping Board (for onions)

Ingredients 

1x2x3x

• ▢ 1 large Red Onion, peeled & sliced (weight of whole onion approx 7oz/200g)
• ▢ 2 cups / 500ml Good Quality Beef Stock
• ▢ 1/3 cup / 80ml Dry Red Wine (see notes)
• ▢ 2 tbsp Butter
• ▢ 2 tbsp Flour
• ▢ 1/2 tbsp Worcestershire Sauce
• ▢ 1 tsp Red Currant Jelly (see notes)
• ▢ Salt & Pepper, to taste

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Instructions 

• Melt 1 tbsp butter into a pan and begin frying the onions over medium heat. Once they start to take on colour, turn the heat down to low-medium and fry until soft and caramelized. The lower and slower you fry the onions, the more they'll caramelize and the sweeter they'll be. Around 30mins will get you soft and sticky onions though.
• Melt in 1 tbsp butter then stir in 2 tbsp flour until a paste forms. Stir in the wine, then slowly stir in the beef stock, whisking as you go to ensure no lumps form. Add in Worcestershire sauce and redcurrant jelly, then season to taste with salt and pepper (you may not need salt as the butter and stock will already add saltiness).
• Allow to simmer, stirring occasionally, until your desired thickness. It will thicken, just keep simmering away. Take into consideration that the gravy will thicken as it cools. Serve up and enjoy! (see notes for make ahead)

Video

Notes

a) Drippings - If you cooked meat in the pan, something like steak or sausages, I recommend just starting straight from there and frying the onions in the fat (around 1 tbsp fat should suffice). If you've cooked a larger piece of beef in the oven and have a considerable amount of drippings, then simply skim the fat and replace the butter with that. You can then replace some of the stock with the meat drippings.

b) Red Wine - I usually go for something like a Merlot, nothing fancy. General rule if you wouldn't drink it don't cook with it. In all cases just make sure it's dry wine, NOT sweet!

c) Sweetness - The caramelization of the onion will provide a good amount of sweetness to balance out the sharp tones of the wine and the saltiness of the butter and stock. The redcurrant jelly helps with this and pairs gorgeously with the beef stock/wine.

d) Make Ahead - Allow the gravy to cool then tightly cover in the fridge (2-3 days). Reheat on the stove on a low heat, gently stirring as you go to ensure the gravy doesn't split. You can also reheat in short blasts in the microwave, stirring in between. If you didn't have drippings when making this ahead of time, but do now, just stir through the drippings after you've cooked the meat (fat skimmed) for an extra depth of flavour.

e) Updated recipe - halved the Worcestershire to 1/2 tbsp and double the redcurrant jelly to 1 tsp. Also added another tbsp butter and flour, to help thicken the gravy quicker.

f) Calories - Based on a division of 4:

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Nutrition

Calories: 99kcal | Carbohydrates: 7.49g | Protein: 0.9g | Fat: 5.84g | Saturated Fat: 3.669g | Polyunsaturated Fat: 0.239g | Monounsaturated Fat: 1.501g | Trans Fat: 0.233g | Cholesterol: 15mg | Sodium: 69mg | Potassium: 104mg | Fiber: 0.8g | Sugar: 1.98g | Vitamin A: 180IU | Vitamin C: 3.3mg | Calcium: 15mg | Iron: 0.47mg

Looking for more?

You’ll find plenty more delicious comfort food like this in my Debut Cookbook ‘Comfy’

If you loved this Red Wine Onion Gravy recipe be sure to Pin it for later! Already made it or got a burning question? Let me know in the comments and pick up your free ecookbook along the way!