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gravy being poured over mashed potato with sausages on small white plate
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4.70 from 10 votes

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!
Prep Time5 minutes
Cook Time40 minutes
Total Time45 minutes
Course: Dinner, Sauce
Cuisine: English
Servings: 4
Calories: 99kcal
Cost: £1 / $1

Equipment

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

Ingredients

  • 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

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:

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