Red Wine Onion Gravy
Rich red wine gravy made with sweet caramelized onions and beef stock. No meat drippings needed! Perfect with roast beef, mashed potatoes or holiday dinners.
Servings: 4
Equipment
- Sharp Knife & Chopping Board (for onions)
- Medium Sized Pot or Pan with Wooden Spoon
- Jug (for stock)
Ingredients
- 2 tbsp / 30g Butter
- 1 large Red Onion, peeled & sliced (weight of whole onion approx 7oz/200g)
- 2 tbsp All Purpose/Plain Flour
- 1/3 cup / 80ml Dry Red Wine (see notes)
- 2 cups / 500ml good-quality Beef Stock
- 1/2 tbsp Worcestershire Sauce
- 1 tsp Red Currant Jelly (see notes)
- Salt & Pepper, to taste
Instructions
- Melt 1 tablespoon of the butter in a saucepan over a medium heat. Add the onion and fry until softened and starting to pick up colour, then turn the heat down to medium-low and fry until soft, sticky and caramelized, around 30 minutes. The lower and slower you fry the onion, the more it will caramelize and the sweeter it will be.
- Melt in the remaining tablespoon of butter, then stir in the flour until a roux forms. Stir in the wine, then slowly stir in the beef stock, whisking as you go to ensure no lumps form. Stir in the Worcestershire sauce and redcurrant jelly.
- Allow to simmer, stirring occasionally, until the gravy reaches your desired thickness. It will thicken, just keep simmering away (typically 10-15 minutes). Take into consideration that the gravy will thicken more as it cools. Check for seasoning and adjust with salt and pepper, then serve and enjoy!
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. 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) Cookbook - As one of my most loved and most popular recipes, I had to include this in my Debut Cookbook ‘Comfy’!
g) 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