This tasty Hamburger Gravy Recipe brings ground beef together with garlic and onions in a creamy brown gravy seasoned with thyme, parsley, and nutmeg. Serve over homemade mashed potatoes or egg noodles for the ultimate comfort food meal.
What’s In This Post
Delicious Hamburger Gravy
This hearty dish comes together in less than 30 minutes and can easily be doubled to feed large families and unexpected dinner guests. Enjoy this hamburger gravy served over homemade biscuits, pasta, rice, baked potatoes, or fried potatoes.
Ingredients Needed
- Ground beef: with a little fat in it. Fat is what gives it flavor.
- Vegetables: onion and garlic
- Butter: salted or unsalted
- Flour: all-purpose
- Beef broth: preferably low-sodium
- Heavy cream: or half and half
- Worcestershire sauce
- Seasonings: dried thyme, dried parsley, nutmeg, salt, and black pepper. You can use fresh thyme or fresh parsley for garnish.
How to make Hamburger Gravy
This is just the nutshell version, see the recipe card below for the full list of ingredients and instructions
Brown the ground beef in a large skillet over medium-high heat. When it is about halfway through the browning process, add the onions and continue cooking until the ground beef is cooked through and browned and the onions are soft. Reduce the heat to low and add the garlic. Cook the garlic for 1 minute while stirring.
Melt the butter in the skillet with the browned beef. Sprinkle flour over the cooked ground beef mixture. Stir and cook for 2 minutes. Stir in the beef broth and heavy cream until smooth. Add the Worcestershire sauce, dried thyme, dried parsley, and nutmeg, stirring to combine.
Recipe Tips
- If the gravy becomes too thick, add more beef broth, 1-2 tablespoons at a time, until it reaches the desired consistency.
- For those who like a lot of flavor, add 1-2 teaspoons of creole seasoning. It does not make the gravy overly spicy; it just gives it a lot of flavor. Trust me on this one.
- Experiment with different herbs, such as chopped rosemary, fresh or ground thyme, fresh or dried parsley, dried oregano, dried marjoram, or ground sage.
What to serve with hamburger gravy
There are so many great options to serve with this gravy. Serve it over mashed potatoes, fried potatoes, rice, or pasta. Or with butter swim biscuits or Dutch oven bread to sop up all that delicious gravy. Include a vegetable side dish to balance things out, like Southern green beans or roasted parsnips.
Storage and Reheat
Store leftovers in an airtight container in the fridge for up to 3 days.
To freeze, first cool completely. Then add the gravy to a heavy-duty freezer bag or container and freeze for up to 2 months. Thaw in the refrigerator overnight and reheat on the stovetop on low or in the microwave at reduced power.
Frequently Asked Questions
You can substitute ground pork, chicken, or turkey for the ground beef in this recipe. After browning, drain any excess grease before proceeding.
Yes, you can add cooked carrots, peas, corn, or green beans, or sauteed mushrooms.
Hamburger Gravy
Ingredients
- 1 ½ lbs. ground beef
- 1 small onion finely chopped
- 2 cloves garlic minced
- 2 tablespoons butter
- ¼ cup all-purpose flour
- 2 cups beef broth
- ½ cup heavy cream or half and half
- 1 tablespoon Worcestershire Sauce
- ½ teaspoon dried thyme
- ½ teaspoon dried parsley
- 2 pinches nutmeg
- Kosher salt and fresh ground black pepper to taste
- Fresh thyme leaves or chopped fresh Italian parsley for garnish
Instructions
- Brown the ground beef in a large skillet over medium heat. When it is about halfway through the browning process add the onions and continue cooking until the ground beef is cooked through and browned and the onions are soft.
- Reduce the heat to medium low and add the garlic. Cook the garlic for 1 minute stirring continuously.
- Melt the butter in the skillet with the browned beef. Sprinkle in the flour and continue cooking for 2 minutes while stirring constantly. Slowly stir in the beef broth and heavy cream until smooth.
- Add the Worcestershire sauce, dried thyme, dried parsley, and nutmeg, stirring to combine. Season with kosher salt and fresh ground black pepper to taste. Garnish with fresh thyme leaves or chopped fresh Italian parsley.
Notes
- If the gravy becomes too thick, add more beef broth, 1-2 tablespoons at a time, until it reaches the desired consistency.
- For those who like a lot of flavor, add 1-2 teaspoons of creole seasoning. It does not make the gravy overly spicy; it just gives it a lot of flavor. Trust me on this one.
- Experiment with different herbs, such as chopped rosemary, fresh or ground thyme, fresh or dried parsley, dried oregano, dried marjoram, or ground sage.
Nutrition
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Rhea
Your recipe for hamburger gravy was delicious The step-by-step instructions and helpful tips made it easy for me. I served it over mashed potatoes with sauteed green beans and it was a memorable meal.
Beth Pierce
That sounds delicious, Rhea!
Christine
Quich and easy to follow recipe! DELICIOUS RESULTS! Thank you for a fulfilling meal!
Beth Pierce
My pleasure, Christine!
Tracie E..
Thank you for sharing your recipe. My mom, along with my high school girlfriends mom made this.. Oh the wonderful memories, not only the taste (never failed).. but the aroma.. It all brings back my childhood memories. I sure hope the new generation will start making this wonderful dish for their families.. The best thing about it is it makes alot, for the whole family on just a few pennies.
Beth Pierce
Tracie, I am so glad that you liked it and that it brings back good memories! Food can be so nostalgic!
Tayler
We had this hamburger gravy for dinner last night and the whole family loved it! Thanks for sharing the recipe!
Beth Pierce
The pleasure is all mine, Tayler!
Holley
Pouring this gravy over mashed potatoes is a game changer! I love this recipe!!
Beth Pierce
Thanks, Holley! So glad that you like it!
Nathan
This gravy is absolutely fantastic, I served it with potatoes and the combination was so delicious and comforting!
Beth Pierce
Awesome, Nathan! So glad that you liked it!
Mahy
Fabulous gravy that can work so well with so many of my favorite dishes. Delicious!
Danielle Foster
Needed something easy to make so i tried this recipe and it is absolutely delicious!! The only substitutions i made were i used chicken broth and milk cause thats all we had still turned out wonderful! Thank you so much!
Beth Pierce
Thanks, Danielle! So glad that you liked it!
Lavanda Michelle
This looks so delicious, can’t wait to try and make it. Thanks for sharing!
Beth Pierce
My pleasure Lavanda! Enjoy!
Yeah Lifestyle
I have never heard of a hamburger gravy recipe before but I can’t wait to try this as a weekday meal for my kids. I bet they will enjoy eating this
Natasha Mairs
I’m a vegetarian, so I normally use Quorn in replace of meat. This sounds lovely, but unsure if this would work with quorn. Might give it a go and see how it turns out.
Risa Lopez
This look so delicious! I will try this Hamburger Gravy recipe this weekend. I’m sure my niece would love this! Thanks for sharing the recipe!
Rosey Marie
Hamburger Gravy was such a staple of my childhood. This recipe reminds me of my mom AND my grandma.
Beth Pierce
Oh sweet memories!
Jasmine Hewitt
this looks super interesting to try. I’ll have to make it one day this week
Samantha Donnelly
I have not heard of this before but always looking for new ideas for my fussy family. I really think they will like this!
Beth Pierce
Thanks! Enjoy!
JC
I love your recipes, and hamburger gravy is so good! I’m beyond excited that you always include nutritional information!! That makes life so much easier!! I can’t wait to make this!!!
Beth Pierce
Thanks JC! Enjoy!