For Thick And Creamy Gravy, Add In A Dollop Of Sour Cream

Whether you are cooking Thanksgiving turkey gravy and want to impress your guests, crafting biscuits and herbed sausage gravy for brunch, or making a creamy country gravy for your chicken fried steak, you want it to be thick, savory, and delicious. However, if you find it looks more like soup than a sauce, don't panic. There is a simple way to thicken runny gravy and it involves incorporating a dollop of sour cream.

Why reach for sour cream to get the job done instead of your trusted go-to thickening agents like flour, beurre-manie, or cornstarch? Because when you add this creamy ingredient, which by its very nature is smooth and velvety, it imparts a rich texture and a distinctive tangy flavor to your gravy. But that's not the only reason to add this dairy. Unlike conventional thickeners, sour cream has a culinary superpower. Its acidic qualities help to ensure your gravy doesn't separate while its fat content adds viscosity to your sauce.

Read more: Vinegar Cooking Hacks You'll Wish You Knew Sooner

Temper It

When should you add the sour cream? Simply make your gravy as you normally would using all the beautiful drippings and fond as your base. Add flour and stock to form a roux. Remove your pan from the hot burner and add about 2 tablespoons of sour cream and whisk it all together. The texture should be thick, smooth, and creamy in appearance.

It's important that you remove your gravy from its heating element so the sour cream doesn't curdle. If it looks like it has broken apart in your gravy and is lumpy, the gravy was too hot for the cold sour cream. To avoid this mishap altogether, you can temper your gravy and sour cream. Simply place your sour cream in a bowl, add a few tablespoons of the gravy to it, and whisk. Once you've done this, you can add the mixture to your pan of gravy and blend the two together with your whisk. The end result will be dense and creamy with no curdling.

Read the original article on Tasting Table.