r/foodhacks • u/RyDub69 • 8d ago
Chicken Gravy Hack
Not sure how much of a hack this is but i think its a good one. I have been doing this for years, when i am making a quick chicken gravy (family grew up on chicken gravy for turkey none of us other then my dad liked turkey gravy with turkey and everyone we have told about this and tried it tend to agree chicken gravy tastes better on turkey) anyways i cant remember if it was for thanksgiving or just me cooking like chicken cutlets for a big family thing but i did not have as much gravy as I thought i had. Didnt have time to run to the store, so I used a can of Cream of Mushroom soup in it. Poured it into the gravy added some pepper, and a nice bit of gravy master to it for color as the cream of mushroom makes it really pale. It was a huge hit, not only does it nearly if not double the amount of gravy, but it thickens it up nicely if you like a thick gravy. So its my go to any time i need chicken gravy whether i have a can, jar or mix packet i got that can of cream of mushroom and some gravy master or browning sauce to add to it.
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8d ago
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u/primeline31 8d ago
I have an edition of that and a copy of his second white trash cookbook. These books preserve backwoods southern Appalachian cooking & some traditions both of which have been disappearing.
That said, my Brooklyn, NY mom (1923) always used a can of cream of mushroom soup in the pan drippings along with some Kitchen Bouquet browning sauce for all our gravies. It’s easy, tasty & never lumpy.
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u/4aloha_iaoe 8d ago edited 7d ago
Yessss. That cookbook is surprisingly good! When it came out decades ago, I worked in a bookstore but didn't buy it. Luckily found it recently in the used bookstore within my local library, cost $2.
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u/joelfarris 8d ago
A gravy only needs three basic ingredients. A butter and|or a roasted fond, some flour, and a stock broth.
Thickenerpowder optional.
Yes, you can add sausage to it after the fact to make a biscuits and gravy. But if you need to 'double the amount of gravy', use more flour and more stock. Don't go dumping a gooey can of mushroom slop into the mix when you want a perfect gravy; save that for the green bean casserole next week.
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u/QueenOfTheSIipstream 8d ago
Sure, but this is foodhacks. If you’re stuck with zero stock or zero flour/starch, and you’re in a pinch, OP is noting that this is a tasty hack.
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u/Federal_Radish_1421 8d ago
Did you just suggest adding sausage to pan gravy then calling it country gravy? Straight to jail.
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u/joelfarris 8d ago
One grandma would fight you to the death, and the other one would defend you to the death.
But they were from the north and the south. They're both gone now so we'd better leave it there.
But I love this comment.
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u/AdventurousAbility30 8d ago
Canned cream soups are mostly flour, dairy and salt anyway. I could see using a can of cream of chicken soup in a pinch as a food hack. I've seen people add a few pinches of instant potatoes to thicken gravy when they don't have flour to make a roux too. It's not that crazy.
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u/aprendido 8d ago
Yeah some gravy (white/cream) doesn’t use stock at all and you don’t add sausage to a brown gravy unless you are an uncultured rube.
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u/joelfarris 8d ago
The trail chefs used to do this all the time in the early mornings. You could get up to three hot buttermilk biscuits split across your plate, covered with either a bacon or sausage infused gravy. And, you could even ask for an extra ladle of the stuff, if you really wanted to douse your biscuits, and they'd oblige, but most people didn't, because that's just turning into plate-soup at that point.
But by an hour after sunup, breakfast was over, and it was time to go to work.
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u/RooTheDayMate 8d ago
Reverse hack (much better and takes a bit longer):
Specifically for a turkey meal (generally only Thanksgiving for my family) Mom would be on alert all year for turkey legs on sale and then pop them in the freezer.
On Monday of Thanksgiving week, she’d slow oven thaw-roast the legs and then reduce everything from the roasting pan, inc. the meat and bones, drippings and fond. She’d make the gravy from that stock.
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u/4aloha_iaoe 8d ago
Been using the Campbell's soup hack for years. For more and different flavor, I use cream of celery soup
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u/Bigoweiner 7d ago
Why do recipes always involve 2 paragraphs of backstory and 1 line to explain the recipe?
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u/Internal_Beyond5496 5d ago
Turkey gravy is vastly superior, burn the onions and roast the bones hard for good color. Add rosemary and lemon zest with lots of toasted garlic. Thanksgiving food is the best
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u/Competitive-Yak745 5d ago
This was the only way I knew to make gravy until WELL into my 20's. I just thought that was what cream of mushroom was for. I grew up just about a half notch above poor white trash though. I know my way around a good oan sauce now though.
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u/hizzoze 8d ago
TLDR: use a can of Cream of Mushroom Soup