Paleo Gravy Recipe (Easy, Whole30, Grain Free) | 40 Aprons (2024)

FAQs

How do you thicken gravy without grains? ›

Arrowroot. This powder comes from rhizomes of the Marantaceae family of tubers. It's a great natural substitute for those needing a gluten-free gravy thickener. As with using cornstarch or flour to thicken gravy, make a slurry with your arrowroot powder by mixing 2 to 3 tablespoons with an equal amount of water.

How do I thicken the sauce? You can make an arrowroot slurry by whisking ½ cup All-Purpose Stir-Fry Sauce with 1 to 2 teaspoons of arrowroot powder. The sauce should thicken as soon as you bring it to a simmer. If you like a thicker sauce, add more arrowroot powder.

Using Arrowroot

Arrowroot does not require cooking to remove a raw taste and makes an excellent choice for sauces using eggs or other ingredients that should not be boiled since the mixture thickens below the boiling point. Gravy thickened with arrowroot does not hold well, however, and you cannot reheat it.

Cornstarch and potato starch are the best options for gravy. Avoid arrowroot and tapioca starches because they can get "stringy" and look artificial in gravy. Cornstarch gravy is more translucent than flour based sauces. Potato starch gravy is more opaque than cornstarch, but less opaque than flour.

Flour is a natural thickening agent and can be incorporated into your sauce with a few different methods (for a gluten-free option, you can also use arrowroot flour or a gluten-free flour blend like Bob's Red Mill's 1 to 1 or King Arthur's Measure for Measure).

Arrowroot powder is an effective thickener and can be especially helpful in sauces and gravies.

Arrowroot powder is a starchy powder made from a ground up tuber plant. It is often used in Paleo, Whole30 and other grain free diets in place of cornstarch. Arrowroot powder can be used in soups and sauces as a thickener, or as a coating when frying things like chicken, fish or shrimp because it forms a crispy crust.

In certain cases, tapioca flour can be used interchangeably with arrowroot starch. This applies mostly for baking and thickening sauces. The important thing to keep in mind is texture. Tapioca flour gets gummier than arrowroot starch.

Arrowroot flour is a nutritious substitute for cornstarch because it acts similarly to cornstarch but contains more dietary fiber. Arrowroot flour also contains a more calcium than cornstarch.

Is it better to make gravy with flour or cornstarch? ›

Browning adds more flavor to the gravy and gets rid of the raw flour taste. You're basically making a roux. We find that a flour-based gravy holds up better and reheats better later, which is why we tend to prefer using flour over cornstarch to make gravy unless we have a guest who is eating gluten-free.

Thickening Agent: I love tapioca starch. It's a keto thickener and remains thick after being on the heat for an extended period of time (arrowroot powder tends to lose its thickening ability if heated for too long). But if all you have is arrowroot, you can use it.

Arrowroot starch works wonders when used to thicken gravies and soups and can easily replace cornstarch.

Arrowroot Powder

This mild-tasting starch looks a lot like cornstarch and is equally strong when it comes to thickening. Use in slurry situations (read sauces) and figure 1 tablespoon arrowroot for every 1 tablespoon cornstarch.

Arrowroot is similar to cornstarch in that it needs to reach a fairly high temperature to thicken, making it a decent swap for cornstarch. It turns clear when cooked, with a neutral flavor.

Give It a Whirl in a Food Processor

Here's a high-tech lumpy gravy fix: Pour the gravy into a food processor or blender. Press liquefy or whip on a blender; for a food processor, turn it to "on" (not pulse) and use the spinning of the blades to get lumps out of gravy.

All-purpose flour: You can thicken sauces with all-purpose wheat flour. For every tablespoon of cornstarch, use three tablespoons of flour. Combine raw flour with cold water in a small bowl to form a paste, then add it into the sauce as it's simmering. Cooking the flour in the sauce will remove the flour taste.

There are plenty of situations that require the thickening power of a pantry starch: your pie filling, soup, sauce, gravy. Cornstarch, tapioca starch (also known as tapioca flour), arrowroot, potato starch and plain old wheat flour are typical options.