Chocolate Gravy Recipe
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Using pantry staples, this Southern-style chocolate gravy recipe is so quick and easy to make and tastes absolutely incredible served with homemade biscuits.
Does a chocolate gravy recipe sound a bit odd to you? Well, for me, a professed chocolate lover, nothing with chocolate is ever ruled out but I was intrigued as to what this recipe would taste like when I whipped it up. For me, this is perfect: not too rich, but has that silky smooth chocolate flavor I adore.
Chocolate gravy’s roots are in the South for sure. Anywhere from Louisiana to Tennessee has claimed its origin even dating back to the 16th and 17th centuries. Anything that lasted that long just has to be good!
A Little History About the Chocolate Gravy Recipe
In days of old, with flour in abundance and other resources scarce, biscuits made a great breakfast and filling snack any time of day. Sweets were not a regular occurrence, so waking up in the morning to find fresh buttermilk biscuits and a boat of chocolate gravy was a wondrous treat. It was poured over the buttered flaky biscuits, then the tender bread soaks it up and as I found out when I tried it – you are then on your way to heaven no matter what the day has in store for you.
Here is the old-fashioned chocolate gravy recipe I used. Don’t try this unless you want the flavor to linger in your mind for the rest of your life. It was purely divine. Also, scroll down to find some suggestions about what else you can do with this special biscuit and chocolate gravy recipe.
Recipe Ingredients
- Sugar
- Flour
- Unsweetened cocoa powder
- Milk
- Butter
Put the (the , , and ) in a heavy saucepan.
Add the milk.
Whisk together well.
It will be a little lumpy but those will cook up so don’t worry. Just keep stirring. We want to stir this constantly, over medium heat. The goal is to bring it slowly to a boil.
We need to be careful though because if you stop stirring it the milk will scorch rather easily.
When it comes to a low boil, turn the heat off and continue stirring for a minute or two. This will thicken up rather suddenly to the consistency of a thin gravy.
Add butter and stir well.
Pour your chocolate gravy into a gravy boat and then get ready to pour it over your warm biscuits.
If you’re looking for a homemade biscuit recipe, here it is!
I hope you can smell this. If not, get into your kitchen and make up some quick!
Chocolate gravy is super easy, but such an indulgent taste! Scroll down to see what you can do with this delightful dessert.
Storage
Store chocolate gravy leftovers in an airtight container in the fridge for up to 4 days. Just reheat in the microwave before serving.
Recipe Notes
- Use whichever cocoa powder you prefer in this gravy recipe. I like the natural unsweetened cocoa powder but if you like Dutch-process cocoa powder, go for it!
- For more flavor, add a teaspoon of vanilla extract and a pinch of salt at the end, just before serving.
Recipe FAQs
What else can you do with this chocolate gravy recipe?
Well, I wasn’t quick enough to get a picture of this but add some custard filling in the biscuit or some vanilla ice cream for a chocolate gravy eclair or ice cream sandwich. YUM! You could also serve it over buttermilk pancakes, vanilla ice cream with fresh strawberries, or a slice of pound cake. The possibilities are endless with this beautiful creamy chocolate sauce aka gravy.
You may also like these other delicious dessert recipes:
Grandma Pear’s Flaky Chocolate Icing
Chocolate Cobbler Recipe Food Allergy Options
Chocolate Depression Cake No Milk or Eggs!
Ingredients
- 1 cup white sugar
- 2 T flour
- 1 T unsweetened cocoa powder
- 1 1/4 cups milk
- 1 tablespoon butter
Instructions
- Combine everything except the butter in a heavy saucepan. Bring to a boil, stirring constantly to prevent scorching.1 cup white sugar, 2 T flour, 1 T unsweetened cocoa powder, 1 1/4 cups milk
- Once boiling, cut the heat down and stir for a minute more (it will get pretty thick rather suddenly). Take off the heat and stir in the butter.1 tablespoon butter
- To serve, pour over homemade biscuits. I tear my hot biscuit up in a bowl first and then pour it over.
Nutrition
I ❤ chocolate gravy! It was one of the first things I learned how to make in home ec class in junior high!
I wish they still offered home ec. I know there are some versions of it still out there but from what I hear it isn’t the same.
My father is a southern boy and cooks better than my mother. I have never heard of this until today and I am 57! I will definitely make this for the grands when they come to visit this month. I am sure that they will love it. Thank you for the recipe and thank you all for the comments. i will try it with milk and and without. I have to see what the difference is.
I’ve got to get in on this one! Yes CHOCOLATE GRAVY! My Dad was the cook in our Family! We grew up poor, lived with our grandmother and Grandfather, and at the time Dad and Mom had us Three kids. So I know it was expensive raising us. But I always got so Happy and excited when I walked into the kitchen and seen my Dad cooking that exceptional Chocolate Gravy. And of course Biscuits. My Dad used milk. And it was a little thicker then thin. It was the best treat in the whole world I thought. We all loved Dads cooking but, Chocolate Gravy was the ultimate of them all! I to have kept the recipe going! And I’ve told stories about it at work. They all looked at me as if I was crazy, but when they tried it they all became Believers! Thank you all so much for your personal stories I really enjoyed reading them. My parents are both gone now but I smile when I think about Dads Chocolate Gravy! If you haven’t tried it or heard of it please try it it’s so good! Merry Christmas to you All!⛄️⛄️⛄️⛄️⛄️⛄️ In Louisville, Ky!
My mother used to fix this for me and my brother on Christmas morning. It was wonderful. My grandmother made it for her and she just kept the tradition going. And yes we are Southern ;). Everyone always looks at me crazy when I mention chocolate gravy but it is a little bit of heaven on Earth.
I agree, it is a bit of heaven on earth!!!
My grandma always added a teaspoon of vanilla after it was taken off the heat. Instead of adding butter to the pan, we each add it to our own bowls. Oh, and we call it Cocoa Gravy. It is definitely one of those “if you like it, you’ll love it and if you don’t, you’ll hate it” kinda things!
I was taught to add vanilla to it as well, and definitely add the butter to the top of it once it was in the bowl!
Try this on hot waffles! If you blend the dry ingredients together before you add the milk, there will be no lumps. We enjoy 1/2 the amount of flour and twice the cocoa and sugar. My wife thought it was crazy. I’ve been enjoying chocolate gravy for 56 years (maybe longer…can’t remember very well since my diabetes set in!)
Oh my goodness, thanks for sharing that great tip Mike!!!
I am 61 years old and my mother made my sister and I “chocolate sop” all the time growing up here in Southern Indiana-she was from NC. When we visited her family and we requested it for breakfast our great-aunt would shake her head-she said that they were so poor it was about the only thing they could fix cheaply for all the kids! Our recipe is delicious but much simpler-1 large serving spoon of cocoa, 2 large serving spoons of flour, 3 large serving spoons of sugar-mix up and add water to desired consistency and add a large dollop of butter. Dip your biscuits in! Yummmy! I am going to try your recipe too.
My mother made it with water too. That is the only way I like it. I tried a recipe made with milk and didn’t like it. I like to break my biscuits into bite size pieces and pour my gravy over it. I’m getting hungry just thinking about it.
I make mine with water too. That’s the way I was taught. My relatives in the south didn’t have a lot of money, so it was pretty inexpensive to make it with water instead of milk.
Yes , my mom always made it with water and then you pour some on a plate, put a dab of butter in the middle to melt and sop it up with biscuits, Brings back precious memories for me. My mom was no. 2 of 10 kids in Tenn. they were quite poor so im sure this was a real treat for her as a kid. We never made it thick like a pudding.