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.

pouring chocolate gravy on 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 sweet gravy 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.

chocolate gravy ingredients

Recipe Ingredients

  • Sugar
  • Flour
  • Unsweetened cocoa powder
  • Milk
  • Butter

Add sugar, flour, and cocoa to saucepan.

Put the dry ingredients (the sugar, flour, and cocoa) in a heavy saucepan.

add milk to saucepan.

Add the milk.

stir ingredients together in saucepan.

Whisk together well.

Constantly stir gravy and bring to a boil.

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.

Add butter to saucepan.

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.

chocolate gravy bowl

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:

Mama’s Custard Sauce

Grandma Pear’s Flaky Chocolate Icing

Chocolate Cobbler Recipe Food Allergy Options

Chocolate Depression Cake No Milk or Eggs!

chocolate gravy bowl

Chocolate Gravy

Using pantry staples, this Southern-style chocolate gravy recipe is so quick and easy to make and tastes absolutely incredible served with homemade biscuits.
Prep Time: 10 minutes
Cook Time: 10 minutes
Total Time: 20 minutes
Course: sauce
Cuisine: American
Keyword: chocolate
Servings: 4
Calories: 91kcal

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

Calories: 91kcal
Tried this recipe?Mention @southernplate or tag #southernplate!

 

 

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167 Comments

  1. Ive never had chocolate gravy but I’ve heard of it. I’m thinking I’d like a dark chocolate version over sponge or pound cake with a berry element. Keep these good old recipes coming!

  2. Yummm! I’ve never tried chocolate gravy, but I will now. How about dipping cinnamon toast in it? Lots of butter and cinnamon sugar toasted in the oven…topside crispy and the bottom side soft…just like grandma made. She didn’t have a toaster. ❤

  3. Chocolate gravy was an occasional special treat when I was a child. I have to admit I have never made chocolate gravy! But now I want some! I was surprised to see that the butter was not added until the end. And..in my opinion you didn’t have enough chocolate gravy on your biscuits! Gotta have gravy with every bite. Thanks for sharing this recipe.

  4. I grew up eating chocolate gravy & still eat it today. When my grandkids come to visit that’s the first thing they ask for.
    I make mine like yours except instead of using milk I use water. In my opinion using milk tastes too much like pudding, but still good.

  5. I remember spending the summer with my Aunt & Uncle in VA, 40+ years ago. It was a big deal for us to be away from home for the entire summer and there was always something new to see or do that summer. One morning my Aunt made Chocolate Gravy for breakfast. My cousins were all about some Chocolate Gravy and biscuits. I’m not sure why, but I couldn’t get past a negative feeling about eating chocolate on biscuits and to this day I still haven’t tried it. I’m not sure why the aversion, but it’s simply not for me. Don’t get me wrong, I love chocolate and I love biscuits. I just can’t imagine the two of them together. My grandsons have mentioned wanting to try it several times and I’ve even looked up various recipies. All similar, with a few variances such as adding vanilla extract, but I still haven’t managed to bring myself to make it for them. This recipe is by far the easiest I have seen! I may end up breaking my negative streak and giving it a try. I do wonder though, how thick will it get and what tips do you have to avoid it getting too thick? I wonder if this same recipe could be used for cake icing?

    1. It is hard to get your head around, I think, because it’s called gravy, versus a sauce. To keep it from getting too thick, watch how much flour you use and watch it while its cooking very closely as recommended. For me it’s a little to thin for cake icing but everyone is different. Let me know if you end up trying iit.

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