A simple, hearty creamed gravy made with ground beef that's perfect to serve over egg noodles, mashed potatoes or toast.
Author: Mandy Rivers | Published: 10/1/26This is a meal I whip up when I don't feel like getting into anything complicated AND I don't want to hear any objections from the family - because they all love this one!
The only negative is we can never agree what to serve it over. Husband and The Boy like it over toast, the girls want mashed potatoes and I prefer noodles (can you believe I didn't say rice?!). I usually do 2 out of 3 because it's not hard to add a pile of toast to the table.
You may look at this and think of S.O.S. but it's a little different because we're going to use milk and a little beef bullion broth. It's still plenty creamy but we get great flavor from the double-strength bullion (2 cubes with 1 cup of water instead of 1:1).
This was one of my Daddy's favorites! He'd never heard of S.O.S. until he went into the Army and they all teased him and told him the chipped beef version was horsemeat. He liked it all but he REALLY liked Hamburger Gravy because he liked the name better.
Aren't we funny like that? He learned to eat the other because he was starving (and he even grew to like it) but just by calling this Hamburger Gravy instead of the name he associated with horsemeat, he thought it tasted better too.
Or maybe he really did like it better. Since we make ours with a mixture of beef bullion and milk, it isn't as cloyingly thick and creamy and maybe he just liked the taste better. But, nahhh... I think it was in his head!
HERE'S WHAT YOU NEED TO MAKE IT
The full, printable recipe card is down below, but at a glance, here's all you'll need:
- Ground beef (venison is great too!)
- Simple spices (pepper, onion & garlic powder)
- Flour (AP or SR - use what you have)
- Milk & water
- Beef bullion cubes
- Parsley (optional - I just always have it so I add it)
8 NOTES ON COOKING HAMBURGER GRAVY
1. I typically use 80/20 ground beef for this. Using a fattier blend is fine but if using leaner ground beef, stir in 1 tablespoon butter until melted before adding flour (use 2 tablespoons butter if using extra lean 95/5 ground beef).
2. You can absolutely use all milk in this if you like the extra creamy version.
3. This is usually made with all-purpose flour but self-rising can be used if that's all you have. There isn't enough flour in here to make that big of a difference.
4. I've never frozen this myself but I imagine it would freeze well.
5. Use TWO traditional square cubes of beef bullion or ONE if using the BIG bullion cubes (Goya and Knorr each make these now). If you're uncertain, use however many cubes the packaging says for two cups of broth (even though we are only using one cup of water).
6. This is usually served over egg noodles, toast or mashed potatoes but it can go on just about anything! We've had it with rice and biscuits too!
7. Feel free to add 1/2 cup diced onion when cooking the ground beef - sometimes I do!
8. If you'd like to add mushrooms, add fresh when you add the flour or add canned (drained) when adding the milk.
MORE SIMPLE SUPPERS WITH HAMBURGER MEAT
Hamburger Steaks with Brown Gravy - The BEST recipe for Hamburger Steaks made from fresh ground beef with an easy, homemade brown gravy.
Hamburger Vegetable Beef Soup - An easy vegetable beef soup recipe made with ground beef and canned vegetables just like the old-school cafeteria lunch rooms once served!
Cheesy Beef & Noodle Casserole - A super simple casserole with ground beef, noodles and cheese sauce (and no sour cream or tomatoes) very similar to Hamburger Helper's Cheesy Beef Pasta.
Salisbury Steak & Potato Skillet Dinner - A one-pan recipe with tender hamburger steaks, potatoes and scratch-made gravy that cooks in just 30 minutes.
One-Pot Swedish Meatballs with Noodles - Perfectly seasoned Swedish meatballs with velvety gravy and egg noodles come together in this simple, easy one-pan recipe.
Recipe for Country-Style Hamburger Gravy
Country-Style Hamburger Gravy
A simple, hearty creamed gravy made with ground beef that's perfect to serve over egg noddles, mashed potatoes or toast.
Ingredients
- 1 lb ground beef
- 1 teaspoon onion powder
- 1/2 teaspoon pepper
- 1/2 teaspoon garlic powder
- 1/4 cup flour
- 2.5 cups milk (whole if possible)
- 1 hot cup water
- 2 beef bullion cubes
- 1 tablespoon chopped parsley (optional)
Instructions
- Add bullion cubes to hot water so they can start dissolving.
- Cook and crumble ground beef in a large skillet over high heat, adding spices as the meat cooks. 1 lb beef, 1 tsp onion powder, 1/2 tsp each pepper & garlic
- Once meat is cooked through, continue cooking over medium-high heat until all liquid evaporates (see notes - don't skip this step).
- Add flour to pan then cook and stir with beef for 5 minutes (we need the flour to cook and brown the same way as when making a roux but you won't be able to see the color as the flour will cling to the meat but 5 minutes should do the trick). 1/4 c. flour
- Add milk and bullion broth to beef then cook until thick and bubbly (about 5 minutes). Add more milk if necessary until gravy is the consistency you enjoy. The longer it cooks and the wider the pan, the thicker the gravy will be so it's hard to estimate how much you will need. 2.5 c. milk, 1 cup bullion
- Taste for seasoning then add more if needed. Stir in fresh parsley (if using) then serve over noodles, toast or mashed potatoes.
Notes
- Note on Step 3: Meat packagers pump water ("brine") into meat to make it weigh more so we need to cook that out. You will know when the liquid has evaporated when there are no longer bubbles in the pan juices.
- I typically use 80/20 ground beef for this recipe.
- I like a LOT of black pepper in this and use at least a teaspoon.
- Use TWO traditional square cubes of beef bullion or ONE if using the BIG cubes from Goya or Knorr.
- You can use beef broth instead of water but you will need to add salt (probably about 1 teaspoon).
- See more notes and suggestions in the article above the recipe card.
Author: Mandy Rivers
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