Low Sodium Brown Gravy

Who needs some deep brown savory Low Sodium Brown Gravy? Well, I certainly did the other night when I cooked this pork loin roast. But, I did not go all out on prepping pork loin and it came out super dry. I thought to myself, some good gravy could probably rescue the rest of this roast. And so, while coming up with a low sodium gravy,it also occurred to me that Thanksgiving is less than two weeks away.  Good grief!

I like my gravy to be dark brown and on the thicker sauced side as shown in the pictures. No weak, runny, light brown gravy for me, please. I made this recipe at a medium starting point to appeal to most people I suppose. You can easily darken and thicken it if you desire with very little change in nutrition values. I will tell you how below.

Typical sodium amount per serving	540-700mg
Sodium per serving for this recipe	61mg
Calories per serving	21

The amount of sodium in typical brown gravy

It’s really disappointing when even a simple brown gravy is so high in sodium content from a store-bought gravy packet mix, canned gravy, or most recipes. Just imagine all the additional sodium we were probably pouring on already high sodium items that begged for a delicious savory gravy.

Brown gravy varies but seems an average for most recipes is about 700mg of sodium for just one half (1/2) cup. If you made your gravy from a packet, it would have contained 680mg of sodium per one half (1/2) cup. Actually the canned gravy generally seems to be the lowest in sodium at about 540mg per one half (1/2) cup. Never the less, all three are way above my sodium goal (250-300) for a whole meal just for a small amount of gravy.

This Low Sodium Brown Gravy recipe saves you hundreds of milligrams of sodium at just 61mg. The majority of the sodium comes from the unsalted beef broth (37mg) and the low sodium Worcestershire sauce (22mg) for a total of 59mg. And it still has a very satisfying savory flavor of course, if you have some other favorite salt free spices add them in too.

I made this recipe as written and shown without any drippings from a roast or other meat. As long as the meat was cooked low sodium style, go ahead and scrape any drippings into your gravy while simmering. It will add even more wonderful deep savory flavor to your gravy.

I did not include drippings in the recipe or the nutrition calculation because I would have no idea what meat, how much, or how it was prepared.

How to make your low sodium gravy

In a medium saucepan over medium heat, add and melt unsalted butter. If using onions, sauté till soft and translucent, then add garlic and sauté for another minute. Otherwise, add garlic and sauté 30 seconds to a minute.

Add unsalted beef broth, low sodium Worcestershire sauce, browning sauce, Herb ox beef bouillon, garlic and onion powder. Bring to a low boil.

Bring to a boil and whisk in the cornstarch slurry. Decrease the heat to medium low. Continue to lightly whisk to ensure the cornstarch blends in smoothly.

What is a Slurry?
A slurry is a combination of cornstarch and cold water. About a 1:1 ratio with a touch more water until the cornstarch dissolves when mixed. Then it’s drizzled and whisked into to an almost boiling liquid to thicken it. Be sure to use cold water to prevent lumps from forming when adding to the hot broth.

Let it simmer until desired thickness or add a touch more slurry if need be.

Making Low Sodium Brown Gravy even more flavorful

These three ingredients add a nice depth of flavor to brown gravy, but they also help achieve the richer dark brown color somewhat missing in a no salt added beef broth.

Herb-Ox sodium free beef bouillon: (Amazon) Packs a lot of beefy taste to any broth and surprisingly mimics a true bouillon cube very well.

Low Sodium Worcestershire Sauce: (Amazon)  I recommend the Lea & Perrin brand as this is the one commonly seen in grocery stores. You can’t really taste any sodium in the gravy from it, but the flavor really enhances the gravy and adds a rich savory element to it. It only adds 22.5mg per half-cup serving.

Kitchen Bouquet Browning and Seasoning Sauce: (Amazon) It is already very low sodium but it adds a concentrated savory taste and color to any dish. I start with about 2 teaspoons and add a few drops at the end to desired taste and color. I like a dark brown gravy color, not the weak light brown color. You can find it in the aisle where they sell gravy packets. It only adds 5mg of sodium per serving even if you use a whole tablespoon.

A few other great optional ingredients

Finely diced sauteed onions or mushrooms:  Sauté first at the beginning, then add garlic to finish the sauté.

A teaspoon of sage, rosemary, or thyme: Stirred in at the end while simmering. Many people may or may not like these spices so I left them out of the recipe. So add to your taste, I like thyme myself.

A couple tablespoons of dry red cooking wine or more to taste: Add in initially with the broth at the beginning and more to taste can be added at the end.

Make your Low Sodium Brown Gravy even better with meat drippings

If you roast anything like pork, beef or chicken that results in having meat drippings and bits at the end, you should definitely incorporate them into this gravy. Of course, if it was made low sodium, just add a little water to the roasting pan to deglaze and add to the gravy mix. Not that this low sodium brown gravy can’t hang on its own, but the flavor output definitely goes up a notch as Emeril says. “Bam!”

What goes well with Low Sodium Brown Gravy?

It might be easier to answer what doesn’t go with brown gravy.  Probably, umm fish…. 

Otherwise have your brown gravy with, on or in a dipping bowl with – pork loin, fried chicken, any type of turkey, stuffing, pot roast, juicy steak, fried egg on toast, mashed or baked potatoes, meatball subs, Low Sodium Italian Meatballs, pasta and on and on.

Storing gravy

You can refrigerate this gravy for up to 5 days or freeze for up to 6 months. Like many things, I like to freeze serving size portions in a muffin tin. Then once frozen, tap out into a Ziploc freezer bag. I very much doubt you will have enough to freeze though.

[su_box title=”A few of my other great dishes to enjoy!” box_color=”#a92224″]

• Low Sodium Thanksgiving Stuffing
• Savory Low Sodium Cream of Mushroom – condensed
• Low Sodium Cream of Chicken- condensed

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[su_box title=”Recommended Equipment & Ingredients For This Recipe” box_color=”#F3A847″ radius=”5″]This equipment section contains affiliate links to products I use and recommend.
Kitchen Bouqet Browning sauce
Lea & Perrins Wocertshire Sauce
Herbox No Sodium Bullion Beef

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As always, please let me know how you like this recipe in the comments! I get motivated when I hear from you and interested to learn about how you liked and served your Beefy Low Sodium Brown Gravy. So please, leave a comment or rating and share any tips you might have. You can follow me on Facebook and Pinterest also, for new recipes.