4.84 from 6 votes

Chocolate Gravy

Name: Chocolate Gravy
Prep time: 5 min
Cook time: 7 min
Total time: 12 min
Ingredients: ¾ cup granulated sugar; ¼ cup light brown sugar (firmly packed); ¼ cup cocoa powder¹; 3 Tablespoons all purpose flour; ½ teaspoon salt; 1 ½ cups whole milk; 1 teaspoon vanilla extract; 3 Tablespoons unsalted butter (cut into 3 pieces)

By Sam MerrittPublished Jan 21, 2021

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Servings: 8 servings (approx 1/4 cup each)

12 mins

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A decadent recipe for southern-style homemade Chocolate Gravy! This recipe is super simple to make with pantry staples. It comes together in just minutes and is perfect served over my buttery homemade biscuits! Recipe includes a how-to video!

Chocolate for Breakfast

An old-fashioned, southern-style chocolate gravy! This one is for those of you like me who enjoy dessert for breakfast. I see you.

Honestly, we usually save this as a “special occasion” food around here. Holiday mornings, birthday breakfasts, extra-indulgent brunches on lazy Sundays (though don’t think you have to reserve this for the first half of the day!).

Chocolate gravy is everything a chocolate lover could hope for. It’s sweet without being cloyingly so, it’s decadent without being too rich. It’s enriched with chocolate flavor and is silky smooth. It pairs perfectly with hot, buttery biscuits and once you try it you’ll never want to go back to savory sausage gravy again. All to say I think you’re going to really enjoy this one. Let’s get to it!

What You Need

Ingredients for chocolate gravy — Ingredients

As promised, this recipe uses just a few basic pantry staples:

Cocoa powder. This is the base for your chocolate gravy! You may use either Dutch-process cocoa powder or natural unsweetened, see my FAQ section below for more information.
Sugar. We’re mostly using granulated sugar, but those of you who have been following the blog for any length of time know that, whenever possible, I like to sneak in a bit of brown sugar as well. Today’s recipe is no exception. This adds a subtle depth of flavor (as it does with my no-bake cookies!). If you don’t have brown sugar, just substitute it for more granulated.
Flour. Use all-purpose flour. This serves as a thickener in the chocolate gravy. Make sure that you whisk your flour with your other ingredients before adding the milk, otherwise you run the risk of having lumps.
Milk. I have only tried this recipe with whole milk myself, but I suspect 2% would work as well.
Salt & Vanilla. These add flavor to the final product. The salt is whisked in before cooking and the vanilla is added after removing the mixture from heat (to keep the flavor from cooking out!).
Butter. This adds a richness and silky smooth mouthfeel to the gravy. A must!

This list is only an overview of the ingredients I used and why. For the full recipe please scroll down to the bottom of the post!

How to Make Chocolate Gravy

Whisk together the sugars, cocoa, flour, and salt in a saucepan. Make sure there are no lumps from the flour (try to break up any lumps from the brown sugar, but don’t panic if you’re not successful as these will melt).
Drizzle milk into the mixture while whisking.
Whisk frequently over medium heat until mixture begins to thicken and the whisk leaves a trail.
Remove from heat and whisk in vanilla extract and butter, adding the butter one tablespoon at a time.

Once prepared, all you need is some good buttery biscuits. Serve warm and enjoy!

Frequently Asked Questions

What should I serve this with?

Chocolate gravy is meant to be over warm, buttery, flaky biscuits! However, you could also serve it over buttermilk pancakes or pound cake. Or just enjoy by the spoonful, you won’t get any judgment here.

Why is my chocolate gravy so thin?

When cooking your gravy, keep the heat on medium. If you try to speed up the cooking process by turning up your heat, the sugars may not melt resulting in a gravy that’s just very thin!
It’s important to also keep in mind that you should cook the mixture until it is thickened and the whisk leaves a track (though they’ll quickly disappear) in the gravy. The gravy will still seem fairly thin when it is finished, but it should coat the back of a spoon. As it cools it will continue to thicken even more.

What type of cocoa powder is best for chocolate gravy?

This is a matter of personal preference. Natural unsweetened, Dutch process, and even “Special Dark” cocoa powder will all work well here. I found that natural cocoa powder has a milder, more neutral flavor and yields a gravy that is lighter in color while Dutch-process yields a darker chocolate gravy with a deeper, more robust flavor.

Is this the same as chocolate sauce?

No, chocolate gravy is more similar to chocolate pudding. It is not quite as thick, rich, or fudgy as my chocolate sauce/hot fudge recipe. However, you could still serve it over vanilla ice cream!

More Recipes You Might Like

Enjoy!

Let’s bake together! Make sure to check out the how-to VIDEO in the recipe card!

4.84 from 6 votes

Chocolate Gravy

A decadent recipe for southern-style homemade Chocolate Gravy! This recipe is super simple to make with pantry staples. It comes together in just minutes and is perfect served over my buttery homemade biscuits! Recipe includes a how-to video!

Prep: 5

Cook: 7

Total: 12

Servings: servings (approx 1/4 cup each)

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Equipment

Saucepan

Ingredients

▢ ¾ cup (100 g) granulated sugar
▢ ¼ cup (50 g) light brown sugar, firmly packed
▢ ¼ cup (25 g) cocoa powder¹
▢ 3 Tablespoons all purpose flour
▢ ½ teaspoon salt
▢ 1 ½ cups (355 ml) whole milk
▢ 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
▢ 3 Tablespoons unsalted butter, cut into 3 pieces

Instructions

Whisk together sugars, cocoa powder, flour, and salt in a medium-sized saucepan until lump-free. While whisking, pour in the milk and whisk until smooth.
¾ cup (100 g) granulated sugar, ¼ cup (50 g) light brown sugar, ¼ cup (25 g) cocoa powder¹, 3 Tablespoons all purpose flour, ½ teaspoon salt, 1 ½ cups (355 ml) whole milk
Turn stovetop heat to medium and cook, whisking almost constantly, until the mixture has thickened to a gravy-like consistency and the whisk leaves tracks through the chocolate.
Remove gravy from the heat and vanilla extract and butter, one piece at a time, whisking after each addition until incorporated.
1 teaspoon vanilla extract, 3 Tablespoons unsalted butter
Chocolate gravy will thicken as it cools. Serve warm over biscuits. See note for storing/reheating tips.

Notes

¹Cocoa Powder

You may use Dutch processed or regular unsweetened cocoa powder for this recipe. I personally prefer Dutch processed, it gives the chocolate gravy a more robust flavor and a darker appearance.