The Easy Way To Add Flavor To Bland Gravy In An Instant

A good gravy can save even the dullest of meals, elevating it from meh to marvelous with every ladleful of this silken meaty ambrosia. It helps to ease the pain of cooking sins such as dry, overcooked meats and lumpy potatoes and can even overcome the blight of cold poutine. But bland gravy is a completely different story.

Gravy of the flavorless kind can absolutely ruin an otherwise delicious meal. Without its rich, savory-seasoned flavor, gravy becomes nothing more than a viscously slick barrier, clinging to your food and burying its natural flavors. But this bearer of blah needn't be the bane of your culinary existence. The true key to a flavorful gravy is to build it right from the start. A little careful planning and preparation can translate into an easily built savory gravy worth its salt from the very beginning, layering things like rendered meat fats, butter, pan drippings, and broth in combination with cooked-down umami-makers like mirepoix.

But, if you haven't got the time for the requisite flavor-stacking or you're just looking to correct a gravy gone wrong, fear not. There is a perfect hack that will instantly (and easily) banish the bland flavor of your gravy.

While this tip might seem like an obvious one, using a bouillon cube to season your gravy can often be overlooked. Many of us are used to making our gravies from roasted pan drippings and a simple roux (a cooked mixture of flour and fat), so when it comes time to make a quick sauce or remedy a bland gravy, bouillon may not readily pop to mind. Not only are bouillon cubes an easy get from your spice cupboard (most of us have some cubes lingering in there), but it's also a one-stop way to add maximum flavor to your gravy. That's because these condensed flavor bombs are packed with salt and come in varieties like chicken, turkey, beef, mushroom, or vegetable. They also contain aromatics like mirepoix, and in some brands, flavor enhancers like MSG.

But bouillon cubes aren't the only way to go, there are liquid bouillon packets, lush jarred bouillon pastes, and even convenient powders available that can help. And the best part is you can let these tiny but mighty workhorses do all the heavy lifting while you easily mix in as little or as much umami punch to your gravy as you desire. 

The super concentrated flavor and sheer ease of use make the redolent flavors of bouillon a top choice to rescue your gravy from the depths of lackluster doldrums.