Hairy Bikers onion gravy is a rich beef gravy of onions caramelised in butter, then simmered with red wine, thyme, bay and beef stock. And their Everyday Winners cookbook version serves 4, taking about an hour at around 170 calories each, by my sums.
This version reduces 100ml of red wine by at least two-thirds before 600ml of beef stock or consommé goes in. But their website onion gravy is a lighter, vegetable-stock version, and they call it “just right with our veggie toad in the hole.”
Getting the onions properly brown matters most, because that colour is where the gravy’s depth and sweetness come from. So with no meat juices to lean on, pale onions would leave it thin on flavour.
Hairy Bikers Onion Gravy Recipe
Description
Sliced onions turn sweet and dark in butter, then red wine and herbs bubble down before the beef stock goes in. And a butter and flour paste, whisked in at the end, thickens it as much as you like.
Ingredients
For the gravy
To thicken (optional)
Instructions
- Soften the onions: Melt the butter in a wide saucepan or a sauté pan with a lid, since you’ll cover it later, and add the onions. Then sauté them gently until they’re soft and translucent, about 10 minutes by my timing.
- Caramelise them: Once they’re soft, stir in the sugar and turn the heat up to medium-high. Then stir regularly until they’re a rich, deep brown, about 20 minutes by my timing, and lower the heat if they catch.
- Reduce the wine: Pour in the red wine, add the thyme and bay leaf and bring it to the boil. Then let it bubble until it has reduced by at least two-thirds and looks syrupy, which is 3 to 5 minutes by my timing.
- Simmer: After that, pour in the stock or consommé and add the Worcestershire sauce, if using, then season with salt and pepper. Bring it to the boil, then turn the heat down, cover and simmer for 10 minutes.
- Thicken if you like: You can serve it just like this, or mash the flour and butter together into a paste. Then whisk it into the simmering gravy a teaspoon at a time, until it dissolves and the gravy is as thick as you like. And I’d give it 2 to 3 minutes more after the last spoonful, so the flour cooks out.
- Serve: Before serving, I’d fish out the thyme stalk and bay leaf, though the recipe doesn’t say to. Then pour it hot over whatever it’s going with.
FAQs
What do you serve onion gravy with?
Sausages and mash are the classic match, while their pigs in blankets toad in the hole lists this gravy as an optional extra. So I’d serve it with any Yorkshire pudding dish, including their sage and onion toad in the hole.
Their classic Yorkshire puddings are another easy partner, and it suits a pie too, which is my suggestion. And since the recipe serves 4, I’d double it for a big Sunday lunch.
Is there a lighter or vegetarian version?
Yes, their website gravy is lighter, with 5g of butter, 2 large onions and 10g of flour. And it uses 50ml of Marsala or white wine, 550ml of vegetable stock and a teaspoon of mushroom ketchup.
So that’s the one I’d pick for a meat-free plate. Or, to make this book recipe vegetarian, I’d swap in vegetable stock and a vegetarian Worcestershire sauce, since the standard one contains anchovies.
Is it the same gravy as their liver and bacon?
No, because their liver and bacon with onion gravy builds a quicker gravy in the same pan as the meat. And there, the onion cooks with bacon before flour and stock go in, with a dash of tomato ketchup once it has thickened.
So use that recipe when you’re cooking liver, while this one stands alone and goes with anything. And with red wine and long-cooked onions, this one comes out darker and sweeter.
Can I make it without red wine?
Yes, swap the wine for an extra 100ml of beef stock and skip the reducing stage, though that swap is mine, not theirs. Then the optional Worcestershire sauce earns its place, since it adds some of the depth the wine would bring.
So taste the gravy at the end, after the 10-minute simmer, and season it before serving. And if it tastes flat, a little more Worcestershire is the first thing I’d reach for.
Can you make onion gravy ahead or freeze it?
Yes to both, though the recipe has no advice on either, so this is my approach. So cool it within 2 hours, keep it covered in the fridge and use it within 2 days, as the FSA advises. And reheat it only once, until it’s steaming hot.
For freezing, I’d leave out the flour and butter paste, then thicken the gravy once it’s hot again. Because thickening is already the recipe’s last, optional step, nothing else changes.
