Guinness Irish Stout and Mushroom Gravy

A rich and hearty gravy made with Guinness Irish Stout and mushrooms. Perfect with potatoes, bangers, or add a little milk or cream and make a luxuriously silky malty beer for breakfast biscuits and gravy.

Another recipe that is not really a recipe. More of a guideline, a picture map that encourages substitution and experimentation. It is just gravy after all.

Initially the Guinness was the only liquid but when I re-heated it this morning for biscuits and gravy I added some milk because breakfast gravy is so much more breakfasty with cream. So a recipe that is not really a recipe for a gravy you can put on most anything.

This gravy is rich, perfect with smashed yellow potatoes, with bangers or, as seen here, with biscuits. Stouts can vary wildly in flavor profile so I’d stick with Guinness or another Irish style stout, nothing too heavy or aggressively vanilla (chocolate might be fine 😉 or oak.

want to get your Guinness on without the gravy? Try this homemade Guinness mustard!

want to get your gravy on without the Guinness? how about fall tomato gravy?

or my mushroom gravy for two

note: there are a ton of asides in the written recipe, if you prefer less commentary see the printable recipe at the bottom of this post

If you like commentary  keep on reading

Let’s talk gravy

thickening

• Wheat flour be it all purpose, whole wheat, bread, or pastry flour is what I always use for thickening. A wheat flour makes a nuttier gravy just like it makes a nuttier flavored bread. Whole wheat pastry flour, made with soft wheat rather than hard, is a happy medium between whole grain goodness and all purpose lightness. If you want to use a gluten free thickener that’s a whole different game.
• here’s bon appetit’s take on it– specifically for thanksgiving. Breakfast- or country- gravy is creamier than it’s dinner cousin other gluten free gravy recipes just call for using a gluten free flour mix instead of regular wheat, that’s what I would do. That said I won’t be doing that unless I have to.
• curious about the types of wheat? this page summerizes the united states varieties
• this article gives a nice summery of how flour is classified in most countries
• you want the flour and oil to cook for a minute or two before you add the liquid, this minimizes the flour flavor and ensures it’s all coated. but not too long or you lose some thickening power.

lumps

• if your flour gets completely coated by your oil or fat of choice before you add the liquid you shouldn’t have any lumps

• a whisk works best but a fork will do, a spoon isn’t going to cut it- literally or figuratively

oil or fat of your choice?

yup, your choice. 

• for max flavor I like bacon fat and butter (no one ever said that gravy was a wise weight loss choice, it’s a treat and should be treated as such)
• but obviously bacon fat won’t do if you’re a vegetarian, butter won’t do if you’re vegan. in those instances the smart balance is good or a neutral oil like avocado

the beer

• Guinness is actually a lighter flavored stout– though it’s dark in color it’s not particularly sweet or bitter but with a creamy light finish and roasted malt flavor. Murphy’s and Beamish are similar in style and, particularly near St. Patrick’s Day, more local and craft brewers do their own version. 

Guinness Irish Stout and Mushroom Gravy

Guinness and Mushroom Gravy

a rich dark gravy

Print Recipe Pin Recipe

Prep Time 5 mins

Cook Time 15 mins

Course Side Dish

Cuisine gravy

Servings 6 servings

Ingredients

  

1x2x3x

• 1 small yellow onion- diced
• 8 ounces of mushroom cut how you like.
• 1 tsp Brown mustard or pub mustard or to taste
• 2 tablespoons oil or fat of choice- I used a combination of butter and bacon fat but if you want to lighten it up a bit a neutral oil or even olive oil would work too
• 2-3 tablespoons of flour
• 16 ounces of Guinness if you want a creamier gravy I would go with 8-12 ounces of beer and 8 ounces of milk- or do like I did and use half the gravy for dinner and then add a cup of milk the next morning for breakfast
• 1/8 tsp celery salt
• Worcestershire to taste- start with about a teaspoon and go up just a drop or two at time from there
• chives or parsley for garnish

Instructions

 

• in a dry preheated cast iron (or other heavy bottomed) pan over medium low heat add the mushrooms and onions and cook until the mushroom begin to sweat and the onions begin to brown
• once the mushrooms have given off most of their moisture add the mustard, butter and bacon grease, and flour. Cook over medium heat stirring constantly until the flour is completely saturated with the oils, no dry bits of flour should remain.
• Reduce the heat to medium low and slowly add about four ounces of the Guinness, whisking to combine into a smooth paste (except, of course, for the onions and mushrooms).
• Once that is incorporated continue to add the liquid. Heat, stirring frequently, until the gravy is just bubbly and thickened to your taste. If you are just doing beer you can let this sit on low for an hour or two, it will only make the veggies more tender and the gravy richer.
• Garnish
• Serve hot.

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