Southern Chocolate Gravy Recipe
Chocolate gravy, also known as cocoa gravy, is a Southern delicacy that has been around for generations. It’s a sweet, creamy sauce made from cocoa powder, sugar, butter, milk, and vanilla. The ingredients are combined in a pot and cooked until thickened. The result is a rich, velvety sweet sauce that can be served over homemade biscuits or pancakes.
Chocolate gravy is often served as part of a traditional Southern breakfast or weekend brunch, but it can also be enjoyed as a dessert. (It will remind you a lot of chocolate pudding.) It’s a great way to satisfy one’s sweet tooth at breakfast.
This southern-style chocolate gravy is made with pantry staples and comes together quickly. Let’s look at how to make this easy recipe.
Ingredients
- ½ cup sugar
- 1 tablespoon all-purpose flour
- ¼ cup cocoa powder
- ¼ teaspoon salt
- 1 cup whole milk
- 1 tablespoon butter
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
Directions
- Whisk sugar, flour, cocoa powder, and salt together in a small bowl. Make sure that there are no lumps in the dry mixture. Set aside.
- Add milk to a heavy saucepan and turn the heat to medium-high.
- Add the dry ingredients to the milk and whisk to combine.
- Stir the gravy continuously until it begins to thicken, about 5-7 minutes.
- Remove it from the heat. Stir in butter and vanilla.
Spoon this creamy gravy over warm biscuits or over scoops of vanilla ice cream.
If you love old-fashioned Southern recipes, you’ll also enjoy my Biscuits and Sausage Gravy for a savory classic, Homemade Southern Biscuits for the perfect base to pour your chocolate gravy over, and Butter Swim Biscuits for an extra-rich, melt-in-your-mouth pairing.
Southern Chocolate Gravy
Ingredients
- ½ cup granulated sugar
- 1 tablespoon all-purpose flour
- ¼ cup cocoa powder
- ¼ teaspoon salt
- 1 cup milk
- 1 tablespoon butter
- 1 teaspoon vanilla
Instructions
- Whisk sugar, flour, cocoa powder, and salt together in a small bowl. Make sure that there are no lumps in the dry mixture. Set aside.
- Add milk to a heavy saucepan and turn the burner to medium-high heat.
- Add the dry ingredients to the milk and whisk to combine.
- Stir the gravy continuously until it begins to thicken, about 5-7 minutes.
- Remove it from the heat. Stir in butter and vanilla.
- Serve warm over biscuits or ice cream.
Nutrition
Store any leftover gravy in an airtight container in the refrigerator. It may form a “skin” on the top. This is normal, and it’s perfectly edible.
FAQs
Chocolate gravy can be served with a variety of dishes. It is traditionally served over biscuits, but it can also be enjoyed over pancakes, waffles, French toast, oatmeal, ice cream, or even pound cake.
Chocolate gravy is a thick, creamy sauce made with cocoa powder, sugar, butter, and milk. It is usually served over biscuits or pancakes. Chocolate sauce is thinner and sweeter than chocolate gravy and is often used as a topping for desserts such as ice cream or cake or to make chocolate milk.
Yes. While cacao powder is slightly more bitter than cocoa powder because it is processed at a lower temperature, it still works in this recipe thanks to the sugar.
Last Bite
Have you tried this Southern Chocolate Gravy? Leave a comment and let me know how you served it — over biscuits, pancakes, or something creative! Don’t forget to share or pin this recipe so you can enjoy it again and again.
Delicious!! I actually used what I had in the cabinet which was hot chocolate mix, it had real cocoa powder and sugar so I used a little less granulated sugar than called for. I also added a little heavy cream for flavor and texture. This was my first attempt at making chocolate gravy but it turned out fabulous!
So glad to hear that your modifications to the recipe still resulted in a delicious chocolate gravy.