Southern Chocolate Gravy (Easy, Old-Fashioned Recipe)
There’s nothing quite like warm biscuits smothered in rich, chocolatey gravy — a Southern breakfast tradition that’s been winning people over for generations. This easy, old-fashioned recipe comes together with just a handful of pantry staples in one pot, no special equipment or techniques required.
What Is Chocolate Gravy?
Chocolate gravy, also known as cocoa gravy, is an old-fashioned Southern delicacy that’s been passed down for generations. It’s a sweet, creamy sauce made from cocoa powder, sugar, butter, milk, and vanilla — and it comes together in one pot with pantry staples you likely already have on hand. The ingredients are combined and cooked until thickened, resulting in a rich, velvety sauce that’s just as easy to make today as it was decades ago. Serve it over homemade biscuits or pancakes.
Chocolate gravy and biscuits is the classic Southern breakfast combo — warm, flaky biscuits split open and smothered in this rich chocolate sauce is how most people first fall in love with this dish.
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.
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
Making this gluten-free: Swap the tablespoon of all-purpose flour for either a 1:1 gluten-free flour blend or 1½ teaspoons of cornstarch — both work as thickeners here, and the rest of the ingredients are naturally gluten-free.
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
Method
- 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
Video
Tried this recipe?
Let us know how it was!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.
This usually means it needs a little more time on the heat — keep whisking over medium-high heat for another minute or two, since the gravy continues to thicken as it approaches a gentle boil. If it’s still too thin after that, whisk 1 teaspoon of cornstarch with a splash of cold milk until smooth, then stir it into the gravy and cook for another minute until it thickens up.
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.