Grandma’s country beef gravy features ground beef and sauteed onions in a thick creamy white gravy, served over buttered noodles. This classic Southern country gravy will soon be a mainstay on your family’s comfort food menu too!

grandma's country beef gravy over cooked egg noodles on a gray plate

Anything Grandma served was always a hit.

Her food is legendary in our family and we still reminisce about our favorites.

It was always delicious, always so comforting.

This country beef gravy is just that- comforting, delicious goodness slathered over buttered noodles.

grandma's country beef gravy in a black skillet

What is country gravy?

Country gravy is a white gravy that uses butter for the roux.

A lot of people confuse it with or use the term interchangeably with sausage gravy, which is white gravy that uses rendered fat from the sausage to make the roux.

This country gravy with beef skips sausage totally for a delicious variation!

Southern country gravy with beef in a black skillet

Ingredients

To make this you’ll need:

Ground beef– Using a fattier version like 80/20 will let you use the rendered fat to help make the roux.
Onion– A white onion thinly sliced.
Oil– Canola
Spices– Salt, black pepper, and onion powder
Flour– All purpose flour to thicken the gravy
Milk– Whole milk. Don’t use low fat milk or the gravy won’t thicken properly
Chicken broth– Use lower sodium chicken broth if you want to control how salty this is
Noodles– A package of medium egg noodles
Butter– For the noodles

a wooden spoon scooping country gravy with beef out of a black skillet

How to Make

Grandma’s country beef gravy is pretty easy to make!

To do it, cook the noodles until al dente according to the directions on the package.

While the noodles cook, heat the oil in a large dutch oven over medium heat.

Once the oil is hot, add the meat, salt, pepper, and onion powder.

Stir everything together, breaking up the beef as it cooks.

While the beef cooks, whisk together the milk and broth in a large bowl and set it aside.

Once the meat is half cooked, stir in the onion and let it keep cooking until the beef is browned through.

Push the meat to the side of the pot and work the flour into the pot, whisking it together with the drippings.

Once it is evenly combined, let the mixture cook for 30-60 seconds.

Then slowly whisk in the milk mixture.

Let the gravy simmer until it’s just thickened, and then remove it from heat.

Drain the pasta and return it to its pot.

Stir the butter into the pasta until it’s all melted and mixed in.

Serve the country gravy with beef by ladling it out over a heaping portion of buttered noodles.

Enjoy!

a wooden spoon holding up a scoop of country gravy with ground beef

Storing Leftovers

Store leftover gravy in an airtight container in the fridge for up to 3 days or so.

Keep in mind the gravy will thicken quite a bit in the fridge.

Because of this, you’ll probably want to reheat it in a skillet on the stove so you can whisk in a little extra milk to thin it out.

Other Serving Suggestions

We love this with buttered noodles, but you can go wrong serving it on:

Tips and Tricks

This is one recipe where you don’t want to use the lower fat ground beef. The beef needs enough fat to render out of it so you can use the drippings to make the roux.
Add the milk mixture slowly and stir constantly while you’re adding it. This helps prevent lumps.
You can adjust the seasonings to your taste.

a silver fork scooping Grandma's country beef gravy over egg noodles off a gray plate

Other Southern Recipes Just Like Grandma’s

Grandma’s country beef gravy is one of the most comforting foods to come out of her kitchen.

Make it and enjoy!

Looking for other southern recipes just like Grandma’s?

Try these:

If you’ve tried GRANDMA’S COUNTRY BEEF GRAVY, or any other recipe on the site, let me know in the comment section how it turned out, we love hearing from our readers! You can also follow along with me on PINTEREST, FACEBOOK, and INSTAGRAM to see more amazing recipes and whatever else we’ve got going on!