It’s all gravy!

With Thanksgiving approaching, I thought I’d touch on a food that usually goes under the radar: Gravy.

Most of us don’t think about what gravy is or how it is made. All we know is that without gravy, we would be having some extremely dry turkey breast or plain mashed potatoes. So what is gravy? Let’s clear up this mystery once and for all! Gravy is very simple. It is made of meat drippings with a little cornstarch or flour to thicken it up.

It is an easy way to add flavor to your meal, and quick to make since you are using drippings from meat that you have cooked.

Now, what about the nutrition in gravy?

Since the majority of gravy is the drippings from the cooked meat–the main macronutrient you are consuming when you have gravy is…FAT! We need fat for survival and maintaining a healthy body.

There is also a lot of sodium since drippings contain the salt/seasoning you used to flavor the meat.

Fat and sodium–no wonder gravy has so much flavor! It adds that extra umami and spices to bring harmony and umphf onto our Thanksgiving plate.

It is important to know the nutritional makeup of the foods we eat so we can make the best decisions for our health. Gravy is not bad for you. No foods are bad for you. The only thing that is bad is eating without knowledge and awareness of the foods you consume and how they affect your health.

So now that you know what gravy is, please answer this relevant yet irrelevant question: Do you like gravy? What do you like to put it on?