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This CHOCOLATE GRAVY RECIPE is like pouring a warm chocolate pudding over the top of your biscuits. What a treat!
Alright, I know you’ve all heard of biscuits and gravy…the traditional kind with a white gravy and bits of sausage?
(Here’s my sausage gravy recipe, if you’ve never tried this for breakfast!)
But what about chocolate gravy?
I know, I know…if you’re used to sausage gravy then chocolate gravy maybe sounds a bit…well…gross.
You just have to trust me!
There’s not much better than a warm homemade biscuit topped with thick, creamy chocolate gravy.
What is chocolate gravy?
Chocolate gravy is a very unique type of gravy that is typically served in the American South. It is most commonly served with fresh homemade biscuits for a special breakfast!
The gravy can be made several different ways. The typical method uses flour, cocoa powder, butter, and sugar.
It’s quick, simple, and the kids absolutely go crazy for it.
Ingredients:
This is a simple recipe without a lot of ingredients, which means that we want all of the components to be the best they can be.
Butter: We use salted. If you use unsalted, just add a touch more salt to the finished gravy.
My Favorite Cocoa Powder!
This cocoa powder is Dutch-processed, giving it a rich, deep flavor and color. Hershey’s brand is inexpensive and easy to find.
Cocoa Powder: Both natural and Dutch-processed cocoa work well here. We prefer Hershey’s Special Dark for the deep, rich color and flavor.
Milk: Whole milk is best, but 2% will do just fine.
Biscuits: We linked our famous homemade biscuits up above, but if you want to go an even easier route, try our 7 Up Biscuits!
How to make chocolate Gravy:
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Melt your butter in a sauce pan.
Stir in the cocoa powder and flour until it is well combined and begins to get bubbly.
Stir in sugar until the mixture is nice and thick.
Slowly pour in milk while whisking constantly. Continue stirring until the mixture has thickened into a gravy.
Turn off the heat and whisk in a pinch of salt and a dash of vanilla.
Pour your warm chocolate gravy over freshly baked biscuits and dig in!
More special breakfast recipes:
Chocolate Gravy
Ingredients
- 1/2 cup butter
- 1/4 cup cocoa powder
- 1/4 cup all-purpose flour
- 1/2 cup white sugar
- 2 cups whole milk
- 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
- pinch of salt
Instructions
- Melt the butter in a medium sauce pan. Whisk in the cocoa powder and flour until well combined and bubbly from the heat.
- Whisk in the sugar until well combined.
- Slowly pour in the milk, whisking constantly. Continue cooking over medium heat, stirring constantly, until the mixture has thickened into a gravy.
- Remove from the heat and stir in the vanilla and salt.
- Spoon over freshly baked biscuits.
Nutrition Information:
This recipe was originally published in November 2010. It was updated with new photos and video in December 2020. Original photo below.
Teresa says
Oh, Karly, what you do to me. Everyday I am going to get Keto started again, and there you go again! 🙂 Thankfully, you have Low Carb Life to keep me mostly strong. Your cookbook doesn’t help either, all those luscious pancakes and syrups. Why do carbs have to be so wonderful to my mouth and not my body?!?
Karly says
Haha! I understand the struggle completely, Teresa! 🙂
Deborah says
I was raised eating chocolate gravy and bi for breakfast almost every morning my mom’s recipe differs in that she used water instead of milk and didn’t use butter and it had more sugar ,but we would put the bitter on or in the gravy when we ate it a d I still prefer it that way,I gave tried it like you ,but it is too bitter.
Deborah says
Too add to my comment,it’s us delicious,and I like mine a little sweet,I know everyone has different taste
Deborah says
Too add to my comment, I know people have different taste,I like mine a little on the sweet side
Anna Witt says
I have had chocolate gravy all my life. My mamma’s family were Cherokee and Choctaw Indians…. Mamma told me she was raised on chocolate gravy… she said they may not have much of anything else, but they had chocolate gravy and biscuits… Growing up, we only got chocolate gravy as a special treat, only on Christmas, or birthdays… When I would tell my school friends of our special treat they were flummoxed… none of them had ever heard of chocolate gravy… some thought it sounded nasty (if they only knew! HA! More for me!!) I always swore that I would not marry a man unless he knew what chocolate gravy was … that was my marriage criteria 🙂 HAHAHA! I DID meet a man who knew what chocolate gravy was! His mother’s family also had heavy Native American ancestry and he also had chocolate gravy all his life… so I have always wondered if this recipe did not originate with the Native Americans? My recipe has the same ingredients yours does, but I do use a different prep method…. I am so thankful that my mother was old enough to learn this recipe before her mother passed away (when mom was 14) … her younger sisters (my aunts) make their own version of this recipe and it tastes nasty to me… almost burnt, or bitter…
I enjoyed seeing that your recipe mirrors mine ingredient-wise.. I have seen some that use water instead of milk…
Karly says
Oh, maybe it is a Native American thing! I’m not sure! Either way, it’s fantastic! 🙂
Trish says
My husband has talked about the chocolate gravy that his mom made when he was a child. Thank you! Now I can make it for him.
Tena Stroup says
My Mother use to make this for us when we were kids. When I was 18 I was in the Hospital and she road the bus there to bring me this. She passed away 22 years ago and we never got the receipe. It was one of “Mother’s Treats”.
Now I can make it for my Grandchildren – Bless you
Rita D says
I do believe I’ll be getting chocolate wasted on some of these. Thanks so much for sharing the recipe.
Tina Jansen says
I love you, you are charming , funny, and have a way with chocolate!! You remind me of the bloggers, Margaret and Helen, you are the cooking part of the political satire of Margaret and Helen.. Thanks, for the giggles, and the recipes..
April says
I LOVE biscuits with chocolate gravy. It was always a treat when we would go to my grandma’s house growing up. It was the food highlight of the trip. This is the first time I have heard of a family “outsider” enjoying it. Yummy!!!!
Shanna says
Nom nom nom! This is amazing. Thank you!
Just found your blog. It’s hilarious. Thanks or the fun.
Kristen says
I adore chocolate gravy; my Mom made it all the time growing up. I recently posted a tweaked ‘adult’ version of her recipe on my blog. So comforting and delicious!
PS – LOVE your blog, recently discovered your site!
Scott says
I saw this mentioned at BlogHer in the 14 Days of Chocolate. I had to subscribe to your blog just because you are one of the “In Crowd” on this meal of delectable chocolaty goodness. This has been a family favorite for generations and I know that my kids will pass it along as well. But I have to ask everyone that grew up with this, “do you have family ties to Arkansas or Oklahoma?” Chocolate Gravy and Biscuits seems to be an Arkie/Oakie thing. Keep spreading the word!
Karly says
Ashley,
I like buttermilk biscuits. I cheated this time and got the frozen ones in the freezer section, but any biscuit that you’d eat for breakfast works great!
I’ll have to share my biscuit recipe one of these days…it’s a good one!
Enjoy!
Karly
ashley says
I too am wondering what the best type of biscuit would be for this?
Jamaise says
I’ve just found my Valentine’s Day breakfast :))
Cora says
I’ve been looking for something like this since my brother died (he was the last one in the family to know how to make it and never wrote it down). I’m gonna try it and see if it’s the same. I don’t remember the flour in the recipe though – is it for thickening the syrup into gravy?
Ashley says
Okay that might have sounded sarcastic but I meant it sincerely!