Guinness & Bone Marrow Gravy
This rich Guinness & bone marrow gravy is slow cooked in the oven overnight then finished the next day, in time for lunch! It’s packed full of flavour & perfect for roast dinners.
When I worked in a restaurant, we used to make the gravy for Sunday roasts by gently cooking the stock on the stove in a massive pan. This recipe makes a smaller amount of gravy but the principle is the same. We’re using the oven to slow cook the gravy instead of the stove, which extracts as much flavour from the bones as possible making our beef sauce (au jus) as rich & flavourful as possible.
Now this isn’t your average gravy! It’s made with a mix of beef & chicken, as well as a load of fresh veg, herbs & Guinness stout. There’s a generous amount of bone marrow in the sauce as well which makes it even richer & beefier. This Guinness gravy is great with roast beef but it also goes really well with most other roasted meats, as well as steaks, pork chops & poutine. Or pour a generous amount over a homemade Yorkshire pudding. I served my gravy with my thanksgiving prime rib!
For more sides & sauces, take a look at ever growing collection of side dish recipes! Or for something to serve your onion gravy with, check out our dinner recipes. I’d recommend our reverse seared prime rib, black garlic picanha or our foolproof roast chicken!
What You’ll Need
- Beef Bones – Ask your butcher for some beef bones, they should have these readily available!
- Bone Marrow – Adding bone marrow to gravy gives it a richer, beefier flavour. You’ll need to ask your butcher for split bone marrow so that you can scrape the marrow out of the bones once they are roasted.
- Chicken Wings – Using a mix of beef & chicken makes a deeper tasting gravy. You can use chicken wings or ask your butcher for chicken carcsasses.
- Guinness – An Irish stout with a rich, slightly sweet flavour. Guinness & beef go really well together but you could use red wine instead.
- Stock Pots/Cubes – We’re adding beef & chicken stock cubes/pots into our stock, to give it extra flavour. Good quality stock makes all the difference! I used Knorr stock pots.
- Vegetables – To give our gravy a deeper flavour, we’re using roasted veg for the stock as well as bones. You’ll need white onions, carrots, celery & garlic. There’s loads of flavour in vegetable skins so you won’t need to peel any of them. Just make sure that they’re all clean.
- Fresh Herbs – I added fresh rosemary & thyme into my stock but you could use sage or bay leaves as well.
- Tomato Paste – You’ll need a small amount of tomato paste, which we’ll be using to deglaze the roasting tin after roasting the bones (as well as the Guinness). Tomato paste adds more depth of flavour to our homemade gravy.
- Gravy Granules – The easiest way to thicken homemade gravy is by whisking in beef gravy granules. This adds extra flavour as well. Any brand will work but I use Bisto.
- Seasonings – To balance the flavour of our gravy, we’re going to be adding in Worcestershire sauce, soy sauce, balsamic vinegar & redcurrant jelly.
How To Make Guinness & Bone Marrow Gravy
This Guinness & bone marrow gravy is made completely from scratch & is slow cooked overnight in the oven to get the most flavour out of the bones & veg. Once the overnight stock is made, it’s just a case of straining the liquid into a saucepan then thickening it up & balancing the flavours with some Worcestershire sauce, balsamic vinegar, soy sauce & redcurrant jelly. Plus some salt & pepper.
Overnight Stock
The first step when making an overnight stock is to roast the bones & veg in a tin, in a high temperature oven until everything is well browned. This will take around an hour & it’s key to stir everything occasionally so that it browns evenly.
Once the bones are roasted, we place the tin onto the stove then deglaze with tomato paste & Guinness. This is how we get the browned bits off the bottom of the tray; this is all flavour! At this point, we can use a spoon to scrape the marrow out of the bone marrows, adding them into the tin.
Next, we add beef & chicken stock pots into the tin, along with some fresh rosemary & thyme then add in enough cold water to cover the bones. The roasting tin should be around 3 quarters full of liquid otherwise it could overflow.
Once we’ve added the water into the roasting tin, we leave the tin on the stove for a few minutes to heat everything up (but the water shouldn’t be boiling!) then cook overnight in an oven that’s set to 90°c/194°f (or your oven’s lowest temperature if it doesn’t go that low). Giving the stock around 12 hours in the oven is best!
A note on roasting tins: This recipe makes a big batch of stock so you might need to divide it between 2 smaller roasting tins if you haven’t got a big one. Or you could make half the amount!
Skimming Off Fat
The following day, we take the tin of stock out of the oven then pass the liquid through a sieve, into a large saucepan. The bones & veg have done their job now, so you can get rid of them once they’ve cooled down.
The next job is to warm the pan of stock up over a low heat, whilst using a ladle to skim the layer of fat off the top. Make sure to take your time with this step, as your gravy will have a better finish if you get rid of as much fat as possible.
Thickening & Finishing
Once all of the fat has been skimmed off, we need to balance out the flavour of our gravy as it will taste very rich & meaty at this point. To do this, we stir in Worcesthershire sauce & dark soy sauce for unami, balsamic vinegar for acidity & redcurrant jelly for a touch of sweetness & a glossy finish.
The final step is thicken the gravy. The way that we’re doing it in this recipe is by gradually whisking in beef gravy granules until the sauce is thick enough to coat the back of a spoon (you’ll need 3-4 tablespoons of gravy granules). Then once thick, we stir in a small amount of butter to give the gravy a glossy finish and season to taste with salt & pepper.
Tips & Tricks
- Use a mix of beef bones, chicken wings & bone marrow for your stock to give your gravy a richer, more complex flavour.
- Roast the bones & veg until they’ve taken on a good amount of colour. This step is key to making a flavourful homemade gravy!
- Add good quality stock cubes/pots to your stock for extra flavour. I used a mix of chicken & beef Knorr stock pots.
- Cook your gravy overnight in a low temperature oven, to extract as much flavour from the bones as possible.
- Thicken your gravy with beef gravy granules, as this will add extra flavour.
- To balance out the flavour of your gravy, add in Worcesthershire sauce & dark soy sauce for unami, balsamic vinegar for acidity & redcurrant jelly for a touch of sweetness & a glossy finish.
Serving Suggestions
This Guinness & bone marrow gravy is an upgraded version of a classic beef gravy (or au jus), so it works especially well on a roast dinner. I served mine with my reverse seared prime rib, creamed corn, mashed potato casserole & Yorkshire puddings, Thanksgiving style!
It’s not just good with beef though, you can serve bone marrow gravy with other roasted meats like chicken, pork & lamb and it can also be served with steak or on poutine. It can even be used to make a really good green peppercorn sauce for steak.
Frequently Asked Questions
To make overnight gravy in an Aga, roast the bones in the roasting oven on the second from top set of runners. Deglaze the tin on the boiling plate then cook overnight in the simmering oven, on the bottom set of runners. Use the simmering plate to finish the gravy.
Homemade gravy needs to be stored in the fridge & will keep for up to 3 days. Gravy can also be stored in the freezer where it will keep for up to 3 months. Make sure to store homemade gravy in an airtight container.
Yes, homemade gravy can be made without alcohol, you’ll just need to replace the alcohol with extra stock. Make sure to use an alcohol free stock as well.
Yes, cornflour can be used to thicken gravy instead of gravy granules. You’ll need to make a cornflour slurry by mixing cornflour with cold water, which is then whisked into the hot gravy to thicken. Cornflour won’t add flavour like gravy granules will, so you’ll need to keep that in mind when adding in seasoning.
No, it’s not necessary to soak bone marrows for gravy as the marrow will melt into the stock as it cooks, plus we’ll be skimming the gravy to get rid of any excess fat & impurities before thickening as well.
More Roast Dinner Recipes To Try!
- Reverse Seared Prime Rib
- Black Garlic Roasted Picanha (Beef Rump Cap)
- Black Garlic Pork Belly Porchetta
- Slow Roasted Pork Shoulder (With Crackling!)
- Roasted Broccoli & Cauliflower Cheese
- Goose Fat Yorkshire Puddings
- Honey Roasted Carrots & Parsnips
If you have enjoyed this Guinness gravy recipe, it would mean a lot if you could leave a review & rating. And if you’d like to stay up to date with future recipes, follow us on Instagram & TikTok or subscribe to our newsletter!
Guinness & Bone Marrow Gravy
Equipment
- Large Roasting Tin
- Large Saucepan
- Sieve
Ingredients
Overnight Stock
- 1 kg Beef Bones
- 750 g Chicken Wings (Or Chicken Carcasses)
- 2 Bone Marrows (Split In Half – See Notes)
- 2 White Onions
- 4 Carrots
- 3 Celery Sticks
- 1 Garlic Bulb
- 2 tbsp Vegetable Oil
- 1 tbsp Tomato Paste
- 440 ml Guinness
- 2 Beef Stock Pots
- 1 Chicken Stock Pot
- Fresh Rosemary (A Few Sprigs)
- Fresh Thyme (A Few Sprigs)
To Finish
- 2 tbsp Redcurrant Jelly
- 1 tbsp Worcestershire Sauce
- 2 tsp Balsamic Vinegar
- 2 tsp Dark Soy Sauce
- 3-4 tbsp Beef Gravy Granules
- 30 g Unsalted Butter
Instructions
Overnight Stock
- Preheat an oven to 220°c/200°c fan (428°f/392°f).
- Place the beef bones, chicken wings & bone marrow into a large roasting tin. Roughly chop up the onions, carrots & celery and cut the garlic in half then add into the tin as well. There's no need to peel the veg (just make sure that they're clean).
- Drizzle the veg oil over the bones & veg then give everything a toss to coat. Roast in the preheated oven, stirring occasionally until everything is well browned. This will take around an hour.
- Once cooked, place the roasting tin onto a stove set to a medium heat & turn the oven down to 90°c/194°f (or your oven’s lowest temperature if it doesn't go this low). Scoop the marrow out of the bones & place into the tin, using a spoon.
- Next, stir the tomato paste through the veg & bones then pour in the Guinness, scraping the bottom of the tin with a wooden spoon to deglaze it.
- Once the Guinness has reduced slightly, add in the stock pots, herbs & enough cold water to cover the bones then bring to a gentle simmer. The roasting tin should be around ¾ full of liquid, otherwise it could overflow!The water should be hot but not boiling!
- Place the tin of stock back into the oven then leave to cook overnight (around 12 hours is best).
To Finish
- The next day, pass the stock into a large saucepan, through a sieve then set over a low heat. Use a ladle to skim the layer of fat off the top of the gravy.Place the fat into a bowl then let it cool down. It'll be easier to throw away once it has set. Make sure to take as much fat off the top of the gravy as possible, as this will give it a better finish.
- Once all the fat has been removed, stir the redcurrant jelly, Worcestershire sauce, vinegar & soy sauce into the gravy then bring it to a simmer.
- Next, gradually whisk gravy granules into the sauce to thicken it. It should be thick enough to coat the back of a spoon. You'll need around 3-4 tbsp of gravy granules but add it in a small amount at a time!
- To finish the gravy, stir in the butter then season to taste with salt & pepper. Give the gravy a taste. If it tastes slightly bitter, add in another teaspoon of balsamic vinegar to balance it out.
- You can serve the gravy straight away or transfer it to a container, leave to cool down then chill until needed. To reheat, warm the gravy in a pan over a medium heat.
