This 10-minute ham gravy recipe is rich and creamy with leftover ham drippings and heavy cream (or milk). With just 4 ingredients, learn how to make it velvety smooth and lump-free for your holiday ham dinner. I’ll also show you a simple, budget-friendly ingredient swap to use if you don’t have any drippings.
This is the ham gravy recipe we choose to make every single Christmas and Easter with our home baked honey glazed ham. It’s delicious, last minute, and brings back memories of that last minute rush to get dinner on the table at Grandma’s every Thanksgiving.
To make ham gravy from scratch, you’ll need all-purpose flour, heavy cream, ham drippings, and water. Keep in mind that the flavor of your gravy comes directly from the ham and its glaze. If you bake a ham with a sweet brown sugar or pineapple glaze, those sweet flavors will naturally carry over into your drippings.
Need a gluten-free option? Make ham gravy with cornstarch, instead.
Why You’ll Love My Ham Gravy Recipe
- No Roux: Uses a cold slurry made from whisking the flour into heavy cream. This is a foolproof way to thicken gravy without making it lumpy.
- 10-Minute Cook Time: Whisk all the ingredients together right on the stovetop while your ham rests.
- Rich & Creamy: Made with heavy cream for a velvety smooth gravy that’s never watery.
- 4 Ingredients: Uses basic kitchen staples and ham drippings you’d otherwise throw away.
- No Drippings Option: Make this recipe with ham bouillon if you don’t have any drippings.
Ingredient Notes & Substitutions
- All-Purpose Flour – By whisking the flour into the cream, you’ll make a smooth slurry that’s perfect for thickening the ham drippings.
- Heavy Cream – If you don’t have any heavy whipping cream, you can use milk, half-and-half, or even evaporated milk instead. Just keep in mind that you may have to whisk in a little extra flour to thicken it up properly.
- Ham Drippings – Most of the time, a whole, 8 to 10-pound spiral-cut or bone-in ham will produce 1-2 cups of drippings. Boneless hams tend to produce a little less. If you don’t quite have the 2 cups needed for a full batch of gravy, you can easily stretch it out by adding ham broth (from ham bouillon), chicken broth, or even plain water until it reaches the 2-cup mark on your measuring glass.
- Water – With most hams, the drippings will be pretty salty. This is why I add a little extra water to tame it down.
Never cooked a ham? Read my beginner’s guide on how to bake a ham in the oven.
How to Make Ham Gravy With Drippings
Before getting started, scoop your ham drippings into a 9-inch skillet over low heat on the stovetop. While the drippings are warming up, you’ll start on the thickening slurry.
Making the Gravy
- Whisk together the flour and heavy whipping cream in a small bowl or glass measuring cup.
- Add your slurry to the pan drippings. Take it slow, gradually pouring the slurry in and whisking it into the drippings as you go. Turn it up to medium heat, stirring constantly.
- Pour in the 1 cup of water, continuing to whisk the gravy slowly but constantly.
- Whisk the gravy until it thickens. It needs to approach a rolling boil, and then it will gradually thicken up.
Ham gravy is thickened enough when it coats the back of a spoon, but then leaves a trail when you drag the edge of your spatula through it. If it still won’t thicken even after boiling for a couple minutes, whisk 1 tablespoon of flour with 1 tablespoon of water, and then whisk into the gravy; give it a couple minutes for the starch to activate, and then add more only if it still doesn’t work.
Serving Ham Gravy
Pour the gravy into a gravy boat, and serve it with a glazed ham, mashed potatoes, and all the fixin’s! If you have any gravy leftover, serve it as a topping for a mashed potato bar or baked potato bar.
How to Make Ham Gravy Without Drippings
Don’t have ham drippings? Just like chicken gravy from bouillon, you can easily build a rich, savory base from scratch with ham bouillon. The label on the package calls for about 1 teaspoon of dried bouillon per cup of water, so for 2 cups of water, you’ll mix in 2 teaspoons of ham bouillon; then use your new ham broth solution in place of the ham drippings for this recipe.
Ham bouillon can be tricky to find in some grocery stores, so I recommend ordering it ahead of time. If you can’t find ham bouillon anywhere, chicken broth makes a pretty good 1:1 substitute in a pinch. I have also heard of some people using bacon grease, but I’ve not tried that myself.
Recipe FAQs
A good rule of thumb is to plan on about 1/3 to 1/2 cup of gravy per person. Gravy usually reduces by about 25 to 50% once it thickens, so this recipe will yield about 3 cups of finished gravy, or 8 to 10 servings.
Store leftover ham gravy in an airtight container in the fridge for up to 3-4 days. You can re-heat gravy by heating it in a microwave-safe dish in the microwave for a few minutes, stirring every 30 seconds until heated through. You can also heat it back up over low to medium heat in a saucepan, stirring it constantly so it doesn’t scorch.
Yes, you can freeze gravy. Just be sure to put it in a freezer-friendly airtight container, so it doesn’t get freezer burn. It should keep for 4 to 6 months in the freezer. Just give it a good stir when you reheat it to reincorporate any cream that separated when it thawed out.
More Side Dish Recipes for Your Ham Dinner
- Homemade Cranberry Sauce
- Instant Pot Southern Green Beans
- Honey Glazed Carrots
- Jiffy Corn Casserole with Cream Cheese and Bacon
If you try this recipe, why not leave a star rating in the recipe card right below and/or a review in the comment section further down the page? I always appreciate your feedback. You can also follow me on Pinterest, Facebook, Instagram, and YouTube. And subscribe to my email list too!
Ham Gravy Recipe
Ingredients
- 1/2 cup unbleached all-purpose flour
- 1 cup heavy whipping cream*
- 2 cups ham drippings*
- 1 cup water
Instructions
- Whisk together the flour and heavy whipping cream in a small bowl or glass measuring cup.
- Add your slurry to the pan drippings. Take it slow, gradually pouring the slurry in and whisking it into the drippings as you go. Turn it up to medium heat, stirring constantly.
- Pour in the 1 cup of water, continuing to whisk the gravy slowly but constantly.
- Whisk the gravy until it thickens. It needs to approach a rolling boil, and then it will gradually thicken up. When it's ready, it should coat the back of a spoon, but then leave a trail when you drag the edge of your spatula through it.
- Pour the gravy into a gravy boat, and serve it with a glazed ham, mashed potatoes, and all the fixin’s!
Video
DELICIOUSLY EASY!!!
Thank You, Kimberly! I’m glad you liked it.
This did the trick and hit the spot. I started with about a Tbs of bacon drippins, 1 3/4 cup ham drippins (all we had) powdered milk and powered heavy cream, then followed the recipe. There is enough remaining for any leftovers and I’m thinkin’ even some for buttermilk biscuits n gravy. Thanks
Thanks for the trying the recipe, Richard! I’m glad you liked it.
My house is gluten free so I used cornstarch Threw a little spin on it with spaces My family enjoyed it
That’s awesome, Cindy! I’m so glad your family liked it.
I started making ham gravy years ago my family loves it
Difference in mine i use pineapple slices for the last 30 minutes of cooking time and use the pineapple juice to cover the ham from this comes the gravy base I prefer cornstarch always add cold water to dissolve it the sweet from the pineapple makes the gravy gravy sooo good
Honestly I didn’t know anyone actually made ham gravy obviously I don’t get out much
Thanks for Sharing
P.S. no lumps whisking solves that
Thanks for the info, Emma. That all sounds great.
This is bad gravy. Not lumpy just tasted bad. I also luckily made Pioneer Country Gravy which is what we ended up eating.
Sara, that’s so weird. It’s always been a hit with our family. What about it did you not like?
Can I use milk instead of cream? I’ve never used cream in any of my gravies.
I had found a recipe similar to this one that called for whole milk but it stated you could also use chicken broth if you didn’t have any milk. If you use milk the gravy will look more like a white country gravy.
I put milk in my ham gravy today and it was good
Yes, Shari, that’s fine. Sometimes we just prefer the cream.
I would inject Ham Gravy intravenously if I could. I’ve always went the corn starch route, but this seems like it might stretch it a bit.
How do you get 2 cups of drippings? I don’t think I ever had even 1 cup.
What kind of ham did you use? Some hams are drier than others.
I had been searching for a gravy recipe that had exact measurements of the ingredients. My mother makes amazing gravy but she doesn’t measure anything so I was having a hard time replicating it. I was searching on Pinterest and came across this recipe. At first I thought – Heavy Whipping Cream? But, then I thought what can it hurt to try it. If you can add more butter or heavy whipping cream to almost anything it makes it better! So, I made it and the only thing I did differently was that I used 3 cups of the ham drippings and I didn’t add the water (since I had it and wouldn’t want to waste that precious juice). It was amazing! I received lots of compliments. My gravy did turn out lighter in color than the pictures and video but it didn’t lack in the flavor department. I think part of that may have been due to the whipping cream and part due to the fact that my juices were lighter in color (possibly because we don’t bake our hams). I don’t know if anyone else does this, but we cook our hams on the stove top in a large covered pot. We add about 1/2 inch to 1 inch of water in the bottom. No seasonings whatsoever. A good ham doesn’t need anything else. We bring the water to a boil then turn down to low and simmer the ham on the stove for 3-4 hours. We buy a Frick’s brand butt portion ham – https://fricksqualitymeats.com/our-meats/bone-portion-ham/ If you can’t find this brand then I’m sure any pre-cooked, bone in, butt portion ham would work. Cooking the ham this way makes the most tender, juicy, fall off the bone ham you can imagine. Our family doesn’t like the spiral cut hams but I’m sure they could be cooked the same way. Thank you for posting this recipe – it takes a little stress off knowing that I have a recipe I can count on!
That’s great, Kathy! We all love this ham gravy. I’m so glad that you and your family were able to enjoy the recipe as much as we do.
Making a ham instead of turkey for the first time this Christmas. I’m going to try this method for cooking the ham. Hams can be quite dry when oven roasted, this sounds like a great idea!
Hey! Quick question I’m planning on making this for Easter and was wondering do you include the rendered fat in the drippings when measuring the 2 cups? Or do you skim the fat off? Thanks!
If really fatty I’d skim, but if you aren’t concerned about the fat then you could leave it. I think it’s a personal preference!
This is true. I never do skim it personally.