Red-Eye Gravy Is The Southern Sauce With A Caffeinated Twist

When it comes to regional foods in the United States, Southern cooking has quite a well-known reputation for being delicious, comforting, and craveable. Even simple sauces like gravy (which you can find versions of in many types of cuisine) have their own Southern twists. Whether it's for buttermilk biscuits or chicken fried steak, there are plenty of comfort foods that need a rich dollop of gravy on top.

Most people know about white or brown gravy, but Southern cooking has another variant up its sleeve: red-eye gravy. You can probably assume what goes into this gravy by its eye-opening name, but to make it, all you need is country ham drippings and black coffee. There are also some variations of this recipe with additional ingredients. For example, the Floridian version of this includes flour and tomatoes, while mustard and ketchup are added by cooks in Alabama.

Other than its unique reddish hue, this gravy stands out due to its use of strong black coffee. The addition of this ingredient gives the gravy a caffeinated jolt, as well as an unusual appearance due to how the coffee separates from the country ham drippings, since oils and fats separate from water. Adding a cornstarch slurry can also help stop your sauce from separating and thicken it if you prefer.

Red-eye gravy is known by several other names, such as bird-eye gravy, poor man's gravy, red ham gravy, and muddy gravy. Most of its nicknames tend to stem either from the gravy's appearance or from the fact that this gravy is cheap, quick, and easy.

Ironically, the inclusion of coffee isn't technically what gives this gravy its name. Some legends say that the name comes from President Andrew Jackson, who supposedly asked a hungover cook for gravy as red as his eyes. As fun as that story is, it is more likely that the name comes from its appearance more than anything.

Despite being called a gravy, its texture is often compared to that of au jus or pan sauce. It is noticeably thinner than most gravies and is better suited for drizzling over food than for dunking, though some variations (especially ones that include flour) may result in a thicker sauce. It is most commonly served over thick ham slices or biscuits, but it can also be served with grits cornbread, fried potatoes, or other Southern dishes.