This morning on the way to school, the DJs were talking about a friend of theirs and what a great life she was living. Because of a terminal illness, she had recently been given about a year and a half to live and was working hard to make the best of the time she had left. One of them said it was like she had set a timer and knew she had so much stuff to do before her time ran out.
I’ve often pondered that age old question of whether you’d want to know when you’d die if the ability to do so existed. On one hand, you’d be able to do the things you’ve always wanted to do because you’d know just how numbered your days were. On the other you’d might spend each day fretting, realizing your time was quickly fleeting.
Well, folks, the truth is… your timer has been set. Your days are numbered. And while there’s no way to know exactly how many you have left, when this one ends, you’ll be one day closer to that timer ringing.
On the same program, they were talking about a philosopher named Alan Watts. I didn’t catch much of what they were saying about him. I was in drop off line at school and was trying to pay more attention to my sweet boy than the radio, but I caught his name and looked him up when I got to the test kitchen this morning. Admittedly, I know very little about his philosophy except for one idea that caught my attention.
We hear so many times that when we consider life, it should be about the journey, not the destination. And while there’s some truth to it, Watts argues that it’s not really about the journey either. The journey – the travel – is really always about getting to wherever we’re going. And we’re constantly creating quicker, more efficient ways to get there so we can enjoy more time wherever “there” is. Most trips are really more about the destination than the whole “getting there” thing. So thinking of life as a journey isn’t really the right analogy.
Watts suggests that we look at life as if it were music or dancing. It’s not about getting through it, it’s about enjoying it while it lasts. We don’t play a song and hope it rushes through to the end. We don’t pick a spot to end up at when we’re dancing and work our way to get there. We enjoy each of these things as they’re happening. We take them in. We listen and step with intent. Music is an experience. Dancing is an experience. They aren’t tasks to accomplish a goal. They’re about the acts themselves.
Again, your timer has been set. Are you going to rush through life to get to the end or are you going to enjoy each and every note and step on the way. When the timer rings, what’s left?
Start the music. Take the first step.
Tomato Gravy has always been a breakfast staple in my family. I can’t count the number of times I remember hearing that pop as my mom would open a jar of my grandmother’s homemade canned tomatoes to make it.
The tangy, savory topping is perfect for homemade biscuits, scrambled eggs, you name it! I even love it poured over cheese grits – think shrimp and grits, too.
And while you don’t have a stock of my Nana’s canned tomatoes, I’ve fixed this recipe up where it will work just perfectly with a can of tomatoes from the store. Also, many folks remember this dish made with water as the liquid. And while that works just fine, chicken broth gives you a whole other dimension of flavor. Y’all enjoy!
Recipe Card
Southern Tomato Gravy
Ingredients
- 3 tablespoons fat (vegetable oil, shortening, bacon grease, or rendered sausage fat)
- 3 tablespoons all-purpose flour
- 1 1/3 cups chicken broth/stock
- 1 (14.5-ounce) can diced tomatoes, undrained
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 1/2 teaspoon black pepper
Instructions
- In a skillet over medium heat, whisk the flour into the warm fat. Cook, stirring constantly, until the flour just starts to brown and smells nutty. Slowly whisk in the chicken broth and stir until smooth. Add the undrained tomatoes. Add salt and pepper to taste. Cook until thickened – about 5 minutes, stirring very frequently. Serve hot over biscuits, grits, etc.
Notes
Nutrition
Please note:
Nutritional values provided are an estimate and will vary depending on the brands used. If calorie count and other nutritional values are important to you, I recommend grabbing your favorite brands and plugging those ingredients into an online nutritional calculator.
I followed this to the T. It was every bit as good as the biscuits and tomato gravy my Southern family fixed when I was younger! Will definitely fix it again!
So glad to hear you enjoyed it, Shannon!
I have not tried your Southern Tomato Gravy yet, but I grew up on tomato gravy! I have always loved it. If we didn’t have biscuits, we ate it on plain bread for breakfast, before going to school. My dad used to call it “poor man’s gravy”.
I always used milk in mine, but I will be trying it with chicken broth. Both of my late husband’s loved my tomato gravy! I don’t cook much anymore since it is just me, but I do want to try your recipe. I also want to make your Pineapple Bunt Cake! I love anything with pineapple!
Have you ever made Apricot Steak? My grandmother used to make it for me on my birthday. I never got her recipe, but I would really love to have some about now! It was so good and tender. She cooked it in her big black Dutch Oven.
Thanks so much for your recipes!
Hi Nan! I’ve not heard of apricot steak, but I’ll certainly keep my eyes open for a recipe for you!
Here in Southern New Jersey my grandmother fried the tomatoes added a mixture of melted butter and flour, milk, salt and pepper. She called it fried tomato milk gravy and served it on top of mashed potatoes or toast.
Love this twist!
I have be searching for this recipe for at least a year. My husbands great aunt Used to make something with tomato sauce on toast (we’re from Millville) and when I read him you post it made him very happy. If you can tell me ratios etc I’d love to make this for him!! Thank you!
Hi Adrienne! Glad to hear y’all are excited! What ratios are you referring to?
Brings back so many precious memories!!! Thank you.
You’re so welcome, Judith!
I used one pkg of browned lean jimmy dean sausage + one pkg of williams country gravy mix with sausage bits. great on biscuits, toast, cornbread and pancakes….hope you like:-)
Yum!
In growing up my Mother always made tomato gravy when we had cornbread dressing. It is wonderful, so I will be making it for Christmas Day lunch. Can’t wait! Thank you for the recipe.
I’m going to have to try that! Thanks for sharing!
Last night I made a new recipe that had a cornbread base, but the cornbread base was dry. My husband said he thought tomatoes would make it better while I was thinking gravy would
make it better. Immediately memories of tomato gravy came to mind. This recipe was really good! Thank you for sharing it. We enjoyed it with cheese and crumbled bacon on top of tomato gravy on top of the casserole. It made a huge improvement in the dish, and our dinner conversation was fun remembering how we ate tomato gravy as kids. Both of us had it over a biscuit.
This literally makes my heart smile! Thank you Sharon!
Love the tomato gravy! I had it at a restaurant in town and hurried home to find me a recipe. You’re SO right!! That bacon grease — BAYBEE!!! It takes the recipe to new heights!
Everything is better with bacon grease!
I’m a grandma and I’ve been making tomato gravy for as long as I can remember. I love it. I’ve also served it to so many younger ones who also loved it even though it didn’t sound tasty to them. But growing up with my grandparents, we were extremely poor but always ate good. Served with biscuits and even an occasional skillet of fried corn was a real treat.
That sounds like an amazing idea of pairing it with corn!
I haven’t had tomato gravy since my grandma made it when I was little. We had a craving for it today and found this recipe. It tuned out amazing! I followed the directions and only added a few dashes of Worcestershire. I did cook on low for about 20 mins to get thick enough. So delicious and easy! Thank you!
Awesome! Glad to hear you enjoyed it!
I am from a poor family of 8 and my mother made gravy from everything, ground beef to potatos inculding tomatos.
Never had a recipe till now, with that being said I found something else to use instead of stock “Better Than Bouillon” roasted vegetable base. This gives the gravy a very good taste, a little goes a long way. Do not add salt without tasteing .
I love adding “Better Than Bouillon” to all kinds of recipes.
Forgot to add that I did add small amount of onions!
Made your recipe for tomato gravy last week – my husband said it was the best tomato gravy I have ever made. He loves tomato gravy on rice and biscuits.
Amazing!! I’m so happy to hear enjoyed it so well!
One of my favorite posts. I probably wouldn’t be a follower of Alan Watts, but so much of what he says makes sense. You picked out a great example of one of his philosophies for your readers to think about and consider. For instance, like your awesome recipes…..Every ingredient applies to the whole and makes it wonderful, but each has its own individual purpose and value to the end product. Like Living should be. Whew! All that to say this recipe brings back so many precious memories of the things my mother cooked and we loved. I had given up on making tomato gravy because of bad recipes people posted years ago. They never were ‘quite right’. This one is ‘very right’. You have got it Going-On, and many, many thanks for your KISS Method and sharing it.
Awww! Thank you so much, Paula!!
Re the clock ticking. As we get older, it seems to tick faster. If I am going tomorrow, I am having ice cream today.
“You never know when the last time will be the last time” Got something to say just in case ?
Thanks for the great recipes Stacey.
This is 100% the truth! Thanks for sharing, Annie!
Here’s to the first “step”.
Thank you Stacey
Love that!
My mother-in-law used to make tomato gravy and I never could get the hang of it. She did begin with bacon grease and she added a touch of chili powder to hers. She served it hot over torn lettuce as a salad and called it Wilted Lettuce Salad. I am not a fan of tomatoes, but I loved her special salad. I am 76 now and this is the first time I have seen a recipe for tomato gravy…I am thrilled to see so many ways to enjoy it from your readers. Thank you for sharing some southern history with us and your outlook on our numbered days. They are a gift to enjoy.
Thank you, Charlotte! We’ve got a pretty great community here.
I absolutely love this spiritual nugget hidden within in a recipe. Totally AMAZING! Rock On My Brother!
Thank you so much, Josette!
We always had tomato gravy over biscuits at my dad’s for Christmas. He always put some cayenne pepper in it. I tried making it one time without bacon grease and it just doesnt work. Wish I had some now!!
That bacon grease makes all the difference!
in East Kentucky, we fry fatback dipped in cornmeal, and put tomato gravy over it,
And I am HERE for it! YUM!
I am from southern Missouri and we never had tomato gravy but we ate stewed tomatoes and bread which sounds similar. Mom would cook onion in bacon grease, then add a quart of home canned tomatoes along with sugar and black pepper and cook it down. She saved stale bread in the freezer and she would tear up the stale bread into a bowl and pour the hot, thick tomatoes over it and mix it well. She usually served this with fish cakes and hominy. We couldn’t afford salmon back then, we always had fish cakes made with canned mackerel. I still can my own tomatoes and make this occasionally with salmon cakes but my grandchildren won’t even try it with bread but they will eat it over macaroni. I plan to make your tomato gravy recipe over biscuits and see if they will try that.
Thank you for sharing that, Ander! I hope they’ll give this one and try and enjoy it!
I just turned 68 and am an avid cook. First time I heard about tomato gravy was on the Food channel, I honestly thought how disgusting–then I made it and definitely changed my mind. For the tomatoes, I used Rotel hot and I think it made one heck of a difference–great recipe—-Thanks
Sounds great!
Love tomato gravy, loved my mama’s, been making it for years…tried with chicken broth, game changer!…you are so right, we all have a timer going, count my blessings everyday…try to live a joyful life…love your blog!
Thanks, Melissa!
Oh my God in heaven please get on with the recipe.
Your scrolling finger broker, too? Gracious folks!
Came for a recipe but was too depressed by the opening subject matter to continue. Seriously.
Is your scrolling finger broken? Life isn’t always unicorns and rainbows, but then that’s the point of the opening subject manner! You’ve been given a gift, use it wisely.
Hi Stacey! I’m loving your site. I’ve tried several of your recipes already & they were all hits. For some reason I started thinking about Mama’s tomato gravy today. I couldn’t remember exactly what she put in it, so I thought you might have a similar recipe & you didn’t disappoint! ???? Mom put onions in hers & instead of broth/stock, she used milk. She also started with butter sometimes. Anyway, I tried your recipe & it’s yummy too! I think next time I make tomato gravy, I’ll combine the two … adding onions & using milk. Thanks so much for sharing your wonderful recipes. They’re awesome!
Yum,! That sounds delish! Thanks for sharing, Carol!
Precious memories Donna and Diane. Only those of us here pre Disney would know how “countryfied Deep South” Florida was. After 8 decades, we are still raising cattle and farming here. My husband is the 6th generation to own this ranch. Grits, greens, blackeyed peas, cornbread and Staceys Tomato Gravy make for some
“fitten vituals”. This used to be called poor folks food, look where shrimp and grits are now. Thanks Stacey, I enjoy your site and your readers comments.
Tony B.
Thanks, Tony! So glad that you’ve enjoyed the site!
My Grandma made her tomato gravy with milk and so I. I’ll try chicken broth next time I make it.
Hope you’ll love this version as well!
I accidentally came across this recipe only to find it was not an accident!! Thrilled to find it my mom used to make this for us I thought I’d never have it again!! Thank you for sharing!! We will be making it!!
I sure hope it turns out great for you!!
One of my favorites……………I even like to serve it with fried pork chops or quail over rice. Good, hot and thick with extra black pepper over biscuits with country ham or bacon for breakfast is heaven……….
Oh wow! Sounds amazing over some fried pork chops!!
Growing up in St. Cloud Florida, rice and tomato gravy was always on our menu! When we had ham or pork chops my grandmother always made it for us!! My entire family now makes it for their children and we always use home canned tomatoes! Enjoyed your presentation and I have used this gravy on cauliflower rice and it’s also delicious!! Yum!!
Diane
Such sweet memories! Love the idea of it on cauliflower rice, too!
I had forgotten about tomato gravy until you posted the recipe a couple years ago. my grandmother and mother used to make it . but I showed the recipe to my wife and she said “I can make that”, and she did . We love it along with all your other ones you put out there. We buy the REAL grits from a country store in Tallahasse and love the gravy over those. Thanks for all you do, Rex
Thanks, Rex! So glad to hear you’ve gotten some great use out of the recipe I share!
My mother-in- law was from central Florida, old Southern Florida, before Disney. Her mother died when she was a child so she had cooked most of her life. Country Florida food was totally different from my Tennessee ‘cuisine’, and I’d never even heard of Tomato gravy over rice. (Bacon grease, self-rising flour whisked in till a little color, salt & pepper, canned tomatoes broken up. Stir till thickened, serve over white rice). So much better than it sounds. She was a great cook…..miss her…
My mother was from Kenansville, Fl and poor folks. Her mother died when she was young but she had older sisters that cooked and tomato gravy was on the menu often. Aunt Lilly made the best biscuits.. of course all is from memory of an old 76 er now living in North Alabama. Love reading this blog.
Thanks so much, Karen!
I love your blog and all of your recipes. Reminds me of my mother and my grandmother’s cooking. We never had tomato gravy but I like your recipe and will be trying it very soon. My mother always made water gravy(she called it thickening gravy). Loved it over her hot buttermilk biscuits with sliced homegrown tomatoes. She also made cheese milk gravy every Christmas morning. A Christmas tradition I loved and miss to this day.
Love those sweet memories! Hope you love this tomato gravy!
My mom used water instead of broth and serve d it over biscuits. My ex wanted it over rice but I found that to be rather bland. I’m wondering about beef broth instead of chicken broth or water. What do you think? BTW, I’m from just up the road from H’burg. I grew up in Laurel.
I think broth adds tons of favor but it’s all based on the broth itself. If it’s bland, it’s not going to add much to the gravy.
I’m a Louisiana gal! Just want to thank you for this recipe. I make tomato gravy and biscuits every Sunday for my Dad since my Mom passed in 2009. I use milk in my recipe but I am going to try with the broth. It sounds amazing. I also use bacon grease and crumbled bacon in my recipe.
Hope it turns out amazingly for you!
I use bacon geese flour brown the flour a little dark add can of whole tomatoes cut up add water salt n pepper stir and simmer until desired thickness pour over biscuits in 65 and that’s how my mom did it a southern gal from Hattiesburg miss
Yum!
Thanks for sharing this recipe, and thanks for the helpful comments. I just made my first batch and it tastes great! I used chicken flavor ‘Better than Bouillon’ and figured that with the salt it has (plus what amount might be in the bacon drippings), I’d not add any salt at the end, just pepper. Turned out fine.
Wonderful! So glad it turned out great for you!!
I SUBSTITUTE THE BROTH WITH TOMATO JUICE AND POUR OVER HAMBURGER PATTIES
YUM! Sounds amazing!
Mama always had corn bread to go with tomato gravy and I loved it!! Sure would enjoy a pan of it now but I just cannot make it like she did.
No matter how hard we try, we’ll just never be able to recreate those recipes from those that came before us.
Real Southern Tomato Gravy is really only for biscuits, maybe grits. It’s not a “sauce”. Bacon grease is melted and heated . A large can of “stewed” tomatoes is added.,it can be cut up with a fork or knife while the tomatoes reduce. The reduction is important because it thickens the gravy. Constant stirring is required once it started cooking. Add a good bit of salt and pepper and that is all. No flour. If too thick a little water can be added. This is perfect Tomato Gravy.
Just because I make it different than you doesn’t make mine not real. The world would be quite boring if we all did things the same way, right?!?
My mom always poured tomato juice around the meatloaf for about 30 minutes at the end, I still do sometimes. Will try your recipe because it looks so good. Loved your blog today and you are so right. God has already allowed me twelve+ years beyond my allotted (according to the Bible) one more coming up very soon. I know where I’ll be at the end because at the end of the journey is God.
I sure hope it turns out GREAT for you, Betty! And happy early birthday!!
I grew up eating tomato gravy. My mother was from NC..I make it with celery, onions, green pepper sauteed in butter. Depending what I have on hand, use fresh or canned tomatoes or both. I add water and a pinch of salt, italuan seasoning and a few spoonful of sugar. For thickening I use cornstarch dissolved in water. I serve it on buttered toast, rice, baked potatoes, or mac and cheese (my favorite). I cant wait to try your recipe, it sounds delicious. Thank you.
I sure hope you’ll enjoy it, Jan!
RE: Samuel —
“Bless his heart!”
(and thank you for your divine recipes!)
You are so welcome, Tina!
I tried to give this a five start, but it wouldn’t let me. We always had tomato gravy growing up. I think I will use your recipe, but spice it up with a can of rotel (tomatoes with green chilies). It would be like a rancho sauce. Could be used on biscuits or enchiladas.
Sounds like a great substitution! Enjoy, Connie!
My mom would make this & we would eat it with pancakes. So good.
I’ve never heard of eating it with pancake, but think this savory take on the classic would be amazing!
This sounds like something my grandmother used to make but I’m not sure she called it tomato gravy for some reason. And I believe the recipe you posted is very close to what she did except at the very end she always poured in a small amount of carnation canned milk to give it a little extra richness. And I know she nearly always used sausage grease or bacon grease but if she was out of that she just used butter. She always had several cans of that canned milk in her pantry and she used it in a lot of her recipes. Thinking that probably today most of us cooks have half-and-half in the refrigerator instead of canned milk in the pantry. And pretty sure a splash of half-and-half at the end of your recipe would be absolutely delicious and I will be trying that. Thank you for the recipe.
Absolutely! A little half and half, heavy cream, or event the classic evaporated milk would be delicious!
Make tomato gravy with fresh tomatoes, butter/margarine, flour, salt, pepper and sugar (to cut the acid) and milk. I make it the way my Mom made it and her Mom, before that. Basically the same way you make chipped beef gravy, except for the salt, pepper and sugar. Delicious!
It’s so fun to see everyone’s different recipes!
Delicious! This is how I make it with my mother’s canned tomatoes! It’s a treat in our home served with fried venison. Not the healthiest meal, so we have it sparingly; about twice a year!!❤️
Everything in moderations, right??? Including moderation. 🙂
ABSOLUTELY the most delicious gravy! My Mama made it fairly often as it was a family favorite. My sister makes it for special occasions now. Home canned tomatoes really make the best gravy. Thank you for sharing!
Of course!!
I had it once at breakfast on leftover grilled steaks from the night before. The steaks were cubed and warmed in a skillet with the tomato gravy. I can’t imagine a tastier way to have leftover steak.
YUM!
I’ve never had tomato gravy before but I can’t wait to try it, mind you I’m the only tomato eater in my house lol so I’ll have it all to myself! Yum! My favorite gravy growing up has always been red eye or coffee gravy! Mom always made it when she made prk chops or ham steaks ????
Love me some red eye gravy!
Grew up in Alabama and never even heard of tomato gravy but it sounds delicious! We usually enjoyed milk gravy, I guess you’d call it. Flour in some hot bacon grease, topped with milk and stirred until thick, salt and pepper. But Mom would always dice a fresh tomato when available and put that on her biscuits and top it off with her milk gravy. I’m 65 now but that’s still my favorite. Loved your story about life being a series of journeys to enjoy along your pathway. Thank you!
Sounds delicious! Thanks for sharing, Al!
My mom made ours with milk vs broth. And it was de-lic-i-ous over her biscuits that automatically popped open in the middle.. I miss that good ole country living. Thanks for the reminder.
Love seeing all these variations! Thanks for sharing!
CAN THIS BE MADE THE NIGHT BEFORE AND WARMED UP?
I wouldn’t recommend it.
Ive tried with left over TG but it’s just not the same.
Is it okay to substitute water for the chicken broth or will it be kinda blah? Thank you for sharing the recipe I will give it a go and see if I can get it right lol!
You can. I know many folks who only use water. I just like the additional flavor that the broth adds.
Stacey,
I enjoy your recipes and was delighted to see your tomato gravy recipe because it brought back good memories of my father-in-law making Sunday morning breakfast. He always cooked fatback and used the grease rendered from that as the oil for the tomato gravy. He didn’t use chicken stock/broth, but he used home canned tomatoes and he always added about 1/2 cup or so of beer as the gravy simmered.
Several years back while on vacation, my husband and I ate at a restaurant outside of Myrtle Beach. We had what was basically a low country boil for two and it was served with garlic bread and a “secret dipping sauce.” At first bite of the garlic bread dipped in the sauce, my husband remarked, “This tastes like something I’ve had before.” I responded, “It’s your dad’s tomato gravy!” We were pleasantly surprised to have it and I now make it as a dipping sauce for garlic bread on occasion, as well as making it for breakfast.
Thank you for your blog and for the delicious recipes that you’re willing to share with us!
Thanks so much, Vickie! And thanks for sharing that story!
Stacy, love the written out recipe for this. My mother made this for us when we were growing up, for breakfast or dinner. She added the cooked bacon broken up in it too.
She also added onions cooked into the tomatoes. We had it over toast. I have tried to re-create the way she made it, never quite right. This did the trick! Thanks!
So glad you enjoyed it, Annette!! The bacon sounds like a great addition!!
You stupid b****. What does this have to do with tomato gravy? At least have a button to skip to the recipe. Nobody wants to hear about your early morning musings, or wants to skip over them to get to what they’re really looking for. I’m so sick of people turning recipes into f*****g blog posts.
Oh, Sam. Your true character is showing. And it doesn’t look very good on you. I’ve censored your language – because we have nice folks and kids around here that don’t need to be subjected to that – but have left your comment so the rest of the world can see how you talk to folks who give you free recipes.
Oh, my. Who is this dreadful person?
Who knows?? Hopefully he’s moved on.
So sorry you were talked to like that ????. I’ll be praying for Sam. He must be a very sad person. Thank you so much for the recipe and what you shared about life, I loved them both!
Thanks so much, Alice!
And FYI: It’s my blog – that’s right, I said blog – and since you’re not paying to be here, I’ll do and share just how I please. Hope your day gets better from here on out!
Go Stacey!
🙂
Good job! We don’t need trouble makers. So many of the blogs have gotten mean it’s nice to read about pleasant folks stories.
Thanks, Jean!!
Dear Samuel,
I believe it would do you good to hear some Alan Watts! Bless your heart…
Samuel, that was really UGLY. Better get checked for Alzheimer’s.
The people that come here are “like minded people” who love southern cooking and southern people like Stacey.
My Christmas ham gravy.
If you really like a sweet spice ham gravy just like my mom made every year at christmas time was the absolute best.
Mom grew up in bavaria.so this is a great recipe.
Ingerdients:
First you take a good amount of ham drippings.
Add half cup ginger ale
Half cup red fruit punch
Half cup brown sugar
Half cup butter
One tablespoon ground cloves
First in a sauce pan med heat on stove
Melt butter in sauce pan
Add brn sugar stir til melted
Add ginger ale and fruit punch
Add ham drippings.
Keep stirring and
Add ground cloves
Stir until starts to lightly bubble
Or til gravy thickens.
I usually add a forkful of cornstarch in small amount of cold water to gravy to make it thicken. Check flavor if you wwant more clove taste add a little at a time to your taste
If you want sweeter add small amounts of fruit punch and brown sugar.
This gravy only takes approx 5 to 7 mins to be ready
You can serve this on your ham and its a fantastic gravy for your mashed potatoes.
Enjoy
Sounds great! Thanks for sharing!
Tomato Gravy is a welcome family treat that we had every Christmas morning. I love it so much! My mother in law gets up early on Christmas morning to make sausage & sausage gravy, country ham, deer steak and gravy and tomato gravy. All with boiled eggs, biscuits and cooked apples from her tree! I have always wanted to know how to make it. Thank you very much!
I sure hope you’ll enjoy it!!
I grew up on tomato gravy, and my daughter will not eat tomatoes, but loves tomato gravy. In fact, even brought she is 42, she would be highly upset if we don’t have biscuits, tomato gravy, and bacon for Christmas breakfast! Mother made it with home canned tomato juice if we had it. If not, I’ve seen her use it with tomato paste and water. I make it with tomato juice from the store, but it doesn’t have the acid kick of fresh tomatoes and is more concentrated, so I add water to thin it some and a dash of vinegar. My aunt made it with diced fresh tomatoes. No matter how you make it, tomato gravy is awesome!!!!
I couldn’t agree more! Thanks for sharing, Charlotte!
I always have it with meatloaf and put it on the mashed potatoes.
Sounds great!!
That’s what I plan on doing today for supper tonight.
Think I will use juicing from meatloaf Cutting up some tomatoes adding some sugar and then use it for gravy. Gonna use milk too for my gravy. Wish me luck. B
Hope it turned out great for you!!
Hope it turns out great for you!!
Greetings!!
Made my 3rd batch of tomato gravy last night. Using fresh tomatoes .. agree on the chicken broth takes it up a notch ….sitting here now eating some on mashed potatoes…????. We pretty much put it on everything ..last nigh was corn bread.. Now I need to hide rest in fridge for salmon cakes tomorrow night.. love your recipes.
Be blessed!!!
Connie from Maryland
Thanks so much, Connie! Glad to hear you’ve enjoyed the recipe!
My mother always poured tomato juice around meatloaf about halfway before the finish then when done thicken it and made gravy for the meatloaf and mashed potatoes . This recipe I shall try also.
I just googled “what to serve tomato gravy with” and this response is perfect. This whole blog post is perfect. I happened to make this yesterday with a handful of Parmesan cheese thrown in. I use milk and chicken bullion. I served it over scratch made cheddar pepper biscuits that I made with Dukes mayonnaise, flour and a little bit of cornmeal for a crunch. OH MY GOSH ITS GOOD!
But tonight we are having meatloaf. I was wondering how the leftover gravy would be served with that!
This SOUNDS amazing! And YES, tomato gravy on meatloaf is delicious!
We always had/have tomato gravy over corn bread with our evening meal. Always a favorite with black eyed peas and fried potatoes. Thank you Mom for teaching us the greatest gravy ever!
It’s just hard to beat and it’s good on everything!
Rhonda,
Oh my goodness, now that just sounds absolutely delicious!!!!!
One of my favorite meals is navy beans seasoned with some ham, fried potatoes with onions and homemade biscuits!!!! My mom usually cooks that for my birthday every year and it’s always the best!!!! I think this gravy would be the icing on the cake to go with my birthday meal though!!! I also love black eye peas too, so your meal sounds just as great!!!!
If you like black eye peas as much as I do, give this soup a try and add a can or 2 of diced tomatoes, it’s one of my favorite soups and it’s delicious!!!!
https://palatablepastime.com/2013/10/13/spicy-black-eyed-pea-soup/amp/
Everyone I know here in Virginia uses milk instead of children broth. Can’t believe nobody commented on this.
Commented on what?
She was referring to people commenting on using milk instead of chicken broth. My family (from Tennessee, Georgia & NC) used milk or sometimes half milk and half water. Always used bacon grease for the roux. Sometimes crisp bacon was crumbled up and sprinkled over the top. We usually had tomato gravy with rice.
Ah! Makes sense! I don’t always see the comments in the order they appear on each individual recipe, so I wasn’t sure what she was referring to.
I’ve never used chicken broth in my tomato gravy
Maybe it’s time to give it a try? 🙂
Me either, just use home canned tomatoes,……make a roux with flour and bacon grease, add tomatoes, tad of sugar, salt and pepper, cooking til thickened! My guys love it on biscuits.
I was always taught to use milk because my granny made it that way. I also use freshly sliced tomatoes which I cook until they’re falling apart soft before adding the flour for the roux and then I add the milk and stir constantly until desired consistency is reached. Sometimes I need to add a little more milk to get the right consistency. I always cook the melted butter with a little salt and pepper and then add the tomatoes and salt and pepper to taste. Be careful not to get it too salty though. The order for the ingredients is: butter, salt, pepper, tomatoes, salt and salt and pepper to taste, flour and milk.
Brings back wonderful memories and I still make it sometimes. It is great with biscuits,cornbread, rice, grits,etc.
Hehe Children Broth!!!! Made my day, I needed a good giggle
🙂
Thank goodness someone finally suggested eating it with cornbread! We had cornbread every day. Never biscuits!
Thank You for this post. I just turned 57 recently and am having a hard time with the “aging” thing. Had a lot of loss in family and friends in the last few years and this really helped. It’s ALL in God’s time.
Never had tomato gravy but it sounds good. Maybe even a good start to a winter tomato soup. (with grilled cheese, of course!)
I’m so happy to hear my words helped. The truth is that our lives are quickly flying by regardless of how we look at it. We’ve got to make the best of each day.
You bet Amy, grew up with a tomato base made adding cheese on toast for breakfast, beating my brain trying to remember what it was called but very good, the grilled cheese with tomato gravy sounds awesome. I will indeed try your recipe Stacy , just happy no sugar, thank you.
Hope you enjoy it!
With cheese added, wouldn’t that be what used to be called “Welsh rabbit”?
“Again, your timer has been set. Are you going to rush through life to get to the end or are you going to enjoy each and every note and step on the way. When the timer rings, what’s left?
Start the music. Take the first step.”
Oh goodness. This resonated so strongly with me that it brought tears to my eyes. Thank you for sharing this.
And thank you also for the recipe.
Big hugs your way!
Made tomato gravy with my grandmother everytime we were having hot sausage patties for breakfast. The sweet tomato gravy with the savory sausage served over homemade buttermilk biscuits is a feast. Brings back wonderful memories of another lifetime over 50 years ago.
Thanks for sharing that sweet memory!
I know this as creamed tomatoes and I eat it at breakfast over toast.
It’s delicious, right??
I’m making some right now. Tomato gravy and biscuits is one of my favorite meals.
Yum!!
My mother never thickened her tomato gravy. It was just sauteed onion and green pepper in a little bacon grease and the can of whole tomatoes went in and were broken up. That was served over rice.
She has been gone since 2003, but boy can I remember her cooking. She was a great cook.
That sounds amazing!!
I always do tomato gravy over rice when I make salmon patties. Never thought of putting over a biscuit or grits. I will have to try. I like the chicken broth idea. I just use flour and grease to make the roux then pour tomatoes in it and stir. I bet the chicken broth gives it a creamier texture. Thanks for the advice.
I’m a Yankee, don’t shoot, now living in NC, so when y’all started talking tomato gravy, I’m thinking Spaghetti sauce, to say my mind has just been blown is an understatement.
Originally from NJ, Army sent us to NC in 98, Texas in 06, Netherlands in 09, Colorado in 11 and was Medically separated in 13 so we decided to comeback to NC,
Well, I sure hope you’ll give this a try!
Yankee Tomato Gravy
3 large onions (cut into 1/2 to 1-inch chunks)
1 tablespoon + 1 teaspoon garlic powder
6 cans (28 oz) stewed tomatoes
2 lbs. bacon (cut into pieces)
½ cup soy sauce
1 cup Worcestershire Sauce
1/4 cup Red Hot Sauce
1/4 cup sugar
5 teaspoons black Pepper
3/4 cup bacon Grease
3/4 cup flour
Brown bacon (save the grease). Cut onion into 1/2 to 1 inch cubes and sauté in the bacon grease until soft. Take onion out the pan and leave in 3/4 cup of the bacon grease. Add in the flour and pepper and cook. Have to cook the flour mixture a little so it does not taste like paste. Put everything else back into the pan and cook. Serve with biscuits and scrambled eggs.
Interesting! Thanks for sharing, Jen!
Look up chocolate gravy. Mind blown. I’m from California and married to a Southern man from NC. Can’t go wrong with this. And kick the miracle whip or Hellman’s. Duke’s mayo guuuurl. You will thank me later.
Nothing quite like chocolate gravy and Duke’s is a MUST!
Loved your comment Toni, I am now a Yankee Rebel haha. Being Italian we too called the sauce/ gravy.
When I first saw this recipe, I was intrigued , and just knew it most have sugar added, I was pleased to see it did not but heck, I can my own tomatoes, and use to make my Sauce, I have reframed from gravy. I would just use this to do the same thing , just as I do when making Pizza. I do use lots of garlic :-}
Yankees you need try good ole ssouthern cooking!! I grew up eating tomato gravy, fried green tomatoes, homemade bread. Nothing better!!!
You would be surprised to find out not to many people know about tomato gravy!!!!
We had it a lot! Daddy was hurt on the job and was disabled. So we didn’t have a lot of money.
But I remember tomato grav. It was my favorite gravy. But we used water instead of broth. I still make it this way.
Like cornmeal mush you can’t get any more southern!!!!!! The best food.
It’s amazing on hot biscuits and grits! Most old school recipes use just water, but I think the chicken broth adds some depth of flavor and kicks it up a notch or two.
I make my tomato gravy same as you. I love it on grits or biscuits or both
YES! Tomatoes & rice. Side dish staple in Ga! When we ran out of rice we’d use a slice of white bread. Pair that with some cabbage….HEAVEN!
Fixing both tonight! Thanks for sharing!!!
Sounds like good eatin’ to me!
My daddy taught us how to make Tomato gray when we were young! It’s an Alabama thing for sure! Always fry plenty of bacon and then he used the grease for the roux. Now here is an additional ingredient he used Kitchen Bouquet found in the steak sauces to season it about 2 tsps along with a few dashes of Tabasco! It is still a family favorite!
The Kitchen Bouquet is a great idea! I’ll have to try that! Thanks for sharing!
My husband loves it on fried pork chops and white limas
It is very good served with fried potatoes and biscuits My mama always made it but she added a little sugar and a little cream
I’ll have to try those additions! Yum!