Redcurrant Jelly Gravy
Lamb pan juices deglazed with wine, reduced, and finished with two tablespoons of redcurrant jelly for a sweet sharp gloss that clings to the meat.
- Contains meat
- Dairy free
- lamb
- redcurrant
- no flour
- roast dinner
- Prep
- 5 min
- Cook
- 20 min
- Total
- 25 min
- Serves
- 6
- Difficulty
- Easy
Redcurrant jelly with lamb is an old pairing and there is a good reason it stuck. The jelly is sweet and sharp at the same time, which cuts through the fat, and the pectin gives the gravy a slight shine without any flour at all. Made this way it is a thin, glossy gravy rather than a thick one, so pour it over rather than expecting it to sit in a pool.
Ingredients
Makes about 400ml, enough for six plates
Scaled amounts are rounded to something you can actually measure. Season at the end and trust your mouth over the maths.
Kit
- Roasting tin
- Wooden spoon
- Sieve
- Small saucepan
Method
Lift the lamb onto a board to rest. Pour off almost all the fat from the tin, leaving about a tablespoon behind along with all the sticky brown bits.
Set the tin over a medium heat, add the chopped shallot and cook for three minutes, stirring, until it has softened and picked up some colour from the tin.
Pour in the wine and let it bubble hard for three or four minutes, scraping the base with a wooden spoon the whole time. You want the liquid reduced to about a third and the tin clean.
Add the stock and the rosemary sprigs and bring it up to a steady simmer. Cook for eight to ten minutes until it has reduced by roughly a quarter and tastes properly of lamb.
Spoon in the redcurrant jelly and stir until it has completely melted, about a minute. It goes from a wobbly lump to nothing quite quickly, so keep stirring or it will sit on the base.
Fish out the rosemary and taste. It should be savoury first with the sweetness arriving late. If it is too sweet, a squeeze of lemon or a teaspoon of red wine vinegar will pull it back.
If you want it thicker, mix the cornflour with a tablespoon of cold water and whisk it in, then simmer for one minute. Strain into a warm jug and season.
Tips worth knowing
- Two level tablespoons in 500ml is where it should sit. Three and it starts to taste like a sauce for pudding, which no amount of salt will fix.
- Buy a jelly with a short ingredients list. Some supermarket versions are mostly apple juice and sugar and give you sweetness without the sharpness you are actually after.
- The jelly goes in near the end. If it boils hard for a long time the sugar concentrates and the gravy turns sticky and dull.
- For a no alcohol version, swap the wine for 150ml of stock plus a tablespoon of red wine vinegar and reduce as written.
Change it up
- Use crab apple or rowan jelly instead for something sharper and more bitter, which is very good with mutton and with venison.
- Add a strip of orange peel with the rosemary and take it out with the herbs, for a lighter, more fragrant version.
- Stir in a teaspoon of Dijon mustard at the end for a gravy with a bit more bite, though this adds mustard as an allergen.
Keeping and reheating
Keeps four days in the fridge, where it will set to a light jelly because of the pectin, and that is normal. Freezes for three months. Reheat gently in a pan with a splash of stock and it comes straight back.
Questions people ask
How much redcurrant jelly do you put in gravy?
Two level tablespoons for every 500ml of liquid. That gives a savoury gravy with a sweet sharp edge rather than a sweet sauce. Stir it in near the end of cooking so the sugar does not concentrate.
What gravy goes with roast lamb?
A thin glossy gravy built from the pan juices, with something sharp and sweet in it to cut the fat. Redcurrant jelly is the classic, but mint sauce, crab apple jelly or a spoon of good marmalade all do the same job.
Can I use redcurrant jelly instead of flour to thicken gravy?
Not really. The pectin gives a light gloss and a slight body, but it will not thicken gravy the way flour or cornflour does. Use jelly for flavour and shine, and a teaspoon of cornflour if you want actual thickness.