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When it comes to making homemade gravy, most people are missing the, uh, boat entirely! For example, cornstarch is the most common gravy thickener. It’s the main ingredient in all those gravy powder packets too.
A big reason to avoid it is that it’s likely made from unlabeled genetically modified corn unless you make the effort to buy organic. GM corn has been linked to organ failure and tumors in animals.
Even organic cornstarch is basically devoid of any nutrition or flavor. It’s just empty calories.
Why not add both nutrition and extra flavor by using a nutrition-rich thickening agent that is a bit time consuming to make yourself, but is now conveniently available for purchase: Â sprouted flour.
I prefer sprouted einkorn, spelt, or kamut flour myself, but if you are gluten-free, you can use buckwheat, rice, or any gluten-free flour of your choice.
Why Sprouted Flour to Thicken?
Sprouting a grain before grinding into a flour increases the nutrition of the grain substantially. Â For instance, vitamin C is produced by sprouting grain, but it is absent in the unsprouted form. Â Vitamin B content is increased dramatically by sprouting as are carotenes. Â Irritating substances in the hull of the grain are inactivated by sprouting as well. Â These inhibitors (phytic acid) have the potential to neutralize the enzymes in our digestive tract and block mineral absorption, so sprouting exponentially increases ease of digestion as well as nutrient absorbability.
Much media attention has been focused recently on the problem of aflatoxins in grains. Aflatoxins are potent carcinogens and are present in high quantities in highly processed foods such as crackers, cookies, chips, and cereals. Sprouting inactivates aflatoxins, which is just another reason to follow the wisdom of traditional peoples in grain preparation!
Sourcing the Healthiest Gravy Thickener
If you want to try your hand at homemade sprouted flour, it is very easy but will take a bit of time and you will have to plan ahead so you get it done before your holiday meal.
If you want to purchase sprouted flour, you can buy sprouted wheat berries like I do so that you can grind yourself for the freshest and most nutrient-dense flour, or if you don’t have a grain grinder, you can purchase sprouted flour.
** Click here for the vetted sources I recommend and buy from myself when purchasing sprouted grains. At least one of these companies is offering free shipping through December, so this is a great time to stock up!
Below is a video clip I filmed for the News Channel 8 Today show which aired yesterday on many NBC affiliate stations around North America.  Please click over and like Gayle Guyardo’s Facebook page, as she is the co-anchor of the show and was responsible for getting this important Traditional Cooking information on TV.
To view all the Holiday Turkey Tips I filmed for the NBC News Channel 8 Today show, click here.
I’ve been using rice flour for a while now and it works fine. To get a darker brown colour to gravy made with any white flour I leave the skins on my organic onions when I make the stock…it’s a natural brown colouring!
@Violet. If I mention one specific brand, it would be unfair to others that also have a great products. Here are the ones I recommend as they are vetted for quality (no “organic” brown rice from China for example): https://www.thehealthyhomeeconomist.com/resources/
This is going to be the first year that I can actually eat the gravy and not have to take a pain pill (I am not kidding) Thank you for your life changing/giving posts, videos, years of research-and not being afraid to go against the grain years ago even if you were the only one around you doing it.
Arrowroot is tricky. If it is old, it doesn’t work. I’ve had it fail a number of times also which is why I just use sprouted flour now.
Hi Sarah:
It was great meeting you at the conference.
Grain growers doing high brix nutrient dense farming have found antitoxins presence is a sign of inferior quality in general. The more nutrient dense the grain is, the higher the specific gravity (the heavier it is), the less the probability of having antitoxins. High brix nutrient dense grains don’t contain them. Of course, they will still have enzyme inhibitors that need to be deactivated through something like spouting or fermentation.
How about using kudzu root for thickening?
I have used kudzu and really like it. It is rather expensive though.
I think I recognize the sprouted flour brand in the video, but could you tell us the name anyway?
I have not mastered the art of arrowroot. Tried to make pudding one time and it turned out a really gross consistency. Then tried to use it in some cookies and they didn’t turn out at all, either. Am I missing something?
I mix my arrowroot with a small bit of cold water before I add it to anything else…
Just a heads up – the links on your resources page do not work…at least for me.
Personally I use arrowroot flour to thicken gravy – but I like this idea as well.
You have to make sure Javascript is enabled for your browser for the links to work. Try another browser perhaps.
I have given up using arrowroot for thickening. It fails too many times and I like the additional flavor sprouted flour imparts. No comparison in my opinion.
Great info Sarah thanks! Do you have any articles to back up the claim that sprouting reduces aflatoxin in grains? Because If so I would love to share it with my nutrition professor who is also associated with the FDA and is currently working with the food industry in Nigeria to reduce food risks (and he specifically mentioned aflatoxin in corn).
I love using sprouted flour in my gravies! Would it also work to thicken sauce for a stir fry (with traditionally fermented soy sauce and homemade broth)? I don’t see why not…though my recipe calls for cornstarch.