Wondering what to do with drippings? This guide covers how to pick them, cook them, store them, and swap them, plus 25 recipes to put them to work.

What are drippings?

Drippings are the rendered fat and browned juices left in the pan after you roast or fry meat. Roast a chicken, fry a pan of bacon, or sear a pot roast and what pools at the bottom is liquid flavor.

On top sits the melted fat. Underneath is a dark layer of meaty juices and stuck-on browned bits.

Cooks have saved drippings for generations because they carry the concentrated, savory taste of the meat itself. Throwing them out means pouring the best flavor of the roast down the drain.

How to Use Drippings

Gravy is the headline use. After the roast comes out, set the pan over a burner, sprinkle flour into the fat, and cook it a minute into a paste before whisking in broth or milk. The browned bits dissolve into the liquid and become the backbone of the sauce.

Ham & Redeye Gravy does this with coffee instead of stock, pulling the salty pork flavor straight out of the skillet.

Beef and pork drippings also enrich braises and stews. A spoonful starts the browning in Bob's Chili Con Carne, and the rich pan juices from the roast deepen the gravy in German Sauerbraten.

Then there is the British trick: hot drippings make crisp potatoes and puffy batter. Pour off some beef fat, get it smoking hot in the pan, and roast potatoes in it for shatter-crisp edges.

The same screaming-hot fat is what makes Yorkshire pudding rise. That is the technique behind Toad in the Whole, where sausages bake in batter set in sizzling drippings.

Bacon drippings are a kitchen staple of their own. Save the rendered fat from a pan of bacon and use it to fry eggs, wilt a pot of greens, or grease a cornbread skillet for a smoky edge.

Cooking With Drippings, and a Few Cautions

Drippings carry both flavor and salt, so taste before you season anything you build from them. A gravy made from a brined or salt-rubbed roast can turn too salty fast, so go easy on added salt until the end.

The fat and the juices want to be handled separately. Right out of the pan they are mixed, but the dark juices at the bottom hold the deepest flavor while the clear fat on top is mostly there to carry it.

For a leaner sauce, spoon off most of the fat and keep the juices.

Drippings pan-fry beautifully because the residual flavor seasons whatever you cook next. Breaded Veal Cutlets get their depth from frying in the fat the meat itself left behind.

The biggest mistake is letting the pan cool before you deglaze. Once the fat congeals and the bits harden, they are far harder to lift. Work while the pan is still warm, and add a splash of liquid to loosen the browned glaze before it sets.

Skimming, Swaps, and Storage

To separate fat from juices, let the drippings settle for a few minutes; the fat rises and the juices sink. Skim the fat off the top with a spoon, or use a fat separator, which pours the juices out from the bottom and leaves the fat behind.

No drippings on hand? For sauteing, butter, lard, or a neutral oil stands in for the fat, though they lack the meaty depth.

For gravy without a roast, a good stock plus a little butter and a browning of flour gets you close. Bacon fat or store-bought beef tallow adds back some of that savory character.

Strain warm drippings through a fine sieve into a clean jar to catch any burnt specks, which turn bitter over time. Cooled and covered, rendered fat keeps in the fridge for up to a month and in the freezer for several months.

Watch the juice content. Drippings that still hold a lot of meat juices spoil faster than pure rendered fat, so use those within a few days, or freeze them in an ice cube tray for single-serving portions to drop into soups and sauces later.

Nutrition

Quick facts

Food group: Drippings are a member of the Fats and Oils US Department of Agriculture nutritional food group.

In Chinese

水滴

British (UK) term

Drippings

en français

jus

en español

goteos

How much do drippings weigh?

Amount	Weight

Related

Fats and Oils

Recipes using drippings

There are 25 recipes that contain this ingredient.

All 25 recipes