Instant Roux

Instant Roux saves a lot of time and can help cut back on the amount of fat used in recipes

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First you make a roux

That’s the beginning sentence of the directions you’ll see in many southern {especially Louisiana or Creole} recipes.

What’s a roux? A roux is a mixture of flour and fat {usually oil, bacon grease, or butter} that is used to thicken a sauce or soup/stew and add flavor. A roux is typically made by stirring flour into the heated fat.

To make gumbo, shrimp creole, or crawfish etouffee, you’ll need to make a roux.

And while they aren’t that complicated, they can be tedious and time-consuming. They require patience – patience that I don’t typically have.

Having to make a roux can be a major deterrent when you want to make a recipe. If you’ve ever burned a roux, you know what I’m talking about. If you haven’t then lucky you.

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My grandmother, Nan, is my go-to source for recipe & food ideas, inspiration, etc. Who needs Google when you have a Nan like I do!?

She also gives me all my favorite cooking related things. Gadgets, utensils, baking dishes, cookbooks, everything you can think of that I love in my kitchen was most likely given to me by Nan or was recommended by Nan.

One of the most used items in my kitchen is my cast iron skillet. Truth be told, I actually bought the skillet a year or so ago for another Recipe ReDux recipe, but Nan has given me one of her old cast iron grill pans. In the world of cast iron cookware, you want a hand-me-down because it means it is likely well seasoned and will make your meals extra yummy & full of flavor.

Either way, this month’s Recipe ReDux is for Treasured Cookware: share a story of classic cookware – and a healthy recipe to go with it.

I was at Nan’s house this weekend for Easter and we were discussing the cookbook we are creating together. We were talking about roux and the like, and she showed me this jarred instant roux that she had.

Basically, it was just seasoned and cooked flour. This might sound silly or pointless but if you’ve ever spent 30 minutes constantly whisking your roux to a golden brown color and then walked away for 16 seconds only to have it burn {and consequently have to start all over}, you will understand the beauty that is Instant Roux.

There are store-bought options for roux and instant roux, but why buy it when you can make it and control the ingredients as well as cut costs? I checked those ingredients in a well-known brand and the ingredients include: enriched flour, hydrolyzed soy protein, caramel color, silicon dioxide, salt, spices, garlic.

Um… no thanks.

I’ll just take flour and spices, thankyouverymuch.

So, I made my own Instant Roux using whole wheat pastry flour, salt, and some spices. It was incredibly simple, but like making a roux, you’ll need to stand by your skillet and stir constantly.

The beauty is that you only have to do it once to get enough Instant Roux for multiple uses. I keep the Instant Roux in the refrigerator in a glass jar and it keeps for quite a while.

I know I know, you’re upset that I used whole wheat flour. But I was trying to make it a little healthier and I didn’t have all-purpose in my fridge this morning.

Whole wheat pastry flour has a higher percentage of starch so it is good for making a roux. I have used regular whole wheat wheat and had good results as well.

You really don’t notice much of a difference in a big ole’ batch of gumbo. Now, I haven’t done a side-by-side comparison of a gumbo using whole wheat Instant Roux vs. all purpose Instant Roux. So if you’d like to, be my guest. But until then, I plan on using this whole wheat version.

Another nice thing about the Instant Roux is that you won’t need to use as much fat when making your sauces. To use in a recipe, you’ll just mix equal parts Instant Roux with water and add to the cooked veggies. For example, when making gumbo, add butter or other fat and saute veggies. Then stir in the Instant Roux. Slowly incorporate additional liquid as needed.

I realize that very traditional cooks will disagree with me, but I was born in ’87 not ’37 and believe that there is a way to make things taste just as delicious but are a little easier on the heart/intestines/waistline/etc 😉

Remember to stand by your skillet and whisk or stir this constantly. When using the cast iron skillet, I recommend a wooden spoon because I didn’t want to scrape the skillet using a wire whisk. If you use a Dutch oven, you can probably use either. As for size, the bigger the skillet or Dutch oven the better so flour doesn’t get pushed out of the pan. For an 8-inch skillet, you don’t want to use more than one cup.

This takes about 25 minutes but it’s worth every second.

Note: I’ve seen and heard of people baking their flour in the oven but I can’t vouch for that as I have never done it. Let me know if you do and maybe I’ll test it out…

Instant Roux

Instant Roux saves a lot of time and can help cut back on the amount of fat used in recipes

Print Rate

Prep Time: 1 minute

Cook Time: 35 minutes

Total Time: 36 minutes

Servings: 16

Author: Meme

Ingredients

• 1 cup whole wheat flour {use white whole wheat or whole wheat pastry}
• 1 tsp salt
• 1/2 tsp garlic powder
• 1/2 tsp paprika
• 1/4 tsp cayenne pepper
• 1/4 tsp white pepper {or black}

Instructions

• Add flour to a cast iron skillet or Dutch oven. Turn the heat to medium/medium-low and stir constantly until it turns a golden brown color, should take about 25-35 minutes.
• Stir in salt, garlic powder, paprika, cayenne pepper, and white pepper. Remove from heat and transfer to waxed paper or parchment paper to cool. Once completely cool, transfer to glass jars.

Notes

*To use:
Add equal parts Instant Roux to cold water and stir well. Stir into dish to add flavor and thicken.

*Makes 1 cup.

Did you try this recipe?Be sure to leave a comment & recipe rating below. Bonus points for tagging @memeinge & #livingwellkitchen on Instagram! THANK YOU! xo

Looking for another favorite recipe using a cast iron skillet? Look no further than this fabulous Fried Corn Recipe inspired by my other grandmother 🙂

Meme

Be sure you check out these other recipes from the Recipe ReDux: