The origins of chocolate gravy are unknown. The Oxford Encyclopedia of Food and Drink in America describes it as a traditional part of Melungeon cuisine.^[3] It theorizes that chocolate gravy might be connected to the use of chocolate in Mexican cuisine, having been transmitted through trade between Spanish Louisiana and the Tennessee Valley.^[4] Professor Fred Sauceman theorized that it might have developed more recently as Hershey's cocoa powder became popular in the United States.^[5]

Typical chocolate gravy recipes call for milk, sugar, cocoa powder, flour and a fat such as butter^[6][7] lard, or bacon grease.^[8] Milk is commonly used as the liquid in chocolate gravy, while some recipes use water.^[9] Some recipes devised in eastern Oklahoma use more sugar, and butter is added after the gravy is complete, making it similar to warm chocolate pudding served over biscuits.^[10] In a traditional gravy, a roux is made with fat and flour before the milk is added; in chocolate gravy all the dry ingredients are mixed first, milk slowly incorporated, then stirred continuously until cooked. When a thick and rich consistency is achieved, the butter and vanilla are added. Other ingredients, such as crumbled bacon, are usually added afterward near the end of preparation.^[11]

• List of gravies