# How do you make roux with out fat drippings? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [December 18, 2009, 6:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-make-roux-with-out-fat-drippings/521761 "2009-12-18T18:15:51Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 13\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Grrr](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/grrr/32/146_2.png) [@Grrr](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Grrr)\ **Post date:** [December 18, 2009, 6:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-make-roux-with-out-fat-drippings/521761/1 "2009-12-18T18:15:51Z")
Tittle says it all. I’ll leave this open ended for chickenn, pork or beef. ---
**Author:** ![silenus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/silenus/32/166_2.png) [@silenus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/silenus)\ **Post date:** [December 18, 2009, 6:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-make-roux-with-out-fat-drippings/521761/2 "2009-12-18T18:18:58Z")
Ummm…use butter? I don’t really understand the question. A roux by definition has fat in it. ---
**Author:** ![delphica](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e9a140/32.png) [@delphica](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/delphica)\ **Post date:** [December 18, 2009, 6:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-make-roux-with-out-fat-drippings/521761/3 "2009-12-18T18:21:41Z")
Vegetable oil. ---
**Author:** ![Contrapuntal](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/e274bd/32.png) [@Contrapuntal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Contrapuntal)\ **Post date:** [December 18, 2009, 6:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-make-roux-with-out-fat-drippings/521761/4 "2009-12-18T18:23:28Z")
Yep, a roux is pretty much equal parts fat and flour. Depending upon the application, you can make a slurry out of cornstarch and water or stock. What are you trying to make? ---
**Author:** ![Lemur866](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lemur866/32/434_2.png) [@Lemur866](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lemur866)\ **Post date:** [December 18, 2009, 6:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-make-roux-with-out-fat-drippings/521761/5 "2009-12-18T18:29:22Z")
You can make a roux out of any fat–butter, vegetable oil, lard, bacon fat, whatever. But you need fat to make a roux, so if you don’t have fat you can’t make a roux. There are other thickeners you can use, like cornstarch, or flour slurry, or gelatin, but those aren’t roux. ---
**Author:** ![Anne\_Neville](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/b9e5f3/32.png) [@Anne\_Neville](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Anne_Neville)\ **Post date:** [December 18, 2009, 6:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-make-roux-with-out-fat-drippings/521761/6 "2009-12-18T18:46:28Z")
With olive oil or some other kind of oil. I think it’s called something else (not a roux) if you use butter. ---
**Author:** ![Chefguy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chefguy/32/138_2.png) [@Chefguy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chefguy)\ **Post date:** [December 18, 2009, 6:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-make-roux-with-out-fat-drippings/521761/7 "2009-12-18T18:47:25Z")
The first step in making a dish like shrimp creole is to make a roux of 1/2 cup vegetable oil and 1/2 cup flour, cooking and stirring over med-low heat until it’s good and brown. Like the others, I’m not sure what you’re asking. If you’re trying to make gravy from scratch, without meat drippings, I’d use a butter/oil combo and meat stock for the liquid. While drippings add some depth and flavor to gravy, they’re not absolutely necessary. ---
**Author:** ![Chefguy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chefguy/32/138_2.png) [@Chefguy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chefguy)\ **Post date:** [December 18, 2009, 6:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-make-roux-with-out-fat-drippings/521761/8 "2009-12-18T18:49:47Z")
> [@Anne\_Neville](#): > > With olive oil or some other kind of oil. I think it’s called something else (not a roux) if you use butter. Actually, butter is probably preferred for making a roux, certainly for a blon roux. However, using clarified butter is best so it doesn’t burn so readily. ---
**Author:** ![lissener](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lissener/32/6139_2.png) [@lissener](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lissener)\ **Post date:** [December 18, 2009, 11:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-make-roux-with-out-fat-drippings/521761/9 "2009-12-18T23:43:18Z")
I use butter for a roux even WITH fat drippings. The fat drippings always have liquid in them, and that can mess with your roux. So I make the roux first, and then add the drippings. ---
**Author:** ![Grrr](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/grrr/32/146_2.png) [@Grrr](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Grrr)\ **Post date:** [December 18, 2009, 11:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-make-roux-with-out-fat-drippings/521761/10 "2009-12-18T23:52:10Z")
> [@Chefguy](#): > > The first step in making a dish like shrimp creole is to make a roux of 1/2 cup vegetable oil and 1/2 cup flour, cooking and stirring over med-low heat until it’s good and brown. **Like the others, I’m not sure what you’re asking.** If you’re trying to make gravy from scratch, without meat drippings, I’d use a butter/oil combo and meat stock for the liquid. While drippings add some depth and flavor to gravy, they’re not absolutely necessary. I was just trying to see if there is a preference over butter, veg oil, lard, etc… ---
**Author:** ![Doctor\_Who](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/ed8c4c/32.png) [@Doctor\_Who](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Doctor_Who)\ **Post date:** [December 19, 2009, 12:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-make-roux-with-out-fat-drippings/521761/11 "2009-12-19T00:09:34Z")
Actually there is a way (though I have never tried it) to make a “roux” without using fat: [Here’s a recipe.](http://www.realcajunrecipes.com/recipes/cajun/oven-made-roux/927.rcr) ---
**Author:** ![BrandonR](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/779978/32.png) [@BrandonR](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrandonR)\ **Post date:** [December 19, 2009, 12:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-make-roux-with-out-fat-drippings/521761/12 "2009-12-19T00:45:08Z")
You can make a roux with any kind of fat, it’s just that fat drippings often include a shit-ton of flavor along with it. ---
**Author:** ![Dallas\_Jones](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dallas_jones/32/3277_2.png) [@Dallas\_Jones](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dallas_Jones)\ **Post date:** [December 19, 2009, 1:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-make-roux-with-out-fat-drippings/521761/13 "2009-12-19T01:05:06Z")
> [@silenus](#): > > Ummm…use butter? I don’t really understand the question. A roux by definition has fat in it. Yeah, that is pretty much it. Roux is from French cooking and means reddish brown, the color you get when you brown some flour with fat. From rouge, French for red. The traditional fat is clarified butter.