There’s no need to roast a whole beef to enjoy au jus, roast beef’s main sidekick. Thinner than a gravy but slightly thicker than a sauce, au jus is the perfect dipping sauce for French dip sandwiches or a decadent drizzle over meat and mashed potatoes.

It is classically made from beef drippings — those little brown bits, fat and juices left over in the roasting pan after roasting beef — but this version is engineered to be delicious with or without the drippings.

We build flavor with garlic, thyme, Dijon mustard and the essential umami ingredient to both flavor and darken the au jus to a beautiful hue: Worcestershire sauce.

What is au jus?

Au jus, which translates to “with juice,” is a classic French sauce mainly used to boost flavor in roasted meat dishes. It’s somewhere between beef broth and gravy, and is surprisingly easy to prepare.

Making au jus with drippings

Although this recipe is intended to be prepared on its own, don’t stop reading if you’re wondering how to use those precious pan drippings that only continue to boost flavor.

Start the recipe in a roasting pan set over a burner on the stove, and use a wooden spoon to scrape up the brown bits into the jus on the bottom of the pan as the broth simmers.

If there is a fair amount of fat in the roasting pan to start, skip the butter or decant so you have closer to 1 tablespoon of fat.

Strain before serving to remove any bits from the bottom of the pan, and taste before adding salt. (Pan drippings have a fair residual amount of salt from the roasts.)

What’s the difference between au jus and beef broth?

Au jus is basically beef broth on steroids. Beef broth is made by simmering bones with mirepoix (typically onion, carrots and celery) and aromatics (like parsley, thyme and peppercorns) in water, extracting flavor and body. For au jus, you amp up beef broth by simmering it with drippings from roast beef or, as in the recipe here, thyme, mustard and Worcestershire.

Au jus versus gravy

Both gravy and au jus start with drippings from roasted meat and broth, however au jus’ consistency is much thinner and more broth-like than gravy because it typically does not use a thickener.

Our recipe doesn’t use any flour. But if you prefer a slightly thicker au jus, just add a tablespoon of flour with the butter and cook, stirring about 1 minute to lightly toast the flour before whisking in the broth.

Too much flour and you’ll go to gravy town, so it’s better to use just a little.