Pan Drippings

Pan drippings are the melted fat and browned meat juices that collect in a pan after roasting or searing meat. They taste deeply savory with a roasty aroma and emulsify easily into glossy gravies, pan sauces, and dressings. Cooks sear potatoes, fry eggs, or enrich batters like Yorkshire pudding with them.\n\nSaving drippings is longstanding practice in British, French, and North American kitchens, with jars of bacon grease and beef dripping common in home cooking. The habit likely developed wherever meat was roasted and spread with oven cookery, remaining central to gravy-making traditions.