How To Make Turkey Gravy
This savory gravy is made from rich, deeply browned turkey drippings, resulting in the best 5-minute gravy imaginable.
Prep5 minutes
Cook5 minutes
There are many wonderful ways to make turkey gravy. You can make giblet gravy or you can make it just with broth. You can even make gravy weeks ahead of time to save yourself some kitchen frenzy on Thanksgiving day.
My favorite is a classic, old-fashioned gravy from the pan drippings of your roasted turkey and made just minutes before sitting down to your Thanksgiving spread. The deeply browned and glistening bits from the bottom of the roasting pan might not look like much when you first take the turkey out of the oven, but those drippings are Thanksgiving manna.
From roux to table, this old-fashioned turkey gravy takes about five minutes and requires only a pan and a whisk. You don’t even need a recipe. Follow this step-by-step guide to make rich and savory gravy perfect for pouring over mashed potatoes and roasted turkey.
Our Turkey Gravy Recipe at a Glance
- This recipe uses the drippings from one 12- to 14-pound roast turkey.
- This gravy is thickened with a roux made from the turkey drippings.
- You’ll need 2 cups of broth for finishing the gravy.
- This gravy can easily be jazzed up with flavorings like a splash of sherry or wine, or a teaspoon of minced herbs like rosemary, thyme, or sage.
Our Turkey Gravy is Thickened with Roux — But What Does That Mean?
Roux is a combination of fat — pan drippings, butter, or oil — and flour cooked together and used to thicken everything from gravy to béchamel sauce. Here are a few things you should know about making roux for better gravy.
- The standard roux ratio is equal parts fat to flour, which works out to 3 ounces of roux thickening up to a quart of liquid.
- Cook the roux until it smells nutty. You want to cook the flour until it has a cereal smell and looks dry.
- You can thin out a thick gravy, but it’s harder to thicken a thin gravy. In other words, start with less liquid than you think you need.
- Roux-thickened gravies continue to thicken as they cool, so keep that in mind as the gravy hits the table.
Turkey Gravy Recipe
This savory gravy is made from rich, deeply browned turkey drippings, resulting in the best 5-minute gravy imaginable.
Prep time 5 minutes
Cook time 5 minutes
Nutritional Info
Ingredients
Pan drippings from a 12- to 14-pound roast turkey
- 1 to 2 cups
low-sodium broth or water, divided
Vegetable oil or butter, as needed
- 1/4 cup
all-purpose flour
Kosher salt
Freshly ground black pepper
Optional extras: splash of sherry, splash of wine, teaspoon of minced herbs like rosemary, thyme, or sage
Equipment
Measuring cup
Saucepan
Whisk
Instructions
Deglaze the pan drippings. After you've removed the turkey from the oven and set it aside to rest, set the roasting pan over medium-high heat on the stovetop. You may need to span two burners. When the pan drippings are hot and sputtering, pour in 1 cup of the broth and scrape up all the bits from the bottom of the pan.
Refrigerate the fat and drippings. Pour the pan drippings into a liquid measuring cup and place in the refrigerator or freezer, wherever there is space. In the 30 minutes it takes to rest the turkey, the fat and drippings will separate and the fat will begin to harden. This makes it easier to skim off just the fat for making the gravy.
Measure the fat. When the fat is solidified on top, scrape it off and measure it. You should ideally end up with about 1 cup of pan drippings and 1/4 cup of fat. If you have less, you can make up the difference with broth or oil / butter, respectively. If you have more, discard a little of the fat and use less broth in the next step. If you have a lot more, you can also double the recipe.
Make a roux. Place the fat in a medium saucepan over medium-high heat. When the fat is hot, whisk in 1/4 cup all-purpose flour to form a thin paste. Let this cook for a few minutes until bubbly.
Add the pan drippings. Pour in the pan drippings and whisk to combine with the roux. This will form a thick, gloppy paste.
Add more broth. Finish the gravy by whisking in a 1/2 cup of the broth. You can add more broth for a thinner gravy or let the gravy cook a few minutes for a thicker gravy. Taste and season with kosher salt, black pepper, and any extras as desired.
Recipe Notes
Smooth gravy: For a very smooth gravy, strain the pan drippings before adding them to the gravy.
Storage: Gravy can be kept refrigerated for up to 1 week or frozen for up to 3 months. Reheat gently over low heat while whisking occasionally to prevent the sauce from breaking.