An excellent gravy recipe is essential to any cook’s holiday tool kit. A good gravy can tie the meal together, dressing the mashed potatoes, the stuffing, and the turkey itself. The secret to incredible homemade gravy is to get as much flavor out of the bird as possible. Make a homemade stock with the neck and wings, and after the bird has cooked, heat this stock right in the roasting pan to collect the drippings. (If you can’t make your own stock, use this method with store-bought chicken broth—cooking it in the drippings will ensure it still has lots of good flavor.) For an exceptionally smooth and creamy gravy, pour the deglazed pan juices through a fine-mesh strainer into your liquid measuring cup.
A little patience is an essential ingredient for this easy gravy recipe. If you try to speed up the cooking time by adding the stock too quickly, the gravy can taste wan and floury. Instead, take a few minutes to develop the roux (a mix of fat and all-purpose flour; or see below for a gluten-free alternative), cooking it until it’s toasty and brown. Then whisk constantly as you slowly pour in the stock so that it combines with the thickener without turning lumpy. After that, all you have to do is boil the mixture to your desired consistency. Hold any seasonings until the gravy is just about ready, then taste. It’ll likely have enough salt from the turkey drippings, but adjust with more if needed and add a good dose of freshly ground black pepper too. In the end, you’ll have a rich, brown gravy that doesn’t need any other flavorings to sing.
Recipe information
Total Time
10 minutes
Yield
Makes about 8 cups
Ingredients
Preparation
Step 1
Pour pan juices through a fine-mesh sieve into a 2-qt. glass measure (do not clean roasting pan), then skim off fat and reserve. (If using a fat separator, pour pan juices through sieve into separator and let stand until fat rises to top, 1 to 2 minutes. Carefully pour pan juices from separator into a 2-qt. measure, and reserve fat left in separator.) If there is less than ½ cup reserved fat, add melted butter.
Step 2
Add enough turkey stock to pan juices to total 8 cups liquid (2 quarts). Straddle roasting pan across 2 burners, then add 1 cup of remaining stock and deglaze pan by boiling over medium-high heat, stirring and scraping up brown bits, about 1 minute. Pour through fine-mesh sieve into glass measure with stock.
Step 3
Whisk together reserved fat and flour in a 4-qt. heavy saucepan and cook roux over moderately low heat, whisking, 5 minutes. Add hot stock with pan juices in a stream, whisking constantly to prevent lumps, then bring to a boil, whisking. Stir in any turkey juices accumulated on platter and simmer gravy 1 minute. Season with kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper.
Thicken gravy using cornstarch instead of a roux: Discard fat from pan juices. Cool 1 cup stock (uncovered) or bring to room temperature. Stir cooled stock into ½ cup plus 1 Tbsp. cornstarch in a bowl until cornstarch is dissolved. Pour 8 cups stock with pan juices (see recipe, above) plus deglazed pan drippings into a 4-qt. heavy saucepan and heat over high heat until hot. Stir cornstarch mixture to recombine, then add to hot stock in a stream, whisking constantly. Bring gravy to a boil, whisking constantly, then stir in any turkey juices from platter and boil gravy, whisking, 1 minute. Season with kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper.
Editor’s note: This recipe was originally published in the November 2004 issue of ‘Gourmet’ and first appeared on Epicurious in October 2004. Head this way for more of our best ideas for Thanksgiving dinner →
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Reviews (13)
Back to TopBest gravy I have ever had! I made the brown turkey stock the day before, then whipped the gravy together after the bird came out. Deglazed with a cup of dry sherry. Delicious!
jfredine
Minneapolis, MN
11/15/2004
Wonderful gravy! I made the brown turkey stock a week ahead and froze it---definitely worth the trouble to brown the turkey parts to mahogany brown. The stock was so flavorful and so beautifully brown that I made lots and lots of gravy without fear of ending up with something pale and tasteless. Also, having the stock made well ahead made for less chaos the last half-hour before dinner. It was delicious just as written, but you could add anything you fancy.
Anonymous
Montana
11/29/2004
I made this recipe for Thanksgiving and it did not come out very well. I made it again for Xmas (thinking that I had done something wrong) and while the gravy tasted better this time, it was pale brown (despite the browning of the parts and making a dark roux) and quite thin. I'm now looking for a new recipe for gravy but will probably use some bits of this recipe: making the stock ahead of time (with a lot less water!) with browned parts and using the dark roux.
chloecats
Los Angeles (unfortunately)
12/28/2004
Best gravy I've had in all my Thanksgiving meals. This has become my signature dish during Thanksgiving. I'm asked to make this gravy even when someone else is responsible for making the turkey. This makes a lot of gravy so I just freeze the leftovers to use for other meals. Found the gravy to be a little thin so I add cornstarch in addition to the roux for extra thick gravy. Making the stock a few days ahead of time is a really big time saver. The stock is so flavorful that after you add the pan drippings, there isn't much additional seasoning needed.
Anonymous
San Francisco, CA
11/19/2006
We can never have too much turkey gravy at my Thanksgiving table, so this recipe is perfect. I have been making it every year. Do not stint on making the brown stock, and you will be richly rewarded. I allow the gravy to boil at the end until it reaches the thickness I want. This also enriches the flavor.
Anonymous
Farmington Hills, MI
10/7/2008
I was happy with the flavour of this recipe but not the color. It seemed obvious, since I had made the Brown Turkey Sauce ahead of time, and was okay with its colour, that the gravy would be brown. Not so! My wife tells me I should have added soy sauce to darken it, but what chef wants to listen to his wife when dominating the kitchen? Otherwise, the brown unused sauce makes for a great soup the following morning, the consistency of the gravy was good (although the amount of roux seemed ovewhelming, it didn't turn out to be so), and the flavour was excellent. But as my wife says, add soya if you want a browner gravy!
grulkey
Vancouver
12/27/2008
I have been making this gravy, along with the Brown Turkey Stock, for years. It is delicious, beautifully brown, and has never failed to be perfect. I substitute a bottle of champagne for an equivalent amount of the stock and use the extra stock for the dressing. Definitely a winner.
anner55
Houston, TX
11/18/2012
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