How to Make the Best Turkey Gravy
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This is simply the most perfect gravy for your Thanksgiving turkey using pan drippings! So rich, so smooth and so easy!
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I promised you a gravy recipe, didn’t I? I always keep my promises. Plus, this isn’t just any ordinary turkey gravy recipe.
Nope. This is the world’s easiest, quickest, less-than-2o-minute recipe conveniently using the pan drippings from your foolproof turkey.
Which means, hello, this is also a foolproof gravy!
You just can’t go wrong here. All you have to do is strain your pan drippings and combine it with some butter, flour and fresh herbs.
Season with salt and pepper, to taste, and boom. You’re done.
Ingredients
Pan drippings
Using pan drippings from your bird is key here! It will add so much flavor to your gravy.
Chicken or turkey stock
Good quality chicken or turkey stock is highly recommended if you do not have (or have enough) pan drippings.
Unsalted butter
This will help create the roux – the combination of flour and fat (butter) – which is the foundation of a lovely gravy.
Flour
All-purpose is best but gluten-free flour can also be substituted in a 1:1 ratio.
Thyme
Herbs – dried or fresh – are great to add flavor. Add as much or as little as desired. Rosemary, sage and oregano can also be added here.
Salt and pepper
Season to taste as your pan drippings will already be seasoned quite a bit.
TIPS AND TRICKS FOR SUCCESS
- Pan drippings. Gravy can be made with or without pan drippings, but we highly recommend using pan drippings for optimal flavor.
- Use good quality stock. If you do not have enough pan drippings from your turkey, you can use chicken or turkey stock to make up for the difference but your gravy is as good as your stock. Use homemade or good quality stock, if using.
- Whisk constantly. Whisking constantly is key here for lump-free gravy.
Tools For This Recipe
Saucepan
How to Make the Best Turkey Gravy: Frequently Asked Questions
You can use all of the pan drippings from the easiest Thanksgiving turkey recipe.
Unsalted butter allows you to add as much salt (or as little) salt in your dish. It allows for more control and consistency.
You can replace unsalted butter with salted butter in a pinch, reducing the amount of salt indicated in the recipe, and adding to taste.
Absolutely! But because dried herbs are often more potent/concentrated than fresh herbs, you need less when using dry. The correct ratio is 1 tablespoon fresh herbs to 1 teaspoon dried herbs.
Yes! You can follow the recipe below, substituting chicken or turkey stock for the pan drippings, and adding in minced garlic, diced shallots and additional seasonings (ex. sage, rosemary and poultry seasoning), to taste.
Gravy freezes very well (or at least this one does)! Once cooled completely, you can freeze the leftover gravy in individual freezer bags (or ice cube trays), thaw overnight, and reheat on the stovetop. (Gravy recipes with milk or cream will not freeze well as it will tend to separate when frozen.)
How to Make the Best Turkey Gravy
Ingredients
- Pan drippings from Easy Thanksgiving Turkey
- ¼ cup unsalted butter
- ¼ cup all-purpose flour
- 2 teaspoons chopped fresh thyme
- 1 tablespoon chopped fresh parsley leaves
- Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper, to taste
Equipment
Instructions
- Strain pan drippings through a fine-mesh sieve; discard solids and reserve 2 1/2 cups pan drippings; set aside.
- Melt butter in a medium saucepan over medium heat. Whisk in flour and thyme until lightly browned, about 1 minute.
- Gradually whisk in reserved pan drippings. Bring to a boil; reduce heat and simmer, whisking constantly, until thickened, about 5-10 minutes. Stir in parsley; season with salt and pepper, to taste.
- Serve warm.
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The gravy turned out delicious! Just wish there was a way to keep the fat and flour from separating.
Mamma Mia! DELICIOUS!! I added only a pad of butter as the natural gravy was Butterball, I might just add a bit of lemon
This is the best gravy I’ve ever had! I had fresh Rosemary so I added that instead of the thyme. I highly recommend this substitution!
Can you substitute margarine for butter?
Superbly simple! Very tasty….my first attempt. Thanks!
Yummy gravy!! So simple and delicious!, Aloha Chungah
Sounds delicious and I made it pretty much the same way that they had no thyme so I used a little Sage little poultry seasoning.
So easy and delicious! Did not have thyme on hand and only had dried parsley but was still yummy.
Très bonnes recettes
We fry our turkey. What would I substitute for the pan drippings?
Chicken Stock will work….
If no dripping use a piece of chicken or turkey brown in a pan with a little butter add hot water about a half of cup when that boils off repeat should have drippings ! Add stock to make gravy! Toss chicken or use for salad
I enjoy many of your delicious recipes. Thank you
Cream of celery will work with the dripping from your Turkey.
Add poultry seasonings,onion powder,salt,pepper and chicken stock, with a pat of butter. Let it cook at least 30 minutes, but if you have more time, allow it to simmer low. It’s a perfect marriage! It’s the easiest gravy ever.
This is exactly how I’ve made Thanksgiving gravy for years! My papa taught me this recipe, never fails….unless you mistake powdered sugar for flour. (That only happened once!)
That’s hilarious and sounds like something I would do. I once mistakenly added cornmeal instead of oatmeal to a meatloaf. It was solid as a brick.
LOL, You ladies have me rolling! Thanks for sharing these hilarious mishaps
Happy Thanksgiving
back off mark they are married
I was making an apple pie once and mistakenly added ground cumin instead of ground cinnamon to the cut apples! I started mixing with a spoon and realized the aroma was anything but sweet! I ended up rinsing the apple slices off one by one and crossed my fingers as it baked in the oven.
No one was the wiser!
This sounds so good. I have everything except the fresh parsley leaves. I’m not likely to get ahold of those before Thanksgiving due to my not wanting to enter a store because of Covid and my weakened immune system from chemo treatments. Does anyone have any Ideas as for a substitute for the fresh parsley leaves or will it turn out decent without them? I’ll be making a turkey breast and stuffing it with a quartered fresh onion so I’m expecting to get some good flavor from my pan drippings. Any advice about not having the fresh parsley leaves would be appreciated.
hi wayne! I’ve left our parsley leaves before and I don’t think it makes too big of a difference. in case it’s helpful, there’s an app called “Shipt” – that allows groceries to be delivered to your home for free with minimum purchases of $35 and Amazon also allows for deliveries from Whole Foods. Getting groceries is so hard during this time, so I figured I’d pass those two options!
A recipe is just a guideline… 😉 I made gravy last Thanksgiving without fresh parsley and it still turned out delicious. If you happen to have any dried parsley on hand that would work otherwise I’m sure it will taste just fine without it… Happy Thanksgiving!
Thank you for sharing this recipe! This is exactly how I make my gravy Your recipe is quick, easy, and tastes delicious!! I give it a five star!!!
I let my Turkey breast thaw out too early so I had to throw it in the crockpot to cook and then I wrapped it in going and Saran Wrap and threw it back in the freezer for a few days. I went ahead and used your recipe for gravy and man is it awesome! And it was so easy. I didn’t have enough drippings from just my Turkey breast so I made the rest up with low sodium chicken stock. Maybe a tad too much thyme but still the best I have ever had. No need for salt all all. Not sure if I should freeze it or if it will be ok in the fridge for 5 days. Thoughts?
so simple….and great…thank you…
I’ve been making homemade gravies and sauces for decades, but I decided to try a new turkey gravy recipe instead of my regular one. This gravy was excellent! It tasted much better than I expected and it was so easy to make. I highly recommend this recipe to anyone new to cooking and wanting to try making gravy. Just follow the directions as listed and you’ll have a super tasty gravy to serve. (PS-roasting a turkey is super easy too. You’ll never know until you try!)
How do you roast a Turkey?
Made my first gravy with your easy recipe & it was delicious!
Wow – I am so glad I came across this recipe! I had never made turkey gravy before, so I started googling. I’m so glad I found you because it was the best turkey gravy I’ve ever had! My kids and everyone else were raving about it, saying it was the best gravy they had ever had! Thank you so much!
Lifesaver! So easy and delicious. Thrilled to have this recipe in my life, I will use it all the time.
A few notes: depending on your drippings, should not need much (if any) salt. Thyme was a touch strong, I liked it but on anything else cooked with thyme it was very noticeable so you can get away with less. 2c drippings was all I had, it was enough. Total yield about 2-3c gravy, this served our party of 4 people just fine but nothing left over.
Thank you!!
This recipe is simple AND tastes terrific. As a prep ahead I took the neck, wing tips and gizzard and boiled in 2 cups of water with onions, celery and a little salt (less fatty drippings than what is in the pan) Made the recipe just as the turkey rested, carved and served everything hot. Will repeat this recipe when its turkey time again.