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.
Video
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Simple to make and turned out delicious! Would definitely recommend to everyone!
Best gravy ever and so easy to make! I love the thyme in it.
Absolutely delicious and simple!
Thank you!!
The best gravy I’ve ever tasted! I love how you don’t have to separate the fat from the drippings. So easy.
I have never made gravy before today. Followed this recipe exactly – took the gravy to a large dinner with lots of family – everyone raved about the gravy. I am hard on myself in general but especially my cooking – because I LOVE food. This gravy was delicious. No lumps – no drama – just perfect. Wow. I can make gravy – tasty gravy 🙂 thank you for the recipe
This is really the best turkey gravy I’ve ever made, and it was easy. Great hit this Thanksgiving.
So yummy and easy to make!
Yep, this is simple. And delicious! Took me a half hour to find a gravy recipe that made sense, I mean logically made sense. This was the first one, and it came though for us! Happy Thanksgiving!
Best and easiest gravy for Thanksgiving!! Just got done making it, only thing is I used Wonder flour and put in a little Kitchen Bouquet for color. I also added some cooking water from the turnips. OMG it is delicious! Thank you!
Awsome just made it perrrrrfect
Perfect and easy! Made the gravy this morning for Thanksgiving dinner tomorrow and was so happy it came out perfect since I used all my drippings! Love your recipes-thanks for sharing!!!
Happy Thanksgiving!
I tried making this recipe a few weeks ago because in the past I’ve never been very good at making gravy. And surprisingly it worked out great. I just wanted to say thanks for such an easy-to-follow recipe. My kids also loved the gravy and ate their food amazingly quickly, for them! I used fresh thyme and parsley out of my garden and I used more than the recipe said but it made it even tastier. Your recipe was such a success that I’m going to use it again this week for a bigger turkey. Thanks for a recipe that I’ll keep using for a long time.
How many cups of pan drippings do you wind up with? I wound up having very little as I didn’t pour chicken stock as your turkey recipe suggested. I was worried it would steam the turkey too much as some other reviews say that it does. So I added chicken stock after and it was SO salty (I dry brined the turkey). I had to add quite a bit of water and it was finally edible. Just curious how much you usually have .
Awesome!
Used gluten free flour combined with vegan butter (Son has a bunch of allergies), and BAM!
Best turkey gravy ever!
Thanks much!
B
Does the fat separate from the rest of the pan drippings? I tried something like this and the fat separated out.
Im sure every item you cook is great. Who keeps garden when you not in Ok ? Do the kids try your vegs. Hope so.. Glad your life is happy. I’m wondering if the children, Love the Ranch as much as my kids love hunting & fishing. Now our grandkids do also.
I have not had the pleasure of trying any of your recipes at yet, the one complaint that I have is I don’t ever see how many people your recipes feed
Thanks
Biz, all of my recipes state a yield (aka number of servings) located in the recipe box. In this case, the yield is 8 servings.
Sounds like a simple and tasty recipe. I’m trying to figure out how much it makes, total. Do you define a “serving” as 1 cup, 1/2 cup, or another amount? I have a pretty big crowd and we are gravy lovers so I’m trying to provide about 1 cup per person. Is 8 servings here = 8 cups? Thanks!
The recipe yields ~2 cups of gravy (1/4 cup servings). The recipe contains 2 1/2 cups of liquid drippings. These drippings will thicken up when combined with the butter/flour mixture and heated. For a gravy loving family, you may want to use all the drippings and adjust the other ingredients accordingly.
My mom taught me years ago – equal parts of butter and flour and each Tbsp needs a cup of liquid. Hence 2Tbsp butter and 2Tbsp flour needs 2 cups broth. She always had the neck, heart gizzard on a slow simmer in water on back of stove; adding the liver near the end. That was the backup “broth” for the turkey drippings. I do the same but also have some turkey stock on hand which I use in the stuffing and in the gravy. This is a simple and wonderful recipe.
I have not used this recipe yet, but plan on it this weekend. Do you need to remove the fat from the drippings first?
Amazingly explained. Will definitely give a try to make turkey gravy.
Please do!
Easiest and tasties gravy. No fuss at all. Love it.
Awesome! Thanks, Nan!
If you add one teaspoon of lemon juice it will brighten up the gravy and make it perfect.
Seems like an awful lot of fat – no broth?
Linda, you’re using the pan drippings from the turkey – that’s essentially your “broth”.