This Thanksgiving gravy recipe is made with turkey drippings for a flavorful and delightful sauce to accompany your Thanksgiving meal.
Making this simple turkey gravy from scratch is low effort with maximum flavor payout.
Make this juicy turkey recipe and complete your Thanksgiving meal with the viral TikTok Mac and cheese from chef Tini.
This recipe will walk you step by step through the process of making perfect Thanksgiving gravy from the turkey juices.
Gravy recipe highlights
This recipe for homemade turkey gravy is the best because it uses the turkey drippings, this adds color and depth of flavor.
This traditional gravy recipe is as delicious as it is simple and it will take your Thanksgiving meal to the next level.
Old-fashioned gravy is comforting, thick and perfectly creamy. It is the perfect addition to your Thanksgiving dinner.
Ingredients for Old-Fashioned Gravy
You only need a handful of ingredients to make gravy. We will use flour to thicken our gravy and the turkey drippings to add incredible flavor.
- Turkey juices: The pan drippings from cooking your turkey are going to be the flavor boost for this homemade gravy.
- Butter: When making gravy you need fat to create the roux (mix with flour). Butter adds great flavor and silkiness to the gravy.
- Flour: All purpose flour is used in gravy as the thickening agent, when mixed with the butter in equal ratios, it creates a thick paste called roux.
- Chicken stock: This will make the roux thinner while still maintaining the creaminess achieved by mixing the flour and butter.
- Onion, garlic, herbs: here we go with the basic aromatic herbs. I love using sage and thyme to highlight fall flavors.
How to make the best turkey gravy
For Thanksgiving I like to make as much as possible ahead of time and this recipe is a great for that purpose.
You can start the basic gravy base the day before and when the turkey is cooked the next day, reheat the gravy and add the turkey drippings.
You can also make this gravy the same day, it is easy and quick enough to whip right before serving the Thanksgiving meal.
If you decide to make the gravy before carving the turkey, have all your ingredients measured and chopped to speed up the process of making the gravy.
Make ahead and reheating instructions
As I suggested you can make at least part of this homemade gravy ahead of time.
Make the roux, add the chicken stock and aromatics and allow the gravy to cool down.
When the pan drippings from the turkey are ready, reheat the gravy base in a sauce pan and add the drippings.
Thanksgiving gravy
Ingredients
- 6 Tablespoons unsalted butter ¾ stick
- 1 Tablespoon Avocado oil or any neutral oil
- ½ cup Yellow onion Diced
- 3 Garlic cloves Minced
- 6 Tablespoons All purpose flour
- 4 cups Chicken stock
- 2 Thyme sprigs
- 2 Sage leaves
- Turkey drippings
Instructions
- In a sauce pan melt the butter and add the avocado oil.
- Add the onion and sauté for about 10 minutes, stirring constantly until the onion is slightly caramelized.
- Add the minced garlic and cook for one more minute.
- Add the flour and using a whisk start mixing until a thick paste forms.
- Continue whisking as you add the chicken stock. Bring to a boil and then lower the heat and simmer for about 10 minutes.
- Add the turkey pan drippings and whisk until fully combined. Reduce to the desired thickness.
- Serve and enjoy.
Marylin
This gravy is to die for! We make it for the holidays and use it all year round.
Isabel
I'm glad you tried it! It is so good.