How to Make Perfect Gravy From Turkey Drippings

Sure, Thanksgiving is behind us, but plenty of people also enjoy turkey with their Christmas dinner, and turkey is nothing without a great gravy, which you can make using turkey drippings. It’s quick, it’s easy, and it will take any dinner with turkey up a notch.

What You’ll Need

This recipe doesn’t require many ingredients and is super easy to make. Here’s how to make this flavorful, game-changing sauce.

Ingredients:

4 cups of turkey broth, chicken broth, water, or a combination of broth and water
1/4 cup of reserved turkey fat
1/2 cup of water, vino, turkey stock, or chicken stock
1/4 cup of all-purpose flour
Salt and pepper to taste
Optional: freshly chopped sage, a pinch of cloves, a sprinkle of thyme, or a touch of mace

How to Make It

Making homemade gravy is a lot easier than you think. Just follow these steps and it will come out perfectly every time.

Directions:

Heat 4 cups of your broth of choice, but make sure it doesn’t boil. It will be just the base of the gravy sauce, and you’ll need to add the turkey drippings later.
For the turkey drippings, place your cooked turkey onto a cutting board. Remove as much grease or fat as you can and reserve ¼ cup of fat.
Place the roasting pan on the stove on medium heat. Then, add ½ cup of liquid. Keep on stirring and scrape the bottom of the pan to loosen any browned bits. Then, pour the liquid into a measuring cup or the turkey broth.
Add the reserved fat to a saucepan over medium heat and whisk in ¼ cup of all-purpose flour. Stir constantly until you get a smooth texture in a golden color.
Add the hot turkey broth and drippings and let them simmer over medium heat. Stir until thickened.
It’s time to season the gravy to taste with salt and pepper. Then, put the sauce into a serving bowl and add some freshly chopped sage on top. Other herbs that would go well with gravy are cloves, thyme, and mace.

How to Avoid Lumps

When making gravy, sometimes you may get lumps in the sauce. What you can do is cook together equal parts of flour and fat like clarified butter, vegetable oil, or grease. About ½ cup of roux will thicken approximately 4 cups of gravy.

You can use any type of liquid to make the roux. It includes the broth or drippings from beef, pork, or chicken. If you’re cooking a turkey anyway, you can use the drippings from the roasting pan and turkey broth. Also, don’t forget the mashed potatoes, another staple of any Thanksgiving dinner.