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

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

Directions:

1. 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.
2. 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.
3. 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.
4. 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.
5. Add the hot turkey broth and drippings and let them simmer over medium heat. Stir until thickened.
6. 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.

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.

Meal prep has been gaining more and more speed in recent years, especially because of all the social media influencers dead-set on showing people how to eat right and do things quickly. However, food prepared beforehand and posted on Instagram and other social media always looks beautiful and is set in a certain way, but that’s not necessary. Try these four big-batch meal recipes used for supper that can be part of your meal prep for days to come – as leftovers!

Peanut Coconut Pork Noodles

Coconut-based sauces have been prevalent for a long time, especially in Southeast Asian cuisine, but in recent years, they have been getting more popular around the world. You don’t have to use more than one can of coconut milk, but the recipe makes enough servings for supper and leftovers. And there you go – easy big-batch meal prep you can eat the next day! If you’re feeling healthy, you can add a touch of kale for taste and color!

Big-Batch Slow-Cooked Pork

If you enjoy meal prep, you probably own a slow cooker, which is perfect for this recipe. It calls for slow-cooked pork with added noodles. The taste can be empowered by adding peppers and tomatoes – serve all that over rice, and you’ve got yourself a fantastic meal for some days to come!

Smoky Slow-Cooker Chili

Don’t let the fancy wording fool you – the big-batch three-bean chili has the same base recipe as the chili you’re used to eating, with the addition of something to spice it up and make it smokey. You add tempeh bacon, often found next to tofu in most stores, and some chipotle chilis. It will have a smokey flavor, and you can always substitute the bacon for regular think-cut bacon slices if the tempeh is not to your liking.

Chicken and Wild Rice Bowls

Most meal prep recipes on social media indeed include chicken, avocado, and rice, but this recipe has something more to it that makes the three ingredients taste perfect when cooked together. Use your slow cooker, mix up the ingredients and add the carrot-ginger sauce as a zinger to the otherwise simple recipe. Your tastebuds will enjoy the flavor!

Big-batch meals are great because they can feed the family one day and be leftovers for you the next day. Just because you see all those fancy meal prep posts on social media doesn’t mean you have to follow the same display. Meal prep doesn’t need to be fancy. You can try these recipes, and as long as you can eat them hot or cold the next day – your prep is set for a delicious leftover meal!