Turkey Gravy From Scratch Recipe (2024)

My grandmother taught me to keep "burnt flour" for making gravy and thickening soups, so once a year for the past 40 years, I make a batch for use throughout the year. Sift all-purpose flour in a large, dry skillet over low heat to brown. Once the flour has warmed up, raise the heat to medium and cook to a golden brown. Don't leave it, and stir often. Once cooled, sift the flour into an airtight container for use throughout the year. The extra flavor is notable.

This recipe is spectacular. It works just as well with roast chicken parts as with turkey. I make one or two batches a few weeks before Thanksgiving, store the gravy in the freezer and then add extra deglazed pan drippings from the roast turkey on Thanksgiving day. I leave the onion skin on during broth making; it makes the stock darker. I also find one needs to add more than 12 cups of water to the roast poultry and aromatics in order to end up with a good 12 cups of reduced broth.

This recipe has saved my Thanksgiving for years. Add the celery, onions, and carrots to the roasting pan to roast along with the turkey, then transfer all to the stockpot. Stock turns medium colored and very flavorful. While roasting, baste the turkey parts with mix of butter and bacon drippings (still keep a perpetual mug of that in fridge) for another dimension of flavor. Pick through the boiled turkey to save all the meat bits for our dogs. Now a holiday favorite for all!

I use store bought turkey broth or stock instead of water. I also roast the vegetables during the second hour the legs are roasting. Both of these changes bring a lot more deep flavor to the finished gravy.

Has anyone tried roasting the legs for turkey fat for the roux, then using prepared turkey or chicken stock instead of making stock? Asking for a friend. ;-)

I have made this stock/gravy every year that I've hosted Thanksgiving. If I follow the recipe to the letter, I've found that after six hours of reduction at a simmer, I had less stock than I wanted. So I buy more legs than the six -- at least 8 or 10 -- because I want more stock than the amount that this recipe yields. Then I adjust the rest accordingly. It's totally worth the additional effort to have this ready early. It's so rich and velvety, and there's plenty leftovers!

Yummy

This is my go-to recipe for turkey gravy. It's especially helpful because we deep-fry our bird, so there are no drippings from a roasted turkey for the base of a more traditional gravy.

This recipe has saved my Thanksgiving for years. Add the celery, onions, and carrots to the roasting pan to roast along with the turkey, then transfer all to the stockpot. Stock turns medium colored and very flavorful. While roasting, baste the turkey parts with mix of butter and bacon drippings (still keep a perpetual mug of that in fridge) for another dimension of flavor. Pick through the boiled turkey to save all the meat bits for our dogs. Now a holiday favorite for all!

I only had turkey wings but that didn’t seem to be a problem. Leave the skins on your onions - it does add a rich color to the final stock. I tried to halve the recipe and it still made a lot of stock! I have another 4 quarts in the freezer ready for a family holiday dinner planned! Great base stock and could easily be changed to chicken stock using chicken drumsticks, wings, and if you can get them chicken feet!

Worth the effort! I made the Turkey broth the weekend before and then froze it. I thawed it 2 days ahead and made the gravy while the Turkey rested. Don’t skip the wine in the gravy! It adds a nice flavor. I also threw in a few chopped herbs- sage, thyme, and rosemary.

This is the best and easiest gravy I’ve ever made. I’m so happy that I was able to make it ahead of Thanksgiving, so much pressure avoided! I made the stock in the slow cooker overnight - perfect! Thanks again for a wonderful recipe, NYT. I’ll be doing my gravy this way from now on.

Pasty. Followed directions exactly. Meh.

This has turned out way too floury. Will use far less flour next time.

This DID reheat beautifully on the stove! I made gravy the day before Thanksgiving with stock I had frozen a few weeks earlier; stored gravy back in stock containers in fridge for use the next day. Flour thickener: Use 1/4 cup butter, 1/4 cup flour per quart of stock for roux. I omitted wine in stock and instead added Tablespoon or so of vinegar (either apple cider or sherry) to add a bit of acid. I also added a Tbs of veal demi glace just because I had some.

This is the best gravy reminiscent of my Great Grandmother’s. Absolutely double (I roast 10 - 12 Turkey legs)the recipe to equal more than a few cups. It requires lots of good Turkey parts. You will cool in glass pans. Yields Turkey fat layer which creates your delicious roux. The actual stock is jellied and dark. It is easily warmed as is to please anyone. For a richer and thick texture create roux. Follow reduction directions as much as possibly. left over Turkey delicious.

Has anyone used the slow cooker in stead of cooking on the stove for 6 hours? It seems like it would be fine and require less attention. Thanks for any feedback!

This is very good but, similar to last year, all that time making stock yielded just 3 cups. I just covered the meat and vegetables with water according to directions and added ~4 cups beyond that. Not sure what I’m doing wrong to get only a 1/3 or less of predicted stock.

Family only eats white meat,but drippings from breast are woefully inadequate for making rich gravy. Seems harder to find turkey wings,which make a wonderful stock,so had to use thighs,threw in a few chicken wings for good measure,also use a mix of whatever poultry stock I have in the freezer and water. Stock only measured 6 cups,so I adjusted the flour and fat accordingly. Result was creamy and tasty gravy. Could be thicker, so I'll take care of that when I add drippings from breast.

I use the turkey meat in my dressing! Delicious!!

Have gluten free people coming to dinner, what’s the edit for using cornstarch?

Fantastic Turkey stock recipe that I make every Thanksgiving. Substitute olive oil or canola oil for the butter if you don’t eat dairy.

Very good. But I needed to thicken the final gravy with 1 1/2 T of cornstarch (mixed with a bit of water) per 2 cups of gravy. If you are roasting a turkey or chicken, be sure to add any drippings to the gravy before serving.

Enough gravy for 4 turkeys.

Good recipe but yields enough for four turkeys