Our family loves this incredibly delicious turkey gravy recipe! We make it from scratch with roasted turkey pan drippings. It’s loaded with amazing flavor, making it perfect for anyone preparing a turkey, especially for Thanksgiving!
This turkey gravy recipe calls for pan drippings. To make gravy without pan drippings, see this easy gravy recipe. I’ve fallen head over heels for this homemade turkey gravy, especially when made alongside our favorite roasted turkey.
Thanks to outrageously flavorful pan drippings, a simple onion broth, and the perfect roux, this gravy is silky, perfectly thick, and tastes incredible drizzled over mashed potatoes, roasted turkey breast, and other Thanksgiving dishes.
Key Ingredients
- Turkey Offal and Neck (Optional): Many whole turkeys, whether fresh or frozen, include the neck and offal (giblets) inside. Be sure to remove these before brining or roasting your bird. We like to use them to bump up the turkey flavor in our gravy.
- Stock, Onion, Thyme, and Bay Leaf: This is the foundation of our flavorful gravy. We use chicken or turkey stock, finely chopped onion, fresh thyme, a bay leaf, and the neck and giblets from the turkey for the best turkey flavor.
- Pan Drippings: The secret to genuinely delicious gravy? Roasted turkey pan drippings! This is especially true if you use our garlic herb butter when roasting turkey (highly recommended!).
- Flour: To thicken the gravy, we make a roux. This involves cooking some of the fat from the pan drippings with flour. Then, we whisk this roux with the broth. The roux will transform the broth into a silky, thick gravy as it simmers. You can easily make this gravy gluten-free by substituting cornstarch for the flour. I’ve included tips on how to do this below the recipe.
- Cream: Since I usually make turkey gravy for holidays and special occasions, I like to add a bit of cream. It makes the gravy extra rich and really special.
How to Make Turkey Gravy
To make our turkey gravy, you’ll start with the onion broth. It’s simple and takes about 1 hour. If you’d prefer, make this a couple of days in advance, then store it in the fridge for when you are ready to finish your gravy. It’s really simple but adds so much flavor.
You’ll simmer the stock, finely chopped onion, thyme, a bay leaf, turkey neck, and giblets. Simmering these ingredients together for an hour allows the turkey parts to infuse the broth with rich flavor, and the onions become wonderfully soft and sweet.
The secret to delicious gravy is using those flavorful pan drippings from your roasted turkey! So, after your turkey is roasted, you’ll have a pan full of delicious drippings and broth (see all that flavor in our photo).
We want to make sure you get all that flavor, so you’ll need to separate the fat from the broth to make the gravy. You’ll use some of the fat to make the roux and then some broth to thin out the gravy and add flavor. A fat separator is handy, but you can also use a measuring jug and a turkey baster to skim the fat off the top. The one shown in our photos/video is from OXO.
To finish the gravy, combine the onion broth with 3 to 4 cups of broth from the roasting pan. Bring everything to a simmer, and then add a splash of cream for extra richness (optional, but delicious!). While the broth is simmering, whisk in your roux (flour and turkey fat). It will thicken the gravy beautifully. After you simmer for 10 minutes, you’ll have a gravy perfect for your holiday meal.
Our Favorite Turkey Gravy
- PREP
- COOK
- TOTAL
Our delicious turkey gravy recipe is made from scratch with roasted turkey pan drippings. It’s packed with incredible flavor, making it the perfect addition to any Thanksgiving turkey.
Assume 1/3 cup to 1/2 cup of gravy per person. This gravy recipe makes enough to serve 16 people.
Watch Us Make the Recipe
You Will Need
Turkey offal and neck, see notes
4 cups (950ml) chicken stock
1 medium onion, finely chopped
4 sprigs fresh thyme
1 bay leaf
3 to 4 cups (950ml) broth from the roasting pan, strained and skimmed
1/2 cup (120ml) turkey fat from the roasting pan, strained and skimmed
10 tablespoons (80g) all-purpose flour
1/4 cup (60ml) heavy cream or more, optional
8 twists black pepper
Salt, to taste
Scallions or chives, chopped, optional
Directions
- Make Broth
1To make the base broth for gravy, add the offal, turkey neck, onion, thyme, and bay leaf to a medium saucepan. Bring to a simmer, then cover and simmer for 1 hour.
2Remove the offal and neck, saving them if you plan to chop the meat for gravy. Discard the thyme stems and bay leaf.
3You can make the broth ahead of time. Store it in the refrigerator for up to 4 days, ideally while the turkey is brining.
- Prepare Pan Drippings
1After your turkey has finished roasting, strain the pan drippings to remove any large vegetables or herbs.
2Use a fat separator to strain and separate the fat from the broth. (See our video for reference.) You will need 1/2 cup of fat and 4 cups of broth. Save leftover fat/broth in the fridge for another dish.
- Make Gravy
1Add the turkey fat to a small skillet over medium heat. Add the flour and stir until it forms a smooth paste. Turn the heat down to low and allow the roux to cook slowly to remove any graininess from the flour. It should still look blonde — 2 to 3 minutes.
2In a medium pot, combine the onion broth made earlier with 3 cups of the broth saved from the pan drippings and the heavy cream. Bring to a simmer.
3Once simmering, whisk in the roux and simmer for 10 minutes until thickened and silky. We like our gravy on the thinner side, so we add the remaining cup of broth.
4Taste the gravy, and then season with salt and pepper. Depending on how salty the pan drippings were, you will need to add 1/4 to 1 teaspoon of salt, possibly a bit more.
5Add the meat from the turkey neck and offal (optional). If you saved them, remove and chop the meat. Stir them into the gravy.
6Add chopped scallions or chives (optional).
- Storing Gravy
1Let the gravy cool completely. Pour into an airtight container and refrigerate for up to 3 days. Or store in a freezer-safe container and freeze the gravy for up to 3 months. Thaw frozen gravy overnight in the fridge before reheating. Reheat gravy over low heat, whisking often.
Adam and Joanne's Tips
- Turkey offal and neck: Many fresh or frozen whole turkeys come with the neck and offal inside the cavity. Remove them before brining or roasting. We use these ingredients to add turkey flavor to the gravy. After they are cooked, you can pull meat from the neck, chop it up, and chop up the offal. This meat can then be added to the gravy.
- Gluten-free gravy: Use cornstarch. Use 5 tablespoons of cornstarch and mix it with 10 tablespoons of cold water or broth until it is smooth before whisking into the hot gravy. Simmer for 10 minutes. I still add most of the turkey fat for flavor.
- No fat separator: Let the pan drippings sit in a measuring jug for a few minutes so that the fat floats to the top. Use a turkey baster to suck up the fat and squeeze it into another container.
- The nutrition facts provided below are estimates.
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We do two turkeys every year, one the day before and one the morning of. I have struggled every year with gravy. So Wednesday evening we followed a recipe I found on you tube and it was awful – turned out burnt & just terrible! After following your brine recipe, we decided to try your favorite turkey gravy recipe. It was fabulous! So smooth & tasty!! Thank you! It will be our Thanksgiving gravy recipe from now on.
The recipe tells you to use heavy cream but it doesn’t tell you when and how to put it in. It also tells you to make a roux but it doesn’t tell you to start the next step in a second pan. I haven’t tasted it yet but the recipe is a bit confusing.
Hi Lisa, You add the cream with the pan drippings. I am sorry the recipe was confusing! I have edited it to be more clear. I hope this helps.
We used this recipe last year and it has become our family favorite! Of course we’re doing it again this Thanksgiving. Absolutely the best tasting turkey you could ever imagine! Love love love it!
That’s amazing, Kay. Thank you so much for coming back and letting us know!