Homemade Turkey Gravy From Drippings

This Homemade Turkey Gravy from Drippings recipe uses the pan drippings from your beautiful roasted bird to make the most flavorful gravy around! You can make the base ahead of time so you have less work the day you serve your turkey. Once you make this gravy it will be your go-to recipe from now on.

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This Homemade Turkey Gravy From Drippings recipe has added butter and stock so you don’t have to worry about having enough drippings or having enough gravy. You will end up with about 4 cups of gravy. There is added onion and herbs as well which creates a flavorful classic gravy for your Thanksgiving Turkey!

How to Make Gravy from Turkey Drippings

1. Place the butter in a saucepan to melt. Add the onion and garlic and stir for 15 minutes. Stir in the flour and continue to cook for another minute.
2. Add the chicken stock, brandy, sage leaves, bay leaves, and 1 teaspoon of pepper. Stir and bring everything to a boil. Lower the heat and simmer for 20 minutes, stirring occasionally.
3. Cool for one hour. Strain the cooled mixture set it aside (cover and refrigerate if you are making the base ahead of time)
4. After your turkey has roasted, remove it from the roasting pan and allow it to rest. Pour the drippings from the roasting pan into a large saucepan. Use a spoon to scrape off as much of the cooked-on bits as you can (this is where the flavor is!) and also put them in the saucepan. Add the wine and stir over medium-high heat.
5. Pour the prepared base into the saucepan stir until nice and thick. Taste to see if it needs any salt and pepper.
6. Pour the gravy into a fat separator and allow the liquid to separate before putting it into a serving dish. This takes just a few minutes as it cools.

Ingredients Needed to Make Homemade Turkey Gravy

• unsalted butter
• onion
• cloves garlic,
• all-purpose flour
• chicken stock (or turkey or vegetable stock)
• 2 tbsp brandy (optional, but adds depth)
• fresh sage leaves
• bay leaves
• kosher salt
• fresh ground pepper
• dry white wine

What are Turkey Drippings?

Turkey drippings are all of the goodies at the bottom of your roasting pan after roasting a turkey. The drippings are made up of melted fat and any other bits and seasonings that have fallen off. And the drippings are where a ton of flavor is hiding!

You can Make the Base Ahead of Time

As I mentioned, you can make the base ahead of time so when you are cooking everything the day of, you have one less thing to worry about. Just complete steps 1-3 above and place the base in the fridge until you are ready to use it. You can warm it up in the saucepan before you add the drippings. So easy!

Tips to Make the Best Gravy Ever

• Get as much of those burnt on, black drippings off the bottom of your roasting pan as you can. Trust me, this is where the flavor is and once you stir it all up, all you will have is tasty gravy.
• A fat separator is a lifesaver. BUT, if you don’t have one, let the liquid sit for a few minutes and allow the fat to separate and rise to the top. Take a baster and suck the top layer off. If you don’t have a baster, use a spoon.
• Don’t worry if your gravy is a different color than you were expecting. The color depends on the herbs and spices you used when roasting your turkey.

Substitutions for This Turkey Gravy Recipe

• If you don’t have sage or bay leaves, you can use other herbs. Try fresh thyme or parsley instead.
• The alcohol in the brandy and wine cook out of the gravy before serving However, if you do not want to use one or both, you can leave them out. For the wine, just add another cup of stock instead.
• If you are looking to cut down on sodium, you can use low-sodium stock and watch the added salt

Need a good recipe for a Roasted Turkey?

I don’t think I am a turkey expert by any means. However, I have made my share of turkeys and have experimented with what is the easiest way to prep and cook a turkey. Check out my post- Perfect Dry Brined Roasted Turkey to find out how to make a juicy, brown, and delicious turkey.

Homemade Turkey Gravy from Drippings

This gravy recipe is pretty easy to make and really delicious! You need your turkey drippings so make sure you collect them all!

5 from 12 votes

Print Pin Rate

Prep Time: 10 minutes

Cook Time: 50 minutes

Cool Time: 1 hour

Total Time: 2 hours

Servings: 4 cups

Author: EmilyFabulous

Cook this on

Equipment

• fat separator
• medium-large saucepan
• fine mesh sieve

Ingredients

• 6 tablespoon unsalted butter
• 1 large onion, cut into strips
• 4-6 cloves garlic, peeled and halved
• 6 tablespoon flour
• 4 cups chicken stock (or vegetable or turkey stock)
• 2 tablespoon brandy (optional, but adds depth)
• 10 large fresh sage leaves
• 2 bay leaves
• kosher salt
• fresh ground pepper
• 1 cup dry white wine

Instructions

Gravy Base

• Place the butter in a med-large saucepan and melt over medium heat. Add the onion and garlic and sauté for 15 minutes, until the onion becomes nice and brown. Stir in the flour and continue to cook for one minute.
  
• Stir in the flour and continue to cook for one minute.
  
• Add the chicken stock, brandy, sage leaves, bay leaves, and 1 teaspoon of pepper and continue to stir (don't add salt yet because you want to see how salty your drippings are). Bring the mixture to a boil then lower the heat and simmer for 20 minutes, stirring occasionally.
  
• Remove the gravy base from the heat and allow it to cool for one hour. Strain the cooled mixture through a fine-mesh sieve and set it aside or in the refrigerator if making it ahead of time.
  
• If you are making the base ahead of time, cover the surface with plastic wrap to prevent a film from forming and refridgerate until you are ready to use
  

Dripping and Finishing Steps

• After your turkey has roasted, remove it from the roasting pan and allow it to rest. Pour the drippings from the roasting pan into a large saucepan. Use a spoon to scrape off as much of the cooked-on bits as you can (this is where the flavor is!) and also put them in the saucepan. Add the wine and stir over medium-high heat.
  
• Pour the prepared base into the saucepan stir until nice and thick. Taste to see if it needs any salt and pepper. Pour the gravy into a fat separator and allow the liquid to separate before putting it into a serving dish. This takes just a few minutes as it cools.
  
• Place the gravy in a serving bowl or gravy dish and enjoy!
  

Notes

• Store leftover gravy in a sealed container in the fridge for 3-4 days.
• You can make the base of the gravy ahead of time and keep it in the fridge until you are ready to go. I found this wasn’t really necessary because I had just the right amount of time to make everything while my turkey was resting. 
• Recipe inspired by Ina Garten.

Any nutrition calculations are only estimates using online calculators. Please verify using your own data.

Recipes that work perfectly for Leftover Turkey

All of these recipes can be used with leftover turkey!! Don’t have Thanksgiving dinner over and over again, use that turkey and make a completely different and delicious meal!

• Easy Turkey Leftover Recipes. This one is easy because it’s all right there for you.
• Air Fryer Taquitos. Just swap out the meat with leftover turkey and dinner is served.
• Mexican Pizza Recipe. You will see a pattern here in my leftover recipes and turkey in Mexican dishes is yummy!
• Simple Whole Roasted Chicken. Just sub out turkey wherever you see chicken. Done and done.
• Baked Chile Rellenos. Um, did I mention Mexican dishes are good with turkey??

Did you Make this Homemade Turkey Gravy?

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