No holiday dinner is complete without Old Fashioned Turkey Gravy like Grandma used to make.  The only big secret I can share with you about making gravy is the turkey drippings make the best gravy ever. All the yummy flavors used to season the turkey will be incorporated into the drippings and make this gravy rich and savory. Growing up I thought my Mother had special powers in making the Thanksgiving gravy , it was so delicious and dreamy. Turns out it is pretty simple and now my kids think I have the same powers.  They don’t know how quick and simple this really is , from beginning to end it takes about 15 minutes.

Ingredients needed for an Old Fashioned Turkey Gravy

• 3-4 cups of turkey drippings from a roasted turkey. If you don’t have enough stir in chicken broth and deglaze the warm roasting pan
• Butter and Flour to make a roux
• Salt and Pepper and extra herbs if your turkey wasn’t seasoned well

Do I really need Turkey drippings?

Yes and no…

A turkey gravy can be made without the drippings. There are seasoning packets and even roasted turkey base that be be mixed with chicken broth and a gravy be made from all of these things. Is it acceptable ? Yes ..Is it as good? NO

Turkey drippings are pure gravy gold and this is why holiday turkey gravy is always so good and is so special. I always say this gravy is “plate lickin good” .

Let’s Make some gravy!

• If it doesn’t look like you have 3-4 cups of turkey drippings in your roasting pan pour chicken broth in there and deglaze the pan
• Pour warm turkey drippings into a large measuring cup or bowl and skim the fat off of it
• In a sauce pan on medium to high heat melt the butter
• Once the butter is melted add the flour to make a basic light roux stirring with a flat spatula
• Once the roux is bubbling slowly add the turkey drippings whisking with a wire whisk to prevent lumps
• Once all the drippings are added and the lumps are out bring the mixture up to a simmer and add the seasonings
• Allow the gravy to cook and thicken up
• Serve Warm

Old Fashioned Turkey Gravy

No holiday dinner is complete without Old Fashioned Turkey Gravy like grandma used to make. This thick creamy gravy is perfect poured on everything.

3.95 from 18 votes

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Ingredients

  

• 4 Tablespoon Butter
• 1/4 cup all purpose flour
• 3-4 cups Turkey Drippings * see notes
• 1/2 teaspoon Salt
• 1/4 teaspoon Pepper
• 1/2 teaspoon Onion Powder
• Pinch of Fresh chopped parsley and thyme optional

Instructions

 

• If it doesn't look like you have 3-4 cups of turkey drippings in your roasting pan pour chicken broth in there and deglaze the pan
• Pour warm turkey drippings into a large measuring cup or bowl and skim the fat off of it
• In a sauce pan on medium to high heat melt the butter
• Once the butter is melted add the flour to make a basic light roux stirring with a flat spatula
• Once the roux is bubbling slowly add the turkey drippings whisking with a wire whisk to prevent lumps
• Once all the drippings are added and the lumps are out bring the mixture up to a simmer and add the seasonings
• Allow the gravy to cook and thicken up
• Serve warm

Notes

I usually have enough drippings from  14-16  pound turkey in the bottom of the roasting pan . After removing you turkey from the roasting pan and there isn\'t enough dripping you can always  deglaze the pan to get 3-4 cups of drippings. 

This recipe should yield 3-4 cups of gravy , if the gravy is too thick it can be thinned with chicken broth . It is easy to thin it but much harder to thicken , if you make it too thin it will have to be cooked longer thicken it back up 

Pour a cup of water in the bottom of your pan when roasting your turkey for best results 

If you don\'t bake a turkey here are some suggestions to make a turkey broth. Sometimes you can buy turkey legs or wings, boil those along with the neck to make a broth.

Another solution is Better Than make a roasted turkey base that taste great , make a broth using that. 

Tried this recipe?Let us know how it was!