The BEST Turkey Gravy recipe to complete your turkey feast! For your turkey, veggies, mashed potatoesand everything in between!
Plus, my cheeky tip for how todarken gravy to make it a beautiful deep brown colour, as well as how to make gluten-free gravy. This turkey gravy recipe is for oven roasted turkey OR slow cooker turkey!
Turkey gravy recipe
When it comes to turkey, there are those in the Cranberry Sauce camp, and those in the gravy camp.Me – I’ve got a foot in both camps.
There’s nothing quite like the combination of turkey with sweet-tart cranberry sauce.But on the other hand, gravy and I arevery good friends. You’d be hard pressed to find a roast on this site that doesn’t come with a gravy recipe!!
I have a regular “formula” I use for all my gravies which I also apply to turkey gravy:
How to make Turkey Gravy
Use 1.5 tbsp pan drippings or butter plus 1.5 tbsp flour for every 1 cup of broth/stock. Simmer until thickened, season to taste. Strain if required then serve.
Oven Roasted VS Slow Cooker
The best way to make turkey gravy depends on how you cooked your turkey.
Roasted turkey will have pan drippings which provides the flavour base for the turkey gravy. This method requires broth/stock to make gravy; and
Slow cooker turkey doesnot have pan drippings. Instead, the juices left in the slow cooker after cooking the turkey isused as the stock/broth for the gravy. Here are slow cooker turkey recipes I’ve shared: Classic Juicy Slow Cooker Turkey Breastand Slow Cooker Garlic Herb Turkey Breast.
1. Turkey gravy recipe – for OVEN ROASTED Turkey
This is how I make gravy forroastedturkey. I almost always place garlic and onion in the base of the pan as this adds terrific extra flavour to the turkey gravy. I also usually include a bunch of herbs – whatever I’m using in the turkey also goes in the pan.
Next, it’s important to add some kind of liquid into the pan, otherwise you’ll end up with a burnt mess under the turkey. I use 1.5 to 2 cups of white wine or water. I do not use chicken or turkey broth because I use broth later when making the gravy. If you use it both in the panand when making the gravy, the savoury flavour of the gravy is too concentrated.
Proceed to roast the turkey per the recipe.Once cooked, remove the turkey and the liquid and fat left in the pan is the flavour base for the gravy – this is called drippings.
I make the gravyin the roasting panas this ensures that none of the flavour from the drippings is wasted. It’s ideal to use a double burner but even a single burner stove is fine (which is what I use in the recipe video).
We only need 2 to 3 tablespoons of fat from the pan drippings to make gravy. With fattier cuts of meat, like roast lamb and pork, you usually need to scoop off excess fat from the drippings otherwise the gravy is too greasy. You don’t need to do this with turkey because it’s not as fatty.
Leave the onion and garlic in the pan, we’re going to extract all the flavour out of it later when we strain the gravy.
Add flour and mix, then add chicken or turkey broth. Simmer to thicken, season to taste with pepper.
Once the gravy has thickened to your taste – remember that it will thicken as it cools – strain it into a bowl then pour into a jug for serving.Tip: Keep it warm in a thermos or similar! Saves having to reheat and also prevents skin forming on top.
How to make gluten free gravy
To make gravy gluten free, skip the flour and add a cornflour / cornstarch slurry. Use:
- 2 tsp of cornflour mixed with 2 tsp water for every 1 tbsp of flour called for in a gravy recipe; or
- 2 tsp of cornflour mixed with 2 tsp water for every 1 cup of liquid used in a gravy;
Add the cornflour slurry into the liquid then simmer until thickened to taste.
2. Turkey Gravy recipe – for SLOW COOKER turkey
Here are slow cooker turkey recipes I’ve shared: Classic Juicy Slow Cooker Turkey Breastand Slow Cooker Garlic Herb Turkey Breast.
The steps depicted above for making gravy using pan drippings is the classic way to make gravy. Making gravy for slow cooker turkey is different because we do not have a pan of browned pan drippings to use as the starting point.
Instead, I eitherskim fat offthe strained slow cooker liquidsOR use butter as the starting point (if there’s not enough fat in the liquids).
Then mix in flour and use the slow cooker juices as the broth for the gravy.
How to darken gravy
Because we don’t get caramelisation in slow cookers, Slow Cooker turkey gravy is paleunless you use a gravy darkener of some sort. The taste is great, it’s just a visual thing that bothers some people (like me!).
You can buy gravy darkeners, but my cheeky tip to darken gravy as well as add seasoning is to usedark soy sauce. I know what you’re thinking – “that’s so Asian!!” 😂And sure, I thought of this because I know Asian condiments well.
But it’s 100% effective. It darkens the gravy as well asseasons it but itdoes not make it taste Asiany!Soy sauce nowadays is used as a means to add salt and flavour into many non-Asian recipes. It’s a better version of salt because it has moreumami (savouriness)than salt.
Try it – you’ll be converted for life!
Alternative: Worcestershire sauce can also be used but approach with caution because the flavour can overwhelm. You won’t achieve the same dark brown colour (or if you do, the gravy flavour will be dominated by Worcestershire sauce).
Here’s a comparison of the two gravies. On the left is thegravy forJuicy Roast Turkey made using the pan drippings. A natural deep brown colour.
And on the right isthe gravy from the Slow Cooker Garlic Herb Turkey Breast I shared recently.
Both are delicious!
While the two methods are different, both yield an intensely savoury, can’t-stop-mopping-it-up delicious gravy that you’ll want to pour overeverything!
Enjoy! – Nagi x
PS All my turkey recipes come with a gravy recipe, but in case you’re wanting to browse, here’s a list of them. 🙂
TURKEY RECIPES
- Juicy Roast Turkey: the most practical way to brine a whole turkey AND you can do it while it’s still defrosting
- GARLIC HERB Butter Slow Cooker Turkey Breast – the bursting with garlic herb flavours!
- Garlic Herb Butter ROAST Turkey Breast – the oven roasted version of the above
- Classic JUICY Slow Cooker Turkey Breast – the original, a huge reader favourite!
- One Pan Cajun Roast Turkey Breast and Dressing: Epic reader recipe! Cajun rubbed turkey baked in the same pan as a fabulous sausage dressing (stuffing).
Turkey Gravy recipe
WATCH HOW TO MAKE IT
Video tutorial for how to make turkey gravy forROASTED Turkey(see below for SLOW COOKER turkey):
Video tutorial for how to make turkey gravy forSLOW COOKER Turkey:
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Turkey Gravy – for ROASTED Turkey
Author: Nagi
Prep: 5 minutes mins
Cook: 10 minutes mins
Total: 15 minutes mins
Sauce
5 from 8 votes
Servings4 cups (serves 12)
Tap or hover to scale
Recipe video above. This is a recipe for how to make gravy for turkey that's been roasted so you have pan drippings to use as the base for gravy (ie the juices and oil in the base of the pan when the turkey is finished cooking).
See separate recipe below for SLOW COOKER turkey (different method).
This recipe assumes a WHOLE Roasted Turkey to 6 kg / 8 – 12lb. If yours is larger, scale recipe up (see Note 1 for quantity) If you roasted breast, you won't have much pan drippings (because it's pretty lean) so use the Slow Cooker turkey gravy recipe.
This gravy is outrageously delicious so make plenty! Freezes for 3 months.
Ingredients
- 6 tbsp drippings in turkey roasting pan (Note 2)
- 6 tbsp flour , plain / all purpose
- 4 cups chicken broth / stock , low sodium
- Salt and pepper
Instructions
Place the roasting pan on the stove over medium heat. Single burner is fine, but ideal if it fits across two. Leave garlic, onion etc and other flavourings things in the pan (Note 1)
When it starts sizzling/bubbling, add flour. Cook for 1 minute, stirring constantly.
Gradually pour the liquid in, mixing constantly. Once it’s all in, it should be lump free. If not, use a whisk – whisk around the onion etc.
Simmer until it thickens to taste – gravy will thicken more as it cools. Adjust salt and pepper to taste right at the end.
Strain into a bowl, pressing the juices out of the onion, garlic etc. then discard them.
Pour gravy into jug and serve with turkey. Tip: To keep gravy warm, store in a thermos!
Recipe Notes:
1. QUANTITY: I make 1/4 to 1/3 cup of gravy per person. Use the recipe scaler to scale the recipe up for down.
2. DRIPPINGSare the fat (and a bit of juices) in the pan after roasting meat. You need 1 1/2 tbsp drippings and 1 1/2 tbsp flour for every 1 cup of broth to make gravy. If you do not have 6 tbsp of drippings from a 6 kg / 8 – 12lb whole turkey, top up with melted butter. If your turkey was smaller or you want to make less gravy, use the recipe scaler (click servings and slide down).
I always roast my meats with onion and garlic in the pan because it caramelises and adds terrific flavour to the gravy. Leave them IN to make gravy. Remove turkey and loosely cover with foil to rest per the turkey recipe you are using. Meanwhile, make the gravy.
IMPORTANT: Ensure that the recipe you are using calls for at least 1.5 cups of liquid in the turkey roasting pan at the beginning of the roasting time (even just water). Otherwise, you’ll end up with a burnt mess under the turkey which cannot be used for gravy – makes it bitter.
3. GLUTEN FREE: Skip flour. Add 2 tsp cornflour/cornstarch mixed with splash of water for every 1 cup of broth used (“cornflourslurry”) For 4 cups broth, use 8 tsp of cornflour. Pourbroth into pan, add slurry, mix. As it heats up, it will thicken.
4. TROUBLESHOOTING:
– Gravy is a pale colour: means the drippings weren’t caramelised enough. Add a touch of dark soy sauce or a very small amount of Worcestershire sauce.
– Too salty: Can happen if pan drippings were excessively salty (ie too much salt used in roast turkey recipe), if you use full salt broth instead of low sodium etc. To fix, melt 1.5 tbsp / 20g unsalted butter (or even oil), mix in 1.5 tbsp flour, cook 1 min, add 1 cup water. Mix until lump free, then add into gravy. Note: If you use my Juicy Roast Turkey recipe, the gravy will not be too salty!
– Too thin: cook more to reduce down to thicken.
– Too thick: Add water.
– My rules of thumb:
1.5 tbsp flour per 1 cup liquid
3 tbsp flour per 2 cups of liquid
4 tbsp = 2.5 cups liquid
5 tbsp = 4 cups liquid
5. Storage – gravy will keep for 5 days in the fridge or freezer for 3 months. It firms up like jelly, but will thin about when reheated.
Keywords: Turkey Gravy
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Turkey Gravy for SLOW COOKER Turkey
Author: Nagi
Prep: 5 minutes mins
Cook: 10 minutes mins
Total: 15 minutes mins
Sauce
5 from 8 votes
Servings8
Tap or hover to scale
Recipe video above. Turkey gravy for turkey made in a slow cooker has to be made different to roasted turkey because we don't have pan drippings to work with (ie the juices in the bottom of the roasting pan once the turkey is cooked). Just as delicious, just different steps!
See above for gravy for ROAST turkey.
This recipe makes 2 cups of gravy. Allow 1/4 to 1/3 cups per person.
Ingredients
Broth for Gravy:
- All juices from slow cooker
- Turkey or chicken broth/stock – for topping up (low sodium),
Gravy:
- 2 cups Broth for Gravy
- 50g / 4 tbsp unsalted butter OR skim fat off surface of slow cooker juices (Note 1)
- 1/4 cup flour , plain/all purpose
- 1/4 tsp dark soy sauce or store bought gravy colouring (Note 1)
- Salt and pepper
Instructions
Broth for Gravy:
Strain all the juices from the slow cooker into a bowl. If you have less than 2 cups (500ml), top up with store bought broth (chicken or turkey). I have never had to do this.
If you have more, use all the slow cooker juices (just needs to reduce longer to thicken).
Turkey Gravy:
Melt butter in a large saucepan over medium heat. Add flour and cook for 1 minute.
Slow add broth, stirring constantly. Mix until lump free – switch to whisk if required.
Simmer for a few minutes until it thickens to desired consistency.
Add dark soy sauce (or gravy darkener) to achieve desired colour without affecting taste. Start with the amount per ingredients, then add more if you want to darken.
Add salt and pepper to taste.
Pour into jug and serve. TIP: Keep gravy warm in a thermos until required.
Recipe Notes:
1. SKIM FAT off slow cooker juices – you can only do this for recipes that use quite a lot of butter in the recipe (such as this Garlic Herb Butter Slow Cooker Turkey Breast) as turkey breast itself is too lean to produce enough fat to do this.
2. DARK SOY SAUCE is how I darken and season the gravy. It has more flavour than just plain salt. It does NOT make it taste Asiany! Can be skipped but gravy will be a pale colour. Alternative – buy a gravy darkener or a touch of Worcestershire. Be careful with Worcestershire – has a strong flavour.
3. Storage – gravy will keep for 5 days in the fridge or freezer for 3 months. It firms up like jelly, but will thin about when reheated.
Keywords: Gravy for Turkey
Did you make this recipe?I love hearing how you went with my recipes! Tag me on Instagram at @recipe_tin.
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