Make-Ahead Gravy
Updated Dec. 16, 2024
- Total Time
- 20 minutes
- Rating
- Comments
- Read comments
Advertisement
Ingredients
- 1stick butter
- ½cup chopped onion
- ½cup flour
- Salt and pepper
- 4 to 5cups rich stock, warmed
- Turkey drippings and giblets (optional)
Nutritional analysis per serving (8 servings)
184 calories; 13 grams fat; 8 grams saturated fat; 0 grams trans fat; 4 grams monounsaturated fat; 1 gram polyunsaturated fat; 12 grams carbohydrates; 1 gram dietary fiber; 3 grams sugars; 4 grams protein; 389 milligrams sodium
Note: The information shown is Edamam’s estimate based on available ingredients and preparation. It should not be considered a substitute for a professional nutritionist’s advice.
Powered by
Preparation
- Step 1
Melt butter in a medium saucepan over medium heat, then add onions. Cook, stirring occasionally, until onions are translucent, about 5 minutes. Sprinkle the flour on the onions, stirring constantly, and cook until flour is golden to brown. Adjust heat so mixture does not burn.
- Step 2
Gradually whisk in 4 cups stock until mixture thickens and is smooth. If it is too thick, add liquid. Cool, cover and chill.
- Step 3
When ready to serve, reheat mixture over low heat, stirring. Scrape bottom of turkey pan and add drippings or giblets to gravy. Taste and adjust seasoning, then serve.
Private Notes
Comments
When you say "stock" what do you mean? Can you use store bought chicken stock?
After reheating the gravy, consider transferring it to a thermos until you’re ready to serve. This will free-up your stove, tidy up your kitchen, and keep the gravy piping hot. This also makes it easier to replenish the gravy boat.
If you don’t want to strain the gravy but don’t want large pieces of onion, try this technique I learned from my Eritrean foster-daughter. Sweat the onions down in a hot pan with NO FAT. They will release all of their water. Once they have begun to brown, add the butter and proceed with the recipe as written. The onions will ‘melt’ into the gravy and thicken it somewhat.
This recipe is a great find! I do skip the first step with onions. Ive been making delicious last minute gravy for years. The flavor is sooo worth it but it’s stressful. I used this recipe and allowed it to cook down to make it thicker than desired so there would be room on the day of to add pan drippings and potato water. I used a 1:1 gluten-free flour out of necessity. I also used homemade chicken stock. Add drippings and potato water for desired thickness. A new holiday staple!
I stress about making things the day of Thanksgiving, and so a make-ahead gravy is such a great way to prep on another day. Tip: Use the backbone (after spatchcocking), neck, and giblets to make a stock when you get your turkey. Use that to make the gravy. Then make stock with the carcass after Thanksgiving and freeze it for another time. I tend to have a lot of frozen homemade turkey stock stored in 2-cup increments so that I never have to worry about the stock for this gravy.
I do make TURKEY STOCK ahead. I only roast turkey breast (faster) which is still attached to the carcass. I separate the breast and dry brine. The rest into a Dutch oven with LS can turkey or chicken BROTH and onions, carrots, celery, herbs, spice and then into the oven @200F for the night. Come morn, I strain the stock and refrigerate to separate fat. It's then simple to cook gravy from proper amount of turkey fat, flour, and turkey stock while breasts are roasting and I'm cutting up potatoes.