Turkey Gravy Recipe
This turkey gravy is incredibly flavorful and the best I have ever tried (no exaggeration). The folks at your holiday table will remember it. I must have refilled my plate with mashed potatoes three times just to have more of the gravy. It’s also really easy to achieve if you’re making a Turkey!
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Click here for the turkey recipe/tutorial. After roasting a turkey for several hours, you’ll be left with drippings that encompass all of the wonderful flavors and seasonings you’ve added to your bird. You just can’t replicate this homemade gravy with a store-bought powdered or canned mixture. Those pale in comparison. Once you try this, you’ll never toss those turkey drippings again; liquid gold, my friends. Liquid gold.
Ingredients for the Best Thanksgiving Turkey Gravy:
3 Tbsp flour
3 Tbsp fat drippings from roasted turkey
2 cups turkey drippings, skimmed of fat (add water or broth if needed to make 2 cups)
1/4 to 1/2 cup milk
Salt and pepper to taste
How to make Turkey Gravy:
1. Once your Thanksgiving turkey has been transferred from the roasting pan and is resting, make your turkey gravy. Strain all drippings from the turkey pan through a fine mesh sieve into a large measuring cup. Discard anything you catch in the sieve. Let drippings in the measuring cup rest for a minute, the fat will float to the top and broth will sink to the bottom.
2. Skim off 3 Tbsp of fat and transfer into a medium sauce pan (skim off and discard excess fat left in the measuring cup, making sure to keep the broth underneath). Set sauce pan over medium heat. Once oil is starting to sizzle, whisk in 3 Tbsp flour and stir until well combined. Continue whisking until mixture is starting to turn a light golden brown.
3. Gradually pour remaining broth from drippings into your saucepan, whisking constantly. You should have about 2 cups of drippings left in the measuring cup after fat is removed. Add more water or broth if needed to make 2 cups (I had to add 1/3 cup water). Bring to a light boil, whisking constantly.
4. Add 1/4 to 1/2 cup milk, or add it to taste and continue to simmer 5 min. Season with salt and pepper to taste if needed (mine was plenty flavorful without it). Remove from heat, cover with lid and keep warm until ready to serve, then transfer gravy to a gravy boat. It will thicken slightly as it cools. Pour over sliced turkey and mashed potatoes. It’s truly wonderful.
Turkey Gravy Recipe
Ingredients
- 3 Tbsp flour
- 3 Tbsp fat drippings from roasted turkey
- 2 cups turkey drippings skimmed of fat (add water or broth if needed to make 2 cups)
- 1/4 to 1/2 cup milk
- Salt and pepper to taste
Instructions
-
Once your Thanksgiving turkey has been transferred from the roasting pan and is resting, make your turkey gravy. Strain all drippings from the turkey pan through a fine mesh sieve into a large measuring cup. Discard anything you catch in the sieve. Let drippings in the measuring cup rest for a minute, the fat will float to the top and broth will sink to the bottom.
-
Skim off 3 Tbsp of fat and transfer into a medium sauce pan (skim off and discard excess fat left in the measuring cup, making sure to keep the broth underneath). Set sauce pan over medium heat. Once oil is starting to sizzle, whisk in 3 Tbsp flour and stir until well combined. Continue whisking until mixture is starting to turn a light golden brown.
-
Gradually pour remaining broth from drippings into your saucepan, whisking constantly. You should have about 2 cups of drippings left in the measuring cup after fat is removed. Add more water or broth if needed to make 2 cups (I had to add 1/3 cup water). Bring to a light boil, whisking constantly.
-
Add 1/4 to 1/2 cup milk, or add it to taste and continue to simmer 5 min. Season with salt and pepper to taste if needed (mine was plenty flavorful without it). Remove from heat, cover with lid and keep warm until ready to serve, then transfer gravy to a gravy boat. It will thicken slightly as it cools. Pour over sliced turkey and mashed potatoes. It's truly wonderful.
P.S. Thanks for stopping by my corner of the web, commenting, keeping in touch on Facebook and Instagram and sharing my recipes with the people you love. I just appreciate you so much. This blog would not be the same without you.
Loads of Love,
-Natasha
natashaskitchen
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Hi! Your ingredient list does not call for ‘oil’… Do you mean the skimmed fat?
Hi Shannon, I had about 3 Tbsp of oil which is fat drippings, skimmed off from the turkey. The turkey recipe did have oil in the recipe 🙂
The gravy turned out absolutely delicious 😋. You are the best! Thanks!
Awww that’s the best! Thank you so much for sharing that with me :). I’m all smiles!
Your turkey recipe is great. I made it for Thanksgiving last year and again this year. So moist and delicious. The gravy is good too but I had the same problem this year as last. First, there’s not much fat and it doesn’t ever “set” so it’s difficult to skim it off the top. Second, I only get about 1/2 cup of usable drippings so most of what I’m using is broth. Not sure what I’m doing wrong. It’s still really good.
I’m happy you enjoyed that Katherine. Did you alter anything in the recipe? Was there anything else in the pan absorbing the drippings? Also, how big was your turkey?
Love all your receipts. Thank you for making it look so fun.
Thank you for that wonderful feedback! I hope you love the turkey gravy recipe and have a happy Thanksgiving!
SAVE 1-2 cups of the potato water and add to the gravy (instead of regular tap water or broth!!). The Potato water is filled with goodness!
Thank you for sharing that with us!
Can you use low fat milk or does whole milk work better?
Hi Kathy, lowfat milk will work 🙂
Great recipe – thanks for sharing!
My pleasure!! Thank you for the great review!
I Love gravy, just gimme a big bowl, this looks so yummy, but i have never heard of anyone using milk in their Turkey Gravy. when i was a kid, my Grams always just took the turkey out of the pan and she would bring the juices up to a boil on the stove and just added the flour/water slurry straight to the pan, and it was always good, the first time i made a turkey i did it her way, but then each time after that it never turned out right. this year i want to make my gravy the proper way, i even just bought a fat seperater just for this reason. i always add some water with butter to the pan that my turkey will cook in, so i can have enough juices for extra gravy. i think i will try this recipe this year. every year i try to make it better than the year before. now i am guessing using the milk in this gravy as opposed to water, the milk makes it richer? am i right?
Yes! It makes it rich and creamy! I hope you love it!!
Never made gravy or turkey before. Used both of your recipes and they turned out beautiful. My father in law who is American said that he has been eating gravy all his life but never had a better tasting one. He did end up having more potatoes just to have more gravy. 😁 thank you for the awesome recipe!!!! Вкуснятина!!!
You’re welcome Nastia! I’m happy to hear the recipe is so well liked! Thanks for sharing your excellent review with other readers!
How much oil did you use?
Tamara I used 3 Tbsp of oil which is fat drippings, skimmed off from the turkey.
Hello Natasha, I was planning on making a mushroom gravy for turkey and the mashed potatoes until i saw this recipe, and now I’m thinking of doing this, but can I still add mushrooms? have you tried that before? (I’ve never made gravy before)
Hi Darya, I think that would still work to sauté the mushrooms on the side and then add them to the gravy.
This gravy is AMAZING!!!! It’s the best turkey gravy I have ever had.
I’m glad to hear how much you love the recipe Melissa! Thanks for sharing your fantastic review!
I would love to make this gravy for Thanksgiving but have many family members that are gluten free. Could I use cornstarch instead of flour and if so, how much would you recommend?
Thanks!
Normally you would use half of the amount of cornstarch instead of flour. I have not tested it in this recipe so let me know how it goes.
I’m planning to make this gravy for Thanksgiving this year. It sounds wonderful. My question is, can you double the recipe if you’re feeding a larger crowd?
Hi Dawn you can increase it only as much as you have pan drippings. You could add more broth to increase the overall amount but it will dilute the flavor a bit. It would still taste great but not as rich in flavor if you double it.
That makes sense. Thanks!
It was delicious. Best turkey I have ever made, including the gravy. Thank you for the recipe.
What a compliment! I’m glad you love the recipe! Thanks for sharing your excellent review Ellen!
I wanted to try this recipe but I was wondering if you can make it ahead of time? Like a couple days before?
Hi Callie, I like it best fresh but yes you could make it ahead of time, but when you reheat, be sure to reheat over low heat so it doesn’t separate and you may need to add a little more liquid if it gets too thick. Enjoy! 🙂
My husband and I tried your recipe this year instead of our traditional one and it turned out wonderful! I was nervous about trying something new but was really glad we did it had a lot more flavor and was very moist. Thanks for a great recipe!! I’m trying to give this a 5 star rating but its not letting me.
Sorry my comment was suppose to be about the roasted turkey and not the gravy. One note I found in making the gravy DO not add any additional salt there is enough in the drippings! Thanks again Natasha!
Thanks Marla!! I hope you had an awesome Thanksgiving 🙂
Thank you so much for the wonderful review!! I’m so happy you liked it! 🙂 What device are you using (iPhone, desktop, etc) – I’d like to try and figure out why it wouldn’t let you rate the recipe. Thanks again for the awesome review! 🙂
This turkey gravy was super easy to make and it was delicious! I did realize that it would’ve been a lot easier to make it if I had a fat separator. I ended up buying one for next time.
Hi Irina, it does help with a fat separator, but I usually just let it sit in a large measuring cup until the fat floats to the top, then I skim the excess fat off the top with a large spoon or small ladle. 🙂 I’m so happy you enjoyed the gravy!
I did use a small ladle to skim the fat off and that’s not hard to do. I just thought that using the fat separator would make it even quicker and easier. Plus, I love buying/using different kitchen gadgets😉
Ha ha, story of my life with kitchen gadgets! lol. 🙂
Is it thick or thin? Thx.
I would say it is in the middle, not too thick not too thin. If you wish for it to be thinner, it is easy to thin it out with adding more milk or broth.
I want to say thank you for the your recipe to making turkey gravy. I have tried and had no luck. The pictures exact measurements is what I neededed. I made two bowls of gravy 1with gibbets and 1 without. Thank you
You are most welcome! I’m so glad you enjoyed the recipe 🙂
In my cooking experiences…If you want all the goodness of your efforts, do not discard any of the occupants of the roast pan, whisk them right in. Simply a sad waste of superb flavours, especially if you roasted vegetables with the turkey/ chicken, add a bit of water, simmer, scraping off the hardened bits on bottom and don’t forget to scrape off the brown dried luscious coating on the sides of roasting pan (loaded with flavour). Makes a fantastic gravy every time. Milk? Never heard of using dairy in a gravy. I’ll try it just to see.
Sometimes when I roast a bird and don’t need gravy, I drain all liquids, separate the grease/oils in small containers or ice cube trays and freeze separately to use later for gravy (using above method), stir frys or add to my stock pot when simmering saved bones/carcasses for stocks or soup base. Save your foul greases in freezer especially DUCK fat, excellent to use to make hash browns with.
That’s a great idea to store the extra grease in ice cube trays! I love that and thank you for sharing!! The milk is optional but I do like that it gives it a creamier consistency :). Thank you for all the great tips!
I used a silicone spatula/scraper to carefully slide under the turkey skin. I saw it on another website and used. It worked great to separate the skin.
Also, I simmer the giblets in water w vegetables. I use that flavorful broth to add to all of the pan drippings. I’ve never used milk either.
Natasha, do you ever make gravy after roasting a chicken? I am considering roasted chicken for Thanksgiving, but am not sure if there will be enough drippings to make a gravy. Thank you.
Hi Oksana, I haven’t made a gravy out of chicken drippings but I think it could work. Get all you can from the chicken and add some chicken broth to make a good amount of gravy. So if you only get 1/4 cup of drippings, add 1 3/4 cups chicken broth then add salt and pepper to taste 🙂 I would use the same method listed for this turkey gravy. If you want it to have a creamier look and texture, you might use a little less broth and add a splash of cream or milk.
Funny, I just made this turkey gravy so I have gravy on my mind 🙂
hi natasha, am i able to add mushrooms and carrots and onions to this gravy like you did to your other gravy recipe?
Hi Nastya, you can if you wish but this gravy is very flavorful without those add-ins 🙂
For the first time in 27 years (when our daughter was born three days before Christmas) I took over cooking the turkey from my wife. In fact, I really haven’t cooked much. My wife is a great cook and I’ve been content to wash the dishes and occasionally assist.
This year, retired in Mexico, I volunteered to cook the Christmas turkey. I was a bit nervous but decided to follow your recipe, which I found online under “cooking a moist turkey.” Here in Mexico, many ingredients are hard to find but yours’ were very simple and the instructions were so straightforward…only had a little problem getting so much of the butter seasoning under the skin!
I cooked a 15 lb. bird for 10 of us. Wow! It was the best, most moist roast turkey any of us had tasted. I mean, I got resounding applause. There was heavy competition for the leftovers! I used your gravy recipe as well, but only added a drop of milk beacuse it was rich enough without it. Equally fantastic!
I guess I’m just not washing dishes any more!
I was so happy to read your comment this morning. Thank you so much for a wonderful and thoughtful review 🙂
I used a silicone spatula/scraper to carefully slide under the turkey skin. I saw it on another website and used. It worked great to separate the skin.
I made my turkey this way and was it ever GOOD. I will be doing this butter mixture from now on. I think it will be good on baked chicken, pork roast, chops etc. It was simply yummy! Going to use the drippings tomorrow for gravy on the leftovers. Sorry I did not take pictures but the bird was the most beautiful brown and the skin was crispy just like my husband likes it.
Thank you for such a nice review Cindy, I’m so glad you and the family liked it 😀 .
how long does this take to make?
and how do you keep your turkey warm while making the gravy?
my family wants to eat the turkey the minute it comes out of the oven. lol
Hi Anastasia, I’ve done tons of research on turkey making and all of the good sources say to rest your turkey after it comes out of the oven. Your turkey stays hot if you cover it with foil as I describe here: https://natashaskitchen.com/2014/11/06/juicy-roast-turkey-recipe/
The gravy only takes 10-15 minutes – it’s quick to make and so so delicious; definitely worth making :).
This gravy is soooo good. Made it last year and can not wait to make it again 😉 Few more days ! 😉
I can’t wait for it too. I think I look forward to the gravy the most every year 🙂 Happy Thanksgiving to you!
I FINALLY learned a fail proof way to make gravy!!! However I use a lot of creole spices in my marinade for the turkey, so I had to add a lot of milk n more flour to tone my spicy gravy down ha ha. So if you’re from the south n inject n rub your roasted turkey with spices add 2 more cups of milk and 3 more tbsp of flour:) NO SALT WAS NEEDED! Thank you again so much!!!! Happy holidays:)
A spicy gravy actually sounds pretty amazing! Thanks for sharing that Lynne! 🙂
Yes, I made it. Delicious.
Put it in a microwave to keep it warm and remembered about it after we were done with dinner and started to serve dessert. 🙁
Used Black Friday today to buy some vitamins for memory. :-)))
Oh no! What a bummer :(. I’ve done that before with side dishes and dessert where I just forgot to take them out of the fridge, plus there’s so much to think about on Thanksgiving, you just have to give yourself some slack :).
Looks perfect! I use the same recipe, except for the turkey fat – I replace it with butter.
So much of the fat is butter from the recipe. Isn’t home turkey the best!? 🙂
Hey, I didn’t even think about that lol For my turkey I don’t use much of the butter so that’s why I didn’t use it, but for this recipe, it totally makes sense!
Yeah this one sure had plenty of butter! 🙂 Good thing butter makes everything better 😉
Amazzzing Natasha! Your a great cook 🙂 liquid gold.. You made me laugh cuz the only other liquid gold I know is breastmilk lol! Sorry totally off topic!
Ha ha! 🙂 I think I remember one of the nurses saying that in the hospital when I had my son 5 years ago.
I just can’t wait for the holidays!