No turkey dinner is complete without this rich, savory sauce—it's what ties the whole meal together. But getting it just right can be tricky. How to make gravy that's sure to impress your guests? Try our Basic Turkey Gravy Recipe and use our smart tips to troubleshoot and fix the most common conundrums home cooks face when making gravy. Whether your gravy is bland, tastes like flour, is lumpy, too thin, too thick, or you don't have drippings, we have solutions.
Gravy is a highlight of any holiday meal—except when it falls short on depth and flavor. Luckily, we have a few simple solutions.
How to Fix It
Add a scoop of store-bought demi-glace (we like D'Artagnan's duck-and-veal demi-glace) for meaty richness, or a splash of soy sauce for an umami infusion.
If the gravy lacks oomph, adjust seasoning as necessary with kosher salt and freshly ground pepper. If you used canned stock instead of homemade, the gravy might not be as flavorful. Homemade stock, even made with chicken stock rather than turkey, will produce a superior gravy—so it's worth the effort.
Problem: Your Gravy Tastes Like Flour
Flour thickens your gravy, but if you don't allow enough time for the ingredients to come together, or if they're not combined properly, the end result can be disappointing—it can feel doughy, chalky, or taste like flour.
How to Fix it
How to make gravy that isn't reminiscent of dough? Make sure the flour has been cooked long enough: When flour is added to the pan drippings or butter, whisk constantly while the mixture cooks until it turns a deep golden brown and smells nutty. If you realize that your gravy tastes like flour when you're almost finished, turn up the heat to maintain a rapid simmer for several minutes; then thin it again with more stock or water if necessary.
While it may seem logical to add flour to stock that's been boiling on the stovetop, that can actually lead to a culinary mishap every home cook tries to avoid: lumpy gravy.
How to Fix It
If bumps appear no matter how well you whisk, it's probably because you've added flour directly to hot stock; starch granules swell unevenly in boiling liquid. Thankfully, there's an easy remedy. To save it, pour the sauce through a fine sieve.
How to Avoid This Issue Next Time
Start by mixing 2 cups of room-temperature stock with 1 tablespoon instant flour, such as Wondra (it's precooked and dried so it will dissolve easily). Then stir that mixture into the boiling stock.
Problem: Your Gravy is Too Thin
Gravy that lacks substance also detracts from the festive feast. Our French fix works wonders!
How to Fix It
Simmer the gravy over medium-high heat, allowing the liquid to reduce. If your gravy is still too thin, add a beurre manié (French for kneaded butter): Make a paste of equal parts flour and room-temperature unsalted butter, and add it a little at a time, whisking constantly, until the gravy thickens.
Problem: Your Gravy is Too Thick
Sludgy thick gravy is far from ideal. With a bit of patience and a smidge of stock, you can easily turn the situation around.
How to Fix It
Gradually whisk a little stock or water into the gravy until it reaches the desired consistency.
Problem: You Don't Have Drippings
If roasting a turkey is off the table this holiday, there's a simple solution for adding essential poultry flavor to your gravy.
How to Fix It
The liquid and juicy bits from the roasting pan form gravy's flavor base. If you're grilling or frying the bird this year, make drippings with a simple workaround: Roast chicken wings, and deglaze the pan with stock.
Watch our Kitchen Conundrums expert Thomas Joseph whip up a delicious gravy without drippings:
I only season my homemade gravy with salt and pepper, and it's delicious! If you want to add more spices, avoid anything with large pieces (such as dried rosemary) to keep gravy smooth. Thyme, onion powder, garlic powder, parsley, paprika, and oregano all taste great.
To make a good turkey gravy without drippings, you'll need to make a roux, or a combination of flour and fat that acts as a thickener for the gravy. Add a flavorful broth and some aromatics, and you've got yourself a Thanksgiving gravy that rivals gravy made from drippings.
Browning adds more flavor to the gravy and gets rid of the raw flour taste. You're basically making a roux. We find that a flour-based gravy holds up better and reheats better later, which is why we tend to prefer using flour over cornstarch to make gravy unless we have a guest who is eating gluten-free.
But if you have time to spare, add pan drippings from turkey, bacon or bacon drippings, caramelized vegetables (like onions, leeks, carrots and celery), herbs or garlic. You'll want to simmer the gravy with these additions for a good 20 minutes to pick up the additional flavors (longer, if possible).
If the gravy lacks oomph, adjust seasoning as necessary with kosher salt and freshly ground pepper. If you used canned stock instead of homemade, the gravy might not be as flavorful. Homemade stock, even made with chicken stock rather than turkey, will produce a superior gravy—so it's worth the effort.
Combine equal parts cornstarch and cold water. Stir together until smooth. Pour into your sauce and cook over medium heat, stirring continually, until the sauce reaches your desired consistency. Test the sauce with a spoon.
When looking for a healthier gravy alternative, seasoned yogurt is one of the best substitutes. Yogurt is a great source of calcium, a micronutrient essential for bone health and many other body functions. Plain yogurt also has a mild taste that lends itself well to a variety of dishes.
To collect the drippings, place a large drip pan filled with a liter of water, beer, wine, or juice underneath the turkey while it is cooking. You will want to make sure that they turkey is not sitting in the pan, you can put the pan below the grate or use a roast holder for the turkey.
Seasonings + Herbs: I use pantry staples like garlic powder, onion powder, cayenne, kosher salt, and white pepper. If you don't happen to have white pepper on hand, you can replace it with black pepper. I find that white pepper not only adds a more delicious flavor but it also makes the gravy look better!
Onion paste, cashew paste, cream, butter, melon seed paste, cornflour slurry and roux (equal parts of cooked flour and butter) are some of the commercially used thickening agents. Too much water may be the culprit.
To make your roux, use an equal amount of flour and fat, like butter or oil, and follow these steps: Melt the butter or heat the oil in a skillet or saucepan on medium heat. Add the flour and whisk into the fat until all lumps are gone.
If your gravy is looking watery, you can add a slurry (a mixture of cornstarch/flour and water) or a roux (a mixture of flour and butter) to thicken it up. Other pantry ingredients like Wondra (an instant flour), arrowroot, tapioca, and potato starch can also be used to thicken gravy to a deliciously silky consistency.
(The classic ratio for gravy is three:two:one, so 3 tablespoons flour, 2 tablespoons fat, and 1 cup of hot stock.) You can add other flavors to the mixture, swap out the stock for another liquid, or use cornstarch rather than flour to thicken your gravy.
If the gravy lacks oomph, adjust seasoning as necessary with kosher salt and freshly ground pepper. If you used canned stock instead of homemade, the gravy might not be as flavorful.
Introduction: My name is Allyn Kozey, I am a outstanding, colorful, adventurous, encouraging, zealous, tender, helpful person who loves writing and wants to share my knowledge and understanding with you.
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