I like to make as much of our Thanksgiving meal ahead of time as I can. And I like to have a lot of gravy for my turkey, dressing, and mashed potatoes. And I like to save some for sopping with rolls, too.
This holiday make-ahead gravy came out fantastic. I ‘fry’ my turkey in my Char-Broil The Big Easy TRU-Infrared Oil-less Turkey Fryer. I don’t usually get a lot of drippings to make a lot of gravy. This recipe saves the day.
This Gravy Is More Than Worth The Effort
Note that this recipe for holiday make-ahead gravy consists of two parts. In the first, you’ll make 8 or so cups of turkey stock using roasted turkey wings (you can also use smoked turkey wings). You can skip this step if you can find turkey stock in the store. The second step uses SOME of the stock to make the gravy. You’ll have leftover stock unless you double or even triple the gravy ingredients (which will make a HUGE batch of gravy!).
Oh, and if you have cats or dogs, they’ll love the turkey meat that is left from making the stock. If you need an easy chicken gravy recipe instead, use my favorite.
Don’t use this gravy on good ole turkey and stuffing and mashed potatoes. It’s great as a dip for turkey and stuffing egg rolls too.
Thanksgiving Make-Ahead Gravy
Ingredients
For the stock
- 4 turkey wings
- 4 ribs celery
- 1 onion quartered
- 4 cloves garlic lightly smashed
- 10 whole peppercorns
- 2 bay leaves
For the gravy
- 2-3 cups turkey stock, from above you’ll get about 8 cups of stock, so triple the gravy recipe if you want to use it all for gravy
- 6 tablespoons unsalted butter
- 6 tablespoons all-purpose flour
- 1 teaspoon apple cider vinegar
- ½ cup whole milk more or less
Instructions
For the turkey stock
- Preheat oven to 375 F.
- Place the wings, celery, onion and garlic in a roasting pan. Place in oven and roast for 2 hours.
- Place roasting pan on a burner on the stove (if you don’t have room, you can transfer the contents to a large stockpot).
- Add 8 cups of water, the peppercorns and bay leaves. Bring to a boil, then reduce to a simmer and cook for 1 hour.
- Remove turkey and vegetables. Strain the resulting stock into a large resealable container.
- Refrigerate for at least 8 hours. Skim off any fat.
For the gravy
- Melt butter in a large pot or Dutch oven over medium-high heat.
- Whisk in the flour. Cook, whisking constantly, until golden in color.
- Slowly pour in 2-3 cups of the stock, a little at a time, whisking constantly.
- Add in the vinegar. Season with salt and pepper, to taste.
- Whisk in some of the milk. Taste and add more if you wish, but don’t make the gravy too thin. Let simmer until the desired thickness is achieved. Add more milk if it gets too thick.
Nutrition
Nutritional values are approximate.
