It is not hard to make good gravy but it can be easy to mess it up. One time many years ago before I had gone to culinary school, I went to Florida to spend Thanksgiving with my Aunt Signe. She lived in Fort Lauderdale at the time with her housemate John and I flew down there to visit whenever I could. I even seriously thought about moving down there at one point, but I decided to stay in WI to be closer to my Dad. I have never looked back on that decision.
That Thanksgiving, I cooked everything for our meal. I made turkey, dressing, mashed potatoes, sweet potatoes, cranberries, and the rest of the trimmings associated with what was our classic family Thanksgiving meal. Because I was making everything, Signe and John decided that they would make the gravy. I protested a bit as I recall, but eventually acquiesced and let them make the gravy. The meal was excellent… except for the gravy–which was goopey, greasy and pretty much just awful. Thankfully, I usually don’t have to be the one to bring up this story, because they will do it first.
Most people appreciate advice for making not only good gravy, but also for making other dependably delicious Thanksgiving dishes. It can help to take the stress out of holiday cooking. And I have been teaching Thanksgiving menu classes for many years now. There are lots of ways to take the stress out of making the full meal (besides having someone else do it). Please check out some of my other Thanksgiving-related blogs (BadgerChefTalk) for some of my culinary (and other) tips.
One of my favorite recipes is Do-Ahead Gravy. You can make it days, weeks or even a month ahead of time and simply freeze it. I have the exact recipe and method below, but it begins with a mixture of equal parts butter or margarine and flour cooked in a sauce pot until smooth. The French call this a roux. Then chicken, turkey or even vegetable stock is slowly added while whisking. The mixture is whisked until the roux has blended into the stock, then brought to a boil, and cooked until thick. Adding a little salt and pepper while cooking is a good idea but you don’t want to add too much salt as more will be added later. I like to make sure to have the sauce a little thick because you can always thin it out, but it is harder to thicken it at the last minute–which kind of defeats the purpose of making it ahead.
When your gravy base is nice and smooth and thick, you can cool it and store it until you are ready to reheat it. If you don’t have a lot of stove space available a great way to reheat the gravy is in a crockpot. You should reheat the gravy close to when the turkey comes out of the oven so that it will be ready for the final step. All of those wonderful pan drippings and scrapings will be waiting in the roasting pan for you. That’s your secret ingredient to add to your pre-prepared gravy to make it awesome!
Once you take the turkey out of the roasting pan, remove all of the drippings and scrapings and place them in a measuring cup. Remove as much fat as you wish to from the drippings, and then add them to the now hot pre-made gravy. If you seasoned your turkey well, you shouldn’t have to add much more salt and pepper, but check to see if you need to anyway. (Remember: Like thinning/thickening, you can always add more salt and pepper, but you can’t take them out.) Make sure the gravy is piping hot just before you serve it!
Do-Ahead Gravy
4 tablespoons butter or margarine
½ cup all-purpose flour
3 cups turkey, chicken or vegetable stock
Salt and pepper to taste
½-1 cup of pan drippings
Method: Put the butter and flour in a sauce pot. Over medium-low heat cook the mixture while stirring, until it is thick, smooth and bubbly. Add a half-cup of the stock and stir until smooth, then continue adding the stock while stirring. This will help keep lumps from forming. If lumps do form, simply strain them out by forcing them through a wire mesh strainer. Bring the mixture to a boil, then reduce the heat to a simmer and cook 10-15 minutes until nicely thickened, stirring occasionally. It should be thick. Hold if desired at this point – or cool or freeze for later use – and then reheat when ready to use. Add the turkey drippings and bring to a boil. Season if necessary with salt and pepper. Serve piping hot.
Chef Joel
(Revised Nov 2025. Originally posted Nov 2018)