Are you deep frying a turkey and wondering how to make gravy for it? You totally can! You don’t need the roast drippings to make delicious gravy. Learn how to make gravy without drippings here. Also, learn how the same technique can be used to make an easy make-ahead gravy so that your roast dinner prep is a breeze.
You can’t have Thanksgiving Dinner without gravy. You just can’t. And yet, there are times when gravy is hard to come by. For instance, if you deep fry your turkey, then you don’t get drippings from which to make that luscious turkey sauce.
Also, if you smoke or brine (or both) your turkey, the drippings can be really salty.
So how do you make gravy for a deep-fried turkey? Or in any of these cases.
Video: How To Make Gravy Without Drippings
What Are Drippings?
Before I continue, a quick sidebar in case you’re feeling lost and have no idea what drippings are.
Drippings are the liquid that accumulates at the bottom of the pan when you roast meat. That liquid cooks in the bottom of the pan along with the roast. It caramelizes and browns and takes on a really rich flavor.
Drippings are usually at the heart of gravy-making and you can see a classic gravy recipe made with drippings over here. You typically would make a paste out of some fat, like butter, mixed with flour. Then you’d slowly stir in those drippings.
So, the question is, what do you do if you want gravy but you don’t have drippings?
The Key To Making Gravy Without Drippings
To make gravy without drippings you need to find a substitute for that good browned meaty flavor. What you do is brown some aromatics like onions and garlic in lots of butter (for a vegan version of this recipe, head over here).
Other aromatics that you can add include are celery, carrot, and bell pepper. Mushrooms are also a great addition since they have such meaty flavor on their own.
Once the aromatic vegetables are browned, whisk in flour and brown that lightly as well. These two browning steps add a good meaty flavor and also get you that quintessential brown gravy color.
Finally, go in with a flavorful broth or stock. The full gravy recipe is found below.
Make-Ahead Gravy
Today’s gravy recipe is not only good for when you deep fry your turkey, or brine it. It’s also a useful way to make gravy ahead of time, anytime.
Why Use A Make-Ahead Gravy Recipe?
When cooking a roast dinner, there are a lot of last minute things that need to be done. Gravy-making is typically one of them. If you do a make-ahead gravy, you’ve just made those last minutes much easier.
But wait, what do you do when the roast comes out and there are delectable brown drippings in the pan? That’s easy! Drizzle them into your made-ahead gravy for extra-intense flavor!
How To Add Drippings To A Made-Ahead Gravy
To do a make-ahead gravy, just follow the instructions in the recipe below. Then, when your roast is done, pour the liquid from the roasting pan into a narrow jar or a fat separator (sometimes called a gravy separator, there are some pictures of this tool over here if you want to see what it looks like). Let it separate into fat and drippings. Pour off the fat and discard it (or save the fat for another use).
Add the liquid that remains after removing the fat to your gravy. You may not want to add all of it because that could thin out your gravy too much. So just add a little bit at a time. When it’s a texture that you like, taste and add more seasonings if needed.
What To Do If The Gravy Is Too Thin
If your gravy gets too thin, there are two things you can do.
- Simmer it for a while to evaporate some of the water away. Note that the side effect of doing this is that the flavor gets more concentrated. This is a good thing for many flavors but not for salt. As you evaporate away liquid, your gravy can get too salty. If this happens, you’ll likely want to add back in some liquid and then try (2) to thicken things up.
- Make a mixture of 1 tablespoon cornstarch and 2 tablespoons of water. Take your gravy off of the heat, add the cornstarch mixture, stir and then return it to a simmer.
If the gravy still isn’t thick enough, you can totally repeat this process several times. Just make sure that you return the gravy to a simmer in between each addition because that is when the gravy is at its thickest.
What To Do If The Gravy Is Too Thick
If your gravy is too thick, drizzle in some drippings, stock, broth, or water. Add just a little bit at at time, stir, and then taste. It is likely that you will need to add extra seasoning if you need to thin your gravy down. So do taste it and then season it more if needed.
What To Do If Your Gravy Doesn’t Taste Meaty
When you make a gravy without drippings it can sometimes lack the meaty flavor that is characteristic of gravy. There are a few things you can do to solve this problem.
- Add some bouillon. I really like Better Than Bouillon and Broth Concentrate. Just be careful since a lot of bouillons have a lot of salt. You risk making your gravy salty when trying to make it meaty.
- Add a few drops of Thai fish sauce. Don’t worry, your gravy won’t end up tasting like fish sauce or like Thai food. You won’t notice it at all. But it has this strong meaty flavor that can really boost a sauce.
- Add a few drops of soy sauce. It has some umami in it for sure, and color too, which can be a nice thing to add. But it can make gravy salty so be careful.
- Add a few drops of Worcestershire sauce. It has anchovies in it so it does that same umami-meaty thing we’re talking about. This one can also add some tang and sweetness so be careful here also).
- A bit of mustard can add some tang and extra flavor. I like Dijon for this. Again, don’t add very much since you don’t want it to actually taste like mustard.
- Go in with extra garlic powder and seasonings. Adding a blast of poultry seasoning usually helps make my gravy tasty even if it isn’t meaty.
Note that if your gravy lacks a good color, you can add some brown to it with the fish sauce, soy sauce, or Worcestershire sauce. But taste is more important that color. If it tastes good, I wouldn’t mess with it!
Now you’re all set. Oh, and if you have gravy leftovers after your dinner, don’t throw them away. Check out all these amazingly delicious ideas for what to do with leftover gravy.
More Delicious Gravy Recipes
I love gravy, to the point that I have a whole collection of gravy and sauce recipes here. Go ahead and browse through those. I’m also linking to a few of my favorites right here for you:
- Creamy Bacon Gravy (for Biscuits!)
- Cornstarch Gravy
- Onion Gravy
- Mushroom Gravy
- Instant Pot Gravy
- White Gravy
Podcast Episode: Making Gravy Without Drippings
Listen to learn how to make this recipe, along with some great tips from me along the way:
Listen to more Recipe of the Day episodes here.
Print
Recipe: How To Make Gravy Without Drippings
- Cook Time: 15 minutes
- Total Time: 15 minutes
- Yield: 4 servings 1x
- Category: Sauce
- Method: Stovetop
- Cuisine: American
DESCRIPTION
Are you deep frying a turkey and wondering how to make gravy for it? You totally can! You don’t need the roast drippings to make delicious gravy. Learn how to make gravy without drippings here. Also, learn how the same technique can be used to make an easy make-ahead gravy so that your roast dinner prep is a breeze.
Ingredients
- 4 Tbsp. unsalted butter
- 1 small onion, chopped
- 2 cloves garlic, peeled and halved
- Optional: 4 mushrooms (sliced), 1 rib celery (roughly chopped), 1 carrot (roughly chopped), 1/2 bell pepper (roughly chopped)
- 1/4 cup all-purpose flour
- 1/4 cup white wine or water
- 1/2 tsp. poultry seasoning
- 2 cups low-sodium chicken stock
- Salt and pepper to taste
- Garlic Powder to taste
Instructions
- In a large skillet heat the butter over medium heat. Let it melt and get slightly brown. Add the onion, garlic halves, and any optional vegetables. Cook stirring often until everything is browning a bit but nothing is burnt.
- Remove from heat. Whisk in the flour. Return to heat and whisk and cook the flour mixture until it is lightly brown.
- Add the wine and stir to bring up any brownings that are stuck to the pan. Remove from heat.
- Whisk in the poultry seasoning.
- Whisk in the chicken broth 1/4 cup at a time, keeping everything smooth as you go.
- Once all the stock is added, heat over medium heat to a simmer, stirring often.
- Strain gravy through a fine mesh sieve.
- Taste. Stir in salt, pepper, garlic powder, and more poultry seasoning, if desired.
Love this recipe? I’d appreciate it if you could scroll down and add a *5 star rating* to help others know they’ll love it as well!
This post originally appeared in November 2016 and was revised and republished in December 2020.
Linda says
I use Kitchen Bouquet for a little extra flavor and color.
★★★★★
Christine Pittman says
Thanks for sharing with us, Linda!
Caroline Helbig says
This is a great recipe, thank you! I like it better than my gravy with drippings. I used fresh sage, thyme and rosemary for the poultry seasoning and used vegetable stock (because I didn’t have chicken stock). Delicious!
★★★★★
Christine Pittman says
You’re very welcome, Caroline!
Joanne says
Can you freeze the gravy for next week?
Christine Pittman says
I haven’t tried that, but it should work fine for this gravy. You can also make it and refrigerate it two days in advance of using, Joanne.
Melissa says
I made this for a work Thanksgiving lunch, like a pot luck. I signed up to bring mashed potatoes and gravy., therefore no drippings. It turned out great, everyone loved it! It tasted just like Thanksgiving gravy should. The herbs are the key, I used thyme, rosemary and oregano since I didn’t have poultry seasoning.
★★★★★
Christine Pittman says
Sounds delicious, Melissa! So happy to hear it was loved by all.
Lane says
I just made this for tomorrow, and its astounding! Definitely a keeper. I used the wine, and didn’t strain the veggies, they were so cooked down that I didn’t have too by the time I was done.
★★★★★
Christine Pittman says
That’s wonderful, Lane! Enjoy!
Jeanne says
Mushroom flavor is the closest thing to meat (and especially beef) flavor. I am astonished that someone might think otherwise. Vegetarians use this idea all the time to change meat dishes to vegetarian dishes.
Thanks for the recipe. I would add carrots (though not too many) for both color *and* flavor. Too much would make it too sweet, though, so go slowly.
★★★★★
Christine Pittman says
You’re welcome, Jeanne! Thanks for your thoughts.
Sarah says
Hello! How far in advance can I make this? Trying to space out my Thanksgiving workload over the week beforehand!
Christine Pittman says
That’s smart, Sarah! This gravy can be made two days in advance. Cover it and put it in the fridge. Bring it out and warm it on the stove over medium-low heat, stirring occasionally, or microwave it 30 seconds at a time, stirring after each time. If a skin has developed on the top while it refrigerates, it will dissolve into the mix as the gravy heats up.
Kristi says
I LOVE this gravy recipe. I don’t bother straining it, and sometimes I’ll add sausage if I’m making it for biscuits and gravy. But it’s really flavorful and great on mashed potatoes!
★★★★★
Christine Pittman says
Yummy, thanks for sharing with us, Kristi!
JJ says
If you think mushrooms have a “meaty flavor” then either your palate is a joke or you’ve been consuming an entirely different kind of mushroom before taste-testing your ingredients.
Christine Pittman says
JJ, I am talking about the meaty flavor associated with umami, which mushrooms are very well-known to have. I assure you that I am not the only one who detects that flavor profile. Here is a link where you can learn more about it https://www.mushroomcouncil.org/all-about-mushrooms/umami/
Jenn says
Can I use milk instead of water or wine?
Michelle Sloan says
Do I have strain I ate without straining and it was great
David Crompton says
This is gravy for crying out loud. Why do you specify uncalted butter.
Christine Pittman says
We used unsalted butter in creating and testing this recipe. If you have salted butter, just be mindful of any additional sodium coming from the poultry seasoning and chicken broth so you don’t end up with saltier gravy than you intended. Enjoy, David!
Lily Esquibel says
Why not use turkey broth/stock instead of chicken broth?
Christine Pittman says
If you have some, Lily, go for it! Most people tend to have chicken broth on hand though.
Sarah says
Everything was going well until I added the white wine. The mixture started sticking to the pan and contracted into a blob. I’m so confused as to why! I’m going to try again and use water instead.
Christine Pittman says
When you add the wine, it will turn into a thick paste. That’s normal, Sarah. You can remove it from the heat and then proceed with the next steps. You’ll be drizzling stock into that paste slowly while stirring until it thins to a sauce.
Traci says
First time I ever made gravy from scratch with no drippings! I didn’t have all the ingredients so I did use minced garlic instead garlic cloves. I also used beef broth instead of chicken broth. I also did not have poultry seasoning so I just use salt and pepper. It tastes delicious!
Christine Pittman says
Traci, I’m so glad you liked it even though you had different ingredients. Thanks for letting me know.
Dianne says
@ LEA BUVALLA
Oh look a Vegan in the wild.
Janice says
I would like to know how to convert this recipe to a beef without drippings recipe! I think for french fries a beef gravy is what people expect. Thank you.
Daren says
How far in advance can this be made? Thanks
Christine Pittman says
Daren, Great question! This gravy can be made two days in advance. Cover it and put it in the fridge. Bring it out and warm it on the stove over medium-low heat stirring occasionally. Or microwave it 30 seconds at a time, stirring after each time. If a skin has developed on the top while it refrigerates, it will dissolve into the mix as the gravy heats up.
Noel says
Delicious! We always deep fry our turkey, so no drippings. This was very delicious and tasty. No one missed the meat flavoring. Thanks!
Christine Pittman says
Noel, Fantastic! Thank you so much for letting me know!
Lea Buvalla says
Not being ugly, but where else would vegetables be grown except on some sort of farm? Maybe Swanson wants to revisit that “farm grown veggie” tag. And I’m about to use their stock…so I’m not hating. Just observant and interested. In a lab? Thank god I’m vegan… Im not touching the “meat” tag.