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. Or, if you use a turkey brine or if you smoke your turkey, your drippings might be too salty.
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?
- The Key To Making Gravy Without Drippings
- Make-Ahead Gravy
- What To Do If The Gravy Is Too Thin
- What To Do If The Gravy Is Too Thick
- What To Do If Your Gravy Doesn’t Taste Meaty
- More Delicious Gravy Recipes
- Podcast Episode: Making Gravy Without Drippings
- Recipe: How To Make Gravy Without Drippings
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.
So I used this recipe as a base for gravy for pork tenderloin. I completely changed it lol but without this recipe I would have never been able to do it! I used beef bone broth, red wine, balsamic vinegar, Worcestershire sauce, apple juice, a little brown sugar along with all the vegetables. It came out amazing!
Sherry, Your gravy sounds amazing! And I know what you mean. I use this recipe as a basic guide for making other sauces too. Once you know the basics and the amounts, you can do all kinds of things with it. I’m so happy it was helpful to you!
What a Godsend this recipe is! Grandson only wants mashed potatoes @ Family Dinners…….& if they are naked, Grannii loses a star. Thank you so much for posting.
Gladys, You’re very welcome! I’m happy I was able to help.
I’m excited to try this! I’m having a dinner party tomorrow and wondered if I could make the gravy today and then just reheat it. How long will it keep in the refrigerator?
This can absolutely be made ahead of time, Judy! It’ll keep in the fridge for a few days.
Wow! I’m impressed!
I didn’t expect it to turn out so well, even the colour looks like traditional drippings gravy! I’m bringing the gravy to a potluck work Christmas lunch where the turkeys will be deep fried. But I will be making another batch for the family Christmas dinner ahead of time and mix the drippings in later. Thanks so much, keep up the good work!
Thank you so much, Kathleen! Sounds like an excellent plan. :)
Easy and tasty, just what I was looking for in a last minute gravy.
Kristin, I’m so happy you liked it. It’s my go-to for a quick sauce as well. Thanks for letting me know!
I just made this recipe today. 5 stars! The flavor was perfect. I didn’t need to add any salt. I was able to find turkey broth and added some turkey flavor Better-than Bouillon and a little Gravy Master for color at the end. My mother is very hard to please and she loved it. Even asked me to send the recipe. I will definitely only use this recipe in the future.
Nicole, This is so wonderful to hear! I hope you’ve had an amazing Thanksgiving !
The recipe says it will make 4 servings. How much is 1 serving for this recipe? Im looking to make this for 18 people. Thanks!
The recipe provides a generous 1/2 cup or so of gravy per person, Laura. It’s generally recommended to have at least 1/3 cup of gravy per person, so it depends on how much your group loves gravy! Making this recipe x4 would probably be a good amount. Enjoy!
To double this – do I double the veggies used or just the butter, broth and flour?
For the optional veggies, it’s totally up to you and how much of that flavor you want included. I suggest doubling everything else and then adjusting seasoning to taste, Sheryl.
This gravy is absolute perfection! Proof that you do not need to fuss over making it at the very last moment. Cannot wait to share with my Thanksgiving dinner guests!!
Thank you so much, Kirsten! I’m sure they will love it.
Can you make this with gluten free flour? This is an amazing recipe.
Tara, I’ve never made it with gluten-free flour but you can make it with cornstarch instead of flour. My version that is quite similar using cornstarch is over here for reference https://cookthestory.com/cornstarch-gravy/ But to do the above version with the sauteed vegetables, you’d do step #1 as is, then you’d add the poultry seasoning and the 2 cups of stock. Then in a small bowl whisk together 1/4 cup of water, milk, or white wine with 2 tablespoons of cornstarch until smooth. Add that to the broth mixture. Heat while stirring over medium heat until it’s thickened and simmering. Taste and add salt and pepper before serving.
Very excited to try this. Is it possible to make this recipe gluten free? With cornstarch or do you recommend another thickening agent? Thank you
Elise, You can make it with cornstarch. My version that is quite similar using cornstarch over here for reference https://cookthestory.com/cornstarch-gravy/ But to do the above version with the sauteed vegetables, you’d do step #1 as is, then you’d add the poultry seasoning and the 2 cups of stock. Then in a small bowl whisk together 1/4 cup of water, milk, or white wine with 2 tablespoons of cornstarch until smooth. Add that to the broth mixture. Heat while stirring over medium heat until it’s thickened and simmering. Taste and add salt and pepper before serving.
Be careful when adding an unexpected item to gravy ie fish sauce or Worcestershire because people with fish allergies may have an adverse allergic reaction or even go into anaphylactic shock.
I was being lazy and buying jarred turkey gravy. My husband told me not to buy it anymore because he didn’t like it. I made this homemade gravy for him tonight and he thought it was excellent. He said no comparison to what I was buying in a jar. So thank you so much.
You’re welcome, Lisa! I can understand sometimes needing to go for the jar, but glad you gave this a try!
I only used onion and garlic and thought this gravy was amazing, I can’t imagine how much better it would be with the other veg added!! Thanks for sharing!
Brittny, So happy it turned out. Thanks for letting me know!
This is an excellent tutorial for gravy.
Thanks, Jim!
Excellent!! I didn’t end up straining mine and used an immersion blender, it was almost like French onion soup gravy!
Yummy! That sounds great, Jacque!
Really worked out well with celery,mushroom, garlic, and scallion. Then strained.
Sounds great, Srikanth! Glad you enjoyed.
I have NEVER been able to make turkey gravy turn out right!
I made this tonight to test myself for the upcoming Thanksgiving dinner (hosting 15 people). OMG! Thank you so much! This was perfect gravy and I will treasure it forever! Not to mention all your other suggestions. Thank you Christine!
You’re very welcome, Joyce! I’m thrilled it worked so well for you!
Preface: I never ever comment on recipes on the internet. NEVER. But for this gravy, I will. This turned out beautifully! My only recommendation is maybe add a little sprinkle of chicken bouillon powder near the end and whisk it in. So tasty! Thanks for the recipe, I’ll be using it faithfully from now on.
You’re very welcome! So happy it’s your new gravy recipe. Enjoy!
Delicious! I used dry sherry as my wine, sautéed the mirapois with some wild porcini mushrooms, then after thickening used the stick blender so I kept all that good vegetable flavor. Oh, and used better than bouillon for my stock. C’est parfait! Thanks!
That sounds amazing, Edward!