How to Make Thanksgiving Gravy Without Turkey Drippings (2024)

FAQs

What to do if turkey has no drippings? ›

So how do you make turkey gravy without drippings? It's all about finding a replacement for the browned, complex meaty flavor the drippings offer. For a no-drippings gravy, aromatics such as onions, celery, carrot, bell pepper, and/or garlic, can help, as can umami-rich elements like mushrooms.

To gather up the turkey drippings, carefully lift the cooked turkey from the roasting pan and place it onto a cutting board to rest. Remove as much grease or fat as possible from the pan using a spoon, ladle, or gravy separator. Reserve ¼ cup of fat.

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.

If your gravy is on the skimpy side, you can thicken it quickly with flour or cornstarch. But don't add your thickener directly to the gravy, which will create lumps. Instead, try stirring in three or four tablespoons of flour or cornstarch into a small amount of cold water until you have a smooth paste.

In the last hour of cooking, you can baste the turkey in additional melted butter or olive oil instead of the pan juices to really make sure that skin turns golden brown.

Drippings are the juices and fats rendered out by roasting a turkey or other piece of meat. As the bird cooks, the combination collects in the bottom of the roasting pan to form your pooled drippings.

To separate fat from drippings or gravy, first put a large resealable plastic bag in a large bowl. Pour in the drippings or gravy; seal the bag and let it stand for several minutes, until the fat rises to the top. Then, carefully lift the bag over a cup or bowl.

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.

(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.

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.

What to add to gravy to make it taste better? ›

FIVE STEPS TO YUMMY GRAVY:

Add 1 tsp cracked black pepper, 1 tsp soy sauce, 1.5 tsp mustard (I prefer Dijon for its creamy and full character), and 1 tsp apple cider vinegar. Black pepper is texture, Dijon mustard adds mouthfeel, soy sauce increases texture, and vinegar cinches all the flavours in a little tighter.

Thus, turkey gravy is a brown gravy. You can also make brown gravy with the drippings from other kinds of meat, such as a roast or chicken. White gravy is made with milk, fat, and a thickening agent; white gravy is made without drippings, and with sausage added is popular for biscuits and gravy.

4 Issues That Cause Thin Gravy

1. Skipping roux: A roux is a thickening agent made by cooking fat and flour together. It's an essential ingredient for thickening gravy, and without it, gravy is thin and runny. Learn how to make a roux.

Often, the reason a turkey ends up dry is that white meat cooks faster than dark meat. By the time the legs are cooked, the breast has lost its juiciness. Roasting your turkey breast side down can prevent this by letting the breast skin firm up to trap in juices around the white meat.

Recipes that instruct you to cook your turkey covered will often tell you to add a cup of liquid (water or broth) halfway through roasting. That liquid will gently steam your bird. Just make sure you uncover the lid about 30 minutes before the turkey's done roasting so the skin has a chance to get crispy.

-If the juices run clear, the turkey is cooked through. If they are still pink, return the bird to the oven for a further 20-30 minutes, then try again.

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.