If you’re anything like me, you’ll find the pressure to make the turkey gravy quickly and to everyone’s standards. You only get one chance, so make it count! Well, this eliminates all the pressure from that last-minute rush. The greatest turkey gravy I’ve ever had may be stored in the refrigerator or freezer for five days. It requires a few dirty pots and pans, but it sure beats rushing to make it on Thanksgiving. Tell me what you believe. Happy eating!
| Prep Time: | 30 mins |
| Cook Time: | 2 hrs 30 mins |
| Total Time: | 3 hrs |
| Servings: | 18 |
| Yield: | 6 cups |
Ingredients
- 3 pounds turkey wings
- 2 small onions, quartered
- 2 stalks celery, each cut into 4 pieces
- 2 carrots, each cut into 4 pieces
- 2 cloves garlic, halved
- 1 ½ cups dry white wine
- 4 cups chicken broth
- 4 cups water
- ¼ teaspoon dried thyme
- 2 tablespoons butter, or more if needed (Optional)
- ½ cup all-purpose flour
- salt and ground black pepper to taste
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F (200 degrees C).
- Place turkey wings, onions, celery, carrots, and garlic into a roasting pan, and roast until turkey wings turn a deep golden brown color, about 1 hour and 15 minutes. Transfer cooked wings and vegetables to a large pot. Place the roasting pan over two stove burners on medium-high heat, then pour white wine into the roasting pan. Scrape off and dissolve any browned flavor bits from the bottom of the pan into the white wine; heat and scrape the roasting pan until the drippings and wine have reduced to about 1/2 cup. Pour the wine mixture into the saucepan with the turkey wings.
- Pour chicken broth and water into the pot, and season with thyme. Push turkey wings down into the liquid; bring the mixture to a boil, reduce heat to low, and simmer for 45 minutes. Skim off any foam that collects on top. Pour the broth mixture through a colander into a large bowl; pick meat from the wings, if desired, to add to gravy, or discard the spent wings and vegetables. Allow the gravy base to stand for several minutes for the fat to collect into a layer on top, and skim as much fat as possible. Transfer the skimmed fat into a saucepan. There should be at least 1/2 cup of turkey fat; add butter to make this amount if necessary.
- Whisk flour into turkey fat over medium heat until the flour mixture becomes smooth and golden brown. Gradually whisk in the broth until the gravy comes to a boil and thickens. Season to taste with salt and pepper. Allow the gravy to cool, then refrigerate or freeze. Reheat almost to boiling to serve.
- To make this recipe gluten-free, use gluten-free flour and either homemade chicken stock or water — or be sure your chicken broth is gluten-free.
- The nutrition data for this recipe includes the full amount of the stock ingredients. The actual amount of the ingredients consumed will vary.
- For richer flavor, add turkey pan drippings to the gravy at serving time.
Nutrition Facts
| Calories | 111 kcal |
| Carbohydrate | 5 g |
| Cholesterol | 26 mg |
| Dietary Fiber | 1 g |
| Protein | 8 g |
| Saturated Fat | 2 g |
| Sodium | 250 mg |
| Sugars | 1 g |
| Fat | 5 g |
| Unsaturated Fat | 0 g |
Reviews
Fantastic gravy. Added poultry seasoning to wings. Also used 6 cups of chicken broth. Very flavorful.
I love gravy and this absolutely lived up to my expectations. This is definitely a recipe you want to take your time with but worth it. Also, be prepared to use a good number of pots/pans. I added a bit more seasonings at the end but 100% happy with this. Would recommend!
Talk about stress relief! Make this ahead and know you will have delicious gravy with no worries!
This turned out OK, but it was a fair amount of work. Followed the recipe except used Turkey legs and made 1/2 recipe. I’ll use less celery if I make this again. I thought the broth had more of a celery taste than I wanted. I’ll also make it several days before I need it. Trying to do it the day before Thxgiving, along with other prep, was a bit much. Used the broth not only for gravy base, but also added it to the carcass broth for my Turkey soup!
Very time consuming. I spent about four hours on this. I consider myself an accomplished cook. The taste was flat, it did not get thick. I’m hoping when I add the drippings, it will taste better. The turkey wings were disgusting. I’m sorry I wasted good wine on this. I read all the reviews and followed it exactly. I will not make this again.
This was delicious! I am a horrible gravy maker and ever since my mom passed away I have been relying on jars with some added pan drippings. I made this exactly as written (well, I didn’t have enough white wine so substituted some red) and it turned out perfectly! At the end I did blend up the vegetables that weren’t burned and some of the turkey meat and added that as well…even better!
Very very flavourful! So much easier to have it done ahead of the day. Made 1 batch gluten free (using 1/4 cup G/F flour), second batch 1/2 cup a/p flour. Could not tell the difference between the 2. Also added a little flour to the reg gravy.
I spatchcocked the turkey and used the backbone and neck instead of wings. I forgot the part about removing any bits from the roasting pan, but I did cut some of the meat off the backbone to add to the gravy. I also added some sage , parsley and poultry seasoning. The gravy did not thicken enough, so I added a slurry of 2 tablespoons cornstarch in water and that did the trick. The gravy had great color and was delicious, I got many compliments on it as well. I will make the gravy this way for holidays from now on. No last minute anxiety.
Ok, I followed this recipe EXACTLY with the exception of adding 1 tablespoon of kosher salt over the meat and vegetables and this was a bland gravy. I even used better than bouillon for my broth and it still lacked flavor. I think if 8 cups of broth was used vice 4 cups water and 4 cups broth, it’d be a more savory gravy. Will definitely keep the recipe and make again with 8 cups of broth.
I make a gluten free version (using King Arthur’s GF flour) of this 2 weeks or so before Thanksgiving every year and freeze it. Then I reheat in a small crockpot. The changes that I make are that my turkey rarely yields enough fat, so I sub olive oil or butter. I also add lots of herbs de Provence for taste, and I purée some of the turkey and veggies and add at the end. It thickens the gravy and adds a layer of flavor that makes it taste so good you’ll want to drink the gravy!
I’ve made this for Thanksgiving the past few years. I make it the night before and definitely add the drippings the following day. It’s quite yummy!!
This was actually easier than I thought and delicious. I couldn’t find turkey wings so I used thighs and drumsticks which worked great. I also increased the carrots and celery. I have never been great st making gravy and this is incredible.
I love that you can make this a few weeks ahead of the big day, and stick it in the freezer! I tried really hard to find turkey parts last year to make this, and was never able to. Yesterday I found a package of Butterball turkey wings (3 wings, which was perfect for half a recipe), so I just made this. It is really tasty, and that one less thing for me to do on Thanksgiving day! Thanks for the recipe!
This is by far the best turkey gravy I have made. I out does the giblet gravy I was brought up on. Love all the flavor and the wine adds just the right taste. Yummy!!!! The only thing I suggest is to place vegetables on pan maybe 30 minutes into the roasting of the wings. I found if not the veggies get too browned almost burnt and doesn’t taste good. Make this every year and recommend it to my family. At least the ones that cook!!
It saves last minute work but something gets lost in the translation.
LOVE THIS ! – I’ve made it about 10 times now – & I actually make 42 servings at a time ( big gatherings ! ). As per another reviewer – I adjusted the water/chicken broth portions – I use 2/3rds chicken broth to 1/3 water = more flavour. I have had to “fill”in wings with thighs – legs etc – only cause it is sometimes difficult to get all wings. Still works just fine. THANK YOU Chef John ! I use several of your recipes – easy to follow and “idiot” proof LOL !!
Great stress reliever making this the day before thanksgiving. Gravy was flavorful and perfect accompaniment to Turkey. Takes time to make but the recipe isn’t difficult and is definitely worth the effort.
I followed this recipe exactly as is but I was disappointed with the gravy. I couldn’t get it to thicken in the time allotted, so I had to give it much more time on the stove. It did eventually thicken a bit but the end result was rather bland tasting for the amount of time I spent in the kitchen and washing pots.
Great for make ahead or when you get your turkey elsewhere. This is now my go to gravy for Thanksgiving. I ask the butcher for turkey necks and buy 2 wings (whole foods is my go to, they will even cut the wings for you, but ask the butcher for the necks as you won’t see them on display). I don’t change anything else!!! Even though there are a lot of steps, this is still a straight forward and easy to make recipe.
Just made this and it is great…even before adding pan drippings from the turkey! Is a bit labor intensive but making it ahead is brilliant. Only change I made was adding one extra cup of chicken stock and ones less cup of water. I also used poultry seasoning instead of straight thyme.
A wonderful answer to fried turkey or baked turkey. Made for the first time this morning. Give yourself time to make and read through the spot on directions before you start. Husband said great flavor and can add cooked giblets later if the we want. Into the freezer now for Thanksgiving. A wonderful time saver.