Our Ultimate Guide to Cooking Gravy

New York Times

27-03-2025

From making a great stock to perfecting the roux, Melissa Clark will walk you through the basics. David Malosh for The New York Times Published March 27, 2025 Updated March 27, 2025
[This article was originally published in November 2015.]
Good gravy is more than just a sauce for the turkey. It brings all the elements of the Thanksgiving plate together, elevating mashed potatoes, stuffing and turkey to their transcendent ideals. You can use the classic method for making gravy, whisking it together at the last minute using the turkey pan drippings, or you can make the gravy ahead, then spike it later with the flavorful drippings. And visit our Ultimate Guide to Thanksgiving for more ideas and advice. It helps to have a fat separator , which looks like a measuring cup with a spout. It lets you easily pour off the gravy and leave behind excess fat.
You can use a wooden spoon to make gravy, but you risk lumps. A whisk makes things smoother.
For the silkiest gravy, or for added insurance against lumps, strain your gravy before serving. Have a sieve on hand.
Drippings from brined and kosher turkeys may be too salty to use in gravy, particularly classic pan gravy. (If you add them to make-ahead gravy, do so slowly, tasting as you go.) Drippings from dry-brined turkeys work in any gravy.
Whether you're making classic last-minute gravy or our make-ahead recipe, remember that great gravy can come only from great stock. It's absolutely worth the time to make your own turkey or chicken stock from scratch, but there are tricks to fortifying store-bought stock, too. Evan Sung for The New York Times
To make your own stock, you first need poultry bones, either cooked or raw or a combination. Some of the bones should have meat on them, but most can be picked clean. I save my roast chicken carcasses in the freezer until stock-making day, and augment them with fresh chicken or turkey wings picked up at the supermarket. Two or three pounds of bones is plenty, but even a pound will give you enough stock to make gravy. If you've got turkey giblets from your bird (heart, gizzard, neck, anything but the liver), throw them into the pot with the bones and a big pinch of salt.
Add some vegetables and aromatics: a carrot, a leafy celery stalk, an onion and/or leek, a few cloves of peeled garlic, a bay leaf and/or some parsley stems, and a teaspoon of peppercorns.
Pour in enough water to cover all the solids by at least 2 inches. Then bring it up to a very gentle simmer and let it bubble for a couple of hours. I don't bother skimming, but it won't hurt if you do. Strain everything, pressing down on the solids, and chill for up to three days, or freeze for up to six months.
If you want to make a more intensely flavored stock, try this recipe by the chef Suzanne Goin, which calls for roasting the bones and the vegetables before they are combined with white wine and a red chile and simmered on the stove.
If making your own is out of the question, you can come pretty close with a good-quality poultry stock bought either from a butcher shop or specialty shop (preferably one made in-house). You'll often find stocks in the freezer case.
If the supermarket is your only option, the rule for canned stock, or stock sold in Tetra Paks, is to taste before using. If it's terrible, you're better off with a bouillon cube and water, which is a low bar but marginally better than water. As a last-minute fix for weak stock, simmer it with the turkey giblets for an hour or two. That will fortify it. How to Make a Gravy Roux By Emily Weinstein
Roux, a cooked mixture of equal parts flour and fat, like butter, oil or pan drippings, is what thickens a gravy. Here's what you need to know.
A roux is made with equal parts fat and flour. If you're making classic pan gravy, you'll use the fat in the roasting pan. If you're making gravy ahead of time, use butter, melting it in a medium pan over medium heat.
Either way, sprinkle in an equal amount of flour. (If you're using butter, the ratio is ½ cup flour to one stick of butter.) Gently whisk the fat and flour together for at least 5 minutes, long enough for the raw taste of the flour to disappear. Keep cooking, whisking all the while, until the roux has reached your desired color.
A white or light roux, in which the flour is cooked briefly, will give you a mild mixture that lets the flavor of the poultry dominate. It's also the most effective thickener. A dark, mahogany-colored roux adds an intense caramelized flavor to the gravy, but sometimes at the expense of turkey flavor. Or strike a balance and cook the roux until medium brown, which will give you a nuttiness that still allows the poultry character shine. Sam Sifton makes a classic Thanksgiving gravy with white wine and stock. By SAMUEL SIFTON Julia Moskin makes a rich gravy that can be prepared well before Thanksgiving Day. By Julia Moskin