Best Turkey Giblet Gravy Recipe Without Drippings

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This truly is the BEST giblet turkey gravy recipe without drippings, which means you can make it ahead! Silky, rich, and oozing with amazing turkey flavor! This ain’t no boxed gravy my friends and much easier than you think! Incredible depth of flavor with fresh herbs, giblets and veggies.

This has been my go-to easy gravy recipe for years. I love it because you can make your Thanksgiving gravy ahead, it comes together at the last-minute for amazing gravy, bursting with flavor and depth and no need to wait for the pan drippings!

Need more ideas for a full Thanksgiving dinner try these popular dishes, Air Fryer Turkey Breast, Whole Turkey, Cheesy Funeral Potatoes and the must have classic Green Bean Casserole (cleaned up!)

Can you freeze giblet gravy?

YES! This gravy stock or full on finished gravy freezes beautifully! Cool completely, freeze in an airtight container. Thaw overnight in fridge and re-heat when ready to serve.

Sometimes it gets a bit thick, if needed, thin with a little extra chicken or turkey stock, or turkey drippings if you happen to have them!

How to prepare giblets for this great tasting gravy

• Retrieve giblets; (yes, you have to get your hands dirty) place turkey in a sink on a plate and cut the package open. The neck is typically in the larger cavity while they usually put the sack of giblets in the other end.
• After removing giblets, rinse the turkey with cold water, pat dry using paper towels, dry it well, cover it in plastic wrap, place on a plate (or you’ll have turkey juice all over your fridge) and return to fridge until ready to place in roasting pan.
• Try my super easy, air fryer turkey thighs or this Instant Pot Turkey Breast.
• Rough chop giblets, you can leave the neck whole, or you can try and cut off the neck meat.

Ingredients for turkey gravy without drippings

Ingredients, directions and nutritional information in the printable recipe card at the end of the post.

Turkey Stock Ingredients

• Turkey Giblets | You cannot very well make giblet gravy without the giblets! What are giblets you ask? In every turkey, fresh or frozen, unless it is marked without giblets, tucked in one cavity or another, will be a bag filled with the giblets; the heart, kidneys, liver and neck of the turkey — this is what gives this gravy the best flavor!
• Veggies | All of the best giblet broth begin with veggies, we’ll use the classics here; celery, carrots, onion and garlic
• Chicken Broth or Stock | Unless you can find turkey stock (which Trader Joe’s often carries during the holidays) chicken stock or broth will be just fine, you can even use vegetable broth!
• Marsala Wine | This is a flavor kicker! But, use Sherry or even Apple juice, if you can’t find Marsala.
• Herbs | Delicious gravy has fragrant herbs, I used a bay leaf, fresh rosemary and fresh sage.

Classic Turkey Gravy Ingredients

• Butter | Use real butter, no blends, it adds creaminess and smoothness — we don’t count calories on holidays and birthdays! I recommend unsalted butter, though I have used both, adjust your salt at the end.
• All-Purpose Flour | Used as a thickening agent, I use organic AP flour, or good Gluten-Free All Purpose flour if trying to make Gluten-Free Turkey Gravy, I do it all the time!
• Apple Cider Vinegar | Apple cider vinegar works best, but you can certainly use regular vinegar or a wine vinegar if you can’t get ACV! Some people use soy sauce, either way you are adding a little acidic flavor, balancing out all of the flavors.

How to Make Gravy from Scratch

Step One | Make Turkey Stock

Chop onions, celery and carrots, a rough chop is fine for all. I ran out of regular carrots and had some shredded carrots — improvise, it’s okay!

Heat olive oil in a large saucepan or skillet over medium heat, increase to medium-high heat and toss in your giblets and your veggies; stand back it’ll spit and spurt at you!

Allow to brown for a little bit, then turn the giblet pieces and give your veggies a stir.

Once they are nice and browned and you have some brown bits sticking to the bottom of the pan, increase the heat slightly and pour in your marsala, (or sherry, I’ve used both), deglazing the pan.

Prefer not to use alcohol? Use apple juice, chicken or turkey stock instead.

Pour in chicken stock, stir well. Add pepper and bay leaves. Add sprigs of fresh rosemary and sage. Give it all a good stir and bring to a simmer. Cover and simmer for an hour.

If you are putting it together right away, strain after you’ve simmered for an hour. If you are making the gravy a day or two ahead of time, then let it sit as is overnight in the refrigerator.

Step Two | Straining the Homemade Turkey Stock

Strain through a mesh colander into a large bowl or medium saucepan, let sit for a few minutes to allow all of those yummy juices to drip out.

DOGGIE THANKSGIVING | If you have a dog, give them the veggies and the giblets (not the neck) they can choke on the bones.

Toss or compost the rest away and keep that homemade turkey stock, will probably measure about 3 cups, you’ll need about 4 cups, you should get another cup from the turkey drippings which you’ll add later. However; the turkey drippings are not necessary to make this gravy!

If you are making the gravy before you cook the turkey, just add chicken or turkey stock to yield 4 cups. Set aside.

How to Make Turkey Gravy without Drippings

• Melt butter in a large or roasting pan over medium-high heat
• Add all-purpose flour (or sub Gluten Free All Purpose) to make a flour mixture, called a roux.
• Whisk for 1-2 minutes until slightly browned, this gets rid of the flour pasty flavor, an important step.

• Slowly pour in reserved stock whisking while you pour, which is hard to do when you are trying to take a picture with one hand and pour with the other.
• Bring gravy to boil; whisking and cook 2 minutes. Reduce heat to low and cook 10 minutes.
• Stir in vinegar and adjust seasonings with sea salt and pepper.

I hope you loved this Turkey Giblet Gravy Recipe without Drippings — if you did, would you share your creation on Instagram, Facebook and Pinterest? And be sure to comment below!

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Best Turkey Giblet Gravy Recipe Without Drippings

Author: Kathleen Pope

4.82 from 48 votes

This truly is the BEST giblet turkey gravy recipe without drippings, which means you can make it ahead! Silky and oozing with amazing turkey flavor! Easy with great depth of flavor with fresh herbs, giblets and veggies.

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Prep Time 15 minutes mins

Cook Time 1 hour hr 30 minutes mins

Total Time 1 hour hr 45 minutes mins

Course Holidays

Cuisine American

Servings 16 servings

Calories 114 kcal

Equipment

• ▢
  Eddington 50002 Italian Olive Wood Cooking Spoon, 
• ▢
  Pampered Chef Small Batter Bowl – 32 ounces
• ▢
  Wusthof Santoku knife 5 inch; Black

Ingredients

 

US CustomaryMetric

 

1x2x3x

Turkey Giblet Stock

• ▢ 2 tablespoons olive oil
• ▢ 2 stalks celery , chopped
• ▢ 1 large onion, chopped
• ▢ 1 large carrot, chopped, about 1 cup
• ▢ 3 cloves garlic, smashed and minced
• ▢ turkey giblets, heart, liver, turkey neck, chopped
• ▢ ½ cup dry Marsala wine, or try Sherry or apple juice
• ▢ 6 cups chicken broth or stock, veggie broth or turkey broth also okay
• ▢ 1 teaspoon black pepper
• ▢ 2 bay leaves
• ▢ 2 sprigs fresh rosemary, or replace with 1 ½ teaspoons dried rosemary
• ▢ 2 sprigs fresh sage, Or replace with 1 teaspoon dried sage

Gravy

• ▢ 1/2 cup butter, unsalted preferred, salted ok just taste before addig any additional salt
• ▢ ½ cup all-purpose flour, or replace with gluten-free all-purpose flour
• ▢ 2 teaspoons apple cider vinegar
• ▢ salt and pepper to taste

Instructions

 

For the Turkey Stock

• Heat the olive oil in a large pan over medium-high heat. Add celery, onion, garlic, carrot, neck and giblets; cook until well browned about 10 minutes.
• Deglaze the pan with Marsala, Sherry or apple juice, scraping up the brown bits on the bottom, reduce until nearly evaporated.
• Stir in the broth, pepper, bay leaves, rosemary and sage sprigs. Reduce heat to low; simmer for 1 hour, covered.
• If making ahead, allow to cool completely, store in refrigerator until ready to use.
• Once ready to finish the gravy, strain out the veggies and giblets using a fine mesh strainer, be sure to place a pot or bowl under your strainer.
• Discard veggies and giblets, reserve stock, should be about 3-4 cups, you'll want a total of about 4 cups, if necessary use drippings from turkey to attain 4 cups, or chicken or turkey stock.

For the gravy

• Melt the butter in a large saucepan over medium heat. Whisk in flour; cooking 1-2 minutes. Works great with Gluten Free AP flour too.
• Whisk in reserved 4 cups turkey broth slowly, whisking until thick and smooth. Bring mixture to boil; cook 2 minutes. Reduce heat to low and cook for 10 minutes.
• Whisk in vinegar and adjust seasonings with salt and pepper.
• Pour into gravy boat or bowl with ladle, serve immediately. If too thick, heat and add additional stock to thin to desired consistency.

Video

✱ Kathleen’s Tips

Easily convert this to Gluten Free by making with cornstarch or preferred AP Gluten-Free Flour.

I receive a lot of questions about the vinegar, while the gravy will still taste delicious without it, believe it or not a touch of vinegar brightens the flavors of many sauces and gravies. Just a touch, you don’t want to taste the vinegar. Apple Cider Vinegar may be replaced with a red or white wine vinegar, regular vinegar (start out with a little less) or even balsamic vinegar.

See above for all the best tips and tricks for the most amazing turkey giblet gravy recipe!

Nutrition

Serving: 1 serving Calories: 114 kcal Carbohydrates: 7 g Protein: 2 g Fat: 8 g Saturated Fat: 4 g Polyunsaturated Fat: 1 g Monounsaturated Fat: 3 g Trans Fat: 0.2 g Cholesterol: 15 mg Sodium: 81 mg Potassium: 135 mg Fiber: 1 g Sugar: 1 g Vitamin A: 954 IU Vitamin C: 1 mg Calcium: 14 mg Iron: 0.5 mg

Nutrition Disclaimer

The Fresh Cooky is not a dietician or nutritionist, and any nutritional information shared is only an estimate. We recommend running the ingredients through an online nutritional calculator if you need to verify any information.

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About Kathleen Pope

Recipe Innovator | Food Photographer | Food Writer

Hi, I’m Kathleen Pope. Here at The Fresh Cooky you will find easy, mostly from-scratch, trusted recipes for all occasions. From speedy dinners to tasty desserts, with easy step-by-step instructions. I am here to help teach you how to make mouthwatering recipes without spending hours in the kitchen. Read more about Kathleen here.