You can make a really tasty gravy without demi-glace, flour, or a lot of tips and tricks professional chefs use, so don’t be dismayed. The key to any good gravy is utilizing all those little browned bits (fond) in the bottom of your roasting pan and scraping them up and whisking with a roux and turkey stock. There are so many ways to make gravy, but this is our basic go-to that enables you to get a quick gravy on the table for Thanksgiving. The magic in this and really any gravy is the pan drippings, as that is where all the flavor can be found.
~ drippings in pan from Dry-Brined Turkey ( recipe here)
½ cup (125 mL) white wine
¼ cup (40 g) almond flour
¼ cup (40 g) arrowroot powder, mixed with ¼ cup water
3–4 cups (1 L) chicken or turkey stock
~ salt and pepper to taste
- Remove your roast turkey from the pan, and set the roasting pan over 2 burners. If you have a ton of excess fat in the pan, pour some of it off.
- Turn the heat to medium-high, and deglaze the pan with the wine, whisking to break up all the browned bits off the bottom of the pan.
- Meanwhile, in a small bowl, combine the almond flour, arrowroot powder and 1 cup (250 mL) of the stock, stirring until no lumps remain.
- Slowly pour this “slurry” into the roasting pan, whisking to mix all.
- Whisk in the remaining stock.
- Once gravy starts to thicken, turn off heat and serve immediately. Season with salt and pepper.
Variations—Add some fresh thyme, sage, or rosemary for extra flavor in the gravy. You can absolutely make this just using the stock to deglaze the pan (omitting the wine) if you so choose. If arrowroot powder is not something you have on hand, replace with additional almond flour mixed in with the stock as your thickening agent.
