Skip page header and navigation

Homemade gravy for turkey dinner

Homemade gravy for turkey dinner

We’ve got the perfect recipe for homemade gravy to go along with your roast turkey.
By Love Food Hate Waste
Serves 4
Prep/Cook time: 10-15 minutes
Thick smooth gravy in a white gravy boat ready to be served

Ingredients

1 pint of water, and as much extra as you need to reach your desired consistency
Celery, carrot and onion, roughly chopped
Use up leftover veg
Vegetable peelings from your dinner prep
1 chicken or vegetable stock cube
1 tbsp plain flour

Perfect portions

Use our portion calculator for a quick and simple way to check how much food to serve with this meal.

Use portion calculator

Recipe

  1. Firstly, roast your turkey on a trivet of roughly cut veg – celery, carrots and onions - which will give you a flavourful base for your gravy. You can also add some herbs towards the end of the roasting time if you like. Rosemary, thyme and sage all work well.

  2. While you’re preparing the veg for your Christmas dinner, keep the peelings. Yes, really! Add about a pint of water to a saucepan and bring it to the boil, adding peelings from your carrots, parsnips and onions along the way. Vegetable and herb skins, ends, whatever you’ve got – it all adds flavour!

  3. When your turkey is cooked, leave it to rest and finish the gravy.

  4. Add the stock cube to your pan of water, and put your turkey pan on the hob. Using a potato masher, start to break up the veg left in the pan. It should be very dark and caramelised – don’t worry if it looks burnt!

  5. Add the flour to the pan, then pour in your liquid stock and keep mashing until it’s all well mixed and thickened up.

  6. Pass the gravy back into the pan through a sieve to catch all the bits of veg, then season to taste, and keep warm until you need to use it. Add in any juices that gather from the turkey for even more flavour!

  7. Remember to freeze any gravy you don’t use up this time to save it going to waste. You can use it as a tasty base for other recipes such as soups, stews and risottos. Simply defrost in the fridge and use within 24 hours, or in microwave on ‘defrost’ directly before use.

Make the most of your leftovers
Store in
Airtight container
Time
Fridge for 2 days, freezer for 3-6 months
Where to store
Fridge or freezer
Reheat
In a pan on the hob or microwave until piping hot.

Perfect portions

Use our portion calculator for a quick and simple way to check how much food to serve with this meal.

Use portion calculator

If you loved this recipe, why not try

Inside of the fridge with someone changing the fridge temperature dial

Keep your fridge at 5°C or below

Did you know that adjusting the temperature of your fridge could help to preserve your food for three days longer than usual? A big win to help keep your food fresher for longer. Our fridge temperature tool can help you learn how to change the temperature on your specific fridge brand.