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This make ahead white wine gravy is my secret to a stress free and delicious Thanksgiving meal. Rich, smooth, and so incredibly easy, this gravy recipe can’t be beat. Made with a base of butter, shallots, fresh sage, and turkey stock, and finished with the drippings form your Thanksgiving turkey.
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Did I ever tell you about that time that I throughly failed at making the gravy for the Thanksgiving meal? It was just last year, and I was serving not just my immediate family, but my grandpa, aunts, uncles, and cousins. So over thirty people.
I was cooking out of my grandma’s kitchen, which in my defense was not anywhere near set up to cook a Thanksgiving dinner for thirty plus people. Somehow, someway, we did, but the gravy? I messed that up, and bad. It was greasy and lumpy and I still cringe thinking about it.
This year, my gravy is going to be perfect. No lumpy, greasy gravy. I’m serving the same amount of people, but cooking in my kitchen at the new studio barn. It’s going to be great, I’m so excited. I perfected the best make-ahead turkey gravy, that’s truly so delicious. It’s true, my family has already approved…because we’ve now had Thanksgiving dinner three times this past week…
Here are the details.
Start by making the gravy base. This is really just a simple mix of butter, shallots (the secret), sage, flour, and high quality broth (I use low-sodium chicken broth or turkey stock). It’s your basic roux, but it makes for the perfect gravy “base”. You can keep the base stored in the fridge for a few days, so it’s perfect to make-ahead.
When it’s ready to serve, and you’ve roasted up your holiday turkey, take the roasting pan or medium saucepan and place it on the stove. Add a splash of white wine and scrape up all those delicious browned bits from the roasting pan. Let the wine simmer and reduce slightly, then add the gravy base, whisking until smooth. Adding the base right to the roasting pan with all the turkey drippings gives you the rich flavors that your gravy needs. But without any of the stress of making the gravy from scratch. Trust me, making this gravy ahead will relieve so much stress on Thanksgiving Day. It’s a game changer. It is perfect over potatoes and stuffing.
Check out our full 2018 Thanksgiving menu here.
If you make this gravy please be sure to leave a comment and/or give this recipe a rating! Above all, I love to hear from you guys and always do my best to respond to each and every comment. And of course, if you do make this recipe, don’t forget to also tag me on Instagram! Looking through the photos of recipes you all have made is my favorite!
Make Ahead White Wine Gravy
Ingredients
- 6 tablespoons salted butter
- 2 medium shallots, thinly sliced
- 2 tablespoons chopped fresh sage
- 1/3 cup all-purpose flour
- 3 cups low-sodium chicken or turkey broth
- kosher salt and black pepper
- pan drippings from herb roasted turkey, (optional)
- 1 cup dry white wine, such as Sauvignon Blanc or Pinot Grigio
Instructions
- 1. Melt the butter in a medium skillet over medium heat. Add the shallots and cook 5-8 minutes, stirring frequently, until softened and fragrant. Add the sage and continue cooking another 2-3 minutes. Sprinkle the flour over the shallots, stirring for 1-2 minutes. Add the broth and bring to a boil, boil 5 minutes, or until thickened. Remove from the heat. Lightly season with salt and pepper. Strain, if desired. 2. Allow the gravy to cool, then store the gravy base in the fridge for up to 3 days. 3. To finish the gravy. Option 1: warm on the stove adding additional broth to think and a 1 tablespoon worcheshire or soy sauce. Optional 2: Once your turkey has finished roasting, remove the turkey from the roasting pan and strain the liquid into a glass measuring cup. Place the roasting pan over two burners. Add the wine and bring to a boil, scraping up the browned bits on the bottom of the pan. Simmer for 3-4 minutes or until the wine has reduced slightly. Reduce the heat to low and slowly whisk in the gravy base. Simmer until the gravy is smooth and thickened slightly, about 5 minutes. If needed, thin the gravy with the reserve broth from the roasting pan. Taste and season with salt and pepper. Serve warm.
Notes
Nutrition
Nutritional information is only an estimate. The accuracy of the nutritional information for any recipe on this site is not guaranteed.
Did you make this recipe? Please rate & comment below.
We will be smoking our turkey rather than roasting it… what can I use in place of the ‘pan drippings’?
Hey Becky,
You will just have to skip that part. I hope you love the recipe, please let me know if you give it a try! xTieghan
I just finished making the base and I’m pretty excited at the consistency of it. I always struggle to get gravy perfect while finishing off sides and micro managing carving and everything else. I feel like I have an ace in my pocket!
Hey Alison,
Awesome! It’s so great to hear that this recipe was enjoyed, thanks for giving it a try! xTieghan
My first ever gravy and Wow it was a hit. I love HBH!
Hey Jessica,
I love to hear that this recipe was enjoyed, thanks so much for giving it a try! Have a great week! xTieghan
I normally cook the turkey in a bag, doused and then sealed with a bottle of champagne in it. It leaves an incredibly moist turkey but a ton of liquid in the bag. Any idea how to incorporate this delicious sounding make ahead gravy? Thanks so much!!!
Hey Amanda,
So sorry, I have not tested this and I’ve never cooked a turkey in a bag so I am not sure on how to advise. I hope you love the recipe, please let me know if you give it a try! xTieghan
Is there a way to make this without the turkey drippings?
I’m also interested in this answer since I deep fry the turkey and don’t have drippings.
Hey Jillian,
Sure, I suppose you could just skip that part. I hope you love the recipe! xTieghan
I’m a bit confused. Do you strain out the liquid and then pour it all back in the roasting pan and add the white wine to that?
Hey Sharon,
Yes, that is correct. I hope you love the recipe, please let me know if you give it a try! xTieghan
Hi I made this last year and it was great. Will be making again this year but for a bigger crowd. If I 1.5’d or doubled the recipe, would it lose too much flavor from only having the browned bits from one turkey? A little worried about the flavor profile or it being to watery by needing to add more drippings.
Thanks!
Hey Gwen,
I think it will be totally fine if you double the recipe. I hope you love the recipe. xTieghan
Hi! This looks delicious but like many, I won’t have drippings. In order to incorporate white wine, would it make sense to add the wine right before the broth (and let it cook off with the shallots/flour a bit)? You also recommended soy sauce as a substitute to build flavor – I assume that will still work nicely if I’m continuing to use the white wine? Thank you so much – my family loves all of your recipes!
Hey Ashley,
Please read through the entire recipe for how to make this ahead, the dripped will be added the day of in step 3. Please let me know if you have any other questions. xTieghan
Hi! Do you think this would still be great without white wine? Or is there something i can use in replace of it? Thanks
Hey Mabel,
You can just use broth in place of the wine. I hope you love the recipe, please let me know if you have any other questions! xTieghan
Hi Teigen! I’m so looking forward to making this! I have a question for you. I don’t have a roasting pan and will just cook my (spatchcocked) turkey on a cooling rack in a sheet tray and I also have an induction stovetop so I can’t do your method of putting the roasting pan on the stove to make the gravy. I can just drain the liquid in to a saucepan and scrape up as many crunchy bits on the pan, right? Any reason this won’t work? Thanks!!
Hey Katy! Yes, that should work great! 🙂 xTieghan
Thanks so much for taking time to respond! Can’t wait for my HBH thanksgiving!
can you make the white wine gravy without the turkey/pan drippings to make it vegetarian? What would you add/change?
Hi Meredith! Yes, you can use vegetable. I would add 1-2 tablespoons soy sauce for unami flavor. That will be great! Happy thanksgiving! xxTieghan
we are smoking out turkey on the treager. do you think we will still get the drippings for the gravy?
Hey Chelsie! Honestly, I am not not super familiar with smokers so I’m not sure if you’ll get drippings with that! I would imagine so 🙂 xTieghan
This is exactly what we’re doing and I was wondering the same thing!!!!
Hi! This gravy looks amazing and I will definitely be trying it. For those asking about their turkey on the Traeger – I dry brined and spatchcocked one last year, but left it in the roasting pan and I did get drippings. Planning on doing the same this year.
We smoke our turkey on the Traeger every year. It doesn’t get a whole lot of drippings, but there are some. We cook it in a foil pan for part of the time, then we take it out of the pan and put it straight on the smoker, which is why there are less drippings. We made this gravy last year and didn’t have a whole lot of drippings to add to the gravy, but it was still pretty good.
Hi! Can you please share where your pot and ladle are from in the pictures. Also, I’ve been looking at Staub and was wondering what size pot would be best for serving the gravy the way you have in here in the pictures. And lastly, this recipe says it yields 3 cups of gravy, should that be enough for 24 people (14 adults & 10 children)? Thanks!
Hey Lana, the link for the pot is below. It is from Dansk. I don’t have a link for the ladle. I am sorry! I recommend a 4quart pot. I would double the gravy recipe for 24 people. Happy Thanksgiving!
https://shopstyle.it/l/bAKGt
Excited to try this for thanksgiving this year! Can you make without the pan drippings? Or something you can put in place?
Hi there! I would make a roux (flour and butter mixed together) and then add chicken broth to the roux whisking slowly to make your gravy without drippings! 🙂 xTieghan
I second a great recipe for vegetarian gravy… can’t wait to see what you come up with!!
Thanks so much! Love that idea 🙂 xTieghan