Learn how to make a rich, simple turkey broth and gravy that you can utilize and instantly upgrade all of your Thanksgiving dishes!
Chicken Broth and stock…it’s fairly cheap, adds flavor to your dishes and easily purchased. But do you know how much of it we use here at Farmhouse 181? Short answer…a lot and especially in the cooler seasons. So much so, that I pressure can my own in vary large batches. You don’t have to go to that extent though. I will show you how you can make your own broth for basically free with your bone and meat scraps and a few seasonings.
There’s no better time to make a broth to utilize than for the Thanksgiving holiday. Since this process is so stinkin’ simple, I also want to throw in how to make the best rich gravy for your Thanksgiving meal…or even a weeknight meal. There is a technical difference between a broth and stock, but when I use the word broth or stock just know that I use them interchangeably. We might actually be talking about turkey in this post, but the same steps can be used for chicken, or beef broth and gravies!
See full recipe card at the bottom of the page with detailed ingredients list and full instructions to make these Simple Turkey Broth and Gravy Recipes. Print to save in your cookbook binder or bookmark this page for future use!
Why I love Making this Simple Turkey Broth and Gravy
Broth/Stock
- I mentioned before that it’s basically free
- A ton of broth gets used in my kitchen on the regular
- I always have broth on hand to use as I please
- A homemade broth gives you nutrients and a taste that store bought cannot really mimic
- Store bought broth has yeast extract and natural flavors…homemade does not, or at least we know what is in it
- If you can’t leisurely babysit a broth on the stove, this can be made in the crock pot or instant pot
- A broth utilized in simple homemade recipes can seriously stretch your food and decrease your food budget
Gravy
- A rich gravy can elevate a really simple recipe
- It literally takes 5 minutes to make
- If you use homemade broth for a brown gravy, its again basically free
- Again, you can stretch your meal, stretch your ingredients, and lower your food budget
- Have your read the ingredients on a brown gravy mix or that jarred turkey gravy? Questionable
- I can make a homemade gravy just as quickly as using a packet. Truth be told, I’ve never bought one because it’s so easy.
- I love it. My Husband loves it. My kids love it. Period.
I mentioned something about both broth ingredients and the jarred gravy and mix ingredients. Before you think I’m a snob, visit my Farmhouse 181 about pagesso I can expand on that a little more.
Turkey Stock/Broth
Turkey Broth Ingredients
- Turkey Bones and Scraps
- Water
- Salt
- Bay Leaf, Cloves, or whatever seasonings you’d like
- Onion
I made this turkey broth from this simple no baste turkey recipe on the blog. Check it out to see how I cooked my turkey. I broke down my whole turkey then saved the neck, back, and turkey carcass to make this broth. You can see how I broke down my turkey by watching this video. I do the same thing, but couldn’t photograph it well on my own…if you notice I don’t have winning photography skills yet! Baby steps.
Once you have your turkey broken down, you will keep your neck, back, carcass, and whatever other scraps you came up with for your turkey stock. You will be able to use this turkey stock for your dressing in place of a chicken broth, and to make the delicious turkey gravy to top your turkey, mashed potatoes, and whatever else. If you are cooking your broth to use for Thanksgiving, make your broth really early in the morning to use in other recipes.
Turkey Broth Instructions
Take all of your turkey scraps, neck, back, etc. and put them on a sheet pan. I also split an onion in half and put flat side down on the sheet pan. Salt it, then roast them in the oven for about 45 minutes.
Once roasted put the turkey pieces, onions and any turkey pan drippings in a large stock pot and fill with water. Add in your stock seasonings. I salted mine, put in garlic salt, then a few cloves and a bay leaf for some seasonal like flavor, but nothing very strong. I put the lid on my stock pot and let it come to a boil and left covered on high heat for about 40 minutes. Then reduce the temp, to low to simmer for another 45 minutes or so.
This is how I did my broth in this specific instance. If you are doing a bone broth or stock without a lot of meat left on your bones, you will want to cook for much longer…like hours. I will do a dedicated post on how I make and can my chicken broth soon. It will go into more detail on how long to cook and other details.
Once your broth is finished strain the turkey pieces from your stock, but DO NOT TRASH them if you plan to fix some turkey gravy! But your turkey stock is done…check!
If you are not in a rush, you can let your broth sit for a long time to strain it. Mine was warm, but not hot boiling. Don’t burn yourself, Sis!
Turkey Gravy
Turkey Gravy Ingredients
- Turkey Drippings
- Flour
- Turkey Broth or Chicken Broth
- Salt and Seasonings, if needed
- Turkey Meat Bits, optional
If you made your homemade to make your broth homemade following the instructions above you are ready to pick the carcass, back and neck bone of the little bits of turkey meat that remain. It will add flavor and heartiness to your gravy. This is not a necessary step, but we like having the little bit of meat in our gravy!
Note…I didn’t use the bag of giblets from the turkey cavity in my turkey stock or gravy. Don’t come at me, Grandmas!
I came up with about 7 ounces of turkey drippings from cooking my turkey in this recipe and used about 4 oz or half a cup to make my gravy. If you need A LOT of gravy, use more of the drippings. If you don’t have the drippings, you will need to use some kind of fat or butter.
Turkey Gravy Instructions
Heat the turkey drippings in a skillet or sauce pan over medium heat. When they are hot and completely liquified, add in the flour. You will want to use equal parts fat/drippings and flour. Combine your flour and drippings and cook until it begins to brown. This wont take long. Maybe a minute or so. Keep stirring.
If you added too much flour, don’t panic. You can add a little more fat at this point. If your roux/gravy base is just a little clumpy at this point but still fully incorporated and not dry, then this will fix itself with some vigorous stirring in the next step.
Turn your burner to low heat and add in your turkey broth a little at a time. Vigorously stir out any clumps you could have had. Continue to stir as you add in more liquid. Add liquid until your gravy reaches your preferred consistency.
If you added in too much liquid, just let it cook down a little until it’s at your desired thickness. Remember that your gravy will thicken as it cools as well.
At this point, I added in my turkey bits that I saved and made sure they were warm inside the gravy. Taste your gravy. If you need to add any salt or seasonings, do so now. I didn’t have to add anything to mine, but my turkey that made my drippings was heavily seasoned and produced a great flavor in the gravy.
That’s it! Cut your heat off and pour your gravy in your serving dish if it’s for Thanksgiving, or leave in your pan to spoon from. Fight the urge to stand there and dip a whole loaf of bread in it…it was that good!
Related Farmhouse 181 Posts
Follow the process I used from beginning to end to make my turkey, turkey broth and gravy with these other posts. Also check out the seasoning mixture I use all the time to season our meats here in the Farmhouse 181 kitchen.
- Farmhouse 181 Substitute for Poultry Seasoning No Sage!
- No Baste Turkey Recipe, Easy Emergency Thanksgiving Turkey!
- Simple Whipped Potatoes Recipe with Powerhouse Ingredient (Evaporated Milk)
Simple Turkey Broth
Ingredients
- Turkey Neck, Back, Carcass and Scraps
- Water
- Salt, to taste
- 4 Cloves
- 1 Bay Leaf
- 1 Whole onion, halved
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 400 degrees.
- Halve your onion and arrange the onion, turkey back, neck and leftover pieces on a baking sheet.
- Roast leftover turkey pieces for 45 minutes in the oven at 400 degrees. I used the neck, back, carcass and other scraps. See how I broke down and processed my turkey to cook the pieces individually in the video linked below.
- Once scraps are roasted, scrape the drippings and scraps into a stock pot.
- Fill the stock pot with water. Add in your seasonings and salt then cover with lid.
- Put your burner on high heat under your stock pot and let come to a boil and simmer for 30 to 45 minutes.
- Add more water if needed. Turn your heat to low and let simmer for another hour.
- Once finished, taste and add salt or seasoning to your preference.
- Strain your broth from the scraps. If time allows, wait until your broth is warm, but not boiling hot to strain.
- Use your broth for recipes, or keep in the fridge for 4-5 days to use later.
- Pick your turkey scraps clean of any meat to use later.
- Enjoy using this rich broth in your recipes!
Turkey Gravy Recipe
Ingredients
- ½ cup Turkey Drippings and Fat
- ½ cup All Purpose Flour
- 2½ cups Turkey Broth
- Salt, if needed
- Other Seasonings, if needed
- 1 cup Turkey Meat Scraps, if desired
Instructions
- In a saucepan over medium heat, heat your turkey drippings or other fat until liquified and hot.
- Add in your flour and continuously stir until the mixture is combined, hot and starts to brown.
- Pour in your turkey broth little by little and continue to stir. I pour in one cup at a time, then it needed the last half cup of broth.
- Continue to stir your gravy until it reaches your desired consistency. If too thick, add more liquid. If too thin, continue to stir and cook your gravy until it thickens.
- Taste your gravy to see if it needs any salt or seasonings added. If so, add your seasonings of choice.
- Stir in your turkey bits and make sure they are warm.
- Enjoy!
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