Turkey Stock Recipe: For the Best Gravy

The Turkey Stock Recipe we use for the Best Gravy on Thanksgiving and Christmas.

How could I possibly talk about Thanksgiving Preparations without sharing our Turkey Stock Recipe, which we use to make the very best gravy on Thanksgiving day and for soup anytime. It’s so easy to make this stock ahead of time and put it in your freezer until you need it.

0 from 0 votes

Print

Turkey Stock Recipe

Homemade turkey stock is the basis for outstanding gravy, as well as soups.

Course Soup

Keyword turkey, stock, gravy

Prep Time 20 minutes

Cook Time 8 hours 10 minutes

Total Time 8 hours 30 minutes

Servings 3 quarts

Calories 425 kcal

Author lynn

Ingredients

• 4-5 pounds turkey wings
• 2 onions, chopped
• 2 carrots, chopped
• 2 stalks of celery chopped
• 2 bay leaves
• 6-8 sprigs of thyme
• 15 cups water divided in half

Instructions

1. Preheat oven to 450'

2. Place turkey wings on roasting pan, brush with olive oil and roast for 45 minutes until golden brown.
3. While wings are roasting, put 7-8 cups of water in your stock pot. You will add more water and reduce it down and it’s helpful to have a sense of where the level of water should be once reduced enough.
4. Remove the turkey wings and reduce temperature to 350°
5. Add wings to stock pot with water
6. Add chopped vegetables to the fat that was rendered while your wings were roasting, put in oven and roast for 15 minutes.
7. Then put the veggies into the stock pot with the wings. At this point, I measured from the top of my pot to the water level because that’s where I’m going to want the level to be when it’s adequately reduced.

8. Add 8 more cups of water, put it on the stove and simmer for 5-6 hours very slowly until the stock has been reduced to 7-8 cups.
   

9. Once it cools a bit, strain it and pour it into your fat separator and let it sit for a couple of minutes so that the fat can rise to the top. 
10. I save the fat and freeze it for future use. If I have a turkey breast and Terry is hankering for some gravy, I can use the fat to make the roux for a quick gravy.
11. Pour your stock into freezer-safe jars, making sure to leave a good inch plus to allow for expansion, and freeze until the day before Thanksgiving. Take them from your freezer, put them in your fridge and send up a little thanks when you taste that amazing gravy on Thanksgiving Day.

Recipe Video

https://youtu.be/0bLr0Q4kXnQ

Nutrition Facts

Turkey Stock Recipe

Amount Per Serving

Calories 425 Calories from Fat 225

% Daily Value*

Total Fat 25g 38%

Saturated Fat 6g 30%

Cholesterol 141mg 47%

Sodium 168mg 7%

Potassium 645mg 18%

Total Carbohydrates 6g 2%

Dietary Fiber 1g 4%

Sugars 2g

Protein 41g 82%

Vitamin A 70.5%

Vitamin C 7.2%

Calcium 7.2%

Iron 15.9%

* Percent Daily Values are based on a 2000 calorie diet.

As far as making the gravy, there are 2 methods I use.

• One is to make a roux with equal amounts of flour and fat (about 4 TBSP each) and whisk it until it is a nice light brown and smells a little toasted. Then I’ll slowly whisk in 4 cups of my turkey stock and add salt and pepper to taste.
• The second is to use the drippings from the turkey. I bring that to a simmer and slowly whisk in a slurry of 1/4 cup flour and 1 cup water/broth and about 3-4 cups of the stock. This seems to be a richer and more flavorful gravy.

We also use this stock for hearty and nourishing soups. If you are looking for a light in fat and calories, but hearty in taste, check out this Creamy Turkey Soup. You may be surprised at the secret ingredient that makes it so creamy.

Have you started your Thanksgiving Preparations? What do you do ahead of time to make Thanksgiving day a tad easier?

Bookmark this page or Pin the following image for your future reference.

You Might Also Like:

Spiced Cranberry Conserve