For some reason unknown to humanity, my wife does not like gravy. And no, I’m not going to say that she magically loves this gravy because it is perfect. She still hates this. But I don’t get it because it is just a super flavorful sauce that distills all the deliciousness of the roasted turkey into a simple turkey gravy.

I mean, it starts out with a stick of butter so how can it be bad?

Sometimes I can get away with just calling a gravy a sauce and she won’t really notice. But with turkey, potatoes, and gravy that trick doesn’t really work. Too iconic. Either way, maybe you can enjoy this thyme and turkey-infused reduction at your next family feast.

This was actually a recipe of opportunity. I was already making my sage roasted turkey, and so decided to kill two posts with one turkey. Since turkey and gravy go hand-in-hand and you can use drippings from the turkey to help make gravy, it just made sense.

So, let’s all upset my wife by making a delicious and velvety sauce to perfectly pair with our turkey and potatoes.

Start it with a Roux

I get a little bit happy inside whenever there is a chance to have a recipe that features a roux. It is the namesake of the site and the very first post I published was on how to make a roux. Look there for much more in-depth info on how a roux actually works in a recipe.

This simple turkey gravy recipe starts off with a roux, to which we then add the drippings from the pan or turkey stock to get to just the right consistency.

Add butter to the pan and melt it. Then, for added flavor, add in some garlic and thyme and let it simmer for a minute or two. When that has cooked, whisk in the flour. Continue to whisk it as it cooks and bubbles for a few minutes. This will help cook out a little bit of that straight flour flavor.

Next, pour in a mixture of turkey drippings and stock. Whisk it together and bring it to a boil so that it starts to thicken. Thin it with more drippings/stock if needed.

In my sage roasted turkey recipe, I call for cooking the turkey in a roasting pan. I also note to add some sage, thyme, and turkey or chicken stock to the bottom of the roasting pan. While the turkey cooks, the butter slathered over it will drip down along with juices from the turkey itself.

These drippings are the delicious lifeblood of a good gravy. Using this in the gravy will help to impart a whole lot more flavor than using stock or broth alone. Though I don’t turn my nose up at stock, in fact, I did have to supplement a little with some chicken stock to thin things out because there weren’t quite enough drippings in the pan.

Hint – use a fat separator to help separate the fat from the rest of the drippings. Since we already use butter as the main fat for the roux, we don’t need any extra in this sauce.

Slather it in Turkey Gravy

Not that I would ever accuse you of ever making any kind of cooking mistake, but sometimes a turkey can overcook a little and turn slightly dry. Gravy to the rescue!

A slathering of simple turkey gravy can help bring some much-needed moisture to pair with your protein. And it will also pack in the flavor. A properly made gravy will be salty, savory, and lusciously creamy.

Gravy and potatoes are a classic combo for a reason. Fluffy and buttery homemade potatoes are a perfect backdrop for the rich flavor of gravy. Make sure to have some bread or dinner rolls to soak up any gravy left on the plate after devouring the turkey and potatoes.

So hop on this gravy train and whisk together a batch for Thanksgiving or any other time you are serving mashed potatoes.

How did yours turn out?

I’d love to hear when you try out this turkey gravy! Take a pic of your food and share your success with me by adding it to your Instagram stories or feed, and tagging me @doyouroux, or by using #doyouroux.

Plus, leave a rating to let me know how you liked the recipe. It helps me out a lot to know how things worked out… or didn’t.

Simple Turkey Gravy

Recipe by Marc PetersonCourse: SauceDifficulty: Easy

Servings

10

servings

Prep time

5

minutes

Cooking time

15

minutes

Total time

20

minutes

Start with a simple roux to make this salty, savory, and lusciously creamy but simple turkey gravy for Thanksgiving potatoes

Ingredients

• 1/2 cup unsalted butter (1 stick)

• 1 teaspoon minced thyme

• 1 large clove garlic, minced

• 1/2 cup flour

• 3 to 4 cups total turkey drippings and/or turkey/chicken stock

• Salt and pepper to taste

Directions

• Melt the butter in a saucepan over medium-low heat
• Add the thyme and garlic to the pan and simmer them while stirring for 2 to 3 minutes
• Whisk the flour into the butter, bring it to a simmer while whisking, and let it cook for 3 minutes
• Pour the drippings and/or stock into the pan, whisk it to combine, and bring it to a boil until it begins to thicken, and then turn the heat to low
• Taste the gravy and add salt and pepper as needed in 1/4 teaspoon increments – note that there are times where no salt is needed, it depends on the drippings
• If the gravy thickens too much, then whisk more stock into the sauce to thin it out 1/2 cup at a time

Notes

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The post The Best Simple Turkey Gravy Recipe appeared first on Do You Roux?.

Well, I recently made buttermilk biscuits, so you might have seen this coming. But you can’t really learn how to make biscuits without also learning how to make sausage gravy.

Because they just go hand in hand so perfectly.

Crunchy, layered biscuits smothered in creamy gravy with sausage spiced to perfection.

Unfortunately, my wife enjoys neither sausage nor gravy. I don’t know why. Cause they are delicious – both separately and together in sausage gravy. Plus she loves basically anything to do with breakfast food. So…

So I don’t tend to make this very often. But it is one of the first things that I really learned how to make. When I was first out on my own

It is simple, flavorful comfort food at its best.

Using a Roux!

I always get excited when I get the chance to feature a roux for the site. It just feels right.

And this gravy is built with a modified roux of sorts. My very first post on the site was a deeper dive into how to make a roux. But in general, it is a mixture of fats and flour that helps to thicken a sauce.

So for this gravy, we will cook the sausage in a pan, use the fat from cooking and add a little bit of butter to combine with the flour to make a roux. The cooked pork will be included in the roux, and will probably soak up all of the butter and flour. As seen in the photo above.

But it will release everything back into the gravy when the milk and cream are added.

When making this, know that you can sub out the heavy cream for a cup of milk instead. It will just be a little less creamy in the final result. Also, you can add in some red pepper flakes or another kind of ground pepper (like chipotle) to add a bit more spice if you are into that like me.

Sausage Gravy for Breakfast

In my mind, breakfast foods are for breakfast or brunch. My wife disagrees and thinks they’re fine for having basically any time of day. It seems to me like she almost prefers to have them for dinner. I don’t get it.

So for me, sausage gravy is a distinctly breakfast item that pairs well with other breakfast foods.

Recipes to pair with this one:

• Buttermilk biscuits and gravy
• Tater tots smothered in sausage gravy
• Breakfast enchiladas?! (shoutout to Cooking with K, I have to try these)
• Over-easy eggs with gravy

I mean, just look at the main recipe card photo below. Sausage gravy smothering flaky biscuits. Mmmmmmmmm. Pictures are worth a thousand words, so I guess enough said.

Try it and you’ll be hooked.

Homestyle Sausage Gravy

Recipe by Marc PetersonCourse: Breakfast, BrunchDifficulty: Easy

Servings

8

servings

Prep time

5

minutes

Cooking time

20

minutes

Total time

25

minutes

Meet the perfect southern breakfast comfort food sauce that is creamy and full of spices and flavor – sausage gravy

Ingredients

• 1 pound ground pork sausage

• 2 cloves minced garlic

• 2 teaspoons ground sage

• 1 teaspoon smoked paprika

• 1 teaspoon salt

• 1/2 teaspoon black pepper

• 2 tablespoons butter

• 1/3 cup flour

• 2 cups milk

• 1 cup heavy whipping cream

• (optional) 1 teaspoon red pepper flakes

Directions

• Combine the sausage, garlic, sage, paprika, salt, and pepper in a large frying pan
• Cook on medium heat for 10 to 15 minutes until the sausage is fully cooked, stirring and breaking up the sausage into smaller pieces while it is cooking
• Add the butter to the pan and let it melt
• Sprinkle the flour over the sausage and stir it together, cooking for 2 to 3 minutes
• Pour in the milk and cream and stir to combine with the sausage, also add in red pepper if using
• Let the mixture come to a simmer so that it starts to thicken, stirring occasionally until it comes to the desired consistency, about 5 to 10 minutes – note that the sauce will thicken as it cools once it is served

Notes

• The gravy will thicken as it cools after you serve it, so do not over-thicken it in the pan
• If the gravy is too thick, stir in a half cup of milk

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