Ina Garten-Inspired Make Ahead Gravy
Gravy is the last thing made on the busiest day of the year, in the ten minutes between the bird resting and everyone sitting down. It does not have to be.
The thing you are waiting for is not the turkey — it is the fond, and fond is reproducible. Roast a tray of turkey or chicken wings until they are properly dark, deglaze that, and you have built the same browned foundation a roasting pan gives you, three days early. On the day you reheat it and stir in whatever drippings the bird happens to produce.
Nothing about the result is a compromise. The wings have more skin and bone per gram than a whole turkey does, so the stock is arguably better.
Jump to the recipe ↓Ina Garten-Inspired Make Ahead Gravy
about 1.2 litres · Sauce
- Prep
- 20 min
- Cook
- 1 hr 30 min
- Total
- 1 hr 50 min
Moderate7 steps, 10 ingredients
~65 kcal per tbspestimated
Ingredients
- 1.5 kg turkey or chicken wings, separated at the joint
- 2 onions, quartered
- 2 carrots, chunked
- 2 celery sticks, chunked
- 2 litres chicken stock
- 6 tbsp butter
- 6 tbsp plain flour
- 200 ml dry white wine
- 3 sprigs thyme, 2 bay leaves
- salt and black pepper
Method
- Heat the oven to 220°C (200°C fan).
- Roast the wings and vegetables , turning once, until deeply browned. Do not stop at golden.45–60 minutes
- Tip everything into a pot. Deglaze the roasting tin with the wine, scraping hard, and add that liquid too — it is the best part.
- Add the stock and herbs. Simmer , uncovered, skimming.1 hour
- Strain, pressing the solids. You want about 1.5 litres.
- Cook the butter and flour to a sandy roux.3–4 minutes
- Whisk the hot stock in gradually. Simmer until it coats a spoon. Season.10 minutes
Dark means darker than you think
The colour of the gravy is decided here and nowhere else. Wings pulled at golden brown give a pale, thin-tasting gravy. Take them to a deep mahogany, with almost burnt tips, and accept that it looks alarming. Roasting is where the flavour is made; simmering only extracts it.
Cook the roux longer than for a white sauce
A blond roux thickens but tastes of flour paste under a savoury gravy. Three to four minutes, stirring, until it smells nutty and turns the colour of wet sand.
On the day
Reheat gently, whisking. Pour the resting juices from the turkey through a sieve and stir them in at the last moment — a few tablespoons of that is all the connection to the bird the gravy needs, and you are not making a sauce from scratch while everything else goes cold.
Storing
Four days in the fridge, four months frozen. It will look like set jelly when cold; that is the gelatin from the wings and it is a good sign. Whisk over low heat to bring it back.
Questions people ask
Can I really make gravy without the turkey?
Yes. Roasted wings give you the same browned fond. The drippings on the day are a finishing touch, not the base.
How far ahead?
Four days refrigerated, or freeze it for up to four months.
Why is my gravy pale and thin?
The wings were not roasted dark enough. That step sets the colour and most of the flavour.
It set solid in the fridge — is that wrong?
No, that is gelatin from the bones and it means you extracted well. It melts on reheating.
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