Thanksgiving and Christmas dinners are judged by the gravy; it makes or breaks the meal, and for many grandmothers, it is their signature recipe that defines their meals. Creating great turkey gravy, though, isn’t that hard, and in this post, I’m going to explain in detail how to make the best turkey gravy you’ve ever had, as well as show you how to avoid problems like lumpy gravy and so forth.

Getting Started

My grandmother Betty was 4 foot 9 and swore like a drunken sailor. She was also an incredible cook, so much of what follows is her wisdom when it came to making mouth-watering turkey gravy, which I have been able to replicate in my own cooking and will share with you in this recipe.

The first trick that most recipes leave out is creating a base of scorched drippings in the bottom of the roasting pan. This technique sets in motion not just the flavor profile for the gravy but also the secret to making it dark brown rather than the muddy look that comes with many turkey gravy attempts.

The technique here is to put the turkey into the oven uncovered on broil for 10 to 15 minutes to sear/brown the skin of the turkey and bring its fat to the surface. You also want to heavily season the turkey with salt, pepper, and seasoning salt. Put ample spice on the bird, as in the next step we’ll wash it all off when we add water.

During this initial step, do not put any water in the bottom of the roasting pan. Your goal is to let the drippings burn to the bottom, which will then be reactivated by adding water later.

Also, be careful not to burn the top of the turkey—you just want to brown it. Once you achieve this, turn off the broil setting on your oven and set it to bake, keeping the temperature high at around 450 degrees.

Step Two

The next step is to pour a few cups of water slowly over the turkey itself to wash off much of the spice you put on when you first placed it in the oven. You don’t want too much water in the bottom of the pan yet, as that will dilute the base too much, so add a maximum of two cups of water. At this point, put a whole peeled onion, cut in half, into the roaster, then place the turkey back in the oven.

Step Three

Continue to cook your turkey, checking the amount of liquid in the pan every half hour. The idea is to let it reduce to the point where it is nearly evaporated, then add another cup of water. As you approach the last 45 minutes of cooking, add four cups of water to the pan. At the 15-minute mark before taking the turkey out of the oven, add another cup of water.

Step Four

Once you’ve taken the turkey out and removed it from the pan, you will have the drippings and base for your gravy. The next step is to thicken the gravy, which is where many people go wrong and end up with lumps. In this phase, you’ll need to make what’s called a slurry, where you mix flour or cornstarch in water before adding it to the gravy base in the roasting pan. You can also remove the onion and any pieces of turkey or residue you don’t want in the final gravy.

To do this, put the roasting pan on a stove burner and set it to low heat. In a separate bowl, cup, or jar (which I use), add a cup or so of warm water and then add your thickening agent (flour or cornstarch). Mix this thoroughly until it’s the consistency of pancake batter, making sure there are no lumps of flour.

A true old-school tip: use cooled water from your mashed potatoes to make the slurry mix. Be sure to let the potato water cool enough so it doesn’t cause the added flour/cornstarch to cook in the water or it will lump up.

Then, take this mixture and slowly add it to the gravy base in the roasting pan. The point of the slurry is to prevent the flour from hitting the hot drippings/base and turning into little lumps. Once combined, turn up the heat to medium and bring the mixture to a low boil. As it begins to thicken, remember that it won’t be as thick when piping hot as it will be when it’s in the serving bowl.

As the gravy begins to thicken and near completion, add salt and pepper while continually stirring and tasting until it tastes the way you want it. All in all, this method should produce about 6 to 8 cups of gravy. This isn’t an exact recipe, as my grandma, my mother, and now I never really measured anything—we did it by eye and taste. Some turkeys have more drippings than others, and the size of the turkey will also impact the gravy yield, so you may have to adjust accordingly.