Classic Giblet Gravy is iconic and a must-have on the Southern holiday table. If you aren’t familiar with the gravy, it’s prepared by using the fowl’s (turkey, chicken, etc.) offal, rather the heart, gizzard, and liver. The neck meat is often used as well in giblet gravy.
I don’t ever remember a Thanksgiving or Christmas holiday without it gracing our table. My mom didn’t cook that much growing up, but she sure knew how to make giblet gravy. She was an expert at it. The gravy makes all the difference in the taste of everything holiday.
Giblet gravy is relatively simple to make, and the flavor is out of this world. Simply remove the heart, gizzard, and liver and place in a medium pot with stock and water. Add the neck to the pot if spatchcocking the turkey or chicken. Lower to a simmer for a few hours, and then chop the meat into tiny pieces. That’s it for the giblet part of the recipe.
The rest of the preparation is pretty much the same way you make brown gravy. Melt butter, stir in flour, and continue to stir until it becomes thick. Then add drippings from the cooked turkey, or add some of the drained broth from water in which you boiled the giblets. Add a little milk to give the gravy that silky texture, and then add a few boiled eggs chopped very small. The chopped egg gives the gravy a nice color, texture, and flavor.
Pouring this gravy over mashed potatoes, turkey, chicken, or cornbread dressing brings a comfort like none other. For me, this is comfort food at its best!
I demonstrate how to make giblet gravy in this video from my Thanksgiving Feast series on the Outdoor Channel:
Giblet Gravy
We’re about to let you in on a secret: The key to smooth and richly flavored turkey gravy lies within the bird itself. We’re talking about the giblets. Giblet gravy turns out meaty and luscious, and you can certainly pull it off—even on your first try. We’ll show you how it’s done with this surefire recipe. Once you get a taste of the depth of flavor that results from turning those odd bits into gravy, you’ll never look back. Mashed potatoes and biscuits will forever be better, and your guests will certainly be satisfied!
Prep: 15min
Total: 2h20min
Yield: 8
Serving Size: 1 Serving
Nutrition Facts: calories 70 , Carbohydrate 3 g, Cholesterol 45 mg, Fat 1 , Fiber 0 g, Protein 4 g, Saturated Fat 1 1/2 g, servingSize 1 Serving, Sodium 200 mg, Sugar 0 g, Trans Fat 0 g
Ingredients:
- Turkey giblets (from whole turkey, thawed if frozen)
- 2 medium stalks celery, sliced (1 cup)
- 1 medium onion, sliced
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 1/4 teaspoon pepper
- Drippings from roasted turkey
- About 1/4 cup Progresso™ chicken broth (from 32-oz carton), if needed
- 1/4 cup Gold Medal™ all-purpose flour
- Salt and pepper to taste
Instruction:
- In 2-quart saucepan, place giblets (except liver); add enough water to cover. Add celery, onion, 1 teaspoon salt and 1/4 teaspoon pepper. Heat to boiling; reduce heat to low. Cover and simmer 1 to 2 hours or until giblets are tender. Add liver during last 15 minutes of cooking.
- Drain giblet mixture, reserving broth and giblets. Discard celery and onion.
- After removing turkey from roasting pan, remove 1/2 cup drippings (turkey juices and fat); reserve. Pour remaining drippings into 2-cup measuring cup; add enough giblet broth and chicken broth to measure 2 cups; set aside.
- Place reserved 1/2 cup drippings in roasting pan or 12-inch skillet. Stir in flour. Cook over low heat, stirring constantly and scraping up brown bits in pan, until smooth and browned. Gradually stir in 2 cups broth mixture. Cook, stirring constantly, until mixture boils and thickens. Remove meat from neck; finely chop meat and giblets and add to gravy if desired. Stir in salt and pepper.
Giblet Gravy Recipe
Find out how to make this southern recipe for giblet gravy and turn a great dinner into a spectacular mea!
Prep: 10min
Total: 25min
Yield: 8
Serving Size: 1 serving
Nutrition Facts: calories 208 kcal, Carbohydrate 3 g, Protein 5 g, Fat 19 g, Saturated Fat 11 g, Cholesterol 142 mg, Sodium 812 mg, servingSize 1 serving
Ingredients:
- 3/4 cup or 1 1/2 sicks butter
- 3 tablespoons flour ((3 tablespoons of flour is approximately equal to the amount to butter))
- 48 oz chicken broth
- salt (to taste)
- pepper (to taste)
- sage (to taste)
- 3-4 eggs (hard boiled and sliced)
- 1 handful giblets (boiled and chopped.)
Instruction:
- Over low heat, melt butter in a large skillet – whisk in several heaping tablespoons of flour while continuously stirring. It may clump up and then will start melting into semi-liquid. Saturate with flour and keep whisking. Roux will darken as the flour cooks continue process till roux transforms to a dark gold/medium brown color. Next, remove from heat and reserve for gravy (See cooking video at beginning of this post.)
- Then add eggs,and giblets. Gravy should thicken up well and can be held on the stove to keep warm
Giblet Gravy
Here’s how to make the perfect turkey gravy. Ree Drummond’s giblet gravy recipe is luscious, irresistible, and deserves a spot on your Thanksgiving table!
Prep: 5min
Total: 25min
Yield: 12 serving(s)
Ingredients:
- Giblets and neck, saved from the uncooked turkey
- Drippings from roasted turkey
- 1/2 c. all-purpose flour (more if needed)
- 4 c. no-sodium chicken, turkey, or vegetable broth (more if needed)
- Salt and pepper
Instruction:
- First, take the giblets and neck from the raw turkey and cover them with water by 2 inches in a small saucepan. Bring to a gentle boil over medium heat, then reduce the heat to low and simmer it for 1 hour to both to cook the meat and to make a giblet broth for the gravy.
- Remove the giblets and neck from the water (don’t worry; they’re supposed to look really grody) and set them aside. Keep the giblet broth in the saucepan for later.
- When you’re ready to make the gravy, pour all the drippings from the turkey roasting pan into a bowl. Set the pan back onto the stove. Let the drippings sit and separate naturally, then use a ladle to carefully separate the fat from the liquid drippings (the fat will be on top, while the drippings will settle at the bottom).
- Turn the heat to medium and add about 1 cup of the fat back into the roasting pan. Sprinkle the flour all over the fat and immediately begin whisking it around to make a paste. Add more flour or fat as needed to create the right consistency: You want the mixture to be a stirrable paste and not overly greasy. If it looks a little greasy, whisk in a little more flour. Once the paste/roux is the right consistency, whisk it slowly for a few minutes, allowing it to cook to a deep golden brown color. A nice brown roux is the secret to good gravy, baby!
- Once the roux is ready, pour in 1 cup of the drippings (the stuff that separated from the fat earlier) and the chicken or turkey broth, whisking constantly. Then just let the gravy cook and thicken, whisking constantly for 5 to 8 minutes.
- Meanwhile, use your fingers to remove as much of the neck meat as you can and chop up the giblets into fine pieces. Add as much of the meat to the gravy as you’d like: Add it all if you like a really chunky giblet gravy, add a little less if you like the gravy more smooth.
- If the gravy seems too thick, add more broth and/or a little of the reserved giblet broth (the water used to cook the giblets.) Finally, season the gravy with a little bit of salt and plenty of black pepper! (Be sure to taste it and make sure the seasoning is perfect.) Serve the gravy piping hot at the table.
Giblet Gravy – Classic Version
Ingredients:
- giblets from a whole turkey
- 4 cups chicken or turkey stock
- 2 cups water
- 4 tbsp butter
- 1/4 cup all-purpose flour
- 1/2 cup milk
- 1/2 tsp kosher salt
- 1/2 tsp pepper
- 2 large eggs, hardboiled and chopped
Instruction:
- Bring giblets, turkey neck, stock, and water to a boil. Reduce heat and simmer for 2 hours.
- Place a strainer over a bowl and drain the giblets. Transfer giblets to a cutting board and allow to cool. Remove the meat from the neck and chop all the meat from neck and the rest of giblets.
- Melt butter in a saucepan and stir in flour. Whisk continuously for 4-5 minutes. Slowly pour and whisk drippings from the turkey and 2 cups of remaining broth into the butter-flour mixture in the saucepan and boil for 3 minutes. Add the milk and continue stirring until mixture is thickened. Stir in chopped boiled eggs.
- Season with kosher salt and freshly ground pepper to taste.
Grandma’s Giblet Gravy | CHEF CARMEN ATL
FAQ
What is giblet gravy made of?
What giblets not to use in gravy?
What is the secret to good gravy?
- Tip #1 – Remove excess fat.
- Tip #3 – To strain or not to strain the gravy.
- Tip #4 – Heat the liquid mixture, it needs to be hot!
- Tip #5 – Thickening the gravy.
- Tip #6 – Use a whisk to mix in the flour mixture.
- Tip #7 – If your gravy gets lumpy, strain it!
How long do you need to cook giblets?