Turkey drippings substitutes

The genuine fix rather than a workaround, and it is what caterers do. Roast the parts at 425F with a chopped onion and carrot for 45 to 60 minutes until deeply brown, then use the fat and fond in the pan exactly as you would drippings. The result is indistinguishable from turkey gravy, or better, because you have not diluted it with cooking-bag steam.

Best for

Turkey gravy, Make-ahead gravy, Deep-fried or smoked turkey dinners, Store-bought precooked birds

This can be done up to three days ahead and refrigerated; the gravy reheats well with a splash of stock. Turkey wings and necks are cheap and available all November, which is why this is the top answer.

The standard no-drippings gravy and a good one if you cook the roux far enough. Take the butter and flour to the color of peanut butter, about 5 to 7 minutes over medium, before any liquid goes in. Stopped too early it tastes pale and floury; taken properly it tastes toasted and close to the real thing. Butter gravy is a touch sweeter and creamier than fat-based turkey gravy, and lacks the faint poultry funk.

Best for

Last-minute gravy, Vegetarian-adjacent tables, Mashed potatoes, Stuffing

Add a teaspoon of soy sauce or Worcestershire and half a teaspoon of concentrated chicken or turkey base per 3 cups. Season aggressively; drippings carry a lot of salt that butter does not.

Simmering good stock with a halved onion, a bay leaf, a few sage leaves and a strip of celery for 20 minutes, then reducing it by a quarter, concentrates the savory body that drippings would have supplied. It gives you depth without fat, so the gravy tastes cleaner and thinner on the tongue; finish it with 2 tablespoons of cold butter whisked in off the heat to restore the mouthfeel.

Best for

Lighter gravy, Gravy for a crowd, Soup and stuffing liquid

Homemade or refrigerated stock that sets to a wobble when cold is doing double duty, because that wobble is gelatin, the ingredient most no-drippings gravies are actually missing.

Substitutes only the fat component, but that is often exactly the gap. Schmaltz is nearly a direct match, slightly more chickeny. Duck fat makes the gravy noticeably richer and rounder, which is excellent. Bacon fat brings obvious smoke and pork flavor, which is great alongside cornbread dressing and wrong on a classic sage-and-herb turkey plate, so use no more than half bacon fat and half butter.

Best for

Building a roux, Gravy for smoked turkey, Sauteing gravy aromatics

Use the same volume the recipe asked of drippings for the fat, then supply the liquid from stock. Bacon fat is salty; hold back on added salt until the end.

No shame in it, and it improves dramatically with two minutes of work. Jarred gravy is thin on browned flavor and heavy on salt and starch, so it tastes flat and slightly gluey straight from the jar. Simmer it with a tablespoon of butter, a splash of white wine, a few sage leaves and a spoonful of pan scrapings from any roasted vegetable, and it becomes respectable.

Best for

Emergencies, Very large crowds, Stretching a small amount of real gravy

Never boil it hard; the starch thins and it goes slick. If you have any real drippings at all, even a quarter cup, stir them in and the jar carries the volume.

The right answer for a vegetarian gravy on the same table, and better than most people expect. Brown sliced cremini mushrooms and onion hard in butter or oil until they are genuinely dark, deglaze with sherry or white wine, then build a roux and add vegetable stock. Mushrooms supply glutamates, the same savory backbone drippings supply, so it tastes deeply savory rather than merely vegetal, though it is earthier and less meaty.

Best for

Vegetarian gravy, Mashed potatoes, Nut roast, Stuffing

A teaspoon of soy sauce, a scrape of Marmite or a pinch of dried porcini powder pushes it much closer to meat gravy. Do not crowd the pan when browning the mushrooms or they steam and stay bland.