Turkey stock substitutes

The obvious answer and the right one, with one caveat: turkey stock is darker, deeper and slightly more mineral, while chicken stock is paler and sweeter. Straight swapped into gravy it works but tastes a shade timid. Add a teaspoon of soy sauce and a grind of black pepper per 4 cups, or half a teaspoon of concentrated poultry base, and the gap closes almost entirely.

Best for

Gravy, Stuffing and dressing, Soup, Rice, Braising

Use unsalted or low-sodium stock if you plan to reduce it, or the finished dish will be too salty. Stock that gels in the fridge gives far better gravy body than a thin boxed broth.

The version that actually tastes like turkey stock, because it is turkey stock. Roast the parts at 425F for 30 to 40 minutes until well browned, then simmer them in the chicken stock with an onion, a carrot and a bay leaf for 45 to 60 minutes. The dark meat and collagen give you the deep savory body and the silky texture that plain chicken stock lacks.

Best for

Turkey gravy, Thanksgiving stuffing, Turkey soup, Make-ahead gravy

Can be made up to three days ahead or frozen for months. Turkey wings and necks are cheap and widely stocked in November, which makes this the highest-value option of the year.

Useful specifically because it fixes the thing chicken stock gets wrong, which is depth and color. Straight beef stock is too assertive and too red-meat tasting for a turkey dish and will make gravy taste like a roast dinner rather than Thanksgiving. Half beef and half chicken is the sweet spot: darker, rounder, satisfyingly savory, and still recognizably poultry-adjacent.

Best for

Dark gravy, Stuffing, Braises, Onion-heavy dishes

Skip this in a delicate turkey soup, where the beef flavor will dominate. It works best where there is browned meat, onion and herbs to hide behind.

The pantry option, and turkey-flavored versions do exist alongside chicken. What you get is the salt and the glutamate savoriness but almost none of the gelatin, so gravy made from it tastes right and feels thin and slightly slick on the tongue. Fix that with an extra tablespoon of butter whisked in at the end, or a teaspoon of bloomed unflavored gelatin per 2 cups.

Best for

Emergencies, Rice and grains, Soup base, Seasoning liquid

These are very salty. Use them at three quarters strength, add no salt until the dish is finished, and never reduce them, since reducing concentrates the salt fast.

The route for a vegetarian gravy or dressing on a turkey table, and it works better than expected because mushrooms and soy sauce both supply glutamates, the savory backbone stock provides. The result is earthier and sweeter than turkey stock and clearly not meat, but it is genuinely deep rather than merely vegetal.

Best for

Vegetarian gravy, Vegetarian stuffing, Soup, Risotto

Soak the dried mushrooms in the hot stock for 20 minutes, then strain, leaving the grit behind. Watch the salt, since both soy sauce and boxed vegetable stock are salty.

Worth knowing because it beats a bad bouillon cube. Sweat a chopped onion and a stick of celery in butter until golden, add the water, a bay leaf, a few sage leaves and peppercorns, simmer 20 minutes, and strain. It tastes clean, oniony and buttery rather than meaty, with no body at all, so it suits stuffing and rice far better than it suits gravy.

Best for

Stuffing liquid, Cooking rice, Deglazing a pan, Thinning a sauce

In stuffing this is nearly as good as stock, since the bread, sausage and herbs supply the flavor. In gravy it is a distant last resort.