Giblet gravy, a gravy made with the choicest pieces of the bird, is the queen of gravies. So full of wonderful flavor from the giblets and drippings.
Making good gravy isn’t difficult! It just takes patience, perseverance and good choice of ingredients witout forgeting using the neck, liver, heart, and gizzards from a turkey or chicken.
What Are Giblets?
Giblets are comprised of the heart, gizzard, liver, and neck of the chicken or turkey. They are often found in a small bundle inside the cavity of the whole bird. You can make gravy from the giblets of either a turkey or a chicken, though I think it’s more usual with a roast turkey. The giblets are bigger, and there’s more meat to put in the gravy.
How to Make Giblet Gravy
To make the gravy, you first make a stock from the giblets, which cooks on the stovetop while you are cooking your turkey. When the bird has finished roasting, you combine the stock, along with chopped up cooked giblets, with the roasting pan drippings to make the gravy. You can also make giblet gravy with a few hard boiled eggs and 3 tablespoons of chopped pimentos thrown in. Do you make giblet gravy? If you do, what are your variations? Please let us know in the comments.
Make Ahead Tips for Giblet Gravy
You can make this gravy ahead of time, but unless you also cook the turkey or chicken ahead of time, you won’t have the drippings from the turkey to add to it. As a workaround, try one of these two things.
- To fully make the gravy ahead of time, you’ll need to use a different type of fat. Remove the giblets from the uncooked bird, and make the gravy as directed. In Step 5, instead of using the drippings from the turkey or chicken, use two tablespoons of bacon fat or two tablespoons of butter and continue.
- To simply make the stock ahead of time, remove the giblets from the uncooked bird complete Steps 1 to 4 of the recipe. Cool and refrigerate the stock and the minced giblet meat for up to 2 days. Getting this far will save you a lot of time the day of cooking.
How to Make This Gravy Gluten Free
Make this gravy gluten free simply by choosing cornstarch as the thickener instead of flour, following the optional directions in Step 5. Just be sure to first mix the cornstarch with water to make a slurry, rather than adding dry cornstarch straight to the drippings.
Best Old-Fashioned Giblet Gravy Recipe !!
Ingrédients
- Turkey giblets (from whole turkey, thawed if frozen) the heart, gizzard, liver, and neck of the chicken or turkey.
- 2 medium stalks celery, sliced (1 cup)
- 1 medium onion, sliced
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 1/4 teaspoon freshly black pepper
- Drippings from roasted turkey
- 4 cup no-sodium chicken, turkey, or vegetable broth (more if needed)
- 1/4 cup all-purpose flour
- 1 tablespoon minced garlic
- 1 bay leaf
- 1 to 2 teaspoons mustard
- 1 tablespoon butter
Instructions
- In 2-quart saucepan, place giblets (except liver); add enough water to cover. Add celery, onion, 1 teaspoon salt and 1/4 teaspoon pepper add butter,mustard,minced garlic,bay leaf. 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.
Notes
- You might be wondering: What exactly are giblets anyway? Good question! If you’re roasting a whole turkey, you’ll usually find the giblets packaged up inside the bird’s cavity. They consist of the heart, neck, liver and gizzard. As you now know, giblets make for an ultra-flavorful gravy, but they can also be used to make homemade stocks and broths.