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Simple Make-Ahead Gravy
By Alexandra Stafford
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Last Updated: 11/22/2025
This post may contain affiliate links. Please read my disclosure policy.
Save yourself the stress and hassle of making gravy on Thanksgiving morning: make it ahead! This is a very simple recipe, which will leave you with a quart of rich, flavorful gravy you can have at the ready when the bird is cooked. Warm it gently on the stovetop before serving, and fortify it with this year’s drippings for even more flavor.
A few weeks ago, when I began thinking about Thanksgiving, I logged in here, to my Alexandra’s Kitchen dashboard, hoping to find a Thanksgiving 2018 “After Action Report”, a draft I thought — hoped! — I had created with notes from last year’s feast.
Incredibly, it existed. Truly a Thanksgiving miracle. Included in those notes was a recipe for a make-ahead gravy, which I made earlier this week based on this one sentence:
“Made the gravy: 4 tablespoons butter, 1/4 cup flour, 1/2 cup Sherry, 5-6 cups stock (turkey stock frozen from last year), salt, pepper, simmer.”
That’s truly all the instruction you need to make a simple gravy, but I’ve included a recipe below. What is especially nice about having a gravy on hand before the bird is even roasted is the mental assurance that as soon as the bird is done, you can (after it rests) serve it without too much of a last-minute scramble.
Make Ahead Gravy How-To
Gather your ingredients: Homemade chicken (or other) stock is best. If you have turkey stock made from last year’s (or other) bird on hand, use that.
Melt 4 tablespoons butter.
Add 1/4 cup flour and whisk to combine. Love this sauce whisk.
Whisk until it begins to turn light brown, 2 – 4 minutes.
Add 1/2 cup Sherry, and whisk to combine…
it will seize up…
Add 5 cups of stock, a teaspoon of kosher salt, pepper to taste, a few sprigs sage or thyme, and …
… bring to a simmer:
Reduce heat, and let simmer for 15 to 20 minutes or until slightly thickened. Taste. It should taste nicely seasoned. Keep it on the thin side: it thickens up as it rests, and furthermore you’ll be simmering it again on Thanksgiving morning, which will reduce it further.
Store in the fridge (or freeze) until Thanksgiving. Warm gently stovetop before serving.
Simple Make-Ahead Gravy
- Total Time: 25 minutes
- Yield: 1.5 quarts 1x
Description
Save yourself the stress and hassle of making gravy on Thanksgiving morning: make it ahead! This is a very simple recipe, which will leave you with a quart of rich, flavorful gravy you can have at the ready when the bird is cooked. Warm it gently on the stovetop before serving, and fortify it with this year’s drippings for even more flavor.
Ingredients
- 4 tablespoons unsalted butter
- 1/4 cup all-purpose flour
- 1/2 cup Sherry, such as Harvey’s Bristol Cream
- 5 to 6 cups chicken stock or turkey stock, preferably homemade
- 1 teaspoon kosher salt, plus more to taste
- freshly cracked black pepper to taste
- a few sprigs fresh sage or thyme
Instructions
- In a medium saucepan over medium heat, melt the butter. Add the flour and whisk to combine. Continue whisking for 2 to 4 minutes or until the mixture begins to turn light brown. Add the sherry, and whisk to combine. Add 5 cups of the stock, the 1 teaspoon salt, pepper to taste, and the few springs herbs.
- Bring to a simmer, watching closely — it will bubble way up. Adjust the heat so the mixture is just barely simmering. Simmer for 15 to 20 minutes. Extract the herbs using tongs. Taste the gravy. Add the additional cup of stock if you wish to thin the texture if it is too thick. Adjust flavor with more salt or pepper to taste. Simmer to reach the desired consistency. Suggestion: Keep the gravy on the thin side because you will be simmering it further on Thanksgiving morning.
- Straing the gravy; then store it in the fridge or freezer until you are ready to serve. Before serving, gently reheat stovetop until hot. Add drippings from the current year’s turkey for an even more flavorful gravy.
- Prep Time: 5 minutes
- Cook Time: 20 minutes
- Category: Sauce
- Method: Stovetop
- Cuisine: American
This post may contain affiliate links. Please read my disclosure policy.
60 Comments on “Simple Make-Ahead Gravy”
Yes, on the actually any-time Turkey gravy. I always frugally made stock from the carcass, and discovered that if I simmered it hard, reducing way down, I actually ended up with a ‘glace’.. delicious. But no need to go that far for delicious gravy. And now, with Instant Pot, I don’t have to take hours to get a rich stock, so the boiling-off reduction time is just a final step.
Oh Nancy! Are you making stock in your Instant Pot?? What are your proportions/timing/etc.? I’d love to do this with my turkey carcass this year. Thanks!
Do you really use the Bristol Cream sherry in this recipe? It’s so sweet….
I do! It doesn’t taste too sweet in the end … there’s a nice sweetness, but it’s not too sweet, probably because the turkey stock is so savory + the addition of sage adds some earthiness.
On your Wednesday notes, you say you measured and mixed the pie fillings, did you then just store in a container in the fridge? I’ve never done that before and it would really help on time to do it the day before, just worried about it tasting all right!! TIA
Yes, exactly! Mixed the fillings and stashed in quart containers in the fridge!
This is a great idea, thanks
🙂
I just used regular sherry and make this on monday of Thanksgiving Week. It was wonderful. Thank you so very much for this great recipe.
So happy to hear this, Stephanie!!
Hi Alexandra
Does your gravy “lump” when reheated? My gravy always does but I would love to be able to make the gravy in advance and only reheat it when the bird is done. Maybe you have a trick to avoid it?
Greetings fro Switzerland
Rahel
Hi Rahel! I have not had an issue at all with this recipe in terms of lumpiness when reheating. Give it a go!
Your gravy is excellent, also all the recipes that I have made are ******
So happy to hear this, Joan 🙂 🙂 🙂
Easiest recipe and comes out super tasty!
This is a game changer! It is so nice not to have to worry about making gravy at the last moment. It is delicious and easy. Thanks Alexandra for a real winner of a recipe
So nice to hear this, Ellen! I love getting this step out of the way because when the bird comes out of the oven, I just don’t really want to do any more things 🙂 🙂 🙂
Hmm. I keep simmering away but it hasn’t thickened. I probably did 30 min total? It was very low heat but still with a bubble. I stopped hoping it will thicken when I simmer it day of…
Hi! It should thicken up… keep simmering and as it reduces, it should thicken. Use a whisk to potentially dislodge any flour-butter mixture hanging out at the bottom of the pan. It’s not a super super thick gravy, but it should definitely thicken.
This simple gravy is amazingly tasty! I was surprised how good this turned out without any juices from any turkey or turkey parts. I served a turkey breast and we grilled it. This was a super nice way not to add another step in my busy Thanksgiving prep to collect the juices and make gravy. You never disappoint, Ali. Thank you!
So nice to hear this, Lu! I love the flavor of the Sherry in this one. Hope you had a wonderful Thanksgiving! xo
I’m vegetarian Would this gravy work okay with veg stock?
Absolutely!
Making this gravy today for the first time. I’m using SAVORY & JAMES, Deluxe Medium Sherry,
Amontillado because it’s what I had on hand. The flavor of the gravy is fabulous but it’s taking forever to thicken at all….Been at it for more than half an hour and still not there.
Hi! I am likely too late here, but I have a few thoughts: stop, and let it cool, and on Thanksgiving day, bring it to a simmer. It’s possible that it simply needs to reduce down more or it’s possible it needs a bit more roux, in which case, you can make more roux (either the same amount or half as much), then add the gravy and whisk to incorporate it. Hope it works out!! Glad the flavor is good.
I just made this with gluten free flour. To get it to thicken, I needed to add more roue (additional 3T butter and 3T GF flour). It turned out great though! I used Bob’s Red Mill 1 to 1. Thanks for the recipe, I love making things ahead for Thanksgiving.
Great to hear, Mary! Thanks so much for writing and sharing your notes. So helpful for others!
This is my forever recipe for gravy, now. I used homemade veggie stock and added a couple tablespoons of pureed caramelized onions because I’m a vegetarian and love onion gravy, and I only used 1/3 cup of sherry (plain old grocery store cooking sherry) because I ran out, but I’m usually making gravy at the last minute without measuring and this year I was ALL SET. I definitely should’ve used one cup less of broth, I had to make another few tablespoons of roux to get it thick enough, but maybe that’s also because of the gelatin in broth made from meat? Either way it was delicious, just a note if other vegetarians are reading. I used a few sprigs of thyme (onion and thyme! Amazing!) but I think next year I’ll also add some sage.
Great to hear, Adi! Thanks so much for writing and sharing your notes… so helpful for vegetarians! I think I need to make some notes in the recipe about testing for doneness… I made this earlier this week and it was taking forever to thicken… or so I thought — I just decided to end it when it was slightly thick and tasted great. I let it cool, stored it, and it completely firmed up upon chilling it. Yesterday, I simmered it slowly while the turkey roasted; then added all of the turkey drippings. It was great! I also didn’t have sage this year and missed it 🙂
Can I use regular cooking sherry and dried herbs ? It’s what I have in my pantry.
Worth a shot! I would use a light hand with the dried herbs.
Help, Ali!
If I have giblets now, may I add them before freezing the gravy, or is it better to add them right before reheating and serving? Thank you! Anne
Hi! I wouldn’t add them to the finished gravy. I might freeze them, and add them to the stock that you make with the turkey carcass. Or you can freeze it, then add it to the gravy when it’s simmering stovetop on Thanksgiving (and then you can add the drippings from the turkey if you wish, too).
Thanks, Ali!
Wow, just made this gravy from yesterday’s roast turkey stock and it is the very best ever! Taste-testing I found I could eat by the spoonfuls. I only had dry sherry and it lent a beautiful flavor. I did add a tad more flour to the roux based on some comments and the consistency is perfect, thickened but not thick. If needed, I can add more stock with the turkey drippings on TG day.
Thank you for this make-ahead gravy.
So nice to hear this, Judi! Thanks so much for writing and sharing your notes… so helpful for others 🙂
Hi! How far ahead do you think you can make this gravy? Could I make it Tuesday for Thursday Thanksgiving? I’m not sure how long it is safe in the fridge.
Also, is starting the turkey at high temperature necessary? Most sites say to roast at 350 degrees for about 4 hours for my 18-pounder, but I don’t know how to adjust if the high heat first is better. Thanks so much!
Yes, absolutely! Tuesday is fine.
I do think the high heat first helps with the browning, but I do tend to buy 12-pound birds. Are you dry brining it?
Hi! Yes, I am dry brining it. Does that change the timing or browning?
Also, can the gravy be made WITHOUT the sherry? We are used to traditional gravy made with just the drippings plus flour and water and salt. Many thanks!
Dry-brined (and probably wet-brined, too, though I have less experience with those) turkeys cook faster. My 12 pound turkey consistently cooks in less than 2 hours, often 1 hr 45 minutes.
I have never made the gravy without the sherry, but I’m sure it will be just fine! Likely a slightly different flavor profile, but delicious nonetheless.
Delicious and perfect! I have some dietary restrictions in my family so I used a good quality plant based butter (hard) and 1-1 baking mix. I followed the instructions as written and the result is just beautiful!! Thank you!!
Great to hear, Anne! Thanks so much for writing and sharing your notes 🙂
Hi Ali–you do not wait for the drippings from the turkey to make the gravy? Turkey stock from last year lasts well in the freezer so you use this? Just dbl checking. I made bone broth yesterday so I guess I can use this. I see what you mean about waiting for the turkey to be ready and rushing to make the gravy. Thank you. Will try this
Hi Michelle! Correct. I make the gravy ahead of time using roasted turkey wings. On Thanksgiving, I fortify the stock with the drippings from the current bird’s pan. So tasty!
So if I’m spatchcocking my turkey could I add the backbone to it and continue through the rest of the process, removing it of course when straining? I think that would help add some “homemade” flavor to it. 🤔
Jennifer in Kansas.
Happy Thanksgiving, everyone!
Yes, absolutely! Love this idea. Hi Jennifer!!
Are there any alternatives for sherry? I do not have that on hand.
Thanks!!
Hi! Madeira or Marsala are great options. Sherry is on the sweet side, so any sweeter red or white wine would be fine, too.
I love you-that’s all I can say. Between pie crust and gravy I really need medication. This post was so needed! Thank you!!!
🤣🤣🤣
you are hysterical… thank you for writing!! You got this 💪
Can you swap Madeira wine for the Sherry?
Yes!
Question! How long would you let this simmer on the stove when re-heating it on Thanksgiving? Thank you! Made it today and it tastes delicious!
Great to hear, April 🙂 I remove it from the fridge nearly first thing in the morning, transfer it to a pot, and just set it on the stovetop (no heat) — this is merely to get organized. I’ll bring it to the most gentlest of simmers while the turkey is roasting. Depending on timing, I might turn the burner off, then turn it back on, etc. And again, I’ll add the drippings from the pan of the roasted to turkey to the pot once the turkey is done. Happy Thanksgiving!
When making the make ahead gravy recipe, can I use olive oil or canola oil instead of butter to make the roux?
I have never tried but Google is telling me that yes, you can. A few things to be aware of include the flavor — oil will lend a different flavor, though it’s only 4 tablespoons, so I can’t imagine it affecting the flavor too dramatically. And oil has a higher smoke point, so just be ultra attentive when you are stirring the roux.
This gravy recipe was filled with so much flavor, loved it! Such a great idea to make the gravy in advance, it worked out perfectly!
I’m so happy to hear this, Rhonda! Thanks so much for writing 🙂 Happy Thanksgiving!
Oh My. I have never had a problem with great tasting gravy so I was hesitant to ruin a good thing! This recipe is fantastic. I made it as written, including the Harvey’s! Excellent, thank you.
Great to hear, Cher! Thanks so much for writing and sharing this 🙂