Prep Time: 15 minutes

Cook Time: 30 minutes

Yield: ~ 4 cups turkey gravy

We’ve already showed you all how to make the most succulent, moist turkey you’ve ever had by cooking it sous vide. But regardless of how delicious and flavorful your turkey is, no Thanksgiving dinner would be complete without a rich and savory turkey gravy to tie everything together. Whether you drench your turkey with it or use it to top our world-famous cauliflower mash, turkey gravy is a staple that no Thanksgiving table should be without.

Turkey gravy (and gravy in general) normally gets a bad rap as being unhealthy. Most of the time, the health nuts are referring to the fat content in the gravy. If you’re on the keto diet like we are, you already know that certain fats aren’t bad for you at all, but most traditional gravies are still unhealthy because they use flour to accomplish that velvety, thick texture that we all know and love.

Well, in our recipe today, we’re going to keep all of the healthy stuff and do away with all of those useless, processed carbs and yield a turkey gravy that is unbelievably thick and satisfying. Our secret? We’re going to be using xantham gum as our thickening agent.

Now xantham gum might sound scary if you’ve never used it before, but it’s a perfectly safe food additive that’s found in a lot of gluten free and keto recipes. We’re going to be using it here as a thickening agent. If you’d rather not use xantham gum, you can substitute with corn starch, which will make it slightly less keto as it adds a few carbs, but not too many since you’ll only be using a little. Alternatively, if you’re ok with a thinner gravy, you can forgo the thickening agents altogether and just take a little bit of extra time reducing your stock down until it’s closer to the desired thickness. Just be careful with seasoning your stock if you go with this method so things don’t get too salty.

Without further ado, here’s our recipe for a totally keto, gluten-free turkey gravy:

Ingredients:

2 sets of turkey wings (drumettes, flats and tips)

1 bag of turkey giblets (neck, gizzard, heart and liver)

4 cups turkey stock

6 slices thick cut bacon

6 cloves garlic

1 yellow onion

1 lemon

1 sprig of rosemary

1/2 tsp xantham gum

salt and pepper to taste

Instructions:

Step 1: Dice onions and garlic into medium sized pieces and set aside in prep containers.

Step 2: Slice bacon into small pieces by first cutting lengthwise, then slicing them width-wise into half inch pieces.

Step 4: Roll lemon and juice into prep container.

Step 3: Separate 1 cup of turkey stock from the rest. Add xantham gum to 1 cup of cold turkey stock and blend with an immersion blender until fully incorporated.

Step 4: Break down turkey wings into individual sections (drumettes, flats and tips). This will help us to get more even color on them later in the process.

Step 5: Place dutch oven or stock pot over medium-high heat.

Step 6: Add bacon and cook until fat is rendered and pieces are crispy, but still a little tender. Take care to move the bacon around every minute or so to keep the bottom of the pan from scorching.

Step 7: Remove bacon bits from the pan and set aside.

Step 8: Lightly season turkey scraps.

Step 9: Sear turkey scraps on both sides in the pot using the left over bacon grease.

Step 10: Remove turkey scraps from pot once all scraps are golden brown on all sides (about 1-2 minutes per side)

Step 11: Add onions and garlic to pot and stir until onions start to turn translucent, scraping the bottom of the pan to begin the deglazing process.

Step 12: Add rosemary to the pot and stir until onions become fully translucent.

Step 13: Add about 1/4 cup of turkey stock to the pot and deglaze the bottom of the pot completely.

Step 14: Once the pot is deglazed, add the rest of the turkey stock and reintroduce the turkey pieces and bring to a boil.

Step 15: Once everything is boiling, roll it back to a simmer and let the mixture reduce for 15-20 minutes.

Step 16: After mixture is done reducing, remove turkey scraps and set aside.

Step 17: Add lemon juice.

Step 18: Add the xantham gum / turkey stock mixture to the pot and use immersion blender to incorporate all the elements until the final gravy is thick and homogeneous.

Step 19: Taste for seasoning and add salt and pepper as necessary.

Step 20: Add bacon bits to the gravy. Shred turkey scraps and add back to gravy.