How to Make Gravy From Chicken Drippings

How to make gravy from chicken drippings is here! NO waste, use the liquid left to thicken and pour over your meat and biscuits for dinner.

This is how to make gravy from chicken drippings. All you need is a saucepan, the liquid from your pot, butter, thickener and seasonings of your choice. Whether you’re new to cooking and learning the basics, or just hate wasting food this will come in handy. (affiliate links present)

Chicken Gravy from Drippings

I mean I bet you have made this at Thanksgiving, but using turkey drippings. This is similar but you’d likely make this a lot more often than once a year. How you cook your bird is up to you, there are tons of methods but I’d say air fryer whole chicken is our fave.

Not only does the poultry get cooked to perfection but the drippings get captured in the lower basket to pour out easily. You could almost make this if you bought a rotisserie at the store too. I would say you might get 1/2-3/4 cup in the bag and need to supplement from a container but no worries.

Chicken Gravy Recipe

The base is simple, then you go ahead and add whatever seasonings are perfect for y’all. You’ll need butter and flour, or cornstarch works too as a thickener. Together with some softened diced onions you’ll make a roux of sorts. If you aren’t familiar with what this is, it is a great way to thicken sauces with tons of flavor.

You’ll want a saucepan for this, or a pan with a large lip so it can boil and bubble away with the milk and broth without flowing over. Alternatively you could make Instant Pot gravy in that pot too. In order to make it creamy we are going with milk. Use whole for best results, fat free won’t get it right as it’s quite thin as you know.

The most important thing to remember when making this is to not let the flour clump up. The best way to do this is whisk, whisk, whisk without stopping. Once it is nice and smooth, pour in your liquids to thin that out. Keep scraping and whisking from the bottom of the pan to get all that is stuck on browned bits off and into the mix.

And then whisk again. Alternatively you can add into the milk, whisk until smooth and then stir in.

Chicken Gravy from Broth

If you didn’t have homemade chicken broth you could certainly use canned or use chicken bouillon with water to make the stock you need. Of course the best is to use your pan drippings from your chicken or turkey from the roasting pan or in the bottom of your pressure cooker.

These are the basic steps to make homemade chicken gravy

• In a saucepan on the stovetop add your diced onions with 1 tbsp of your butter. Melt the butter, saute onions until see thru and golden. Add minced garlic into the sauce pan now.
• Add 2 tbsp butter, allow that to melt. Sprinkle in your flour or cornstarch and quickly whisk together until creamy, not allowing it to clump up.
• Whisk in your milk and chicken drippings (from preparing air fryer chicken gizzards, cooking a whole chicken or otherwise) until smooth. Then add diced fresh basil + a pinch of salt and pepper.
  • Continue to boil so it thickens, taste, adjust seasonings as needed and then remove from stovetop.
• Serve immediately over chicken or mashed potatoes. As it cools it will continue to thicken, add more broth to thin out.

For turkey gravy you would do the same thing as with a roasted chicken, for beef use our brown gravy for meatloaf recipe. Same idea, just different flavors but the same idea.

Chicken Gravy From Drippings with Milk

What you will need to make this quick and easy sauce. First, get out your pan and a measuring cup. A whisk will be a necessity as well as a gravy boat for serving on the table.

1. Whole or 2% milk
2. Flour
3. Drippings from your meat or canned broth
4. Salted butter
5. Diced onions
6. Finely diced roasted garlic
7. You could dice up gizzards or meat and add 1/4 cup of that into the mix too for a heartier sauce
   1. we have done this with our sausage gravy and it is great with some protein in it especially over Bisquick biscuits

If you don’t use this all up at once you can certainly save it. Allow it to cool completely first. Then pour it into a container stored in the fridge. As it sits some of the fat may rise to the top. You can stir it together or skim it off with a spoon and then reheat the next day to use up again.

You can see some boiled chicken gizzards that were made here. Diced up fine they add a ton of extra flavor into the mix. Especially if you don’t like wasting every piece of the bird this might be up your alley. Not into that “body part”?Just use leftover chicken breasts or thighs chopped up.

I think it is about the texture really, and whether you want to add protein into the mix. Either way this should give you an idea of how to make chicken gravy at home so when you’re craving comfort food it’s only 15 minutes or so away. 😉