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Learn How to Make Chicken Gravy from your pan drippings from any roasted chicken. It’s delicious, smooth, and the perfect sauce for mashed potatoes, stuffing, and any other sides on your plate.
If you have roasted chicken, you can have homemade chicken gravy. This easy chicken gravy recipe makes use of your chicken drippings in the tastiest way possible (BUT, if you have no drippings, you can substitute butter and still make gravy).
To the fat, add plenty of chicken broth. Then, pull out a little bit of the hot liquid and make a cornstarch slurry. This thickens the gravy to a perfect consistency while keeping it gluten-free. After that, all you need is a little salt and pepper and this delicious, hearty gravy is ready to go. Drizzle this easy gravy recipe over mashed potatoes, stuffing, and of course your roasted chicken.
Table of Contents
Recipe ingredients
At a Glance: Here is a quick snapshot of what ingredients are in this recipe.
Please see the recipe card below for specific quantities.
Ingredient notes
- Pan drippings: If you don’t have pan drippings from a freshly roasted chicken, substitute 6 tablespoons of butter.
- Chicken broth: If you happen to have any in your freezer, use homemade chicken broth. Store-bought works, too, or make it from chicken bouillon or use “Better than Bouillon” roasted chicken paste.
- Cornstarch: My trick for making an easy gravy that’s also gluten-free.
Step-by-step instructions
- After the roasted chicken has been removed from the pan, place the roasting pan with drippings over 2 burners and turn heat to medium heat. Add broth and bring to a simmer, scraping up the browned bits off the bottom of the pan.
- Pour the contents through a fine-mesh strainer set over a large bowl. Using a large flat spoon, skim off and discard the layer of fat that floats to the surface, or pour the liquid into a fat separator and pour off the liquid, leaving the grease behind.
- Transfer the liquid to a saucepan, place over medium-low heat, and simmer briskly. In a small bowl, add some of the liquid and 4 tablespoons of cornstarch and whisk together to make a slurry. Gradually stir the slurry into the simmering liquid, then cook until the gravy thickens, about 5 minutes.
- Season to taste with salt and pepper.
Recipe tips and variations
- Yield: This recipe makes about 6 cups gravy, enough for twelve (1/2-cup) servings.
- Storage: Store leftovers covered in the refrigerator for up to 4 days.
- Roast chicken: You don’t need a whole bird to make gravy. An assortment of cooked chicken parts, such as chicken thighs, quarters, or breasts, work too. Just aim for bone-in, skin-on chicken for maximum flavor. Boneless, skinless chicken breasts won’t release enough fat to make gravy.
- Fond = flavor: Make sure you get every last bit of the “fond,” the culinary term for the browned bits that cling to the pan after roasting.
- Make the slurry: Don’t skip the slurry. If you add dry cornstarch to hot liquid, it will clump.
- Herbs and spices: Add more flavor to your gravy with garlic powder, onion powder, thyme, sage, or rosemary. Add these with the broth in Step 2.
- White wine: For a splash of acidity in the gravy, add a little bit of white wine.
- Turkey gravy: For turkey gravy, substitute pan drippings from a roasted turkey.
- Let the meat rest: Making gravy is the perfect thing to do while the chicken rests before carving. Keep it warm, and by the time the gravy is done, you’ll be ready to carve.
Frequently Asked Questions
Part fat and part all-purpose flour, a roux is a culinary technique for thickening sauces, including gravy. My chicken gravy uses a slurry made with cornstarch for a gluten-free gravy.
My recipe is written with cornstarch, but you can certainly substitute flour. To substitute flour for the cornstarch, remove most of the fat from the roasting pan. Add the flour and cook, mixing with the drippings, until the raw flour smell disappears. Add the broth and scrape the bottom of the pan. No need to strain off the extra fat; just pour the gravy into a saucepan and continue with the recipe.
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How to Make Chicken Gravy
Ingredients
For the gravy:
- Reserved pan drippings from roasted chicken (see note 1)
- 7 cups chicken broth (see note 2)
- 1/4 cup cornstarch (see note 3)
- Salt and freshly ground black pepper
Instructions
- Pour the contents through a fine-mesh strainer set over a large bowl. Using a large flat spoon, skim off and discard the layer of fat that floats to the surface, or pour the liquid into a fat separator and pour off the liquid, leaving the grease behind.
- Transfer the liquid to a saucepan, place over medium-high heat, and simmer briskly. In a small bowl, add some of the liquid and the cornstarch and whisk together to make a slurry. Gradually whisk the slurry into the simmering liquid, then cook until the gravy thickens, about 5 minutes. Season to taste with salt and pepper.
Notes
- Pan drippings: If you don’t have pan drippings from a freshly roasted chicken, substitute 6 tablespoons butter.
- Chicken broth: If you happen to have any in your freezer, use homemade chicken broth. Store-bought works, too.
- Cornstarch: My trick for making an easy gravy that’s also gluten-free.
- Yield: This recipes makes about 6 cups gravy, enough for twelve (1/2-cup) servings.
- Storage: Store leftovers covered in the refrigerator for up to 4 days.
Nutrition
Meggan Hill is a classically-trained chef and professional writer. Her meticulously-tested recipes and detailed tutorials bring confidence and success to home cooks everywhere. Meggan has been featured on NPR, HuffPost, FoxNews, LA Times, and more.
