This homestyle gravy is made without turkey pan drippings, uses store-bought Heinz gravy, and tastes homemade. Perfect for serving a crowd, this recipe can be scaled up to easily feed a lot of people, and it can even be made a day in advance. So, keep your holiday crowd cooking simple with this incredibly tasty gravy, and no one will ever know you doctored gravy from a jar.

This website uses affiliate links. See our Privacy Policy for more information.

spoon holding stuffing coated with gravy

Why the world needs this recipe

When I started cooking for a crowd, I was asked to make Thanksgiving supper for 80 people. I made stuffing, mashed potatoes, carrots, and broccoli cheese casserole, and then volunteers cooked and delivered turkeys. Sounds perfect, right? Nope.

Knowing I would not have pan drippings because I was not cooking turkey myself, I simply omitted making gravy thinking, “It’ll be fine”. Clearly, with all this amazing food I was making, people wouldn’t miss gravy, right? Wrong.

Not making gravy was a huge mistake, one I swore I would never make again. If you ask my husband what he remembers most from that meal, now years later, the first thing he would say is, “She didn’t make gravy”.

So, don’t make that mistake. Make the gravy. And make it awesome. Here is your recipe.

How to make store-bought gravy taste homemade

I love how this recipe uses just a couple tricks to take jarred Heinz gravy and make it taste homemade without any pan drippings.

First, we make a thin gravy with a roux (butter and flour), apple brandy, and bone broth. The apple brandy brings flavor and a hint of sweetness. Bone broth brings depth of flavor. This all is the magic mix to make the gravy in a jar taste homemade and it is clutch.

Once all is mixed with the store-bought gravy, then we just season and thicken our gravy up how we like it… saucyyy.

The bit of butter and flour we use to make the initial roux is not enough to thicken this gravy entirely so then we use cornstarch. I did this intentionally to make this a recipe that can be prepared completely a day in advance, then reheated without it separating. Dishes with a lot of cream or butter will separate upon reheating, no one wants to eat that.

So, with just these couple steps we are able to take our jar of gravy and make it a super delicious, homey gravy in a recipe that is easy to multiply to feed as many people as we like.

TIP: if your mixture comes out lumpy once the brandy and broth are added to the roux, use an immersion blender to force it into submission and make the mixture smooth. Do this before adding the jar gravy, which contains bits of meat.

ladle scooping gravy — This is the gravy after thickening a bit but before adding the cornstarch. Delicious, but it’s still just a little thin at this point. This is a good point to taste for seasoning.

About the ingredients

See the recipe card below for the full listing, but all these ingredients are easy and approachable.

I add apple brandy to my gravy and have for years. Just a little does the trick and it brings a yummy yummm to gravy. I also have no issues serving dishes that include alcohol at my church because alcohol cooks off. However, if alcohol-free is required, simply substitute apple juice.

This recipe is best using Heinz Homestyle Family-Sized Turkey Gravy for two reasons: taste and because it is available in nice, big 18 ounce jars. I have tested this recipe with a couple other brands, and McCormick was also very good as an alternative. Heinz won in my kitchen taste test, but it was a close competition.

Note: this post is not sponsored by Heinz or McCormick and I am receiving no compensation from them. I rarely promote brands (because, why would I?), but this is one of those occasions where I feel strongly enough about the recipe result to specifically call out brands.

On the bone broth: I use chicken bone broth in my stuffing, so it makes sense to use it here too and just have to worry about purchasing the one ingredient for two different recipes. I also prefer the deeper flavor that it has. That said, if not available or if cost prohibitive, substitute with chicken stock. I do not recommend using chicken broth.

I love the flavor thyme brings to turkey gravy, so I always add it. Ideally, we would use fresh thyme, but getting fresh thyme leaves off their stems when cooking for a lot of people is literally a special sort of hell. Right up there with chopping a ton of onions. So, I use dried thyme.

How much gravy to serving a crowd

At 1/4 cup per serving, 3 cups of gravy will serve 12 people. To serve more people, simple multiply this recipe 2X, 3X, etc. No other adjustments are needed. Using a 2-ounce ladle to serve works best. And as always, make more of any recipe as a cushion when serving a crowd to ensure you don’t run out.

FAQs

Can this gravy be amplified to feed 100 people?

Absolutely. Use the toggle in the recipe card, but you will basically make 8- or 9-times this recipe. This is not hard to do in a large pot on the stove top.

Can gravy be made in advance?

Yes. This recipe is specifically developed to be equally delicious if served the day of making, or if reheated and served the next day.

Can salted butter be used?

Yes. In this recipe, salted butter will work just fine.

What is a substitute for the apple brandy?

Though the alcohol cooks off, if alcohol is to be avoided completely, simply substitute with apple juice.

What is the best way to reheat gravy?

Reheat gravy on the stove-top over medium to medium-low heat, stirring often.

This gravy is so stinking good on my Turkey Stuffing for a Crowd and Buttermilk, Boursin, and Chive Mashed Potatoes!