Christmas Day is busy enough without stressing over gravy. So this make-ahead Christmas gravy is designed to give you one less thing to worry about. It can be made in advance and either refrigerated or frozen until needed.
It’s rich, deeply savoury and can be fully prepared in advance; freeing up precious hob space (and time!) when everything else is competing for attention.
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Whether you’re hosting a full festive spread or keeping things simple, having homemade gravy ready to go, means you can focus on enjoying the day rather than standing over a saucepan. Make it ahead, reheat gently, and pour generously because good Christmas gravy really does make the meal.
Christmas Gravy Hack
The typical way of making Christmas gravy is to use the turkey juices from roasting and creating a flavoursome gravy from scratch on Christmas Day. This puts pressure on you to make the gravy when you're already dealing with multiple other things. So I'm all about minimising stress and pressure!
If you’re like me and prefer to make Christmas gravy in advance then this is the recipe for you. It’s one less element you need to worry about. Then you can batch this and store it in the fridge or the freezer until you need it.
Simply add your prepared Christmas gravy to the pan and gently reheat. Pour in your roasted turkey juices whilst reheating and you get all the flavours from the turkey, without the time restriction and pressure of making the gravy on Christmas Day itself – win win!
Ingredients for Christmas Gravy from scratch
- Chicken: chicken wings and chicken stock (I would highly recommend Potts Chicken Stock as the flavour is incredible)
- Vegetables: carrots, leeks and celery
- Herbs: rosemary and thyme
- White Wine: optional, but recommend - leave out from recipe if you don't want to use it (no need to substitute with anything)
- Salted Butter
- Plain Flour (All-Purpose): for thickening, you could alternatively use cornflour to thicken to achieve a fully-gluten free gravy or if you want to maintain the volume but thicken the gravy further.
How to make Christmas Gravy from scratch
Add fresh herbs, chopped carrot, leek and celery to bottom of a lined roasting tin. Then layer the chicken wings on top. Spray with olive oil, add salt and pepper and pour in the chicken stock. Roast in the oven for 1 hour.
Remove from the oven and add everything into a large pot. Pour in white wine and water with the chicken wings, vegetables and herbs then bring to the boil. Cook for around 30-40 minutes (you're aiming for approx. 800-1000ml of liquid once drained).
I found boiling in a stainless steel pot reduced the liquid quicker than using non-stick cookware - so keep an eye on the liquid volume. You can always top up with some extra water if needed.
Remove chicken wings from pot into colander (over another bowl to collect the drained liquid). Then mash remaining vegetables in the pot (optional step) before pouring into colander too.
Melt butter in a pan and whisk through plain flour to make a rue, allow to cook for 1 minute. Finally, start whisking through strained gravy until all used and it’s glossy and thick. You can thicken the gravy by simmering on high heat until it reduces and thickens to your desired consistency. Or add some cornflour mixed with water.
Top Tips For Perfect Christmas Gravy
A couple of things to either enhance or ensure the perfect consistency:
- if you want to intensify the flavour - increase volume of chicken wings to 2kg (I did this on a couple of the test recipes and it was TASTY)
- if the golden colour of traditional chicken gravy doesn't appeal and you want to to achieve a more traditional brown colour, then you can opt to add a splash of red wine to the rue before adding the reduced chicken stock OR add gravy browning
- reducing the volume of the finished Christmas gravy will intensify the flavour - so you can continue simmering the gravy at the end to thicken the sauce and intensify the flavour (albeit it will reduce the volume, so keep this in mind for the no. of people you're needing to serve)
- if you're happy with the flavour and the volume, but you want to thicken the consistency - mix 1 tablespoon cornflour with 1 tablespoon (cold) water then mix through the gravy whilst stirring over gentle heat. Repeat again until you achieve the consistency and thickness of Christmas gravy you want.
Storage and Reheating
The Christmas gravy can be made in advance and stored either in the:
- fridge (for up to 4 days)
- freezer (for up to 3 months)
You can freeze the gravy in either a sealable freezer bag (better for space-saving) or in a carton or glass jar. However, if storing in glass jar, it is especially important to ensure there is a little extra space. As otherwise it will expand and shatter the glass
If frozen, it should be defrosted in the fridge overnight before reheating.
To reheat: either heat in a pot on the hob or microwave until piping hot. You can also add in the roasted turkey juices before serving too.
Other Christmas Recipes You Need
If you love this make-ahead Christmas Gravy recipe and want some more of my Christmas favourites, then try these:
- Spiced Red Cabbage (30 Minute Recipe)
- Sausage Meat Stuffing Balls
- Brussel Sprout Soup with Candied Bacon
If you have any questions please leave a comment and I'll get back to you. Or I would really appreciate it if you left me a review below.
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Christmas Gravy From Scratch (Make Ahead Recipe)
Ingredients
- 1 kg chicken wings See Notes
- 1.5 L water
- 3 carrots roughly chopped
- 3 stalks celery roughly chopped
- 1 leek roughly chopped
- fresh rosemary
- fresh thyme
- 185 ml white wine optional - leave out if preferred (no need to substitute for anything else)
- 500 ml chicken stock
- 75 g salted butter
- 4 tablespoon plain flour and/or cornflour if desired - see Notes
Instructions
- Pre heat oven to 220C (fan)
- Add fresh herbs (fresh rosemary and fresh thyme), 3 carrots, 1 leek and 3 stalks celery (all roughly chopped) to a lined roasting tin
- Layer the 1 kg chicken wings on top and spray with olive oil, sprinkle with salt and pepper and pour 500 ml chicken stock into bottom of tray
- Roast in oven for 60 minutes until nicely browned
- Remove from the oven and add everything into a large pot with 185 ml white wine and 1.5 L water
- Bring to the boil and cook for around 30-40 minutes (aiming for approx. 800-1000ml of liquid once drained) - See Notes
- Remove chicken wings from pot into colander (over another bowl to collect the drained liquid) and mash vegetables in the pot (optional step - to help increase thickness of finished gravy) before pouring into colander too. Place the drained liquid to one side
- Melt 75 g salted butter in a pan and whisk through 4 tablespoon plain flour to make a rue, allow to cook for 1 minute
- Finally, start whisking through strained gravy until all used and it’s glossy and thick - see Notes Section below for full list of suggestions to enhance or ensure the perfect consistency of Christmas Gravy to suit individual tastes
Notes
-
- if you want to intensify the flavour - increase volume of chicken wings to 2kg (I did this on a couple of the test recipes and it was TASTY)
-
- if the golden colour of traditional chicken gravy doesn't appeal and you want to to achieve a more traditional brown colour, then you can opt to add a splash of red wine to the rue before adding the reduced chicken stock OR add gravy browning
-
- reducing the volume of the finished Christmas gravy will intensify the flavour - so you can continue simmering the gravy at the end to thicken the sauce and intensify the flavour (albeit it will reduce the volume, so keep this in mind for the no. of people you're needing to serve)
-
- if you're happy with the flavour and the volume, but you want to thicken the consistency - mix 1 tablespoon cornflour with 1 tablespoon (cold) water then mix through the gravy whilst stirring over gentle heat. Repeat again until you achieve the consistency and thickness of Christmas gravy you want.
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