Easy Chicken Broth Gravy — 🧡🙌🎉 If you don’t have pan drippings to make gravy, try this QUICK and EASY gravy recipe instead! It uses store bought chicken broth (or turkey broth) and turns out wonderfully smooth, rich, buttery, and FLAVORFUL every time! Perfect for holiday meals like Thanksgiving, Christmas, Easter or make it for family dinners throughout the year to serve over chicken, turkey, and of course mashed potatoes!
My family and I adore my recipe for Homemade Turkey Gravy, no mashed potatoes are even required! The issue though is that to make that scratch gravy recipe, I need drippings. And to get the drippings, I need a whole roast turkey or chicken.
Enter: This fast and easy gravy recipe using store-bought chicken broth!
It’s as rich and creamy as gravy made from drippings, minus the hassle of having to roast a chicken or turkey to collect said drippings!
Poultry seasoning and butter work together to create a rich and flavorful gravy, and a little flour helps thicken it up.
The gravy comes together in just 15 to 20 minutes and is the perfect finishing touch to family favorites like baked turkey breast, pork chops, baked chicken breasts, pork loin roast, and more!
Add this chicken broth gravy to your recipe rotation because a simple gravy recipe like this is useful all year long and not just for Thanksgiving, Christmas, or the holidays. Your family will appreciate it drizzled over some make-ahead mashed potatoes (shown below) at your next family dinner.
Ingredients for Chicken Broth Gravy
You’ll need the following ingredients to make this easy chicken gravy recipe from broth:
- Unsalted butter – if using salted butter, reduce the amount of kosher salt
- All-purpose flour
- Chicken broth – I prefer reduced sodium; turkey broth may be substituted
- Poultry seasoning
- Ground thyme
- Kosher salt
- Freshly ground black pepper
Note: Scroll down to the recipe card section of the post for the ingredients with amounts included and for more complete directions.
How to Make Chicken Gravy Using Broth
Making smooth chicken gravy from broth is very simple, but you can’t walk away from the saucepan while it’s cooking. As is the case with all gravy, you should be prepared to whisk.
Follow these easy steps to achieve the perfect consistency:
- Melt the butter in a large saucepan on the stove over medium-high heat.
- Add the flour to the pan and cook until light golden brown in color. When you add flour to melted butter, you’re making a roux which is what will thicken the gravy later. (see tip below)
- Pour the broth into the saucepan. Simmer for another 2 minutes and whisk continuously.
- Add the spices and continue to whisk over medium heat until the gravy has thickened to your liking.
- Taste for seasoning balance and add salt, pepper, more poultry seasoning, etc. as desired and serve warm!
Want to make that turkey shown above? It’s my Easy Juicy Baked Turkey Breast recipe!
Recipe Variations to Try
This chicken broth gravy is perfect as is, but you’re welcome to experiment with the following ingredients to adjust the flavor.
- If you want to use drippings: Replace half the broth (not all of it!) with pan drippings from a roast chicken or turkey. You’ll need to separate the drippings before using them, though. I like this fat separator.
- If you have fresh herbs: Add a few sprigs of sage, rosemary, or thyme to the broth mixture as it simmers to infuse with flavor. Remove the fresh herbs before serving.
- If you love garlic: Saute a minced garlic clove with the butter before adding the flour.
- If you love extra rich gravy: Deglaze the pan with a splash of dry white wine (2-3 tbsp) after whisking in the flour. Let the wine simmer and reduce slightly before adding the chicken broth. Dry sherry also works.
Recipe FAQs
Yes, but I much prefer thickening gravy with flour. Cornstarch thickens very rapidly — sometimes too rapidly! — and can be temperamental to work with. I also find that gravy thickened with flour reheats better and stays silky smooth, whereas cornstarch gravy becomes thick and gluey.
In the tip higher up in the post, I do mention that if for some reason your gravy is too thin (after you’ve followed the recipe and used all-purpose flour), as a failsafe you can go ahead and make a cornstarch slurry to thicken the gravy.
Yes! The combination of melted butter and cooked flour creates what’s known as a roux. Cooking the flour not only makes the gravy a gorgeous light golden color, and that thickens properly while simmering, but the couple minutes of toasting the flour also removes the raw flour flavor.
If your gravy is runny, you likely didn’t cook it for long enough or accidentally measured out too much chicken broth.
To fix thin chicken broth gravy, mix 1 tablespoon of cornstarch with 2 tablespoons of cold water or broth until smooth. Whisk the cornstarch slurry into the simmering gravy and continue cooking until it’s thickened to your liking.
I use reduced sodium chicken broth. You can use regular chicken broth (not reduced sodium) or turkey broth.
Yes. If you’d rather make turkey gravy from store-bought turkey broth, feel free to substitute the chicken broth. No other changes to the recipe are required.
Yes, it can be made the night before you plan on serving it. Don’t make the gravy farther in advance than that because it will thicken up over time and won’t reheat as well after about 24 hours.
Yes, you can double or triple the recipe as needed, taking care to use a saucepan that’s large enough to accommodate the larger batch. Make sure you’re whisking really well as it simmers. The bigger the batch, the harder it is to effectively whisk, so be vigilant.
Enjoy AverieCooks.com Without Ads! 🆕
Go Ad Free
Prevent your screen from going dark
-
To a large sauce pan, add the butter, and heat over medium-high heat to melt.
-
Sprinkle the flour the pan, whisk it into the butter, and cook for 2-3 minutes, or until the mixture has thickened and is lightly golden browned in color. Whisk nearly continuously. Tip – This is called making a roux and is necessary later on so that your gravy thickens properly. Do not shortchange this step or move on until you’ve properly made your roux but also be careful not to overcook it and burn the flour.
-
Slowly add the broth, whisking the entire time, and continue to whisk to remove any lumps. Simmer for 2 minutes, or until gravy begins to thicken. Whisk nearly continuously.
-
Add the remaining seasonings, salt, pepper, and continue to whisk over medium heat until the gravy is thickened to your liking, about 6-9 minutes, but it will vary based on your pan size, heat output level of your stove, how thick you like your gravy, and so forth. Whisk/simmer until it’s where you like your gravy to be.
-
Taste, adjust the seasoning balance as needed (if you used reduced sodium broth, you may want to add additional salt), and serve warm.
Too Thick? If it’s too thick, that’s an easy fix – just add more chicken broth, as necessary, to thin it out.
Fridge Storage: Let cool completely and then store airtight in the refrigerator for up to 4 days.
Freezer Storage: Store in an airtight container or freezer bag for up to 3 months. Let thaw overnight when ready to eat. You might need to whisk a little extra broth into the gravy when reheating to loosen it up.
Reheating: Heat gently in a saucepan over low heat, whisking occasionally, until warmed through. Or do it in a microwave-safe glass measuring cup with plastic wrap over the top for about 1 minute, or as needed for the quantity you’re reheating.
Serving: 1serving, Calories: 102kcal, Carbohydrates: 5g, Protein: 2g, Fat: 8g, Saturated Fat: 5g, Polyunsaturated Fat: 0.4g, Monounsaturated Fat: 2g, Trans Fat: 0.3g, Cholesterol: 20mg, Sodium: 219mg, Potassium: 84mg, Fiber: 0.3g, Sugar: 0.1g, Vitamin A: 253IU, Vitamin C: 0.1mg, Calcium: 14mg, Iron: 1mg
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
©averiecooks.com. Content and photographs are copyright protected. Sharing of this recipe is both encouraged and appreciated. Copying and/or pasting full recipes to any social media is strictly prohibited.
More Easy Gravies and Sauces:
All of my Christmas, Thanksgiving, and Easter recipes!
Mushroom Gravy — A rich, hearty, and very flavorful gravy recipe to perfectly complement your favorite dishes and holiday recipes! Made with mushrooms, onions, and butter for maximum comfort food flavor!
Homemade Turkey Gravy (from Drippings!) — An EASY, foolproof recipe with lots of TIPS for PERFECT turkey gravy that’s ready in 5 minutes!! The whole family will LOVE this gravy over their Thanksgiving turkey, mashed potatoes, or as a comfort food addition to your dinner table during other times of the year!!
Spiced Cranberry Sauce with Apples — Spice up your holiday celebrations with this scrumptious FAST and EASY homemade cranberry sauce that’s made with cranberries, apples, apple cider, cinnamon sticks, and allspice for the PERFECT must-make side dish!
Red Wine Cranberry Sauce — Move over, boring cranberry sauce! Cranberries are so much better with blueberries and wine! Make your own fresh cranberry and blueberry sauce in 30 minutes. It’s so EASY, and everyone LOVES it!
Cabernet Cranberry and Currant Sauce — Make your own EASY homemade cranberry sauce in 30 minutes!! This unique cranberry sauce recipe will be the star side dish of your holiday meal! Cranberries are so much BETTER with wine!!
