Gravy is the element of your Thanksgiving feast that brings everything together: you drizzle it on the turkey, the mashed potatoes, your veggies—you sop it up with your dinner roll when you've otherwise cleaned your plate. Unlike most Thanksgiving staples, however, gravy is heavy on the gluten. A roux made with flour is pretty crucial to a thick, rich, smooth gravy, but more and more people are choosing not to eat gluten—or are so allergic they have to stay far, far away from anything that contains it.
And odds are, you will have one of these people as your guest on Thanksgiving. What to do? Forego the gravy?
Never! Nobody should go without gravy on Thanksgiving! Ever. So we talked to Jackie Ourman, our go-to "GF" test kitchen intern, to learn her tricks for making gravy without the gluten. "In culinary school, the chef-instructors allowed me to experiment with a lot of different types of gluten-free substitutes for roux and sauces," she says. "It was great to see how different products reacted in the recipes."
Through trial and error, Jackie discovered what worked and what didn't. Here are three ways to make your gravy gluten-free and great, using this recipe as a base.
1. Look in Your Pantry
Cornstarch is probably the most readily available ingredient to sub in for flour in your gluten-free gravy—and you probably already have it in your pantry. The only catch is you'll skip the roux-making process. Once you've deglazed your roasting pan and added stock, transfer about 1 cup stock mixture to a medium bowl. Whisk in cornstarch until smooth (you'll need 1 tablespoon + 1 teaspoon cornstarch for every cup of gravy base in the pan). Return slurry to gravy base in roasting pan and whisk over medium-low heat until thickened and smooth.
2. Take Root
Arrowroot can be a fussy ingredient, and it can't be reheated (or it will thin out again). Still, some people prefer to use it as a thickener. Proceed with gravy recipe as you would for cornstarch (skipping the roux-making process). Transfer about 1 cup gravy base to a medium bowl and whisk in arrowroot (you'll need 2 tablespoons arrowroot for every cup of gravy base). Just before serving, return arrowroot mixture to gravy base and whisk until thickened and smooth.
3. Find the Right Flour
Some gluten-free flours gum up when they're used in a roux—not so with King Arthur Gluten-Free Multi-Purpose Flour. This blend works just like regular flour in a roux—a 1:1 ratio of flour to butter. Cook it until it's slightly browned, then add to your stock and pan drippings and whisk away. If we were to make a gluten-free gravy, this is the method we'd go for.
Now are you hankering for some gravy with gluten? Watch below.
