Low Carb Keto Gravy with Turkey Giblets

A creamy and rich keto gravy made from turkey drippings and turkey giblets without the use of flour or starch!  This low carb gravy is guaranteed to be the main star of your keto thanksgiving!

Turkey giblet gravy is an essential keto recipe that you need to know how to make so that you can celebrate any holiday carb free.  This low carb gravy recipe can be made from either turkey drippings or any other roast drippings and broth.  It's quite easy to customize and there are many ways to thicken it, as I explain later in the post.

What to do with the turkey neck and giblets?

You bought your turkey and it came with a little bag filled with giblets and a long turkey neck.  Before even thinking about making something with it, you might ask yourself what are turkey giblets?

Turkey giblets are usually found in a bag either in the cavity or neck cavity of your turkey.  For my turkey, the neck was located in the cavity and the giblets bag was located in the neck cavity.

Turkey giblets include the gizzard, heart and liver.  They're perfect for making turkey giblet broth which is the backbone to a flavourful turkey giblet gravy.

It would be a waste to not use these ingredients as they would add intense and aromatic flavours to your keto turkey gravy.

I usually rinse them out first, then boil them with some vegetables to create a turkey giblet broth while the turkey cooks.  Once they've boiled for about an hour, I reserve the broth for later.

I usually then add the giblets to a food processor along with the turkey meat to make a chopped puree of giblets.  Some people prefer to hand chop the giblets, but I prefer my low carb gravy to be less chunky.

After the turkey's done cooking, I add the turkey drippings to the turkey giblet broth, along with the pureed giblets and create a smooth and delicious keto turkey gravy.

What is the best keto gravy thickener?

There are many options for when you want to thicken a keto gravy, some high carb and some low carb.  Depending on what ingredient you want to use, you'll have different options to thicken your low carb gravy.

The obvious high carb options are flour and corn starch, which don't add that many carbs per serving in the grand scheme of things, but they are two ingredients that I refuse to use in my recipes for health reasons.  If you, however, don't mind the ingredients, then you can totally use them to make your keto turkey gravy.

If you absolutely do want to use a starch, I suggest using arrowroot flour or tapioca starch like in my paleo gravy recipe.

So what are your low carb options for making low carb gravy sauce?

Agar agar, glucomannan, or psyllium husk

These will thicken your keto gravies but I find that they become way too gelatinous for my palate.

Xanthan gum or guar gum

Either of these will thicken your gravy sauce, or any other sauce for that matter like my low carb cauliflower cheese or keto cheese fondue.  You just need to add a little, though, as too much will make it too gelatinous.  This is one of my favourite options.  Both of these work in equal amount. They are both interchangeable.

Chickpea flour or oat fiber

These also work to some extent but gives the gravy a pasty feel and a big aftertaste.

Almond flour roux

Making a roux with almond flour will somewhat work, but I find it doesn't work with large quantities.  Use it just like wheat flour, by adding some to butter to make the roux and slowly adding the liquid to it.

Reduction

Reducing your broth on low heat for a long time will automatically thicken your sauce.  The only downside to this is that the amount of gravy will greatly decrease and the flavours will be more intense.

Adding fat like heavy cream, butter, or fat from duck, pork, beef or chicken

After you have reduced your broth, adding a fat helps to thicken it even more.  It's best to add the fat once your broth has simmered down, or else you'll have to reduce it for a bit of extra time. I personally added heavy cream to this recipe to make it creamier, increase its serving sizes and flavours.

Adding cream helps thicken everything up, just like in this low carb biscuits and gravy recipe.  I combined the heavy cream with a little bit of xanthan gum to thicken it even more.

Adding pureed vegetables

Adding pureed vegetables like carrots, squash, broccoli, cauliflower or zucchini to a broth will also automatically thicken it up.  You have to steam the vegetables first and puree them in a blender.  Simply add it to the broth and simmer it down until desired thickness.  The only problem to this is that it adds carbs to your low carb gravy.

Au Jus - Only using the roast drippings

If you don't even want to bother with adding extra ingredients to make a creamy gravy, you can simply just keep the roast drippings and pour it over your meat and vegetable as is.

Xanthan Gum Gravy

Xanthan gum gravy is definitely one of my favourite keto gravies to make as it's quick and easy.  Time is of the essence during the holidays and I prefer to make a recipe that I know will not take any time or effort and will produce an amazing keto turkey gravy.

I love adding xanthan gum to gravy as it thickens everything up rather quickly.  Be careful, though.  You have to add a little amount at a time to make sure you don't add too much!

Adding too much xanthan gum will create a jelly-like gravy, which is not something that you want!  I usually add ¼ teaspoon at a time until I get the desired consistency.  Although, xanthan gum gravy is a little gelatinous itself, it shouldn't be too gelatinous.

When your keto turkey is done cooking, you don't have much time to make your keto turkey gravy as you don't want your bird to cool down and ruin supper! Making xanthan gum gravy ensures that your keto gravy will be ready in minutes, just in time for dinner time.

So when you take out your turkey from the oven to let sit for about 20 to 30 minutes before serving, that will be your chance to collect the turkey drippings and make a delicious and meaty xanthan gum gravy sauce.

How to make Turkey Giblet Gravy

Take out the giblets and turkey neck from the cavity and rinse under water.  I like to do this to get rid of the extra blood the organs were soaking in.  Make your turkey recipe and place it in the oven.  While the turkey is baking, you'll be making the first part of the turkey giblet gravy.

Add the giblets and neck to a pot with some butter and grill on all sides until golden brown.  Once grilled, add the chopped vegetables and water to the pot.  I chose to use onions, carrots, celery and garlic to make this broth.

Let the broth simmer on low heat for about an hour, or until you have approximately 3 cups of broth left.

Take the neck and giblets out of the broth and move them to the side to cool down.  Take out the chopped vegetables from the broth and only leave the broth in the pot.

It's really important you let the turkey neck cool down completely or else you won't be able to remove the meat from it as you'll burn your fingers.

Once the giblets and neck have cooled down, remove the meat from the turkey neck with your fingers as best as you can. Just try to rip as much meat as you can as it can be a little tricky!

Once the turkey neck meat has been removed, add it to a food processor along with the giblets and process into a smooth paste for about 30 seconds.  This step is completely optional as you could just chop the giblets into small pieces, but I prefer to have smooth and creamy gravy rather than a chunky one.

Once your turkey has finished cooking, remove the turkey drippings from the pan and pour into the pot with the broth.  Add the giblets to that same pot and bring to boil.  Once boiling add the heavy cream and whisk.

Add the xanthan gum, ¼ teaspoon at a time, and continue whisking.  You'll use about 1-2 teaspoons of xanthan gum depending on how thick you like your gravy.  I don't suggest adding more than 2 teaspoons or else you'll have a jelly-like gravy.

It's also important you add the xanthan gum while the broth is hot as this helps thicken the low carb gravy.  Adding the xanthan gum to a cold broth will not work.  Make sure your broth is boiling hot.

Once you've added your xanthan gum, simply continue whisking until you've achieved desired thickness.

You'll then pour it over your thanksgiving dishes.  I personally love to pour it all over my keto mashed cauliflower and turkey breasts!

My Turkey Gravy Recipe Tips

Here are important tips to follow when making this turkey gravy recipe.  I also added possible substitutions you can do.

• Let the turkey neck completely cool before trying to take the meat off of it or else you'll burn your fingers.
• Make sure you add the xanthan gum, a little at a time, or else you might create a big jelly-mess!
• Make sure to add the xanthan gum to hot broth because it will not thicken in cold broth.
• Feel free to chop the giblets, or puree them in a food processor. This one is totally up to you.
• No spices are necessary for this keto turkey gravy recipe! The spices from the turkey drippings and the flavours of the turkey giblet broth are more than enough! You can of course add salt or pepper to it to taste.  I added chopped parsley for colour.
• Instead of xanthan gum, you can use guar gum in the same amounts.
• Instead of turkey drippings, you can use any roast drippings you have made.