Now that you’ve carved the turkey, there’s one important task ahead before you’re ready to serve dinner….making gravy. Making gravy from all your turkey drippings isn’t hard and is well worth the effort. Resist the temptation to go buy a package of gravy mix or a jar of premade gravy. Those things are FULL of sodium; homemade is better tasting and so much better FOR you! 
There is nothing mystical about making good gravy…although EATING good gravy might be a little mystical!
Remember all those lovely rich juices at the bottom of the pan after you’ve lifted the cooked turkey out to to set on the cutting board for carving? Well, those lovely juices are going to become your gravy. If you basted your turkey with anything creative, that will influence the final gravy as well. If you’ve grilled your turkey, you’ll end up with a subtle smoky flavor that is just amazing!
Start by pouring the juices from the turkey into a sauce pan. Fill the saucepan about 2/3 full to allow room for boiling. Salt the juices in the pan to taste. Bring these drippings to a rolling boil.
Meanwhile, stir 4 T. of cornstarch into a cup of very cold water. Don’t add cornstarch directly into hot juices as it will just clump up together and NOT turn into gravy. So stir it into cold water. Once the juices are boiling heartily, slowly pour in the cold water/cornstarch mixture. Stir constantly. I like to use a wire whisk for this part although a spoon will work just fine.
Bring the gravy back to boiling and cook until it thickens to the degree that you want it to. Remove from heat and add more salt and pepper to taste if it needs it.
You can also use flour instead of cornstarch. I grew up using cornstarch and prefer the flavor but it really doesn’t matter a lot which you use. Flour should also be stirred into cold water first before being added to the boiling drippings.
Throw any leftover gravy into the stock pot that you’re cooking the turkey carcass in on the stove. It adds some really nice flavor to the stock.
Barb
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The microwave is a wonderful appliance for making gravy as well. Stir the cornstarch (or flour) and water together as noted above–in a VERY large microwave-safe bowl, as this will bubble up a lot. Then gradually stir in the drippings just as they come out of the pan. If they are very rich (which they usually are), you may want to thin them with an equal amount of water.
Microwave on low to medium for several minutes (your microwave and the amount of gravy you are making will determine the time), stirring once or twice. The gravy is done when it is bubbly and wonderfully smooth.
This frees up a burner for all those other sides and results in a marvelously smooth consistency.
I’ve never used the microwave to make gravy. This is useful info for our readers, so thanks for sharing!