A delicious recipe for Christmas Day Gravy, made in advance using the leftover chicken carcass from a Sunday roast!
I’m very excited to be able to bring you a brand new series of recipes in the run up to Christmas. Cooking on Christmas Day can be incredibly stressful. With so many components to the big Christmas meal, it can be difficult and overwhelming to get everything done on the day.
So this year it’s all about a Fuss Free Christmas. I’m sharing lots of recipes which can be prepped and made ahead of time and the first is this Get Ahead Christmas Gravy.
Make Gravy From A Chicken Carcass
This recipe is inspired by Jamie Oliver’s classic get ahead gravy but rather than using chicken wings like he does, I’ve used the leftover carcass of a chicken from our Sunday roast to create a delicious gravy that will keep in the freezer until Christmas Day.
How To Make Homemade Gravy
So the first thing you need to do is to plan on cooking a roast chicken over the next couple of weeks. Keep the carcass and all bones, skin etc. The more the better! You can either make the gravy on the same day or store the carcass in the fridge for up to 48 hours before making.
The chicken carcass is broken up and roasted in a tray along with some veggies and herbs. All of that is then transferred to a large saucepan or stock pot, where you add flour, water and wine and it’s left to simmer for about 30 minutes.
It’s then strained through a sieve and you are left with a delicious flavoursome homemade gravy that’s perfectly paired to serve with turkey for Christmas Day.
How To Freeze & Defrost Gravy
The gravy is left to cool and then transferred into freezer bags or containers. To defrost, simply move from the freezer to the fridge on Christmas Eve night and by the next day it will be fully defrosted.
Reheat gently in a saucepan on the hob. You can also add some of the turkey juices to it at this point for lots of extra flavour!
Your Get Ahead Gravy is then ready to serve straight away and I guarantee your guests will be so impressed with your homemade recipe!
For more instructions check out my video showing exactly how I made this recipes and all ingredient measurements are in the recipe card below.
If you try any of my #FussFreeXmas recipes please do leave a comment below and share your pictures with me on Instagram. I always love to see your creations!
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Get Ahead Christmas Gravy
Prep Time: 5 mins- Cook Time: 75 mins
- Total Time: 1 hour 20 minutes
Yield: 6 1x
Category: Christmas
Cuisine: Gravy
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Pin RecipeDescription
A delicious recipe for Christmas Day Gravy, made in advance using the leftover chicken carcass from a Sunday roast!
Ingredients
- Chicken Carcass & Bones
- 2 onions, peeled and roughly chopped
- 2 garlic cloves, peeled but left whole and crushed
- 3 carrots, unpeeled and roughly chopped
- 3 celery, unpeeled and roughly chopped
- 2 sprigs rosemary
- 2 sprigs thyme
- 2 tbsp olive oil
- 4 tbsp flour
- 2 litres water
- 150ml red wine or port
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 180c.
- Into a large oven tray add the chicken carcass broken up, along with any bones and skin.
- Add the onions, garlic, carrots and celery and mix . Finally add the herbs on top.
- Drizzle the olive oil on top and roast in the oven for 45 minutes.
- Remove the tray from the oven and transfer all the contents into a large saucepan or stock pot on a low heat on the hob.
- Add the flour and mix quickly, using a wooden spoon to break down the bones even further.
- Add the water and wine, bring to the boil and simmer for 30 mins until it reduces and thickens.
- Remove the pot from the heat and pour the contents through a sieve, pushing down with a spoon or ladle to make sure you are getting all that delicious gravy out!
- Taste and season with a little salt and pepper if you wish.
- Leave the gravy to cool then transfer into two freezer bags or containers then put into the freezer.
- Defrost in the fridge overnight and reheat in a saucepan on the hob over a low heat. You can add any turkey juices you have at this stage too.
- Serve immediately.
Notes
- Makes approximately 1.5 pints of gravy.
- Leftovers can be kept in the fridge for 48 hours.
Abbie says
Will this work with white wine?
Bianca Carey Spencer says
Hi Abbie. White wine should be fine although we haven’t tried it in this recipe so can’t be sure how it will alter the flavour. If you do try it, come back and let us know how you got on. x
Sophie Best says
We made this last year and it was so tasty. Just looked it up again so that we can have it again this year. Make life so much easier to get it done before the big day. Thank you for a lovely recipe. x
★★★★★