My mom’s special gravy is the most delicious sauce for the holiday season. It is simple, full of healthy ingredients, grain free, dairy free, Paleo, and AIP.
Mom’s Special Gravy
Ingredients
Method
- Wash and cut the leek, celery, carrots, and apple into small pieces. The carrots will take the longest to cook, so make sure the slices are not too thick. Peel and cut the onion and peel the garlic.
- The roasting temperature depends on the meat and cooking methods you are using. If your roast takes about 1 hour – 1.5 hours to cook you can add the vegetables right in the beginning. If you are slow roasting something for many hours on for example 250 degrees, add the vegetables during the last 3 hours of cooking. The lower the cooking temperature the longer it takes for the vegetables to be cooked through.
- Place the meat you are roasting in the middle of a casserole and add the vegetables, the apple, and the herbs all around.
- Roast for 30 minutes in the middle of the oven.
- Add 1 cup of bone broth to the vegetables and toss.
- Roast for another 30 minutes or until the carrots are soft.
- Skim off excess fat and take out thyme and rosemary sprigs. Pour the juice and veggies through a fine mesh strainer into a saucepan to use as a base for the gravy.
- Purée veggies in a blender until very smooth and add approximately half to the base.
- Add 1 cup of broth and 2 Tbsp of wine. Taste to check if you want to add the rest of the wine. Adjust the taste by adding more broth, wine, salt, and pepper to your liking. For a thicker gravy add more of the veggie puree. You can also make more gravy by using all of the vegetables and adding extra broth and or wine. If you are not using all of the veggie puré, freeze it to easily whip up a sauce another time.
- Enjoy!
The gravy my mom taught me
This gravy is probably one of the most delicious sauces I have ever tried. I had no idea how to make one, so I asked my mom, and luckily she is sharing her wisdom with all of us. It came out perfectly on my first try. Thanks, Mom! And the best news: there is no flour in it. None. It is gluten-free, grain-free, dairy-free, Paleo and AIP, and you will be surprised how few ingredients it needs.
The secret is letting vegetables and an apple roast in the juices of whatever meat you are cooking. This recipe is a template: it works with a whole chicken, a turkey, a duck or a pork roast. If you are making a roast anyway, the gravy is really just a delicious by-product of what is already in the oven.
Why this gravy is the healthier option
Most gravies start with the roasting juices and then thicken them with flour or cornstarch. You can do the same with arrowroot if you are grain-free, but you are still adding a starch with no nutritional value. This gravy is thickened with puréed roasted vegetables instead, so you get vitamins, minerals and fiber with your sauce, and honestly a lot more flavor. The base is bone broth, which brings the gelatin and amino acids that make it so satisfying.
In short: vegetable- and bone-broth-based, so it fits an anti-inflammatory or AIP way of eating instead of being the one thing on the plate you have to skip.
How to make it
Chop the leek, celery, carrots, onion and apple, peel the garlic, and add all of it with the rosemary, sage and thyme around the meat in the roasting pan. Let everything roast for about an hour, adding a cup of bone broth halfway through. You want the vegetables and the apple very soft.
Then skim off the excess fat, fish out the thyme and rosemary sprigs, and pour the juices and vegetables through a fine-mesh strainer into a saucepan. Blend the strained vegetables until completely smooth and stir about half of the purée back into the juices. Add a cup of broth and two tablespoons of wine, taste, and adjust with more broth, wine, salt and pepper until it is exactly the way you like it. More purée for a thicker gravy, more broth for a thinner one.
Hot tip: Freeze the leftover vegetable purée in a glass jar. Next time you need a quick gravy, thin it with some bone broth and a splash of wine and you have sauce in five minutes.
Adjusting it to your taste
- For a thinner sauce, add water or more broth. For a thicker one, add more of the purée.
- Homemade bone broth is more flavorful than store-bought. My healing chicken bone broth is what I use.
- Start with a little wine and add as you go. Bring it to a boil so the alcohol cooks off.
- No wine? A teaspoon of balsamic or apple cider vinegar at the end gives the same brightness.
Making it with a turkey (or any other roast)
If your roast takes one to one and a half hours, add the vegetables right at the start. For a turkey or anything slow-roasted for many hours at a low temperature, add the vegetables and the apple during the last two to three hours, since they cook through more slowly at a low oven temperature. A Thanksgiving turkey gives you a lot of juices, so you will probably use all of the purée and still have plenty of gravy for a full table.
For a smaller Thanksgiving, roast the vegetables under my herb-roasted chicken. The chicken is designed for it.
Gravy FAQ
Is gravy anti-inflammatory?
Conventional gravy is not. It is usually drippings thickened with wheat flour, often with bouillon cubes or a packet mix, which is exactly the kind of thing an anti-inflammatory or autoimmune protocol removes. This gravy is different: bone broth, roasted vegetables, an apple and fresh herbs, no flour, no dairy, no nightshades. Nothing in it works against you, and the broth and vegetables actively add nutrients. So yes, this one is an anti-inflammatory gravy in the sense that matters: it fits the diet instead of breaking it.
Can I have the wine on the AIP?
That is an individual call. Not all of the alcohol cooks off, so use your judgment. Many people are fine with the small amount, especially since it simmers. If you are very reactive or still in the elimination phase, leave it out and use the vinegar trick above instead.
What kind of wine?
A dry red, such as a cabernet sauvignon. Anything you would happily drink.
How do I store it?
A few days in a glass jar in the fridge. It also freezes well, both the finished gravy and the leftover purée. Leave some room at the top of the jar so the glass does not crack when it freezes.
Can I make it ahead of Thanksgiving?
Yes. Roast the vegetables under a chicken the week before, make the gravy, and freeze it. On the day, warm it up and stir in a ladle of the fresh turkey juices to bring it back to life.
More holiday recipes
- Herb-roasted chicken (AIP) – roast the gravy vegetables under it
- Grain-free stovetop stuffing (Paleo)
- Homemade cranberry sauce (AIP)
- Roasted sweet potatoes and Brussels sprouts (AIP)
- Rosemary crusted lamb chop holiday meal (AIP)
- Paleo and AIP holiday desserts – for after
For the whole menu, see all of my AIP Thanksgiving side dishes. My holiday cookbook ENJOY has variations of this gravy for chicken, duck and pork.
Now I would love to hear from you. Try the recipe and let me know what you think in the comment section below. And as always, don’t forget to tag me in your food pictures on Instagram. Happy cooking! ~Annika
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