How to Make a Gluten-Free Thanksgiving Turkey and Gravy
I know, I know, gluten-free turkey sounds silly. You might be thinking isn’t meat gluten-free? You might not suspect a turkey to be a source of gluten. But basting solutions injected into turkeys during processing sometimes contain gluten. Stuffing is made out of bread which is the king of gluten and gravy is thickened with flour. Gluten, gluten, gluten. So follow this amazing recipe if you are gluten-free or have a gluten-free guest coming for Thanksgiving dinner.
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Step one is to buy your turkey fresh or frozen (I bought mine frozen.) If you are not buying directly from a farmer, then check the label for gluten. Be careful because gluten has many names. If you just want to be sure and you are not an expert check out this list of gluten-free turkey brands.
If your turkey is frozen, make sure you give it enough time to thaw. This recipe is based on a 22 lb turkey. You need 24 hours for every 5 pounds of turkey to defrost in a refrigerator set at about 40° F. That means you need 5 days for this bird to defrost in the fridge, but I would play it safe and give it 6 days. There is nothing worse than trying to cook a frozen turkey. I speak from experience.
Pro Tip: Put your turkey on a sheet pan in the fridge to catch any condensation or leaks.
One of the hardest parts of making a turkey is figuring out the timing. I’ve created an editable timeline based on your dinner so you can get the timing just right. It’s a more simplified version of this article. So read this first for all the details, then use the timeline when making your turkey.
Ingredients
One Gluten-free turkey remove the bag of guts and the neck from both cavities.
1 cup of butter (you will melt this)
½ cup of room temperature butter
One bottle of dry Chardonnay
Kosher Salt
Black Pepper
Gluten-free flour or cornstarch
Chicken or Turkey stock
Red Wine preferably a Cabernet Sauvignon (some for drinking some for gravy)
For the mirepoix
Wash and remove all stickers
2 green apples
1 orange
2 lemons
3 carrots
3 ribs of celery
2 yellow onions
Fresh Thyme
Fresh Oregano
Fresh Rosemary
Tools
Step 1
Clean out your sink and sanitize it. Get your roasting pan ready. If it’s new wash it. If it’s been in storage wash it. Moral of the story, wash it. Take your turkey out of the fridge on its sheet pan and place it by the side of the sink. I like to have a small garbage bag nearby to throw out the turkey’s plastic bag in to cut down on contamination of my kitchen. I also wear disposable gloves for this part, but that’s up to you. Get your scissors out and carefully cut open your turkey’s plastic bag. You do not want to cut the skin of the bird so don’t go all Edward Scissor Hands on that shit. Throw the plastic bag away. Rinse your turkey with cold water from both ends until the water runs clear. Pat your turkey friend dry with paper towels inside and out (make sure you don’t leave any paper towels behind.) Place your turkey breast side up in your roasting pan and let sit at room temperature for 2 hours. (You will be doing steps 2 & 3 while the bird comes to room temp.)
PRO TIP: Remove the bag of guts and the neck, and make sure you have removed all the extras from both cavities. I accidentally cooked the plastic bag inside my turkey one year. It was not good.
Step 2
While your turkey is resting you are not. It’s time to hustle. Wash all of your fruits, vegetables and herbs to make your mirepoix and make sure you remove all the fruit stickers. You do not peel the fruit, so if there is a sticker left on it’s going inside the bird. The only thing you’ll peal is the onions.
Next, you are going to chop all of the aforementioned items into 1-inch chunks.
Get your room temp butter and combine 50/50 salt and pepper into your salt shaker. Rub the inside cavities of your turkey with butter and salt and pepper. Stuff a little of each mirepoix item into each cavity of the bird.
Then rub the outside of the bird with room temperature butter and cover it with salt and pepper. Pop the legs back into the plastic holder it came with or remove that and tie together with cooking string.
Put your leftover mirepoix in the fridge (We will use those for the giblet stock later on.)
Step 3
Make your turkey friend a blanket out of cheesecloth. It should cover him but not be too gigantic. Gently heat up one cup of butter and the entire bottle of chardonnay. It just needs to melt, so don’t simmer or boil it. Soak the cheesecloth in the butter and wine mixture and cover the turkey. Be careful as the cheesecloth might be hot (use tongs if needed.)
Step 4
At the 2 hour mark, you want your oven to be 450 F degrees. It takes about 15 min for most ovens to get to that temp so start preheating at the 1:45 min mark. Place your rack in the lowest position in the oven. Pour 1 cup of turkey or chicken stock into the bottom of your roasting pan (this creates a steaming effect which keeps your turkey moist and also creates more liquid for gravy.)
Step 5
Place turkey legs first in the oven (if it won’t fit rotate your turkey every time you baste it for even cooking) and cook for 30 min
Step 6
Make giblet stock
Ingredients
Giblets and neck (I don’t use the liver)
4 tbs butter
All the leftover mirepoix after stuffing the turkey
2 Bay leaves
Salt and pepper
Bottle of red wine (2 cups reserved for drinking the rest for making gravy) Yes it’s time to start drinking wine. You are far enough into making the turkey that you won’t mess it up.
Remove the liver and discard - it can make your gravy bitter. Rinse the giblets and neck.
Melt butter in a big pot, add your mirepoix items and stir them from time to time for about 10 min. Add 4 cups of water or chicken stock, 2 bay leaves, giblets and neck. Boil then reduce to a simmer for 50 min.
After 50 min. of simmering, the liquid should be reduced to about 2 cups. If not, keep simmering.
Strain the broth, remove meat items and chop finely, and pick the meat off the neck. Add all finely chopped meat to the strained broth and set aside for gravy.
Skim and grease off the top after it rests.
Step 7
After 30 min baste your turkey, rotate (if needed) and turn the oven down to 350 degrees. Cook for 2 1/2 more hours, basting every 30 min
Step 8
After 3 hours of cooking, remove the cheesecloth, baste, and rotate. Cook for one more hour, basting every 30 min. Use all of the white wine and butter mixture to baste the turkey.
Step 9
Insert an instant-read thermometer into the thickest part of the thigh being careful not to hit the bone. It should be 180 F degrees. Take the temp in the breast. The temp must be over 165 F to be safe to eat. If the turkey is not fully cooked, baste and cook for 30 more min.
Pro Tip: If wings are getting too well-done cover with foil
Step 10
When fully cooked transfer to a cutting board with juice channels. Cover with aluminum foil and let rest for 40-60 min before carving. Make sure your turkey is not getting cold.
Pro Tip: This is a good time to put any sides that need to be heated inside your oven.
Step 11
Make gravy
Add 3 tbsp cornstarch to ¼ cup chicken stock or water in a container with a lid (NOT to the pan) to make a roux. Shake until combined (make sure there are no lumps. Add a little more liquid if needed but you want this to be thick like pancake batter)
Add a splash of chicken stock to the roasting pan, get a whisk, and turn the burner under it on low. Use the whisk to scrape up and pieces of turkey or sediment that has cooked to the pan. Pour gravy into a gravy fat separator. Let it rest for 10 min (you might need longer) so the fat can rise to the surface.
After the roasting pan is scraped out, set it aside and get a large saucepan. Add 1 cup of red wine to the pan (and more as needed to your glass.) Add your giblet stock to the pan and stir as you bring it to a boil. Cook until liquid is about ½ of what you started with(10 min or so.) Strain this mixture and add liquid back to the pan.
Remove grease from pan juices and add to the saucepan.
Slowly whisk the roux into the saucepan and once dissolved bring back to a boil and cook for another 10 min.
If your gravy is too thin cook longer and or add a little more roux. When desired thickness is reached, taste and season with salt and pepper.
Step 12
Carve the turkey and serve.
Get the Printable Recipe below
