Baby friendly gravy
I was inspired by Jamie Oliver’s ‘get ahead gravy’ weekend (which is officially this Saturday 13th December 2025) to get our gravy on this weekend
I adapted his recipe to make it baby friendly- mainly leaving out any added salt and the option to remove the streaky bacon- and so thought I would share this for anyone else feeding babies this Christmas!
INGREDIENTS
2 onions
2 carrots
2 sticks of celery
2 rashers of streaky bacon (option to leave this out!)
2 fresh bay leaves
2 sprigs of fresh rosemary
2 star anise
3 chicken drumsticks and 3 chicken legs
olive oil
ground black pepper
4 tablespoons plain flour
GET AHEAD
1. Preheat the oven to 180ºC/350ºF/gas 4.
2. Peel the onions, wash the carrots, then roughly chop with the celery. Put the veg, bay leaves, sage, rosemary and star anise and bacon into a sturdy high-sided roasting tray
3. Add the chicken to the tray. Drizzle with oil, season with black pepper, toss, then cook for 1 hour, or until tender.
4. Remove the tray from the oven and transfer to a low heat on the hob (option to swap out for a casserole pan here if you prefer). Really grind and mash everything with a potato masher, scraping up all the goodness from the base of the tray (the longer you let it fry, the darker your gravy will be).
5. Gradually stir in the flour, then pour in 2 litres of boiling kettle water. Simmer for 30 minutes, or until thickened and reduced, stirring occasionally.
6. When the gravy is the consistency of your liking, pour it through a coarse sieve into a large bowl, pushing all the goodness through with the back of a spoon. Taste and season to perfection, cool to room temperature, then pour into containers or bags and pop into the fridge or freezer, ready to finish off on Christmas Day.
2 DAYS BEFORE
8. If you’ve frozen your gravy, take it out to defrost in the fridge until needed.
ON THE DAY
9. When the turkey’s perfectly cooked, remove it to a platter to rest for up to 2 hours, covered with a double layer of tin foil and a clean tea towel. Skim away most of the fat from the tray, cool, and place into a jar in the fridge for tasty cooking another day.
10. Pour your defrosted Get-ahead gravy into the tray with the rest of the turkey juices. Bring to the boil over the hob and scrape up all those sticky bits from the base. Have a taste
11. Once your gravy is piping hot, carefully strain through a coarse sieve into a pan, then leave it on the lowest heat until you’re ready to serve. Skim away any fat that rises to the top, and add any extra resting juices from the turkey before serving.
Link to full un-modified recipe on Jamie Oliver’s website: https://www.jamieoliver.com/recipes/chicken/get-ahead-gravy/
He has Vegan + veggie options too: https://www.jamieoliver.com/recipes/christmas/get-ahead-gravy-day