I was shocked by the differences in flavor, texture, and looks between the six sauces I sampled.
Before you stock up for the holiday, here’s what to look for in the best-tasting store-bought gravy.
Here are the six gravies I tested, ranked from worst to best.
Photos: The brands. Design: Eat This, Not That!
A 12-ounce carton cost me $3.39.
The look:This is a very thick, gelatinous gravy with a pale beige color.
It’s shiny and uniformly smooth with no visible meat or vegetables.
Lizzy Briskin/Eat This Not That
The taste:To be frank, I could not stand how this gravy tasted.
It’s earthy, to put it kindly, and the goopy, jelly-like texture is off-putting.
It tasted and smelled like it had been inside that carton for far too long.
Lizzy Briskin/Eat This Not That
It’s made with chicken stock and fat and thickened with cornstarch and flour.
The sauce is enriched with canola oil and flavored with onion powder and black pepper.
A jar cost me $2.87.
Lizzy Briskin/Eat This Not That
It’s pallid and homogenous looking with a glossy finish.
The taste:Much like the look, this gravy was bland and forgettable.
It didn’t have a trace of the herby, meaty flavor you want on a Thanksgiving table.
Lizzy Briskin/Eat This Not That
Instead, it tasted mostly like salt.
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Campbell’s Turkey Gravy
This store-bought gravycomes in a can.
It’s made with a combination of chicken and turkey stock plus flour and starch.
Lizzy Briskin/Eat This Not That
The flavor comes from added chicken and turkey fat, plus dried onions and dried chicken.
A regular-sized can cost me just $1.52.
The look:Campbell’s gravy has a familiar beige hue and a glossy, thickened texture.
Lizzy Briskin/Eat This Not That
It’s colored with caramel coloring and is uniform and smooth.
The taste:This gravy tasted like thickened, canned chicken broth, which is essentially what it is.
It has to be combined with an equal amount of milk and heated on the stove.
The gravy base is made from turkey stock and fat, plus sunflower oil and caramel coloring.
An 18-ounce jar cost me $16.95far and away the most expensive item in this survey.
Once it’s combined with milk, it has a nice golden-brown hue.
This jarred sauce is richer than most, thanks to the addition of coconut cream.
It’s certified organic, keto, Whole30, and paleo.
Once heated, the sauce mostly comes together, but it never becomes totally smooth.
The taste:This is a rich, full-flavored gravy.
I didn’t notice a distinct coconut flavor.
Rather, it’s deeply savorybordering on too saltyand has a delicious, real turkey flavor.
It also has a touch of sugar.
The 8.8-ounce pouch cost me $6.89.
The look:This was the darkest gravy I sampled.
It has a rich chocolate color and a shiny, glossy finish.
The sauce is thinner and more pourable than most of the others, suggesting that it contains less thickener.
The taste:This was the closest to homemade gravy I found.
The sauce is rich and meaty with the wintery herbs you expect at Thanksgivingthyme and sage.
It’s full of umami and tastes fresh, not canned.
The gravy has a nice natural texture from finely-diced onions.
You could easily pass off this gravy as homemade.
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