Stop Throwing Out the Best Part of Your Thanksgiving Turkey

Every Thanksgiving in the United States, households prepare 40-odd million turkeys. And I reckon that for over half of those, the best part of the turkey doesn’t even make it to the table.

The “best part” is, of course, a hot point of debate. Some people covet a drumstick. Some prefer breast meat. Those especially in the know seek out the two little pockets of meat tucked on the back of the carcass right above the thighs—oysters, they’re called. 

And as much as I love turkey oyster meat, it’s not my very favorite part. That honor goes to the things tucked inside the gross, soggy bag that’s in the cavity of almost every turkey. 

You Can Eat the Giblets?

In that bag are what’s called the giblets. Giblets are a collective term for select organs of the bird: the gizzard, heart, and liver. There’s also a turkey neck in the cavity, and while it’s not an organ, it counts as a giblet, too.

You don’t just cook up giblets and serve them on a platter. It used to be common to add giblets to Thanksgiving sides, but over the decades it’s fallen out of favor. Probably because nowadays organ meat is thought of as weird or, at worst, repulsive. 

Don’t be afraid of giblets! They are culinary gold. Use them to make a Thanksgiving gravy that’s intoxicatingly savory and turkeylicious. Everyone will love it, and no one would guess it’s so good because of those mysterious giblets.

Don’t Cook the Liver With the Giblets

First, some giblet ground rules. Though the liver comes in the bag along with the giblets, don’t cook it with them. The liver is the big, blobby brownish-red organ. Simmering liver for hours will make it and whatever you combine it with taste bitter and metallic. Even though it’s technically a giblet, no one ever uses it like a giblet.

You can throw the liver away, or sear it, cool it, and give it to your dog as a treat. I freeze my turkey liver to use in chicken liver pâté.

How To Use Giblets for Gravy

The big bonus with giblet gravy is that you can start it ahead of time. A day or two before the big day, brown the neck, heart, and gizzard in a large saucepan. Add some carrots, celery, and onion and let those get nice and soft. Then add water and simmer for a few hours. Do this while you’re prepping the many, many sides you’re probably making. (To free up energy to mess around with the giblets, how about dropping a few less popular sides? It’s all in the name of fabulous gravy.) 

Once you strain the stock, let the giblets cool and mince them up tiny. You can pull the meat from the neck and mince that, too, though it tends to be stringy after all that simmering.

Refrigerate the stock and giblets like they’re a kit for your gravy-making. Then you’ll take the turkey drippings and finish the gravy like normal, enriching it with the giblet stock and, if you like, the minced giblets.

Giblet Bonus Points

You can also use giblets in giblet stuffing. By making stuffing with giblet stock instead of boxed turkey stock, you infuse rich turkey flavor in there. Make the giblet stock as described above and toss the minced giblets in with all the other stuffing goodies. 

I have my own convoluted way of making Thanksgiving turkey where I cure and confit the giblets. The heart and gizzard come out tasting like tiny, dense hams. Turkey neck confit is some of my favorite meat. It’s fatty and practically melts in your mouth. 

If you just can’t get enough giblets, ask other people to save theirs for you. Trust me, you will quickly get a reputation. 

Maybe you grew up enjoying giblet gravy or used to make it yourself. Jump on the nostalgia train this year and rescue those precious giblets instead of throwing them away!