Once a week I make a batch of homemade gravy for my family to enjoy. We like gravy over mashed potatoes, homemade waffles, drizzled across the meat of our main dish, etc. We enjoy beef, chicken, turkey and ham gravies. We don’t purchase it in a pouch or can…trust me, it tastes 100% better when it’s completely homemade and made with drippings!

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This ham gravy recipe is one that I got from my mother-in-law 25 years ago. I make it about 6 times a year and I preserve it by canning it. I like to can it in jelly-sized glass mason jars which serves 2 people. It’s just my husband and I now. In the past I used to double-up the recipe and can in glass pint size jars. The best time to make this gravy is when you’re baking a ham because it utlizes the drippings.

I don’t know the official way of canning gravy…this is the way my family has been making it and processing it for years with absolutely no problems. You’ll need a water bath canner along with basic home canning supplies. Recipe will make approximately 5 jelly-size jars.

Ham Gravy Recipe

2 Tbsp. unsalted butter
2 Tbsp. all-purpose flour
2 cups ham drippings
1/4 cup half & half
1/4 tsp. salt
1/4-1/2 tsp. ground black pepper

Prepare all of glass mason jars ahead of time. Make sure they’re clean. Get out all of your home canning supplies and have them ready to go. Some people use a pressure steaming canner but for this particular recipe I use my water bath canner and process using European times (American times haven’t been updated in years).

Fill up the water bath canner with hot water and get it simmering. I toss my seals and rings into a different saucepan and have those simmering while my glass mason jars sit in a 170 degrees oven.

In a large saucepan melt the butter over medium heat. Whisk-in the all-purpose flour. Keep stirring and simmering over the medium heat until the gravy thickens. Pour in the ham drippings, whisking again…then stir in the half & half, salt and ground black pepper until everything is combined. Simmer over medium heat for 1 minute. Turn the heat down to low.

Ladle the ham gravy into your prepared mason jars leaving a 1″ headspace. Wipe the rims with a clean cloth. Add the hot seal and ring. Place the jar on the rack in your water bath canner. Continue until all jars are filled. Lower the rack down into the canner. Cover. Turn the heat up to medium-high. The water needs to be boiling but not a hard boil. Process for 2 hours in the water bath canner.

NOTE: Fill up a medium sized saucepan with water. Put it on a back burner simmering over medium heat but at a very gentle boil. Every 15-20 minutes check your water bath canner to see if you need to add water. If so, pour the water from that pan into the canner. You need to keep the water temperature up so that you don’t crack any of your jars.

Once 2 hours have passed turn off the heat. Let jars sit for 5 minutes on the rack inside the canner. Lift jars up to the pan’s rim and let them sit for another 10 minutes on the rim. Lay a clean dry cotton towel on your countertop. Carefully remove the jars one-by-one from the canner to place on the towel. Let them cool down to room temperature. Don’t touch them or move them for at least 12 hours to allow for proper sealing. After 12 hours check the seals. Any that didn’t seal you’ll want to refrigerate and use up right away. Those that properly sealed can be stored in your pantry for 1 year.

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Last month I decided to get the 2 bags of frozen whole tomatoes out of my freezer and cook them down to make pasta sauce. In case you didn’t know…YES, you can freeze tomatoes from your backyard garden! I cut the stem out, rinse them with water to remove the majority of seeds and lay them on a baking sheet to air dry for 2 hours. Then I pack them all into a large freezer bag. You can open the bag and add more tomatoes as the growing season goes along…until you have enough to do a big recipe!

You’ll need a pressure canner and basic canning supplies for this recipe. It will make approximately 8-9 pint size jars of pasta sauce. If you don’t like ground turkey…you can substitute with lean ground beef or lean ground pork. Looking for more home canning recipes? We have over 100 canning recipes right here on the TCC blog!!!

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Pasta Sauce with Ground Turkey Recipe

30  lbs. tomatoes
2 1/2 lbs. ground turkey
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 cup onions, finely chopped
1 cup sweet green bell pepper, finely chopped
2 Tbsp. parsley
2 Tbsp. Italian seasoning blend
1/4 cup brown sugar
2 Tbsp. oregano
2 tsp. salt
2 tsp. ground black pepper
1 tsp. olive oil

For this recipe you’ll need approximately 30 lbs. of tomatoes…fresh or frozen. Blanch them briefly 1-2 minutes to remove the skins. Rinse them under tap water to help remove the seeds. By rinsing them under the tape water I can remove 80% of the tomato seeds. Once I have the skins off…I toss them into my NINJA Blender and blend until smooth. If desired, you can pour the sauce through cheese cloth or press through a food mill to remove seeds.

In a large frying pan brown up the ground turkey until it’s done. Drain off the excess fat. Add in the garlic, onions and green bell peppers. Simmer over low heat until the veggies are slightly fork-tender, about 3 minutes. Remove from heat.

Next, you’ll need a large saucepan or stock pot. Combine the tomatoe puree with the meat mixture. Stir in the parsley, Italian seasoning blend, brown sugar, oregano, salt, ground black pepper and olive oil. Bring the sauce to a boil over medium-high heat and boil for 5 minutes. Turn the heat down to low.

You want to ladel the hot pasta sauce into hot glass mason jars leaving a 1″ headspace. Remove air bubbles. Wipe the rims of the jar clean with a cloth. Add your hot seal and the ring until it’s fingertip tight.

Place the jars in the pressure canner. Adjust the water level (according to the canner’s instructions)….mine requires 2″ of hot water in the bottom of it. Lock the lid and bring to a boil over medium-high heat. Vent steam for 10 minutes, then close the vent. Continue heating to achieve 10 lbs pressure. Process the pint jars for 60 minutes. Once it’s done, turn off the heat and let the canner cool down on its own. Don’t open or touch the lid until the pressure reaches ZERO. Then unlock the lid and remove it.

Carefully transfer the hot jars to your kitchen countertop. I lay a clean, dry towel down on my countertop and place the jars on top. They need to sit there undisturbed for 12 hours to cool down. Don’t touch them. After 12 hours have passed check the seals to make sure that all jars sealed properly. If any of them didn’t seal…refrigerate and use.

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