Fat, turkey

Rendered turkey fat, sometimes called turkey drippings once cooled and skimmed from the roasting pan, is the fat collected after roasting a turkey and reserved for cooking later. It's traditionally whisked with flour to build a pan gravy, used to baste the turkey itself for a crisper skin, or saved and used in place of butter or oil to sauté vegetables like green beans, Brussels sprouts, or root vegetables with a savory, poultry-forward flavor. Because it carries the taste of whatever aromatics and herbs seasoned the bird, many cooks save it specifically for stuffing, cornbread, or biscuits made around the holidays, when its flavor fits the rest of the meal.

Once rendered and cooled, store turkey fat covered in the refrigerator, where it will firm up like other animal fats and stay usable for cooking over the following days, or freeze it in small portions for later use throughout the year. At 900 calories and 99.8 g of fat per 100 g, it's a concentrated cooking fat rather than a food to portion out generously, best measured by the tablespoon (13 g) as needed. Its main standout nutrient is vitamin E, at 19% DV per 100 g, and with no sugar, protein, fiber, or carbohydrate, it functions purely as a flavorful medium for gravies and sauteing rather than a nutritional centerpiece of a meal.