I think I'd start with making some broth or stock. If it's turkey gravy you want, you can sometimes buy wings, backs, even legs will do. Add an onion, carrot, celery (if you want, or not), bay leaf, black peppercorns, whatever you like. No salt, and just simmer it for a long time until it tastes good.

You can then thicken with cornstarch, with unsalted butter and flour for a roux, with turkey fat from the bird when it's roasted. My oldest daughter mixes unsalted butter and flour into a paste and drops spoonsful into simmering broth to thicken it, she never has lumps that way.

I do have to caution you, however, that many commercial birds (Butterball and their ilk) are "flavor enhanced". That means it's injected with a certain percentage of salt and water. Those are salty birds, so the juices after roasting are also going to be salty.

The "parts" here are usually from fresh birds, not "enhanced", so the salt is something you can control. Read your labels carefully and ask your meat man. Turkey does have some naturally occurring sodium, but nothing like the injected ones have.

I know there are low salt soup bases available, but have never purchased or tried any of them, so I can't comment on their quality or flavor. I'll bet Sue (Shambo) could help.

Happy Thanksgiving!

Annie

We also watch sodium content of everything. When we haven't made our own stock, we use Swanson's lower-salt canned broths to make gravy. Adding herbs, either fresh or dried, helps with the flavor and with not missing the saltiness that is so prominent in many gravies. We can tolerate the amount of salt that is in the canned broths because we've reduced sodium in so many other ways.

The Swanson's Lower salt recipes are still pretty high. There are new brands with far lower numbers, including Trader Joe's brand.

Source: Secrets of Salt-Free Cooking - by Jeanne Jones

UNSALTED CHICKEN OR TURKEY GRAVY

2 c. defatted chicken or turkey drippings
2 c. unsalted chicken stock or unsalted turkey stock
3 T. cornstarch or arrowroot
1/4 c. cold water
1 T. unsalted butter
2 T. minced onion
1 c. thinly sliced fresh mushrooms
Freshly ground black pepper to taste
Fresh lemon juice (optional)

Heat the defatted drippings and stock in a saucepan. Dissolve the cornstarch or arrowroot in the water and add to the saucepan. Cook slowly over medium heat, stirring occasionally, until the mixture thickens slightly. While the gravy is cooking, heat the butter in a skillet and add the minced onion. Cook until the onion is tender and then add the sliced mushrooms. Continue cooking until the mushrooms are tender and add to the gravy. Season to taste with pepper and a little fresh lemon juice, if desired.

Makes 2-3 cups
1/2 cup contains approximately:
3/4at portion
1/4 starch portion
52 calories
18 mg sodium

I take 1-cup of stock from making bone broth and reduce it in a pan for a few minutes. Add 1-2 T. unsalted butter at the end of reduction. The butter thickens the sauce without adding any kind of starch. If I want it thicker I'll add a little Ultra Gel (3 mg sodium per 1 t. - Ultra Gel can be added to hot or cold liquids). Season to taste.

-Grainlady

I use Herb-Ox salt free buillion. I buy both the beef flavored and the chicken flavored. I think it comes with about 8 packets in the box, but I only use one-third to one-half of a packet at a time, so one box lasts a while.

Kitchen Basics makes a no salt added chicken broth. The label shows that a cup of broth has 150 mg of salt. I don't know how that compares with Swansons, but Swansons has a bunch of other ingredients that bother me and Kitchen Basics doesn't.

I appreciate so much the help that you people give me. I can always bank on you as I have said before. When you have some health problems, the questions seem endless but you have to take it a day at a time. Thanks again. Barb

I'm late to the party, but Beachlily is right. Kitchen Basics sells salt-free chicken and beef broth in those aseptic cartons. It taste good, though mild. You can always reduce it a bit for stronger flavor or add herbs, onions, etc. Believe it or not, even Swanson's now sells totally salt-free chicken and beef stock too. It has a good, clean chicken flavor but is also mild. For both brands, you just have to be careful that you're getting the salt free versions. Not the low sodium products. As Sushipup said, even the low sodium broths found in supermarkets are usually too high to comfortably use if you're on a low sodium diet.

I can find both brands in the soup aisle of all my local grocery stores. Pacific and Imagine brands also sell no-salt-added broths. They're usually in the natural foods section. They're OK, but I prefer the flavor of Kitchen Basics or Swanson's.

Not gravy, but, garlic-infused extra virgin olive oil drizzled over baked or mashed potatoes is delicious and satisfying.

Sol

Thanks for the help. I have a couple of saltfree cookbooks but the bad thing about them is that they call enough for a family and it's just me. It is hard to break down for one person. I live in a small town and don't have anything like Trader Joes, so I try to find something comparable and then adjust the seasonings, etc to my taste. After shopping in a hurry today and purchasing a "low sodium" I noticed when I got home that low sodium is still high sodium for me. How do you go about adjusting it? Wouldn't adding water not be so good? Lots of times I buy something that is close and adjusting it to my taste, trying to add the healthy stuff. Great tips. I washed some cottage cheese the other day. It did suffice, but not the best. Nobody had any low sodium cottage cheese. Thanks Barb

Hi Barb, Please consider returning the low sodium item you bought today, hurriedly. I think the store would understand if you explain that your new diet restrictions are medically advised and it could be harmful. We have all bought something wrong when we are Ina rush.

As others have often said, garlic and onions are good flavor adders. I think vinegars add a lot of kick and along with a bit of oil, just a tad, and unsalted soy, can be good. Try a touch of canola with black pepper and powdered garlic on your potato. Might give a good mouthfeel. Check out Shambo,s very nice salt free blog.

Barb, I've only been able to find one brand of no-salt-added cottage cheese. It's the Lucerne brand which is the in-house brand for Safeway dairy products. Luckily, I've got a Safeway close by, so it's easy for me to purchase.

I admire your persistence. Washing cottage cheese is an excellent idea. In fact, you might have created a great alternative for those who don't live near a Safeway. Washed cottage cheese plus a drizzle of milk/cream or a tablespoon of yogurt/sour cream. I think that would be a good alternative to regular cottage cheese. It's really too bad that most cottage cheese is ridiculously high in sodium.

Keep up the good work.

Grainlady, I was unable to get the link about the celery to perform for me. I know there are several vegetables that you can get to grow for you. I have done it with green onions. I wonder where you could get material on this. Is there a book available? Thanks. Barb